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Oosterdam cruise review November 4-11


twentyknots
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We recently returned from the Oosterdam and are happy to report that she is in great shape and our cruise was very good in every way.

 

This was our 25th cruise, 5th with HAL, 2nd on Oosterdam, and our 1st Neptune Suite in 5190 aft wrap-around cabin. We had high expectations from reading the reviews of this cabin and were not disappointed. The room was wonderful, lots of space, nicely decorated, 65in TV, comfortable bedding, and very nice bathroom. As others have written, the on-demand movies were nice as well and other information on ship’s activities and menus. But what we enjoyed most about the suite was its location and the marvelous verandah. The verandah is just extraordinary. We spent more time on this verandah than on any verandah on our other cruises. The full overhead covering was welcome when the sun was bright and when we had a few showers. Also, very little noise out there. Suite 4180 directly below us had a large mechanical device attached to the side of that verandah. There was one also on 4185. I would have been disappointed if it had been on our verandah.

Along with the Neptune Suite came some perks like Neptune lounge, wonderful concierges, and Pinnacle Grill for breakfast. We loved having them.

 

We had breakfast each morning in the Pinnacle Grill after a 4 mile walk on the Promenade deck. We’ve always missed a deck like this on other ships. It was good to have this excellent place for our walks. This deck used to be quite crowded in the years past when we’ve been on Zuiderdam and Oosterdam, but was almost deserted this time even though the weather was good for the most part.

 

Our lunches were taken in the Lido and were enjoyable. We especially liked the french fries from the Dive and the salads. The dessert offerings seem to decline each cruise. Each day there’d be a cheesecake variety, a puff pastry, a mousse, a couple of other things, some cookies, 3-4 flavors of ice cream, and HAL’s bread pudding. Adequate for sure, but a far cry from years ago when the dessert presentations were something to behold.

 

All of our dinners were in the Dining Room. We had open seating and asked the maître d' for dinner reservations between 6:00-6:30, but were told they could not accommodate us until after 7:30. Our concierge fixed that problem right away. The food was consistently good and my wife who is vegetarian was given a special menu from which to order if she wished but found the vegetarian offering on the main menu to her liking. We were seated with others each evening at our request and enjoyed meeting new people.

 

We attended all of the entertainment venues and especially enjoyed the Lincoln Center Presentations and BB King. The dancers, singers and comics were just so-so in our opinion.

 

I love playing blackjack so I spent much of my evenings in the casino. I really like that it’s no smoking. The dealers were all friendly. Most evenings I played with the same group of 6-8 regulars. There were not many BJ players in the casino as I’m used to seeing and only one of the 3 tables had players.

 

We called on Amber Cove, St Thomas, Punta Cana, and Half Moon Cay. We did not do any excursions but did get off and visit the shops and wander around.

 

There was more motion on this cruise than I’m used to,especially the first and last nights. Might have been something related to the area near Ft Lauderdale.

 

Overall, as I said, we had a wonderful cruise. One of the reasons we chose this cruise on the Oosterdam was because we were thinking of doing a 26 day Mediterranean &Passage to America cruise on the Oosterdam next October. We wanted to experience the Neptune Suite before we booked that cruise. For such a long cruise we thought the Neptune would be more comfortable. The suite, the ship, the crew, food—all fabulous, but I must say we were both ready to return home after 7 days. We had to admit that we are not really suited for a long cruise no matter how nice the ship.

Edited by twentyknots
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Great review and informative on the NS aft suites on the 4th floor too.

 

It sounds like you had a great time.

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to share your experiences and, welcome home :)

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My wife and I were on the cruise with you and agree on all counts. The ship is in great shape! This was our 10th HAL cruise and I told my wife that this might be my favorite ship yet, but I think my opinion may have been swayed from the lack of crowds on the half empty ship. Regardless, the ship was great and the changes are a definite improvement.

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My wife and I were on the cruise with you and agree on all counts. The ship is in great shape! This was our 10th HAL cruise and I told my wife that this might be my favorite ship yet, but I think my opinion may have been swayed from the lack of crowds on the half empty ship. Regardless, the ship was great and the changes are a definite improvement.

 

Sorry, I just realized our cruise was the week after yours, but thanks for leaving the ship in such great shape for us ;)

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