Oosterdam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

1. Ship is old but in good condiion

2. Staff are Generally friendly. Noticed (slight) discrmination toward 

    non-whte passengers (Paid more attention to the white passengers).

3. Food needs some improvements Not as good as before.. 

4. Everything seemed more expensive as compare to our previous cruises

5. Excursion directors not performing as excepted and as attentive. 

Otherwise, we are fairly satisfied. 

This cruise was very good for us.  We met many friendly and interesting people.  The food was excellent, the service friendly and helpful.  Our cabin was comfortable and pleasant. We were not happy with the many many extra charges for everything, including soft drinks and cookies, and the high charge for WiFi.

Service was excellent; food was good. Shore excursions were very good but excursion office and staff were very limited in access once on board. We were sorely disappointed when the trip was rerouted mid- cruiseand eliminated Fjord land National Park and Hobart, Tasmania. Talk amongst guests was that this happens often. We would have chosen a different cruise or time to go if we had known this. Loved our main deck room; service from cheap was outstanding.

Our first cruise was better than expected.  Not having cruised before, we thought the food was great, inside stateroom was better than I was prepared for and most of all the weather was superb!  We enjoyed all shore excursions, whale photography, dog mushing and sea kayaking.  Was somewhat disappointed in the HalCats and the Piano Bar duo.  

This was our first cruise.  We had wanted to go to Alaska for several years.  Finally, everything fell into place and we were able to go.  We enjoyed the variety of activities.  There was no pressure on participating--just too many to choose from.  We enjoyed the variety in places to eat and the menu choices.  Top restaurants here in the US don't compare.  We enjoyed our suite and the spaciousness.  The room stewards were great!  Everyone was very accommodating.  We would definitely recommend Holland America Line!  

While we thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful scenery, especially glacier bay, we were unimpressed with the Oosterdam. The food was just a bit above average. There were no noticeable decorative food displays, such as breads made in shapes of animals or fruits shaped into objects. There was no special desert showing, such as a "chocalate extravaganza" . The best food we had was probably the hamburgers served by the pool - they were excellent. The dining hours were not convenient if you wanted to go to the 7:00 entertainment as the Lido deck restaurant closed ar 8:00.

We are not alcohol drinkers and were continualky pestered to buy drinks if we sat down to listen to music in one of the lounges - there were no free soft drinks available that we were aware of.

Our room was very nice as were all the staff people we dealt with other than those who pestered us to by drinks.

The entertainment was fairly good, though nothing very memorable.

My husband and I will likely not choose a Holland cruise in the future, 

MOST EVERY THING WAS GREAT, BUT A FEW THINGS WOULD HAVE MADE IT BETTER..... FIRST DAY WITH TIME CHANGE WAS UP BY 6 A.M. WENT TO GET A CUP OF COFFEE ????? WELL GOOD LUCK .. NO COFFEE .NO TEA . NO NOTHING  GOT OFF TO A POOR START??????? WE HAVE BEEN ON TWO OTHER LINES WELL HOLLAND IS IN 3 PLACE

We were very excited to begin our cruise to Alaska as we had planned it for over a year.  Boarding was easy and with no wait and we were told that our rooms were ready so we went to them to see what they were like.  Our room was fine but we were in a Suite but my 86 year old mother and my daughter were in a tiny room the size of a bath.  We could not even get her wheelchair in without folding it up.  They agreed to try it one night and see if it would work.  Our group was in excess of 20 people so we were seated together at four tables in the dining room.  We quickly found out that the service was lacking.  No one would come to see if we wanted a drink and the wine steward usually showed up when our food did.  We frequently did not get something we ordered and the terrible coffee would arrive after the desert.  On the second day, we complained about my Mom's room and after arguing with a supervisor, they were moved to a larger room.  We went to the show in the theater and the cast was assembled from the crew and nothing was in English and terribly done. We went to other shows later in the cruise and they were better but only lasted barely over 30 minutes.  There were very few options each day for activities that did not cost an arm and a leg and the same was true for shore excursions.  The menu choices were minimal unless you wanted a sandwich, breakfast or desert.  On Wednesday night we were told that the Yukon and White Pass train had derailed and when we hit Skagway, there would be four cruise ships there and over 8,000 people trying to replace this excursion.  I believe that the ship tried to take advantage of this by pricing the remaining excursions higher than normal.  The train trip was $129 round trip and $199 with a bus tour added.  After the derailment, a longer bus tour was priced over $100 instead of less. I left the pier when we arrived at Skagway and was able to get a flight seeing tour for $199 per person where the ship wanted double. I believe that the operators knew that they had a captive group in need of excursions and took advantage of those who booked through them with the scare that if something happened and they missed the ship, the cruise was over, as the next two days were at sea.  we were extremely disappointed with our trip that we spent thousands of dollars and a year planning.  Needless to say, we will not be on Holland America again.

