Oosterdam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

If you're looking for a cruise with majestic scenery and  pampered treatment with excellent dining menus and service, this cruise should be your choice. We booked a Neptune suite so we expected the best and Holland America lived up to their promise.  To this cruiseline, detail means everything.

Mixed: Several big disappointments (see \"cons\"), but outside of those things went well and were enjoyable.

We were prepared for the rain that is typical on this itinerary, especially late in the year, but we got very lucky and had no rain at all!  The ports were nice, although these towns have really become tourist destinations, with lots of t-shirt shops and jewelry stores.  We focused on the outdoors experiences and were very happy with them.  The glaciers, forests, wildlife and scenery were just outstanding.  I took many hundreds of photos.  The Oosterdam was nice, but not exceptional.  We did like the slightly smaller size ship, and they catered to the scenic nature of the cruise with frequent opening of optional decks for viewing opportunities.  We saw whales, dolphins, bears, eagles, otters, seals, and salmon ;-).

none, other than the weather after leaving Vancouvern which the ship/line has no control over. The ship was excellent.

This was our first cruise and we were extremely pleased.  Our cabin stewards were great we rarely saw them and service was always great.  

The food and service were good up until the last day or two.  Service in the vista restaurant began to slow down notably in serving drinks and coffee deserts were served before coffee and glasses were not refilled as fast.  This was true at each meal time over the last two days.

The other thing that was frustrating was the high cost of Wi-Fi Connection.

We enjoyed the entertainment and we enjoyed the scenery.

The Captain did an excellent job of keeping us informed of where viewing for wildlife would be and enough fore warning to get to a viewing point.

Overall we had an excellent trip.

Thanks

Quite an experience. Huge ship, pleasant staff, tons of good food, fun activities, great ports. What can I say. I do recommend at least one cruise in everyones life.

The food was always cold and sometimes half cooked. Entertainment was good when there was some.  The real topping on the cake was on our departure for the land portion of our trip.  We had to leave at 6:15 am,  not a problem. I had to wait in line to get my statement and had no time to review it till I got home. I found that I was charged $50 for a DVD that wasn't returned. We never used any DVD's. I wonder how many other passengers were had like this.  On the land portion of our trip our bus transfers dropped us at the wrong place twice.  So you should understand why I find it hard to recomend Holland America! 

I loved the land portion of my trip but the ship cruise was very disappointing.The crew was not that friendly or helpful.This was my retirement cruise which I saved up for and having spent so much money,I was extremely disappointed in the cruise. Holland reps who helped me plan my trip were "REALLY" great! The people on the land portion were above and beyond what I exspected...very friendly,very informative and genuinely wanted us to enjoy the trip of a lifetime.The ship ship disappointed us,in every way!! From the entertainment,the limited dining,but most of all the crew and staff did not make me feel special like I feel on Royal Caribbean cruises! My room steward was the exeception...he always greeted us pleasantly and used our names.

The itinerary was appealing, but could have been improved by eliminating one NZ city and adding Hobart, Tasmania. There beverage policies were not appealing. Their new corkage policy is wildly unpopular with their HAL stalwarts. Only being able to pre-order room beverages but not after you get on board is also unpopular. Viking allows one person to buy the beverage package, but HAL requires both parties to buy it even if the other person doesn't drink. Does this eliminate abuse? Yes, but it also puts honest cruisers off.

low quality on what really matters.

This was our first cruise. It was a great choice for a first time. The food was the best on any of the three cruises we’ve been on. The weather was perfect an I highly reccommend this time of year for a trip to Alaska. We were very impressed with Holland America enough that we have booked three more cruises with them.

The service people on the ship were wonderful. They really pampered you and it was so nice to be treated so well. The ship was very nice but, had some worn carpets which could be replaced. The sink in our cabin had a big crack in it which could be replaced as well. But, the service, food and overall experience was wonderful. Holland seems to be very conscience of cleanliness we felt really good about that. You can not serve yourself in the buffet line until 48 hours after you sail which is a wonderful way to keep the germs from spreading.

To many passengers

Ship is old and needs renovations. Food is eatable but uninteresting.

in port it looked very inferior to Princess line ship, design room was too small at entrance kids everywhere, taking over hot tubs and all activities

The ship was great. The staff was outstanding as to service and helpfulness.

This ship is designed for a 7 day cruise. Very limited closet space. No lights in the closet or shower.

This ships cabins are not designed for a 14 day cruise. The cabin space is minimal and we had a veranda suite! The inside cabins are very tiny. No closet space. Seating for meals was great, and space in the lounge areas was great, just the cabin space was poor.

The Crow's nest combined with the library is not a good idea. Always too crowded at noisy, not conducive at all to reading or computer work. The public spaces very far apart. The cigarrete smoke from the Sports Bar can be smelled in decks above and bellow.

We sailed to Alaska and were very unhappy. I was so looking forward to this cruise for the past 5 years. We were celebrating our 40th Wedding Anniversary and saved for 5 years. The ship was not at all as to what I expected. The stateroom was small and old with holes in the pillows on the sofa. Not what we thought it would be. Would no travel on this ship again.