Great cruise if you match the demographics
Oosterdam Cruise Review to Transatlantic
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 83
Review summary
The Holland America brand is targetted towards a crowd that will be asleep in their staterooms by 10:00PM. While the casino remains open 24 hours/day, all bars shut down by midnight. The activities are designed for people who want to remain seated -- don't expect kareoke or a dancing with a DJ.Embarkation
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Our waiter and assistant waiter in the main dining room were outstanding. The food in the MDR definately seemed better since our last Holland America cruise a year ago with exception of "Chef Rudi's Fried Chicken" which were of the size, taste, and texture of McDonald's chicken McNuggets.
We had a split experience in the Pinnacle Grill. Our first visit was very good and the food was outstanding. Our second visit was around 11 days into the cruise. Two of us ordered the king crab legs. We should have known not to order crab 11 days into the cruise. They smelled so fishy they were inedible. The maitre'd gave us attitude and told us no one else had complained. The correct response would have been simply I'm so sorry, please select something else. On the remainder of the cruise he wouldn't even acknowledge us when we saw him on the ship.
Onboard Activities
Plenty of scheduled activity which would probably appeal to people in their 70's or 80's.
Entertainment
The shows on the main stage seem to be the same as they were a ywar ago. Don't expect a DJ to be playing music after midnight.
Service and Staff
Our room attendant and his assistant were outstanding. In fact the entire crew is outstanding -- they always have a smile on their face and a cheerful greeting.
The Cruise Director was AWOL except for her daily announcements on the PA system. We never saw her once. We're frequent cruisers and have always been able to identify our cruise director.
Ship Quality
It's clean, but showing it's age. The posters on the wall in the passageways in the stateroom areas are the original ones from when the ship was built and show their age. Many walls are marked up. Our bathroom definatleys showed signs of wear and tear.
Cabin / Stateroom
Nothing to complain about. Not the best cabin we've had, but it was satisfactory.
Ports of call
Palma De Mallorca, Balearic Islands
Disembarkation
Our scheduled disembarkation was delayed by an hour.
4 Comments
Gwbigdog 2 years ago
samboney194 6 years ago
brimiller01 6 years ago
missnotanlines 6 years ago