Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

review of Oosterdam 11/20/10

cruise kitty

By cruise kitty,
in Holland America Line

Recommended Posts

cruise kitty

cruise kitty

Posted
Posted

Just off the Oosterdam, I'll be reviewing our cruise in a bit of a disjointed fashion, as I'm attempting to do my Xmas decorating in between giving my opinion on our cruise... I'll also be doing a bit of comparison to Celebrity.

 

So, to get started, DH & I are in our mid forties, we've previously cruised 3 times on X. I'll compare food, services, & ambiance, but not the actual ships much, because it wouldn't be a fair comparison, as we cruised on the Infinity twice when she was new, & the Solstice when she was new also.

 

We booked this cruise thru our big box store membership less than two months out. Booked primarily for the cheap price & easy vacation as we live about an hour and half from port. We booked a VF guarantee & ended up with a VC.

 

We drove down Sat Morning & arrived at the port around 12:45, it was raining & a bit chilly,drove around a bit & decided to we pull into the metered parking lot next to the line outside the terminal...it was quite a long line, & the wind & rain were picking up as we unloaded, there's no shelter, but we did have our umbrellas, unfortunately the wind made the umbrellas a bit useless, it was requested that we all have our cruise documents & id's out & ready, I had mine in a small zip lock, but they insisted I pull it out, by the time I was showing it to the security check, there wasn't much left...I had my passport & security was kind enough to accept that I was not stowing away...

 

Luggage check was quite the adventure, our tags had disintegrated, so we got new ones from the baggage handlers, they were so wet, you couldn't write on them, & our clothes were too wet to wipe them off with, pulled a pair of shorts out, wiped the tags as best we could scribbled the cabin number on, crossed out fingers, & ran for the shelter of the terminal. The crowd inside was amazing, there were hundreds, if not thousands of people jammed inside, but along came a woman with a HAL placard, who guided us through the throng of Carnival pax.

 

Check in was easy & simple, the agent had a good laugh over our now useless E-docs, we had fun taking the embarkation photo, as we resembled half drowned rats by now...we had fun looking at all the photos later in the trip, you could see the varying conditions of the pax depending on when they had arrived.

 

Found our cabin, & our luggage was already there! We had 5176, nice layout, balcony with see thru glass, the soft furnishings are in good to very good shape, very clean carpet, flat screen tv mounted above the vanity with a dvd player. The vinyl covered chair & stool were peeled & cracking, but clean. The bathroom had a small shower stall with a nice heavy curtain that stayed in place. Nice storage shelf & medicine cabinet. Vanity is a bit shabby & worn, but clean & not stained. Very happy with cabin & bathroom. The storage is more than adequate. Very nice set up on closets, plenty of hanging space as well as shelves in closet. Two large drawers under the bed.

 

I would say that the closets/storage were equal to those on X M class ships, & much better than that on X S class. The bathrooms on S class are newer & fancier, but if the O had a glass door I would have preferred them, they seemed roomier than on S class.

 

Our steward, France introduced himself, asked if we needed anything, I asked him to keep up in extra towels, ice & do lots of vacuuming & I'd be a happy camper.

 

We explored the ship a bit, I liked the layout, the promenade deck is brilliant! The decor... well, if you really miss Las Vegas circa 1983, you'll feel right at home! After a while, though, we became oddly fond of it, sort of like an eccentric aunt who still believes that Lady Bird Johnson was the epitome of fashion, we grew to really love the ship!

 

There is a large indoor pool area with retractable roof designated for families with under 18 kids. Unfortunately, the adult hot tubs were full of a group of 13 to 15 yo kids, you could not get in. The cruise director made a point to announce the next day that the aft pools were 18 & over only. It was much appreciated.

 

Muster drill, fast easy, (wet)

 

Sail-away, we headed up to the crow's nest, we were supposed to meet out roll call there, but DH & I were just too tired to mingle, plus it was very warm up there. Once the ship began to pull away, it felt like the AC kicked in. We had a drink & then headed to the MDR.

 

We had been assigned open seating on deck 2. We walked up & requested a table for two. Waited maybe 3 minutes. Our waiter was Ya Ya, funny personable & wonderful service. Dinner took long, I think I had prime rib, but I could be wrong, DH had a crusted fish, halibut maybe? It was very tasty.

 

We were very tired, walked the promenade a bit, had a glass of wine on the balcony, & in bed by 9:30. Room was quiet. I had brought my small portable fan & my sound machine, they were in my carry on, & had no problem getting them aboard. Comfy bed, brought my own blanket & pillow, slept like a baby.

