Oosterdam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

This was exactly a trip to celebrate my daughter's accomplishments from Graduate school.  She will be starting her full time career shortly.  We both love to travel and the itinerary was perfect for us.  The average age of the passengers was 62 and above.  My 24 year old daughter did not mind though.  She liked the gentleness of the atmosphere.   The Oosterdam did not disappoint.  Our cabin was 6024, VERY quiet and in a wonderful location on the ship.  We were on the Port side or the ship, we did not have very good views once in port, Starboard had the terrific views while in port.   I waved hello to the captain each morning, we could see one side of the bridge.  The captain was professional and had a wonderful voice to listen to for announcements.  We often had room service on the balcony for breakfast.  The Oosterdam is showing it's age, but still a comfortable ship.  Anything plastic was aging.  The hallways are dull and old.  The cabin was roomy for two. The sheets on the beds were fantastic. The staff was efficient and courteous, memorizing our names and room numbers.  The rooms were clean.  The package laundry service was the highlight, really great since the Oosterdam does not have a coin laundry on board like other ships.  Since this was a 24 day cruise laundry was a big deal.  We found that clothing did not dry rapidly on the ship. We mostly ate at the dinning room.  Lido was our last resort.  The views from Lido were really good, but the tables by the windows were usually occupied.  Sailing into Venice was a highlight.  This was the perfect Mediterranean sampler cruise the destinations were fascinating, 9 countries.  It was a dream vacation come true...we loved it.  I would have rated it 5 stars, but the boat is aging and not all travelers could stand being on a ship for so long.  Rick Steve's Mediterranean Cruise book help immensely with the cruise ports.    

Good cruise, liked the ship, mainly good service and lovely food.

Didn't enjoy the open dining as it was generally disorganised, had to wait 30 minutes+ for a table and very slow service.  Otherwise cabin kept very clean, entertainment good and had a lovely time.

Ship's crew were all wonderful and very helpful.  The food was great, though if you ate at the buffet the choices repeated a lot except for the deserts which were varied and all delicious. 

The shore excursions were terrific and they had them very well organized. 

The internet service was TERRIBLE, not worth the money (which they did return part of the cost).  It was purchased by minutes and it was so slow that it could take you 20 minutes to do 1 thing, if you didn't lose your connection & have to start over.

In 24 days we only had 4 sea days. Most of the ports were great with few exceptions, Sarande, Almeria & Marseille. Service & food were excellent as well as the entire staff. Shows could have been better!

The Itinerary was changed because of the trouble in Turkey.  Split was also cancelled and we went to Kotor Montenegro and Sarande, Albania. 

Had a good time but I am glad I did my own research before we left as the cruise ship does not give out much information on the ports.

Kotor is nice for the beautiful bay.  Sarande is under construction and there is lots of trash.  Don't bother to leave the beach area.  On the other hand, eat and drink.  Prices are from the 1970s!  They take Euros too.

Food was the WORST food I have ever had besides carnival.  12 days of the same tasteless, terrible buffet food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dining roon food tasteless. 

Excursions and transportation a total rip off.  For everything through other companies who have far more for half the cost. 

Entertainment was embarrassing to watch it was so bad.  

Ship is old. 

Bartenders are rude and lazy. 

I have been on 8 cruises with several lines and this is the only one I have ever despised line I do carnival.  Take a Royal Caribbean cruise and you will know exactly what I mean. 

Took hours to tender taking our time from port. 

Not a single on board activity that was free. Nicked and dimed for everything you wanted to do. 

Ship shut down at 11pm every night.  Never had anything to do 

The ports schedule was very good and the stewards and bar staff were very friendly. However ongoing issues with toilet and air conditioning were a problem. Food was nice but very difficult to get a table when you wanted even if you reserved well in advance. It was difficult to find food on the ship between 8.30 and 10.30  as the buffet close and room service took an hour and the main dinning area closed around nine. HAL advertises to be an upmarket ship but was very casual so it was a waste to take the tuxedo . Shorts, jandals and jeans were seen in the main dinning area often and gala night for many was very casual.  The atmosphere was just  not as they advertise to be, with kids running everywhere and even in the bars. HAL seems to be trying to change its market but not catering to any one group in particular. This was our third Holland cruise and second on the Oosterdam and we are likely to try another line in the future. Sorry HAL not what you used to be!