Had a great time aboard, especially going through the national park of New Zealand, Fiord Land.  breathtaking scenery,   Crew aboard were very attentive to the needs of the passengers,  Very fun to be around.

We booked an inner cabin (5023).  The first night we hit rough seas and it sounded like a wrecking ball was hitting our cabin.  At 3 in the morning I called the front desk to report it and they said it was just rough seas, however we were unable to sleep all night with the vibration of the room and the banging.  In the morning I reported it to the front desk at which time the person I spoke to said that they had not heard of any other complaints, but she would look into it and get back to us.  By the end of that day, she had not gotten back to us, so I spoke to the customer relations Supervisor who said that if it happend again, call immediately and someone would be sent to the cabin.  Well, that night, again we hit rough seas and the same thing happened.  I called the desk and they sent an engineer who immediately heard the noise.  He told us that in the middle of the ship are two plates that are there to stabilize the ship in rough seas.  He also told us that other people had reported it (as opposed to what we were told at the desk). Obviously, this is a common problem, but when we first reported it, they spoke to us like they didn't know what we were talking about.  They moved us to a different cabin that night to sleep, and the next morning the Supervisor moved us permanently to a different cabin that did nt have that problem.  The Customer Relations Supervisor handled it in a professional manner (as opposed to the first two people we spoke to) and he comped us and our guests for a dinner at one of the restaurants.

Outside of the room problem the cruise was excellent.  The food was very good (no "WOW" factor, but very good) and our Stewart in the dining room was outstanding.  The entertainment was very good for the most part, with the highlight being when the ship's staff gave a presentation of their National Cultures (one night Phillipine and the other night Indonisian).

The only other negative feeling of the cruise is on one of the formal nights we had black and white pcitures taken as well as the ones they take of you when you enter the dining room.  We purchased the formal pictures (set of 5 for $99).  We went back to see the black and white photos and six of them were outstanding at which time we asked what the price would be.  $875 for the 6 photos which I found outrageous.  If we didn't want them developed and just receive a digital copy (CD) it would ONLY be $750.  That's more than $100 a photo just to take the photo and download it to CD.  While we loved the way the pictures came out, we passed on the offer as this asking price is rediculous.

We had a fantastic cruise with Holland America on the Oosterdam, Great service, clean and sparkling boat, Super food and we even had great weather. I recommend the trip and this ship to everyone wanting to see the sights Alaska has to offer.

The Oosterdam is a great ship but is showing her age. Our stateroom was a sky suite. The carpet was stained in many places so much so we kept our shoes on the entire time. The walls were stained with some white substance or discoloration. We had dirty bath robes in our room and one drawer was filled with dirty clothes from a previous guest. If this is the "suite" treatment for Holland America is it subpar to other lines such as Celebrity which I usually cruise on. The evening entertainment was good but overall social programmning was poor with not enough diversity of activities. The "naturalist"was poor, she read her remarks with all the passion of someone reading the phone book.

Great sailing and a good experience. Whale of a time! The Tracy Arm was absolutely amazing. Food was good but seems like cruses aren't what they used to be. Smaller ships equals better service.

