Oosterdam Cruise Reviews - Reviews

It is the "trip of a Lifetime" for anyone who wants to cruise to Antarctica.

It was a great experience. The staff was excellent, the captain and crew kept us well informed of location, sea and weather conditions. Programs in stops were very informative. Entertainment was very good. Food was outstanding. The cruise covered areas not many people ever get to see.

The problem with the two excursions was very upsetting & the cruise staff pretty much had an attitude of ‘well, stuff happens, too bad’ ! Then I found out that the Excursion Desk had not sent the information to Guest Services !! Although they did not seem to really care either! Guess I will never reach the next Mariner level as I plan to never sail on the Holland cruise line again! I also never received a reply after the cruise from guest relations on a call & from an email I sent!

Overall my experience was good except running into that jerk at Port Stanley security!

We prefer smaller ships, easier to navigate and better service. It's a nice ship, best for middle-aged crowds that it caters too but overall a nice ship. Food was very good, breakfast was okay but we've had much better on other lines. Service was excellent, very nice people work on Holland and Carnival. Lines hiring from Indonesian, Philippines and similar usually have better service. The ports were beautiful, you're better of booking private group tours through Viator and TripAdvisor versus the ship, they price gouge massively through Holland when you can do pretty much every excursion for 50% less, especially if you're mobile and comfortable navigating on your own or renting cars. Car rentals work great in Rhodes and Argostoli. You definitely want a guided tour in Israel, security and immigration is very serious there so be aware of more time to disembark.

This was a cruise of a lifetime. Amazing ports of call.

Wonderful cruise and recommends to see so many cities and learn the history.

Holland America truly did a wonderful job. This was a dream come true for me.

31 days well spent at sea plus three days pre -cruise in Buenos Aires. Canal transit a must for all cruisers.

Embarkation soured us for the first few days of the cruise. Natural beauty overcame that. Keep your fingers crossed for weather. It makes a big difference. Entertainment was so bad that it overshadowed and otherwise excellent cruise.

Start to the trip was damp. 14 inches of rain in Ft Lauderdale and near gale force winds from the east caused water incursion into our deck 4 balcony on port side. Cabin attendants and water clean up crew were there vacuuming and with fans till late at night. How attentive. That event bonded us to our cabin attendants Ham and Bong from Bali. We got to know them well and enjoyed interfacing. They were perfect. We were sad about our Panama City shore excursion cancellation - protests by locals made it too dangerous. And Puerto Chacabuco was cancelled due to San Antonio authorities delaying our departure 8 hours due to high winds. The rest of our port visits were asesome. None of them did we get rained on except in the Falklands. Walked to the museum in Aruba, hung out on our balcony through the Panama canal - our cruise director Ed narrated with a truly informative talk as he did for each port and also when we viewed the glaciers later...superlative CD. We had a beer portside in Panama, walked the beach and wandered through a museum dedicated to indigenous folks in Ecuador, parited onboard for Orange night and the equator passing, took a Viator excursion in Lima to see downtown and grab lunch at Peru Gourmet plus drive by huacas and visit Love park, our HAL small boat tour off Pisco to the Ballestras to see penguins and sea lions was great, a walk to the mall in Coquimbo wa oksay, as was our pier boardwalk in San Antonio. Puerto Montt hotel Ibis was welcoming with local Flugel beer, the Chilean fjords and Brujo glacier - where our captain did a donut for full viewing - were breathtaking. Punta Arenas had Austral beer at a basement pub in the old Braun mansion - much welcomed after a long stroll to Braun cemeteary, and then the 6 glaciers near Ushuaia were otherworldly. Ushuaia was just a step into the town, but braved the cold and rain after a long tender ride into Stanley to have a scone in the Falklands at West Store. Shopping in Montevideo was fun using my Spanglish, and Buenos Aires HAL excursion was perfect with a bus to Recoleta cemetery and Casa Rosada and Tortoni cafe plus La Boca. Food on the ship is good. The 8 bottle Cellar 1 wine package at $260 was passable. The service we received was best on the seas (and we have been on 30 or so ocean cruises). We did have to use the medical facilities for a non life threatening event and were extremely pleased with the service and moderate price.

This Antarctic 22-day cruise was well worth it for the unforgettable experiences we had!

The cruise was great. There were some disappointments on the ship, particularly with the food quality in the MDR and specialty restaurants. Cost cutting is highly apparent. Some of the fine experiences of the past are simply gone (like the Lincoln Center music venue). Entertainment is lacking. The excursions are terribly expensive and, in some instances, were very disappointing. If I were to do this again, many of the ports would just be "walk off" for excursion.

We missed several ports to avoid rough seas and weather, but we were so fortunate we had the experienced captain to make sure our crossing was sunny and smooth

If you enjoy "sea days" then a transatlantic cruise is definitely for you. This cruise also offered many outstanding ports of call. I would strongly recommend this cruise to anyone wanting to visit the Mediterranean.

Overall a good experience. Ship is nice an clean and the food is good as cruise ships go. The tours booked thru Holland America were pricey and not that good. Booking some with outside vendors gave us a much better experience. Generally, we would probably do it again.

Sum the waitress was awesome and everyone at customer service deserves so much respect. We dealt with Daniel, Julio, Cardela, Melony and they were there for lost luggage, to lost hats, to lost souveniers and any other issues that came up.

Our Itinerary was changed to to weather concerns. After passing through Gibraltar the captain took us south to the Canary Islands, such an unexpected treat. The Captain kept us informed of weather concerns throughout the voyage and made excellent decisions to keep passengers, crew and ship safe. The Officers, crew and other staff were some of the friendliest we have encountered. They were visible and showed interaction with the passengers that was greatly appreciated. The crew on this ship are definitely family. The cruise and Travel Director, Daniel was the best CD we have ever met.

The cruise was fantastic. Food was good, crew members were friendly, some shows were amazing

your service is bad. I had to deal with three travel agents. The first one seemed to disappear. The second took the rest of the year off. The third one was good but was a little too late in the process. Holland would not deal with me because I used your agency. I hasd to continually go back to your to act as an intermediary. Very painful. Your agents did not want to handle Holland flight issues or payment. I was stuck trying to get things to work.