My recent cruise on Oosterdam

[myheart53]

Let me start my saying that it was a wonderful cruise overall and being our first cruise ever, we were in awe most of the time.

We left August 29, 2010 from Seattle and check in was a breeze. We didn't have to wait that long at all. When we found our stateroom our luggage was sitting out by the door already. We had a VA stateroom and although it was small.....it was cozy to say the least. Next time I think a suite is in order...lol. We did spend a lot of time in our suite as we do not visit the bars, casinos and etc. Loved our balcony, would not have a cabin without one.

Lido dining, let me say, most of your time is spent finding a table and the rest of the time is standing in line to get your main course. Since they do not have trays, it's hard to get most of your food without going back to the lines. The food was good but found out we could get almost the same thing from room service. Hmm that brings up room service. If you want something to eat, plan ahead and don't wait till you are hungry.......for the most part, it took at least 45 mins to an hour for you food to get to your room. The exception to that is the morning breakfast, it gets to your room on time, as you select your time the night before on a menu you receive the day before. One thing that would be nice if you had in your room is a coffee maker. My DH and I love coffee when we first awaken and in the evening. The food was very good and you could order any amount of any item you desired.

The Vista Dining Room experience was very elegant. Food and service was outstanding. We had a very funny server that kept us laughing.

The first full day at sea was rocking and rolling....and I don't mean dancing.lol....we had rough seas and took our medication to prevent seasickness. It was nice at bedtime though, felt like you were being rocked to sleep.:)

Glacier Bay was more than words could describe. The weather was fabulous and the views from our balcony were breathtaking. We witnessed calving of the glacier several times and have some great videos of the event.

Our first excursion was in Juneau on a whale watching tour. We were able to see many whales and it was well worth the money. The only minor problem was a very small child on the boat who would have rather not have been there and let everyone know that by screaming and crying. My DH when up on the top deck of the boat and could still hear the child from up there. The last hour of the excursion was peaceful as the baby finally gave up and went to sleep. I think I heard other passengers clapping quietly as the slumbering child slept....lol.

The next excursion we took was in Ketchikan and was our most favorite, the Deadliest Catch tour. The one part that was not great was getting to the boat for the trip. We had to walk a great distance to the tour boat and it would have been nice if a trolley of some sort could have taken us to the boat. We had so much fun on the tour boat and learned so much about crab fishing. Took some great photos and videos and the crew were so friendly and helpful. This is one great excursion and so glad we chose this one.

Now for the worst part of the cruise and this is one that I have yet to hear back from HAL about. I wrote them almost a month ago now and still not resolved.

We were scheduled to arrive in Victoria at 6pm. We had an excursion on a Horse drawn trolley ride of one hour starting at 7:45 pm. It was announced that we would not be docking at 6pm, so we waited and waited. When we finally docked, we waited again to hear when we could leave the ship.......then we waited..so we decided to leave our room and now it was almost 7:20 pm , our time to meet for the excursion. We found a very long line of people waiting to get off the ship.......and like before on our trip, discovered the a lot of people don't mind "breaking" in line. This is a very big pet peeve of mine and could not believe the number of people that do this, young and old, by the way. This process took about 20 mins to finally get off and when we did, there was no signs to be seen where we were to meet for the trolley ride, so we stood in line again to find out. We found the place and there was a long line. The first trolley that came was filled up quickly and we had to wait once again for the next one. Did I mention that the "meeting place" was next to a huge power ? not sure what it is called, but my DH has a pacemaker and when he walked past it to get in line....he had a reaction to his pacemaker which made him very uncomfortable.....he moved very quickly away from it and I thought we would have to get medical help, but he quickly assured me he would be ok. Ok, now its time to get on the trolley and we have a very "scenic tour" of peoples homes and apartments and parking lots....but it turns to darkness and when we get to the park, it is total darkness and there is nothing to see. No lights, nothing. The young lady giving the tour even admitted that if it was still light you would see , this and that.....lol. We were so cold and the blanket was not that heavy to head of the wind blowing. She also proceeded to tell us a lot of personal information on how much she made an hour doing this, her family life , her college life, and etc. Maybe it was a plea to get more tips.......but I thought it was a little out of place for an employee to be doing this. We were so glad to get off this trolley and get to our ship. It was the worst part of this whole cruise. Maybe if we had been able to get on the trolley earlier like was planned, things would have been a lot better. I did feel sorry for the horses though.......only two horses carrying 20 passengers........seems a bit too much for me. Don't think I will ever take another trolley ride driven by horses unless there are more than two.

I have contacted HAL about this whole experience and like I said, no resolution yet.

Beverage cards........do not buy one if you think you will get soft drinks any other place than a bar. I learned the hard way but thankfully it was resolved before the end of the cruise.

