Joey483 Cruise Review on Oosterdam on Jul 23, 2018

Item: Oosterdam
Rating: 4
Author: Joey483

Oosterdam Cruise Review

Joey483

Contributor Level: Second Mate

80 Days Till Next Cruise

Reviews: 3

Helpful Votes: 77

Overall rating:

4 out of 5

Sail date: July 23, 2018

Ship: Oosterdam

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

Overall Holland America is a great cruise line. I have been on MANY cruises, and MANY cruises to Alaska. I have as well been on a variety of Cruise lines. I had enjoyed our cruise to Alaska onboard the Oosterdam. The ship itself was amazing and recently renovated & looked very modern and up to date. Holland America Line is more targeted towards the Older crowd, although throughout the years I have noticed that there have been a lot of variety in the age groups. In thus cruise exactly there were about 100 teenagers, many 20-30 year olds and surprisingly a lot of kiddos. Such itinerary was amazing and interesting, it consisted of - Seattle Wa, Sea Day, Juneau AK, Hubbard Glacier, Sitka AK, keitckan AK, Victoria CA & back in Seattle. It down poured In both Juneau & sitka. Which were disappointing although nothing we could do, it by far did NOT ruin the trip for us. Hubbard Glacier was amazing although foggy. I had taken many pictures. I would certainly suggest Hubbard Over other glaciers. The food in the buffet was great, both in the Lido & the dining room(s). Lines were not long in the lido which was good compared to other cruise lines. Holland America is very good about health aboard their ships. Instead of having the passengers grab the food they hand you the food, you may think thus would cause lines etc, although surprisingly it did not, which is good and helps create a healthy environment onboard their ships. There was a little wait for the food in the Dining room, although nothing exponential. Our waiter was amazing, his name was Agus. We had gotten very close with him throughout the whole 7days as we went to the Dining room EVERY night of the cruise. He made the cruise itself better and more enjoyable. All staff onboard Holland America Line ships are very conscientious, exciting, positive & care about making your cruise more enjoyable. I enjoy the staff onboard Holland’s ships more than others because they are so very positive and care about you, they remember your name over the smallest things, overall Holland has an amazing staff team. The ship was kept very clean and nice looking. Like I mentioned earlier it were renovated last year & is going to be renovated once again this year. All HAL ships are removing the Northern Lights and replacing it was a gallery bar or something other (this is coming from an Officer who mentioned this to me) HAL is making an effort to make ships more modern and include more technology in their ships. Touchscreens are seen throughout the ship, illuminated maps, Televisions w/ many movies. Billboard Onboard was a soothing and calm area onboard and a good area to chill with a group of people. Entertainment wise was not the greatest I have encountered. The cruise director her self was not good. She did not involve herself in many activities and you only saw her at the shows. She were very bland and not interesting. The Dances were not great either and the dancers were off at times. The comedian was AMAZING. They as well had a “Comedian & Magician” he we’re approximately in his lower 20’s was not good at all. He were not funny and had corny jokes. He had only done 2 tricks throughout the show and messed up on 1 of them. He was not funny nor was he good at magic, which ruined it for me. Overall GREAT cruise and I am definitely going to recommend & probably go on another one LOL. If you guys have any questions let me know & I will respond unbiased.

4 Comments

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

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Joey483 6 years ago

@mcewan1 as it is your first cruise, be ready for the rocking of the ship. Although after the first few days you should get used to the rocking of the ship. Are you traveling with any kids? If so make sure they attend the complimentary kids club as it will keep them entertained throughout the day whilst you get to enjoy your cruise away from them while you know they are being supervised. Anyways, my main too is to bring good clothing, overpack do not under-pack. Try not to spend too much money in alcohol whole on board as it can add up overtime. I went with my son, who had recently turned 21 and at the end of the 7 day cruise or alcohol bill was over $2200, the wife was not that happy. Be ready and get used to living in a smaller space, there is lots of storage although if you got a less expensive room, you won’t have much things to do in the room except for sleep. Overall my main tip is, have fun & be ready to eat eat and eat.

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mcewan1 6 years ago

Nice honest review , going on my first cruise , 24 nights around Greek islands , any small tips you can give me ? Thanks Steve

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thegrizz 7 years ago

Nice review. Thank you.

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