The Oosterdam was a boring ship designed around catering to the older less active cruisers. There is chamber music, the have a BB King blues club that never palpated Blues! The most attended thing on the ship was the America’s Test Kitchen demo! The casino opens at noon and closes early! There are limited gaming tables. The Hold’em poker table is ELECTRONIC! No dealer, no cards, no chips! BORING!
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Port Everglades is a great sea terminal. Easy on and off access to the ships. Holland America check in was painless and quick.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
The main dining and the buffet served exactly the same food each night. Main dining room was decent but slow. Buffet was NOT a buffet, you had to stand in line and ask for each item to be put on a plate by the staff, which wouldn’t have been to bad except the pull half the staff during peak breakfast and lunch times to go prepare the next meal! Th exception to all of it was the Pinnacle Grill, this is an upcharge restaurant but it was exceptional! That alone saved this from being a 1 star rating!
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
This is a sleeper ship! They have two small pools which were hardly open. One has a retractable cover that was NEVER retracted! Making it hot and muggy around it. The old folks loved it, the rest of us hated it! The fitness room is ok, it looks like it was NEVER used! Instructors are ok. there are no slides, or other outdoor activities whatsoever on this ship!
Entertainment
1 out of 5
We went for the MercyMe at Sea. This saved this cruise. The onboard entertainment was sub par and looked like they had been doing the same act since Nixon was president!
Children's Programs
1 out of 5
Non existent on the is ship! They have a small play area but the few kids on this ship were seeen in the pool more than the boring play room.
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
The staff are excellent, even though they seem to be short staffed compared to other ships we have sailed. Cabin stewards went above and beyond to try and make us comfortable. Wait staff were pleasant and prompt. Only exception was the RUDE Excursion desk crew! I can’t really blame them since we had to reschedule TWO ports and canceled one completely!
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
This ship is not designed well, passageways flow into areas of “entertainment and gambling” Guest services was on deck 1, excursion desk on deck 10, nothing was together for convenience.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Cabin was pretty spacious for the typical inside cabin. Lighting was easy to find, bathroom was decent size. Cleanliness was excellent. Only thing keeping this from a 5 star was it was to warm! We had it pegged to ice cold and could not get it below 75degrees! Cabin steward tried to get them to fix it but, I was told that was the coldest the set the rooms. I checked with other guest who also said it was warm!
Ship tip
If you are geriatric and love art, this is your ship!
The cruise port was excellent. Easy to get to from the airport, inexpensive cab ride of about $15 for 4 passengers. Friendly staff and port authority (even during the government furlough)
Port was diverted to San Juan PR due to weather. San Juan is an ok port. The people just don’t seem to like mainland Americans much especially since hurricane Maria!
Our excursion was canceled due again to wind! We ended up doing a mega truck off road to the beach adventure. It was ok. Beach is really small. Not a great snorkeling beach, very cloudy water.
Do your homework - all cruise lines different. HAL is my favorite.Can not wait for my next cruise. Personally will never go back to Royal and not going to try Carnaval- i want piece, relax and classical music. Used to like NCL, but recent years they turned to cater for families with kids.Kids everywhere even in 21+ zone.
Just do your homework and find line that will work for you.
I love HAL and I’m 38, I cruise for the relaxation and the service, not the water slides. A 5 minute research would have explained exactly what you’re getting cruising with them. To each their own.
This actually was one of our favorites! You should know Holland America Line caters more to the classic days of sailing vs the party ships of today, they aren’t for everyone but for some they’re perfect
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