Oosterdam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The Oosterdam was a boring ship designed around catering to the older less active cruisers. There is chamber music, the have a BB King blues club that never palpated Blues! The most attended thing on the ship was the America’s Test Kitchen demo! The casino opens at noon and closes early! There are limited gaming tables. The Hold’em poker table is ELECTRONIC! No dealer, no cards, no chips! BORING!

It was a great experience and will use the cruise line again

I dont like being told I have to write an overview. Lose this requirement

We love sailing on Holland America. The Oosterdam is a beautiful ship and service is always excellent.

This was our first cruise. We are now loyal HAL patrons. My husband says, "We were treated like a rich relative with a terminal illness." (I suspect they were trying to bump us off with the French Onion Soup!)

We had a very good time. Loved the Oosterdam and Holland America. Overall, two thumbs up.

Enjoyed a nice, relaxing cruise. Great staff and great meals. We loved the refurbished Signature Suite with the new large, interactive TV. We were disappointed that we could not tender to Grand Cayman, however that was a safety issue. Our only complaint is that the Internet packages are becoming exceedingly expensive. Those who wish to check-in online for their return flight home and pre-select a good seat a day in advance are forced to purchase a full one-day internet package.

Ship was clean. Service on Holland is always spectacular. Friendliest crew ever. Pay attention to announcements- they do not bother you with repeated announcements. Some folks missed activities.

Our cruise was lovely. Perfect weather, perfect service, perfect food and great entertainment.

Nov 24 thru Dec 1st Oosterdam Caribbean. Cabin VC5024 Many reviews said ship was worn, dirty, food cold and over cooked. I found none of these to be true. All areas of ship were clean, staff constantly cleaning and polishing. Cabin was on deck 5 port side near bow. One of the quietest cabins during my previous 30 cruises. This was my second on HAL. Several months ago sailed on Veendam. Casino on that cruise was virtually empty every night. This cruise the casino was hopping every night. It was completely smoke free. Food was never over cooked. Veggies were al dente, meat was cooked as requested. Only complaint here was in Lido where a family played board games during peak hours every day while others were waiting for a clean table. I asked head waiter why he didn’t ask them to move, he said he reminded them but never told them to move. Unlike most other non HAL cruises, pools were rarely used with no need to stake out chairs in the morning. Only complaint was that the few children on ship who were in the pool and hot tubs were not potty trained. There was not enforcement by cruise staff. I remembers previous cruise where pool had to be closed for several days due to a diaper accident. Found Billboard dueling piano with male and female singers to be crowd favorites. I understood that that next cruise would have two male singers. Not sure how that will work out with so many female leads in many of their songs. Overall wonderful cruise with only those minor complaints.

Food: This was the biggest disappointment by far. The buffet food was bland and seemed to be targeted to the overeating crowd. They do have some healthier options, but they are harder to find and get old quick. The room service breakfast was almost inedible due to the enormous amounts of grease. The dining room food was almost always over cooked. The fast food joint on the ship is exceptional (I had to find the urge to go there everyday). The Cannaletto is worth the extra cost and everything that we had there was good. The Pinnacle is absolutely not worth the additional cost as it is no better than the dining room food. Rooms: No complaints. It was actually much roomier than I was anticipating and everything worked well. Service: Outstanding everywhere. The staff is very polite and warmly greet you whenever you pass them. They answer questions cheerfully and expect explain things very clearly. I will say that the officers seemed conceited and standoffish, but this may have just been the stark contrast to their exceptional staff. Activities: There was a lot, but geared toward an older crowd. I had a hard time finding anything of interest and my children did too. Facilities: Pretty limited. The gym was much appreciated. The basketball court was fun, but almost always very crowded and poorly stocked. I avoided the pools as they seemed way too small to me for the number of sitting in them. I do have bigger concerns regarding sanitary conditions than most people. The ship was OK, but I think I’ll avoid it in the future.

This was more than we expected. Our agent was awesome in helping us understand each cruise line and what to expect. Without her patience and attention to detail, we might have chosen wrong but now we have become cruisers and have booked not only another cruise with Holland America but we are looking at an additional cruise in 2019 ... Hats off to cruise.com !!!

