Oosterdam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Our experience on the 2016 Holiday Cruise was amazing! The ship was decked out for Christmas and the many activities planned for this observance were exceptional.  The Christmas Eve concert on the Main Stage was truly joyful.  Our Vista dining room dinners were outstanding and we were pleased with the open seating that allowed for flexibility selecting a dining time.  Holland America provided a memorable holiday for us and we thank them for their dedication to serving travelers in such a fine manner.

the cruise was delightful.  One of the only things we were a bit disappointed in was the cut in personnel in dining and bar services.  Especially in the Main Dining area.

We miss the comaraderie with the servers and assistants from previous years.

This was our first cruise on Holland  America ( we have cruised many times before).  I did like the calm, low key atmosphere.   The  ship, which has been refurbished fairly recently, is comfortable and classy. The crew members were polite and very good at their jobs without being obtrusive.    

I particularly enjoyed:  daily Afternoon Tea with  tea sandwiches, cakes and scones,  the classical music at the Lincoln Center Stage,   the music at both BB Kings and Billboard.

I would have liked more programming during the day and in the early evening---maybe some lectures, more Culinary Center programs.   I also wish the Screening Room ,where movies are shown  ,  had a greater seating capacity.

The ship was very nice and easy to get around. These are nice ports for this

itinerary.  The only thing that did not meet my expectations was the choice and

combination of the evening meals in the dining room.  I have been on many

Holland America cruises and have always been very pleased with all the meals.

We last sailed in December of 2015 on the Oosterdam and really noticed how "tired" the ship was.  That cruise we also experienced below average food quality and average service. 

Our December, 2016 showed great improvement with better furnishings and better food and staff.

I attribute this to the recent up-fitting the Oosterdam underwent this Spring.

Overall, a great cruise.

Poor MDR service. Took 2 1/2 hrs for dinner every night. Menu items were changed without telling waiters. Food was not up to old Holland standards. Very small non-smoking casino. Very limited smoking areas. Very limited activities on board. Shows very poor. No dance bands.Bar service slow.

Over all a poor excuse for a cruise line that used to be one of the better ones.

Very disappointed in this cruise.  I've been on 35+ cruises and this ranks up there as one of the most disappointing.  (This is a crappy website forcing you to type at least 150 characters -- REALLY?)

The ship was very nice, the staff was outstanding and the food was excellent.  There was a continual problem with the food, it NEVER was served to us at more than lukewarm temperature.  This was true of the dining room and the buffet.  There was a quick bite kind of grill for hot dogs and hamburgers near the swimming pool, the food there was hot...but it was not prepared until it was ordered. 

I cruised on the Veendam on her inaugural season and, based on the excellence and elegance of that experience, I chose to take my wife on the Oosterdam for our 10th anniversary cruise.  In those 25 years, the excellence and elegance has faded to a poor shadow of what it was.

Granted, the crew, wait, bar, and guest services staff made up for a lot, but there were many on board that required more training:  open seating maitre'ds, Lido breakfast cooks, and back office staff.

I thought I had booked a veranda cabin, based on what I saw on the website;  what we got was a veranda, but the lower half under the banister was not clear, but a metal bulk head.  i should have been informed of that in advance.  My wife and I were sorely disappointed.  Despite best efforts of guest services, there were no more open veranda cabins available.  Keep in mind I booked this months in advance.

Our first dinner at "open seating" was a long wait disaster as the maitre d's were poorly trained and obviously overwhelmed.  I was then told one could make "reservations" for open seating (something it would have been nice to know before hand) Interesting to note that those who had made reservations waited as long as we did due to the inefficiency of the staff.

Group control and traffic management needs a lot more work.  I have cruised on much larger ships without the constant lines we endured on the Oosterdam.

Guatemala is an exceedingly poor choice to include in the itinerary.  It is poverty stricken and slum-like as Haiti.  We paid $35 each for a one hour tour of what amounted to a dump.  The port, a nasty pile of containers, is also a poor choice.

Dining was okay, but appetizer and dessert portions were small, and the menu's in general struck me as uninspired compared to other cruise lines have enjoyed.

We made the best of it and compliment those of the staff who we came in contact with as they were friendly, cordial, and clearly well trained.

I cannot recommend this cruise in good faith to my friends of similar tastes. 

Food was closed in between breakfast, lunch and dinner and closed down at 10 o'clock at night; which is fine if you do nothing on the ship. however if you try sunbathing, you miss lunch, you sleep in, you miss breakfast you catch a show you miss late snacks. there is a line for dinning 1-2 hours if you don't pick a scheduled dinner time when booking. The cruise entertainment ends at 1030, except that casino that I'd tiny. the only positive thing was the ports, the wit staff at the bars the piano players and the BB king band.

The first five days of the cruise were delightful.  Nice weather, good ports and plenty of diverse activities.  Then the Norovirus took over the ship and it became miserable for the 8 day crossing from Madeira to Tampa.  Most of the good entertainment got off in Malaga and we were stuck with mediocre comedians, magicians, Abba impersonators.   The show the last night out was by far the best of the cruise and was said to be a new one not preformed before by the Ships entertainers.  With the on board activities curtailed because of the virus, the few lectures and cooking demo's were overflowing.  The Lido became stand in line city for everything....I stood in line for 15 minutes to get a cup of coffee for my breakfast only to have them tell me they were out of regular coffee and only had decaf.

The crew is fantastic! Accessible cabins should have same makeup mirror as others, not a cheap plastic nonlighted one hidden in a cabinet; also a way to keep the door open when exiting on a scooter without having to use a wooden doorstop. Flat screen TV with lots of movie choices is great- hope the Zuiderdam has that for our next cruise summer 2107! 