I have been on Holland America before and enjoyed it so that is why we picked them again! we did enjoy the cruise the stateroom could have been bigger as we had four of us or they could have recommended a different type room! other than that the food was great as always, and service was great!

We have cruised six times with other cruise lines, but I can honestly say that we have never eaten better than on this cruise. We never ate in the 'pay extra' restaurants, but the Vista Dinner room had the MOST INCREDIBLE food! Beautiful presentation, divine taste....Buffet food was average cruise food. Make sure you make the effort to eat in the dining room. You will not regret it!

Crew and food were all was wonderful - very helpful, polite, kind. The cruise director was fun to listen to, very organized and worked very hard. Food great and service also. The only thing I found a little disappointing was the availability of late night activities. Most everything closed down at 11:00 PM and I would have liked to stay up later with music and dancing.

You wait on along line to be served, when you get there the meat or chicken that the carver is cutting from is down to the bone....so you get scraps then you cant find a place to sit......also at breakfast they should have some breads like bananna or zuccini breads or coffee cake....like they do on carnival......otherwise,it was a good cruise........please work out the problems on the lidon

The ship is somewhat worn and dated. The first couple of evenings in the dining room the service was not very good. The third night we moved to the other side of the dining room and the service there was excellent for the rest of our cruise. Our cabin attendant was at times slow. We would leave the cabin for an extended period of time and come back and find the cabin still not made up. For the most part he was very good. The bed was always turned down at night with a towel animal and chocolates in place. Over all the cruise was very acceptable and pleasant. This was my wife's first cruise and she was very pleased.

This was the first Holland America cruise my husband and I took. We enjoyed the smaller size ship and found that the seating space around the ship was vast and also provided enjoyment to view the beauty of Alaska. The luggage arrived in the room earlier than anticipated and our room stewards were excellent, provided service when needed. We did call the front desk about a leak in the bathroom near the toilet and/under the sink. Service again was made in a timely manner. We were a bit disappointed that our room provided no chair for the table. There was a small under counter stool but we would have benefited from an additional chair. Room service for ordering breakfast was excellent, food arrived hot and on time. The meals on the cruise were wonderful and we enjoyed the afternoon teas, we were disappointed that the chocolate extravaganza in the evening we were hoping for never happened. The terrace grill on lido deck provided good food and we enjoyed having the taco bar. The lido buffet gave numerous cuisine options. We enjoyed the food cooking demos by David and Chief Guru. Three members in our party participated in the cooking class that culminated with eating in the pinnacle grill for lunch. This was an excellent value for $29 to be able to cook with a professional chef who was very accommodating and enjoyable to be with. We booked one excursion from the cruise line in Ketichan and enjoyed our visit to Saxman village with the Tlignit people. The lumberjack show was comical and okay but we would have preferred to have more time to shop and visit in the city area. Our time in Juneau was excellent and we booked whale watching, Mendenhall glacier and dog musher experience on our own. The Juneau whale watch company is an excellent group to work with and made for a great Alaskan experience! The cruise had some good selection and variety of live shows. The screening room that showed currently released movies was too small to accommodate large number of guests. The photographers photo gallery was a bit of a disappointment. However, we did purchase one of the DVD videos of our ship's destination which was excellent and a good keepsake. We had "expedited" disembarkation which was poorly managed. We were told to go to the back of a line that had other people that were not expedited. Our stateroom letter indicated the expedited category which apparently meant nothing. We would recommend that HA address this and ask to see the letter or have a separate line indicating expedited customers for the future. Fortunately, we did arrive to the airport in time to go through a very long security but things moved very quickly and we were able to board our flight back home to Atlanta. The booking process for this Alaskan cruise was okay but not as good as we had previously on a former cruise. On the previous cruise, there was more followup communication after booking. We initiated bookings for 4 cabins on the first cruise and 3 cabins on this cruise.

singers and dancers were average, their last performance was the best, had some poorly prepared food, some good, food on lido deck repetitive, illusionist performance was excellent, room fine, motion of ship in ocean was fairly rough, expected it to be smoother, staff were excellent and very helpful and friendly