They try hard but could do a lot better.

Excursion prices and variety of selection and organization  is laughable. For instance there was a walking tour of Monaco at near $100 per person. We did that tour ourselves and more and was quite simple to do. The other was $200 per person to Florence and Pisa. We did the same line they use for $40 per person in US Dollars and $25 for kids.. That is a jaw dropping 82% reduction in cost and again, saw much more.  

Entertainment was good in some respects when people were brought in from the outside and marginal at best when from within, but the director is clearly limited by the cruise lines budget. He is a good person , is creative, and is forced to work within the limited budget he is dealt.  Improvements to budgets for more quality and value for entertainment to guests definitely needed.

While we were upgraded , we paid a price. We were upgraded next to a cabin of people that were very inconsiderate to others . While the crew helped, for instance with loud thundering noises at 12 midnight , and switched us to a different room later in the cruise, proper control was limited. Not the way you you want to spend your vacation.

Sr. Management (not on the ship) seems to be  more of political lip service and appear to favor those who take extended cruises and spend money at the casino.While i was respected for patience and told that, and it was sincere, the overall experience certainly could have been better. We will see what is done based on the inconvenience which was both notable and tremendous. 

it also took three days with numerous phone calls and near badgering to fix the following in our stateroom, and this is a suite: (i) air conditioning was not working properly (in 90 degree heat) and took three days to fix, (ii) the jets in the tub were not functioning and took five days to fix,(iii) the shower head arm needed replacement (not fixed, i gave up). Then when we were switched rooms, the toilet didn't work. After it was fixed, it took pushing the handle five to ten times to flush properly. band aid approaches simply don't work with customers who have taken multiple cruises. I shouldn't need to be put in a position  where i start to feel like i am a near tenant advocate to fix things on my vacation. Proper quality control is needed to inspect and fix things, and not fix things only when numerous and follow up complaints are generated by guests. 

The stateroom attendants and the neptune lounge attendants were excellent and made the cruise good which was otherwise lousy and unacceptable due to some of the other localized guests who clearly didn't take care of their own children as well as the maintenance items due to lack of quality control.. 

The maitre'd at the dining room was especially entertaining. While our dining room steward was excellent, the maitre'd was a joke. He just always had something condescending to say, and appeared to not like his guests. We stopped going there after the third day due to his attitude and ate dinner in the room and enjoyed the balcony.Holland would be wise to find people more accommodating to their guests, but of course, it's probably a question of budget.

The food quality was good to very good , but the selection repetitive. Again, other lines do better.

Services to children, are mundane, to non existent. Our children went to these services on other cruise lines and even Holland's Baltic cruise, which were better. On this cruise, we did not bother. We saw it, and we left. 

Holland has a boat size that gives you the opportunity to land and not tender at many ports which is unique and why we did a second cruise with Holland. but the other lack of services and inconveniences definitely detract from this. 

Holland would be wise to improve its services from inspection and quality control of its staterooms and functions, a better budget and accommodation regarding shore excursions and entertainment as well as better treatment of its ship employees who actually work very hard to try to ensure you enjoy your stay. Unfortunately, their limited budget, tight ham fisted approach, detract from that. 

This is why the title is "They try hard, but could do a lot better". 

Great dinner table added to experience.  Lincoln Center entertainment was exceptional. Staff was very pleasant and accommodating.  Ports very similar so excursions are necessary.

Favorite part of cruise - the port stops were incredible.

Things needing improvement - the ship is lacking in fun activities like tennis or rock climbing.

Most important is the deal we received and the explanation to how we received a change in balcony when a price decrease was available days after booked the cruise.  A change of $400 was the decrease.  Let your customer choose the way to receive that change.  I'm displeased with cheap cruises in not allowing us to get the right to choose what we wanted.

This was our 10th cruise but our first on Holland America. We became aware of this cruise via a Groupon email. Three weeks later we were on our way. We stayed in Barcelona and Rome for an extra few days. Barcelona was new and Rome was a revisit. The Oosterdam was refurbished three years ago so it was fresh and clean. Services and food was very good. The excursions offer by were far less than what are offered by Holland America. If you book the cruise through  Holland America will not let you book an excursion prior to the cruise date. Also, frequently the CruiseOnly excursions had pick up meeting locations a good walking distance from the cruise ship terminal while the Holland America  excursions had their pick up right as you come out of the terminal. The CruiseOnly folks were very helpful getting our air travel. I found out later they used Holland America's travel service. 

