Great ports with only two days of cruising
Oosterdam Cruise Review to Europe - Mediterranean
Contributor Level:
Cruise Director
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 11
Helpful Votes: 381
Review summary
Great stops on the cruise to a wide variety of places with wonderful local food & beverages. Holland America provides a great experience.Embarkation
We did not need to embark because this was a continuation of our Atlantic crossing.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The main dining room is equal to any of the specialty restaurants. Wide variety of wines to select from & numerous mixed drinks for the offering.
Onboard Activities
The trivia games were a lot of fun as was the meet & greet with the different department heads.
Entertainment
The ships permanent party entertainers are very talented. The B.B. King Blues Lounge always has a great band & singers. We always look forward to the comedians that come aboard.
Children's Programs
No children with us.
Service and Staff
One of the main reasons that we sail with Holland America is the service provided by the ship personnel especially in the main dining room.
Ship Quality
Our cabin was clean & well-maintained as was all of the public areas. WE love the ship layout & design, not too small & not too big.
Cabin / Stateroom
It was a signature suite which was well worth the price for the extra space.
Ship tip
There are several different newspapers (really newsletters such as the New York Times) printed each day. You can request to have one or more sent to your cabin each morning by notifying the front desk when you embark.
Thumbs up
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Ports of call
The Sagreda Familia is a must see. Be sure to go to the top of one of the open towers. Before you return to the ship have lunch where the locales eat. We did not book this through Holland America. We purchased our tickets online about two months before the cruise. The church is a short cab ride from the port.
We took a shuttle bus to the center of town & rode the Hop On, Hop Off bus. Although in France, we had an Italian meal for lunch.
We had to take a tender from the ship to the port. We took our own walking tour which may be too many steps for some people. There were beautiful gardens & spectacular views of the city. Once again we had lunch where the locals dine.
Livorno (Florence & Pisa), Italy
We took a shuttle bus to town & rode the Hop On, Hop Off bus around Livorno & outer areas. A very pretty seashore.
Since we had been to Rome previously, we took the shuttle to Civitavecchia. We attended mass in a very old church & had lunch with the locals. The owner of the restaurant waited on us & treated us like family.
This was a Holland America tour to Pompei, Sorrento & Capri. Tour was by bus & high speed boat. The tour guide made the excursion special & each location was very different & had something interesting to offer. Would highly recomend.
We saw the sights on a "CityBySee" bus. If I had it to do over again I would have taken the Hop On, Hop Off bus because there was a lot of waiting for our bus as several Hop On, Hop Off buses went by. The tour took us on very narrow roads to the highest point in the area with spectacular views.
We took the Hop On, Hop Off bus which provided a good overview of the sights & history of the city. We ate lunch at a restaurant (Bellissimo) recommended by one of the tour people aboard ship. Lunch was a sampling of different greek foods.
Took the shuttle to town & entered the castle area/Old Town which was surrounded by a wall. A very unique experience. We booked a tour of the area by van with two other couples. The guide, Zorin, was very friendly & made the tour very intresting. He would stop at different locations & take our pictures with our cellphones. We went through an area where the Game of Thrones is filmed which also looked down upon the city. We were quite high up. This tour & tour guide were a real find. However, we ate at a restaurant which advertised that it took credit cards, but when we went to pay they said the machine was broken. For a very basic lunch they would take $81.00 U.S. or $74.00 in Kona. We paid in Kona after I found a money exchange which are everywhere. By the way, they do not except Euros & there is a charge for public restrooms (about $2.00 per person).
Took a tender to shore. The ship was in port only 4 or 5 hours. Took a Hop On, Hop Off bus. Very nice tour of the area. Took a short walk around the walled in area.
This is where we disembarked & stayed in Mestre for several days. We took a boat tour of the Venice area the first afternoon which stopped at several small slands. We spent the next day walking around Venice & had a gondola ride. The next day we spent in Mestre & ate at a restaurant (IL Pelco) where our server was also the chef & co-owner. On the last day we flew from Verona on Norwegian Air back to Florida.
Disembarkation
We had a disembarkation time of 10:00 am so we had breakfast in the dining room & disembarked when things were less crowed.
Traveler Photos
