Anniversary Cruise 2019

Oosterdam Cruise Review to Caribbean

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 4
Helpful Votes: 91

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Verified Review
Oosterdam

14 Night Tropical / Western Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 16, 2019

Ship: Oosterdam

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8143

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

We went on this cruise for our 35th wedding anniversary. We loved our room. We found the crowd to be older, and food to be just ok and the entertainment to be terrible. We loved all the ports we stopped in and kept busy there. We enjoyed the casino but were definitely looking for more venues/bands/musical entertainment as well as a nice stage show. It was difficult to communicate with the crew.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
No problems getting on the ship, everything moved right along

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
The buffet was generally good, but we found the food in the main dining room to be "just ok"

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5
We enjoyed the spa area and signed up for the special mineral pool and used spa services which were very nice. Other than that we didn't find that there was much of anything interesting to do on this ship. We enjoyed the casino but spent a lot of nights up in the Crow's Nest doing jigsaw puzzles with other guests. I can't say that I have ever had time to do a jigsaw puzzle on a cruise before. That was not good.

Entertainment

1 out of 5
Never had worse entertainment options on a cruise. We had a comedian, a comedian/magician and then the two of them did a show together. We did enjoy the band in B.B. King's nightclub.

Children's Programs

Didn't have children with us

Service and Staff

4 out of 5
It was very difficult to communicate with 90% of the staff. None of them were very proficient in English.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5
The ship was very clean and well maintained, but we did not care for the layout. We missed having a main staircase down into a lobby where there would be music and bars and lots of activity.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
The size was very nice, the room was very comfortable and clean. We really like our room a lot.

Ship tip

I would check ahead to make sure they are having some decent entertainment on board.

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

3 out of 5
Didn't really do anything here other than board the ship

Key West, Florida

5 out of 5
My husband ran a roadrace on St. Patty's day here, and then we went to an Irish pub and sang along with the wonderful entertainer who was there, shopped and enjoyed ourselves very much.

Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic

5 out of 5
The port was beautiful here. We went on a snorkeling excursion and had a great time.

Grand Turk Island

5 out of 5
Another beautiful port. If we had known how nice is was at the port we would not have booked our beach excursion. There were beautiful amenities right at the port. There was a Margaritaville, pool and beaches available as well as shopping.

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

5 out of 5
Absolutely beautiful beach, and a nice lunch was provided.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
No problems, moved along fairly quickly.
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2 Comments

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

4Goodtimes    5 years ago

Hard to believe your comments about a HAL ship!!!

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