Bucket List Trip - worth every penny
Oosterdam Cruise Review to Europe - Eastern Mediterranean
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 32
Review summary
We prefer smaller ships, easier to navigate and better service. It's a nice ship, best for middle-aged crowds that it caters too but overall a nice ship. Food was very good, breakfast was okay but we've had much better on other lines. Service was excellent, very nice people work on Holland and Carnival. Lines hiring from Indonesian, Philippines and similar usually have better service. The ports were beautiful, you're better of booking private group tours through Viator and TripAdvisor versus the ship, they price gouge massively through Holland when you can do pretty much every excursion for 50% less, especially if you're mobile and comfortable navigating on your own or renting cars. Car rentals work great in Rhodes and Argostoli. You definitely want a guided tour in Israel, security and immigration is very serious there so be aware of more time to disembark.Embarkation
smooth overall
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Overall the food was very good, not excellent but good. On par with Royal, Carnival and even NCL from recent trips but not as good as Celebrity. Breakfast was the most lackluster, lunch and dinner were very good. NCL had a much better breakfast so given it was a Holland ship I expected more. Specialty dining was very good, on par with other lines as well but not better. This ship could use a couple more dining locations for anytime to break up the crowds. NCL does a very good job of this on some ships.
Onboard Activities
This ship accommodates older crowds, more focused on lounge spaces and music versus activities. The pickleball court was different and kids club had just the right mix of things to keep my kids happy but otherwise it's pretty much the pools or bust. I REALLY liked the Solarium option to cover the pools during wind and sun, that was great to use the Jacuzzi watching the kids without getting cooked in the sun. Gym was small for the weight area but decent overall.
Entertainment
Entertainment was excellent, some of the better I've seen on ships. The dancing shows were great and the musicians were top notch, probably best overall band we've seen and they played great songs to get you moving. The focus of this ship is on live music and there's something for everyone, mostly accommodating middle-aged crowds though. No dance club style like you may be used to on Carnival etc.
Children's Programs
We were surprised by how much our kids liked the kids club. It was small but had a good mix of activities that even adults enjoyed. They were very nice, nothing bad to say here.
Service and Staff
Excellent service, our stewards were amazing, always a big smile on their faces. The services in dining were excellent and ship personnel were usually pleasant. Overall great service.
Ship Quality
Good design, pretty easy to navigate for a smaller ship. Lots of lounge areas, I like the music walk and options for listening. They have some areas that would be perfect for showing movies that are often unused when there are no performances. This is an easy way to give families something to do at night or during sea days by simply showing movies. Most ships have this so this is a miss on their part not to take advantage of open space with seating ready to go. Ship was clean.
Cabin / Stateroom
Good size for family of 4, pullout bed and drop-down ceiling bed worked fine. larger than most interior rooms we've had.
Ship tip
Get to dinner before 6pm to avoid waits or after 8pm
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
Disembarkation
need more guidance to get lines more organized for early departures