16vincennes09 Cruise Review on Oosterdam on Jan 13, 2017

Oosterdam Cruise Review

16vincennes09

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 5

Overall rating:

1 out of 5

Sail date: January 13, 2017

Ship: Oosterdam

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

My wife and I sailed on the Oosterdam for a two week cruise from Tampa. I selected this cruised based on previous reviews. This was my 7th cruise on 7 different cruise lines. No other cruise line has been this level of disappointment. The cabin, dated but clean and well appointed. The cabin staff were the best part of the entire staff of the ship. All staff above this level were very aloof and borderline rude. I never experienced a time when all the elevators were functional. Food service was plentiful as long as you are willing to pay extra otherwise you have two choices. You can wrestle for your food at the buffet line where one food maybe available but your next choice may be provided 100 feet away and generally a crowd that reminded me of a concert exiting crowd. There is a restaurant that is full service that is small in comparison so if you don't have reservations be prepared to stand for an hour or so. Once seated the alcohol man pounces and if you choose not to have a drink or wine several white shirts swoop over your table to remove glasses that would not be used anyway but you get the message. I once asked for a glass of iced tea and was provided a glass holding maybe three ounces of liquid before ice. I had to be direct to change this situation something I should not have to do on a cruise line with the minimum of class. The ship did have a great burger and fries outlet out by a pool. Many times this was the best food available for a meal but was only opened a few hours. Ports of call was nearly a joke. Going to ports of interest for a couple of hours and spending nearly twelve hours in a port that had shops and tourist venues closed because it was Sunday. But, the big highlight was our last port where it was decided to enter the island on the opposite side of the island. There is one small pier and serviced by two boats that move people from ships to that pier and have priority to that pier. The officers of the Oosterdam close to use the ships tenders to move visitors from the ship. The Keystone Cops have nothing on the operators of these tenders. You have units, with passengers, colliding, a fire, and countless victims desiring a ride to shore only to arrive an hour after departing the ship for a five minute ride sea sick from bouncing around in these small tenders with limited airflow and hearing the operators that appear to argue over the operation of the vessel. This island is known for excellent diving but not available on the back side of the island and those who survive the ride find themselves in a area with very little activity unless a taxi ride to the port that was to be our port of call. My wife and I had the pleasure of meeting other travlers on the Oosterdam. One fact came from the folks that had sailed on the Oosterdam previously. ALL these folks agree that the overall ships operation has seriously deminished. The Oosterdam appeared to be on a course of being used up then discarded. I will never sail on Holland America again.

6 Comments

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

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Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

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Longbilly 7 years ago

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Longbilly 7 years ago

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Longbilly 7 years ago

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drhice1958 7 years ago

It sounds like you probably have not been happy on any of your 7 cruises. The Oosterdam in my opinion (and I understand we are all entitled) is a great HAL ship. We sailed on her 2 years ago in Alaska and everything from the food to the staff was great!!!! HAL exceeds the limit for the guests it has, and provides excellent service. I believe you can't satisfy all the people all the time but the majority of the time we have found Holland America to be superior.

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