(compared to X, matresses equal, X has superior bedding, duvets in cabins, on HAL cabin had nice sheets, but just blankets, no duvet...brought my own)

 

Will continue tomorrow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mrintegra

mrintegra

Posted
Posted
Just off the Oosterdam, I'll be reviewing our cruise in a bit of a disjointed fashion, as I'm attempting to do my Xmas decorating in between giving my opinion on our cruise... I'll also be doing a bit of comparison to Celebrity.

 

So, to get started, DH & I are in our mid forties, we've previously cruised 3 times on X. I'll compare food, services, & ambiance, but not the actual ships much, because it wouldn't be a fair comparison, as we cruised on the Infinity twice when she was new, & the Solstice when she was new also.

 

We booked this cruise thru our big box store membership less than two months out. Booked primarily for the cheap price & easy vacation as we live about an hour and half from port. We booked a VF guarantee & ended up with a VC.

 

We drove down Sat Morning & arrived at the port around 12:45, it was raining & a bit chilly,drove around a bit & decided to we pull into the metered parking lot next to the line outside the terminal...it was quite a long line, & the wind & rain were picking up as we unloaded, there's no shelter, but we did have our umbrellas, unfortunately the wind made the umbrellas a bit useless, it was requested that we all have our cruise documents & id's out & ready, I had mine in a small zip lock, but they insisted I pull it out, by the time I was showing it to the security check, there wasn't much left...I had my passport & security was kind enough to accept that I was not stowing away...

 

Luggage check was quite the adventure, our tags had disintegrated, so we got new ones from the baggage handlers, they were so wet, you couldn't write on them, & our clothes were too wet to wipe them off with, pulled a pair of shorts out, wiped the tags as best we could scribbled the cabin number on, crossed out fingers, & ran for the shelter of the terminal. The crowd inside was amazing, there were hundreds, if not thousands of people jammed inside, but along came a woman with a HAL placard, who guided us through the throng of Carnival pax.

 

Check in was easy & simple, the agent had a good laugh over our now useless E-docs, we had fun taking the embarkation photo, as we resembled half drowned rats by now...we had fun looking at all the photos later in the trip, you could see the varying conditions of the pax depending on when they had arrived.

 

Found our cabin, & our luggage was already there! We had 5176, nice layout, balcony with see thru glass, the soft furnishings are in good to very good shape, very clean carpet, flat screen tv mounted above the vanity with a dvd player. The vinyl covered chair & stool were peeled & cracking, but clean. The bathroom had a small shower stall with a nice heavy curtain that stayed in place. Nice storage shelf & medicine cabinet. Vanity is a bit shabby & worn, but clean & not stained. Very happy with cabin & bathroom. The storage is more than adequate. Very nice set up on closets, plenty of hanging space as well as shelves in closet. Two large drawers under the bed.

 

I would say that the closets/storage were equal to those on X M class ships, & much better than that on X S class. The bathrooms on S class are newer & fancier, but if the O had a glass door I would have preferred them, they seemed roomier than on S class.

 

Our steward, France introduced himself, asked if we needed anything, I asked him to keep up in extra towels, ice & do lots of vacuuming & I'd be a happy camper.

 

We explored the ship a bit, I liked the layout, the promenade deck is brilliant! The decor... well, if you really miss Las Vegas circa 1983, you'll feel right at home! After a while, though, we became oddly fond of it, sort of like an eccentric aunt who still believes that Lady Bird Johnson was the epitome of fashion, we grew to really love the ship!

 

There is a large indoor pool area with retractable roof designated for families with under 18 kids. Unfortunately, the adult hot tubs were full of a group of 13 to 15 yo kids, you could not get in. The cruise director made a point to announce the next day that the aft pools were 18 & over only. It was much appreciated.

 

Muster drill, fast easy, (wet)

 

Sail-away, we headed up to the crow's nest, we were supposed to meet out roll call there, but DH & I were just too tired to mingle, plus it was very warm up there. Once the ship began to pull away, it felt like the AC kicked in. We had a drink & then headed to the MDR.

 

We had been assigned open seating on deck 2. We walked up & requested a table for two. Waited maybe 3 minutes. Our waiter was Ya Ya, funny personable & wonderful service. Dinner took long, I think I had prime rib, but I could be wrong, DH had a crusted fish, halibut maybe? It was very tasty.

 

We were very tired, walked the promenade a bit, had a glass of wine on the balcony, & in bed by 9:30. Room was quiet. I had brought my small portable fan & my sound machine, they were in my carry on, & had no problem getting them aboard. Comfy bed, brought my own blanket & pillow, slept like a baby.

(compared to X, matresses equal, X has superior bedding, duvets in cabins, on HAL cabin had nice sheets, but just blankets, no duvet...brought my own)

 

Will continue tomorrow.