Oct 2016 Cruise. Fantastic service from Samantha at . A great booking experience.

We did two cruises back to back from Rome to Barcelona (12 days) and from Barcelona to Rome (12 days). The itinerary, in common with many Holland America Line (HAL) Mediterranean cruises was excellent. October is generally a good time for the Mediterranean. Highlight ports included Genoa (a substitute port after a gale warning forced us to miss St Tropez), Marseilles, Monte Carlo (because you can get a public 100 bus to Nice or Menton for 1.5 Euros (takes 30 minutes), Sete, Ceuta (and an excursion into Morocco), Calvi, Ajaccio, Algeria, Palma de Majorca, Barcelona, Cadiz and Gibraltar. 

We had calm seas and fine weather mostly, with just a few overcast days with occasional showers. The ship left and arrived on time and tender ports were well managed.

The Oosterdam however needs much improvement. Our cabin (Verandah, deck 5) was in very poor condition.  The carpet was worn and dirty, the sofa and chair upholstery was dirty and stained, the bathroom basin was badly cracked and the bath was badly chipped. The shower head fell down and could not be adjusted (later fixed), the cabin table adjustment was broken (later fixed), one bathrobe was yellow stained (replaced).

The public spaces are also very tired and worn except for the refurbished bars. the Ocean Bar has been "refurbished" but the band space and the dance floor have been eliminated. Only a piano is there now and this is played only intermittently. There is no Piano Bar as such. Dancing is out both in the Ocean Bar and in the Crows Nest where the dance floor has also been removed. The only dance venue now is in the BB King Blues Club. 

The food quality and service has continued to decline as it has on all HAL ships. the general level of service on this cruise was somewhat indifferent and not as good as our previous HAL cruises. The main Dining Room was chaos - 20 to 40 minutes wait for a shared table on most nights. People were not happy.

We had one great night at the Pinnacle Grill and one disaster night there. Same for Canaletto - one great dinner and one with poor food and very poor service. These inconsistencies/failures should not happen in flagship restaurants that are charged for.

This ship was recently dry-docked and the Suites were refurbished together with some bars. HAL has however failed to deal with the poor condition of other cabins and the public spaces. The Signature of Excellence does not apply to this ship. 

Entertainment was variable in quality. The Lincoln Centre classical ensemble is so overwhelmingly good and popular that the venue is always overflowing. The Billboard Onboard entertainment included watching the garish flashing lights of the slot machines in the Casino opposite, and listening to the pounding of two electronic pianos accompanied by screeching, out of tune singing. Very slow drink service here (20 minutes) also and short pouring of drinks (two occasions).

HAL can do much better than this as we know from many previous cruises and ships. I rate the cruise itinerary and ports as very good but the ship overall as poor. At the moment, the Oosterdam is not worthy of consideration. 

I will not travel with holland cruises again The cruise was boring. The music was not appropriately to dance. You went through the lounges and it was silence what you hear. It felt like a hospice for old people. We stay most of the time in the cabin watching some movies on TV. The food was tasteless all over except on the galas and in the canaletto.

The Oosterdam which recently underwent a makeover was a very nice ship. The itinerary of 16 ports in 24 days allowed us to experience not only the port cities themselves, but also many others through an excellent array of shore excursions which were very well organized. The crew was excellent as was the food. Altogether a great trip.

The food was just ok. There was two night I didn't eat my meal. Not enough selection of food and choices. 

The service overall was good. The customer service could use some customer service help.

The need more entertainment and things to do. The shows are not great.  My main concern is the food and I didn't like being nickle and dimed to death. Will not be taking another cruise like this one. 

This cruise was great. Started in Venice-ended in Rome. Cruise line made decision to NOT go to Turkey, so they added Albania...we figured it must have been a last minute decision-maybe hard to find a port to visit for a day, but Sarande should be skipped. It would have been much better if we could have stopped in Dubrovnik instead. Otherwise, all ports were fun and interesting.

Practically cruise was around Greece. Italy - only one port - Naples. We would like to see Italy so we took hotel in Venice and Rome for two days. We spend more 2,000 thousand dollars for 4 days and should be organize everything.

Second - we order all excursion thru . When we go out from ship and ask where we should be meet with our guide often answer "Looking yourself people with notice "Shore group", We responsible only if you buy from Holland America.

But if check everything -vacation was very good. One advice - Alitalia make registration not for 24 hours before flight like Delta. We should do this in Airport. Your customer service must inform clients about this.

Cost transfer from airport in Venice to our hotel - Grand Canal (ordered cruise.com) was 200 euro, because hotel have mooring only for private boat not for public. Our flight from New York to Venice - $450 (per person)

Maybe I was wrong, but your agents should be know about this details. Not everybody are rich people,

Thank you and I apologize for my language.

Nelya Serebrennik

The food on the Oosterdam was exceptional and was definitely my favourite part of the cruise.  The ports of call were very interesting and there wee lots of them..  The entertainment was the usual kind you get on cruises and nothing stood out for me  Overall I would definitely sail with Holland America again.

This was a fabulous itinerary. There were so many things to see an do in each port. The onboard experience was not what we expected.  Some of the service staff were not friendly. I witnessed a server actually slap a guest for serving himself. The itinerary and departure times changed too many times but we didn't get left behind.   The passengers were an older crowd (mostly pensioners). The entertainment was not that good. BUT we didn't go the the onboard experience - we went for the adventure.  And we had a great time. This cruise was a fantastic value!