Oosterdam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

I would not recommend this ship. The restaurant food was fair. The cruise director did not have enough actives planned. Also lacks venues where to sit with friends

Both my wife and I very very happy and pleased with our trip. This was a celebration of our 25 anniversary, and we had dreamed of this trip our whole marriage. I was amazing, thank you Holland America for making the trip so memorable.

This cruise covers the beginning of civilization, A to Z. There were so many highlights starting in Rome with the Coliseum, Palatine hill and the Vatican than going to Naples and seeing Pompeii . All of the Greek Isles were unique and seeing the Acropolis and the temples to the Greek gods were amazing.

This was our first Holland America cruise and will probably be our last. Food was very low quality and tasteless. Only good food was at the restaurants that you had to pay extra for. Dining very disorganized. Many folks were wait listed for early dinner, yet many assigned it never came. Many empty seats. Special thank you lunch from captain was horrible food and service. We were warned by our waiter not to go, but went as we thought he was exaggerating, he wasn’t. Food choices very limited, waiters got orders wrong, we had to wait long time for service and could not get water glasses refilled. Very few on board activities we were interested in. Pickle ball scheduled and advertised but didn’t happen. Table shuffle board did not have sand so table not playable. On boarding and off boarding was very smooth. Went on a few excursions. Although planned well, too many guests came that were not capable of climbing stairs when it was clearly stated or mountain biking again clearly stated. They slowed down the groups and changed what we could do. Luckily we had only purchased 3 through the cruise line. Will not do that again. Really enjoyed the excursions I booked through Costco and other vendors. Smaller groups and folks that were able to handle how strenuous the activities were.

The overall experience was terrific. The Disembarkation was a mess. Seems like every ship was in port at the same time. Buses were there but, you there was lack of direction.

Ship needs to be refurbished. But overall, the staff was great and we enjoyed the ports.

It has plenty of areas to find a quiet place.Smooth ride, very organize when arriving to all ports. Great shows. The casino is small. The food was wonderful with a variety of foods to choose from.

I'm in my 30s and perhaps that is the problem, I know that we are not the target audience for this cruise. We went with my father in law who is in a wheel chair and I will say that they did a reasonably good job at making things work for him. I suspect better than other lines. Their ground staff was in constant confusion and no one really knew what was going on, getting things resolved took multiple phone calls. Our pre-cruise hotel was oversold and holland completely dropped the ball on that and the transfers. The post cruise transfer was also really poorly managed and required standing the sun for 3 hours with our bags. But - they did have options for people in wheel chairs and it more or less worked out. At one port, they didn't have any employees in the terminal and sent us the wrong direction killing 30 minutes of our tour. The activities onboard were the worst I've ever experienced. I don't know if the cruise director has any additional staff helping her, but I only ever saw her. They didn't really schedule any activities, certainly nothing after 8pm. Many days were spent reading since there was nothing to do other than seminars trying to get your money or live classical music. Trivia was only scheduled in the middle of dinner every day. no Karaoke. no other little things to do to pass the time. Feedback was provided via their mobile "app" but no one ever followed up. Speaking of the mobile app, it's not a mobile app, but a web page really. Carnival (their parent company) has a brilliant mobile app which includes chat and other feature and the ability to message people. While holland has this function, it doesn't notify the other person, which makes it useless. The food and service was second to none, mostly. Things are a bit confusing since they try to offer additional service over other lines - like you can't put food on your own plate at the lido, they get you drinks and such, but they don't have the staff to really handle this efficiently, so I ate breakfast without drink 2 or 3 times. Being a bit more pushy would have likely worked to help me. High end food options were everywhere, smoked salmon on the lido buffet in the morning, real, quality lobster tails in the main dining room, etc. Note that breakfast in the main dining room was actually a bit worse than the lido breakfast. It didn't have any additional options, actually less options. All in all, it was a good cruise, but I don't think I'm their target audience. I wouldn't pay a premium for this cruise over NCL for example.

Lots of little issues that added up to make for a poor experience

Cruise and crew were fantastic. WIFI was the worst I have ever seen.

I have been on 3 cruises prior to this one and this is definitely one of the top two. It's hard to beat Disney, especially when cruising with small children. However, I did not have small children along this time and cruising in Europe is definitely much different than cruising in the Caribbean. It's hard to choose a favorite since this cruise was so different from the Disney cruise but those two are definitely my top two!

very enjoyable cruise. we received excellent service from a very polite and competent crew. food went beyond our expectations and the ports were beautiful. Kotor was a real surprise! there was nine of us and we had the time of our lives! thank you holland america for a wonderful vacation.

Staff on ship were fantastic!! Table 89 waitstaff were experts, engaging and really made it fun to go to dinner! I also need to mention Archie, one of he bar tenders we had at nearly every bar we went to, he is a an amazing mixologist as well as entertainer!! And I have to say that Vara and Jez in the explorers lounge are treasures!! Thanks for a great vacation!!

Fun adventures in the Adriatic, Ionian, Mediterranean seas.

It was an awesome cruise. We will be cruising the Mediterranean again in the near future.

Most of it was great had some problems because the ship was going into dry dock after our cruise so it had some things that needed fixing and seemed like they just wanted the cruise over.

We enjoyed everything, from the entertainment, to the food, to just relaxing on the top deck! I'm surprised how windy it can get, but the sun rises and sunsets were worth it alone.

Had a great time with our long time friends on this cruise. overall it was great, just a little disappointed that it being Valentines Day it was as if nothing was going on. They Showed a Animal Movie as the main entertainment that day. Hubby Loves Holland but I'm note so sure I do. Wait Staff were the best part of the whole trip and relaxing watching movies in my room.

Good first cruise, attentive and friendly staff, good food. Wish Explorer Cafe opened earlier.

Food and service great. Ports of call average but the hassle from the locals was not worth it.