I don't want to harp on the bad things, but it looks like I did. Not my intention but to let others be aware of certain things that may happen. We loved our cruise and we will most likely cruise again. I just know what to expect now. Some advice.........please don't break in line. If you aren't sure where the end of the line is, ask. Just ask. There are people who have been waiting a long time and they don't appreciated someone just walking up and getting ahead of you.

We also had the Luggage Direct and it worked beautifully. Our luggage was picked up outside our room the night before and we did not see it again till we arrived to our destination. We had an 11:35 am departure and made it in plenty of time.

We saw the glory and the wonder of our God's creation on our cruise and that was our intention when we chose to go to Alaska for our vacation. We wanted to see the amazing wonders that God has given us and not the man-made "wonders". We are one of the very few in this world that can say we saw an iceberg break off a glacier.....and I am very happy that God allowed us to see this. Where to next? I don't know, but I am sure it will not take my breath away like the Alaska cruise. I want to thank all of you that gave your opinions and experiences on here as they helped me so much with all the questions I had in my mind.

Would I recommend the Oosterdam.........yes....Alaska? ..... most definitely!

I will let you all know of the outcome of the Victoria excursion. I hope it will be resolved soon.

Thank you for taking the time to read this long review and if you have any other questions I will be happy to answer them.

Have a Blessed Day!

[portofrome]

Thanks for the review.

[Krazy Kruizers]

THanks for your review.

 

Don' know what HAL can really do about the Trolley tour. They schedule quite a few people for this tour for the same time frame. The vendor does this -- not HAL.

 

When we were in Victoria a couple of years ago we had chosen to eat in the Pinnacle that evening and we saw the long lines for the trolley tour. Seems to be the norm for this tour.

[mlmagic]

Thanks for the review...We have been to Alaska 3 times on different cruises, as I too love to see God's wonders...Hubbard glacier was our last one and was so spectacular I had tears streaming down my face as we witnessed it. The day was sunny and perfect and the capatin got so close, it was almost scary, in a good way and very exciting!! It was an experience I will never forget! I take the Oosterdam in May to Glacier Bay, our first HAL cruise and seeing GB...so thanks...I look forward to that! :)

[vbmom87]

Thanks for sharing your review. Yes, Alaska is a truly magnificent destination.

 

I, too, am wondering exactly what resolution you are looking for with HAL. I doubt it was HAL's fault that the ship had to dock late. It is something out of their control.

 

As far as line breakers...yes, that is a big pet peeve of mine. On my Alaska cruise it was not an issue, however, Disneyworld was another story.

[photomikey]

for the most part, it took at least 45 mins to an hour for you food to get to your room. The exception to that is the morning breakfast, it gets to your room on time, as you select your time the night before on a menu you receive the day before. One thing that would be nice if you had in your room is a coffee maker. My DH and I love coffee when we first awaken and in the evening. The food was very good and you could order any amount of any item you desired.

I try not to be one to nitpick people's trip reports, so don't think of this so much as me picking on you but offering advice to those who read your report in preparation for their own trip.

 

I am not here to declare whether or not 45 minutes or an hour is unreasonable for room service - to me 45 minutes is not a long time to have a custom cooked meal delivered to one's room, but I notice if I order a fruit plate and nothing else, it also takes 45 minutes and when it arrives it is covered in the same saran wrap that it was wrapped in days ago. Where did the 45 minutes go?

 

Anyhow... on to my point. If I order breakfast at 11pm and I order it for 8:30am and it arrives at 8:25am, I know the secret.

 

When I eat lunch (noon-ish? 1pm?), I can start to calculate when I'll be hungry next, and I put an order in for dinner at 5p, or 6p, or... 8p, if you're especially hearty. You will find that instead of getting hungry at 5, then ordering at 5:30 and eating at 6:30, you will order for 5, and be served a full meal at 4:55. Same goes if you want to order a nibble for 5p and have dinner in the dining room at 8. Ordering your nibble at 5 will take an hour. Ordering it at 1p FOR 5p it'll arrive 5 minutes early.

 

The lack of coffee maker in the room was a deal-breaker for me, and I read here about people who bring their own. I just can't bring myself to do that. But wait a minute... free, unlimited room service? I just have an Indonesian fella bring me a fresh pot (and some bagels, while you're at it) every morning. It's the next best thing next to a naked stretch on your balcony in the morning. I do that too.

 

Welcome to Holland America.

[sapper1]

THanks for your review.

 

Don' know what HAL can really do about the Trolley tour. They schedule quite a few people for this tour for the same time frame. The vendor does this -- not HAL.

 

When we were in Victoria a couple of years ago we had chosen to eat in the Pinnacle that evening and we saw the long lines for the trolley tour. Seems to be the norm for this tour.

I agree about the Trolley tour----if I were to book a tour scheduled at 7:45 PM in late September, I would know ahead of time that the tour would be conducted in the dark---and would not bother to book it.