If if I had to do it over I would search the Internet for deals but book directly with the cruise line. Holland America is a good choice. 

The Oosterdam was recently refurbished and just beautiful.  The crew is all so fantastic.  I am a seasoned cruiser and can absolutely tell you this was one of the more memorable cruises I have been on.

NICE SHIP AND CREW. PORTS OF CALL WERE INTERESTING. KEEPS YOU VERY BUSY.. SHIP IS NOT SO BIG AS TO GET LOST.  GET "NO WAIT IN LINE" TICKETS TO SITES IN ADVANCE. 

all of the ship facilities met my expectation. However, the food, excursions and the travel coordinator need much improvement. The food was directed mostly to presentation than to taste. Tasted more like precooked food, few times it was served warm/cold not hot. Food selection and taste was not near as good as Mediterranean food. Excursions were very expensive. The travel director should have been more informative and specific to those who elected not to use onboard excursions. local maps should have bee supplied to find their way on the islands.

My favorite part of the cruise was Italy, Greece, Turkey, France and Spain.  Oops - Do I really need to pick one. Well I guess cruising with Holland is the best part.  Great food, great service and great entertainment.  The staff were friendly, courteous and always there when you needed them.  Too much really good food. (That can be bad !!)  We always felt safe on the ship and on shore.  The entertainment on the cruise was fantastic.  From classical to blues rock music and a great stage crew show. 

We were on the ship after it spent 2 weeks in dry dock.  It should have stayed there another week or two to finish the job instead of using our cruise to try to finish it.  The first 2 days of our cruise the ship was filthy from the construction and the new carpet was shedding so bad and it looked and smelled terrible.  They were adding 10 new rooms on during our cruise so because of the noise they kept the pool covered most of the time making it unusable because of the heat!  Problems with hot water in the shower the first 2 days, and the toilet wouldn't flush several times.  We also sailed 6 hours late due to problems with the ship.

They did not refurbish the rooms so the carpet was dirty and had not been vacuumed.  The balcony deck, window/railing were filthy most of the time, also.  I don't appreciate the cruise line using my well paid for vacation to finish their construction!  The Le Cirque experience was not worth the extra money by any means.  We tried to order 3 different wines from the wine list that were "not in stock"!!  Why have them on the wine list?  The beverage manager we spoke to about it, JJ, was like, "sorry, oh well!"  Never offered another wine at the same price or anything!!  $100+ wines by the way! 

The rest of the staff on board was very nice and accommodating, though.  The food was good and we enjoyed eating in the dining room!  There was a wonderful salad bar where the staff made it for you and other fresh alternatives, like an omelet station, as I am not a fan of buffets.  Loved our itinerary and was very surprised how clean, beautiful and friendly Turkey was!  We felt very safe there!  Comedian was funny, band in the BB King Lounge was good, but other entertainment was lacking.

The 12 Night Adriatic Dream is a wonderful itinerary. We went to the main ports/cities in different countries. All of them are fascinating in their own way. 

The excursions were excellent and the guides very knowledgeable. They are very well organized and professional.

The ship had problems with maintenance because we feel that it was taken out of dry-dock too soon. There were repairs being done while we were navigating. At the end, they had to change all of the ship's propellers!

Still, it was a great trip!

has the harry james band playing almost every night-fabulous music

But the so called digital classes were terrible, both the teacher and not connected to the internet

We completely enjoyed the transatlantic cruise on the Oosterdam. Our balcony cabin was larger than many other cruise lines we have sailed on. The service was great all around. Our room attendant was flexible in his cleaning times as we were very lazy, brought us ice, extra towels whenever we asked quickly. Dining room and specialty wait staff were excellent as well. Shore excursions were interesting and competitively priced. We also made Rome hotel, transfer and air arrangements with HAL. They had staff at the hotel and at the airport that were very helpful. This was our 5th HAL cruise and we will surely cruise with them again.

Our ten days southern cruise easy so much fun. The service was excellent. Port of calls were very nice. Weather was warm. Food was good, lots to choose from.