2018_11 Holland America Oosterdam Caribbean cruise Our first cruise and we were excited in the weeks before but once we boarded, we were awed way beyond expectations by the ship and our cabin. Everything was fantastic ! I think our Signature Suite 8055, which was way larger than we expected, was largely responsible. There was *nothing* wrong with this cabin - wonderful air conditioning around the clock, the most comfortable beds ever, 3 lockers, a shower and jet tub in the bathroom, and a generous balcony - it was fantastic and we loved every minute of it. I guess the one issue was - we were under the pool deck (I think) and there was a lot of sound from lounge chairs being setup in the morning - but it did not bother us - and I am someone who is sensitive to sound. The fitness center was fantastic - large with lots of machines and great views over the bow. I stuck to dumbbells and the Precor upright bikes which offered lots of resistance. The $20 "fill a bag" laundry service was fantastic - I thought they would just wash and fold - but they pressed - and well! Pinnacle Grill was great - beautiful decor and great food although my steak was a wee bit overcooked. Lovely service. Cannaletto - the other premium restaurant - seemed like it was just a money grab. It's merely a carved out section of the Lido Market - not a separate restaurant - and TBH I think they're serving the same food you'd get in the Market. Get a salad and a build-your-own-pasta from Lido Grill instead - there I just saved you $15. Speaking of Lido Market - we thought it was pretty good generally but there were some real misses such as the filet mignon which was quite a disappointment, and the soups which never were that good. The salad bar was great, the "build your own pasta" was great, the asian section was great. Here's the thing tho - HAL mentions "legendary service" on their website. When it comes to the eating and drinking areas, I'd call it "questionable service". We were served water/tea only about 30% of the time in the Lido Grill. The bartenders were noticeably not pleasant - not angry or anything - just sort of procedural. In the 'fancy' dining room, I watched waiters traverse back and forth by our table for 15 minutes before I raised my arms to get one to stop for a bread refill. (Apart from that, we did enjoy The Dining Room on 3 different nights including Thanksgiving dinner which was quite good). Our cabin stewards were delightful and never failed to greet us by name from the moment we boarded. If all of the mandatory daily tip went to them, I would be ok with that. We didn't attend much on-board entertainment - we were too tired by 9pm! The trivia games were fun, and the casino, tho small, was enjoyable. The lounges / bars / common areas were mostly gorgeous. The Lincoln Center venue was good, tho small, and there were only brief performances here and there. The Digital presentations were pretty good - good instructor. The "Onshore Shopping" presentation was merely a diamond sales pitch, I'm willing to bet by employees of the diamon sellers. The shops were meh. The pool areas always seemed to have chairs and pool space available. I thought they would be chock-full but they weren't. We bought the thermal suite 7-day pass for $219/couple (we paid $250 in advance but they reversed the charge to $219 altho as I think about it they may have double-charged us - need to check). Thermal pool is great but wish it was a degree or two hotter. Never crowded. We enjoyed the Thermal Suite altho we used it only 4 or 5 times so next time, maybe just pay the daily fee. Couple gripes I have with their Navigator smartphone app. Missing/Incorrect information is a pet peeve of mine, especially when it is so easy to get it right, to everyone's benefit. - it says there are no ATMs onboard. This is wrong. There is one adjacent to customer service. Which I learned after waiting in line at customer service. BTW customer service charges 3% for cash advance, the ATM is flat $6. - I had to go to Infirmary one day. Navigator says *nothing* about infirmary. Turns out, it is open only certain hours, and you have to go to the *front* of the ship to get there. Navigator offers all sorts of ways to buy dining and excursions, but zero about a possible necessity like the infirmary. Disembarkation was annoying (is it ever not?) - the printed instructions were not clear - and we did not appreciate seeing a HAL employee bark at everyone, roll his eyes and shake his head at guests (who were paying his salary), when they failed to follow the routine, quite likely due to the poor/incomplete printed instructions.

Excellent cruise line for mature adults. Food and drinks were excellent, and it was a nice time of year to get away.

I loved the Oosterdam and the refurbishment, Loved the BB King All Star Band and the Lincoln Center group. The shows were well done with the dancing and singing too.

The Holland America brand is targetted towards a crowd that will be asleep in their staterooms by 10:00PM. While the casino remains open 24 hours/day, all bars shut down by midnight. The activities are designed for people who want to remain seated -- don't expect kareoke or a dancing with a DJ.

We LOVED it!!!!! All the places we’ve ever wanted to see. So much to do that you can’t do it all. Pick the spots that are bucket list and hit them. You won’t be disappointed!

One of the best HAL cruises we have been on fabulous ship ,cabin crew and staff

Loved the trip, due to only one day at sea. Fantastic ports and experiences.

A very rigorous and fast paced cruise with 11 ports in 12 days. Be ready for breakfast in the room or early risers almost every day