 

 

Thank you for the review so far. So it sounds like the aft whirlpools are now working!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Alcarondas

Alcarondas

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the nice write-up; sorry to hear about your soggy start, but all's well that ends well.

 

I've sailed twice on the Ooster-rhymes-with-toaster-dam, and your comments about the decor mirror my own impression. For whatever it's worth, it's not just the "Big O"; most of HAL's ships are a peculiar yet charming blend of classic nautica and casino kitsch. One wouldn't think that dark wood, polished brass, neon colors, and psychedelic patterns could possibly combine in an appealing way, and yet somehow they do. As I recall, Ooster's predominant color was purple, with lots of yellow and red accents. Come January, I'll be on Wester, which appears to be heavy on grey/silver. I'm interested to see what difference the colors make, considering that otherwise the two ships are virtually identical.

 

I look forward to reading the rest of your recap. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cruise kitty

cruise kitty

Posted
  • Author
Posted

day 2, Sunday

 

Slept in, missed the meet & greet, managed to get to the buffet around 10:15, they were still serving the full breakfast, it was quite full, took a bit to find a table, but no bigee:) Nice buffet, with plenty of choices, I had scotch benedict, which is basically eggs benedict with salmon instead of ham. Coffee was pretty decent; they were serving everyone in a sort of prophylactic code red, as long as no one gets sick, they go to serve yourself on day 3.

 

Headed out to aft pool around 11;30 & found a prime lounge spot along the rail no problem. (there are no shaded lounges outside) (on a side note, the ship was filled with many, many families with kids) Observed a woman having a very loud argument with a crew member, it seemed that she couldn't understand why her little darlings were confined to the family pools. She was very upset & took pictures of the crew member, the pool, & the safety signs... this turned into a daily showdown between her & what ever unfortunate crew member she managed to corner...normally wouldn't pay attention, but she made sure you coldn't miss it.

 

We played a few pool games with the cruise director, (golf with wiffle ball=humiliation for me) an outdoor band played for maybe 45 minutes, wish they'd stuck around longer. The cruise director made the first of many announcements that the aft pool was 18 & over only:)

 

Bar service was fast & friendly, I stuck with the drink of the day which was delicious... I think it was some sort of champagne/vodka combo...I could have my days mixed up though...

 

For lunch dh & I shared a panini, they make them to order in the buffet area, you can also get hamburgers, hotdogs, fries in the indoor pool area, the burgers were awful to be honest.

 

It was the first formal night, so DH & I opted to eat in the buffet area, we showed up around 6:30, dressed smart casual (khakis loafers & gold shirt for him, capri outfit for me) I have to say, I was very surprised at how others were dressed... quite a few bath robes, (yes they were sitting inside having dinner like that, pj's, bathing suits with a tee thrown over...oh well, to each his own. Food was delicious! We had some sort of mushroom risotto with creamy sauce, big salads, (dressing tastes bottled:confused: not a fan)

 

We headed down to the casino to peak in, figured if everyone was in tuxes, we'd head out...it was mostly shorts, hawaiian shirts, golf shirts, as the night went on we saw one or tuxes that had been stripped down, (just shirt & slacks, they'd taken off ties, cummerbunds & jackets... I think because it was a family vacation week this was a very relaxed dress week, it worked out very nice for us especially considering what happened next.

 

Want to wash my hair that night, & my full bottle of shampoo, slipped & landed on the top of my right foot... spent the rest of the week with a swollen black & purple foot that could only wear rainbow sandals, thank goodness I'd brought them!

 

A few more comparisons, dinner buffet, hands down HAL over X; Pools, X over HAL (but solstice is newer & bigger, so hard to compare) Breakfast buffet, I'd give X a slight advantage.

 

Regarding smoking...we're non smokers, but not fanatics, we never had a problem with smoke anywhere except the sports bar, people around our balcony smoked a bit, but the breeze carries it away, around the pool, people smoked near the bar, but again, the wind makes it not really a factor. Our cabin didn't smell or anything.

 

A nice touch is the towel animals, some people might think they're silly, but I loved them, looked forward to them each night.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sopwith

Sopwith

Posted
Posted

I was also on the O'dam last week. When we booked we forgot it was US Thanksgiving. Doh! (We Canucks do Thanksgiving in October). Never saw such a load of riff raff on a cruise ship in my life! (Witness the lady mentioned above who thinks she owns the pool.) Never again on Thanksgiving week.

 

The embarkation was a complete disaster, but not by HAL. I'm pretty sure it was the Port staff who messed it up. We managed to bypass the lengthy line because wife has a bad knee and can't stand for long. When we got into the building it was virtually empty, with loads of room inside while hundreds of pax were left standing outside in the rain. We never did see anywhere to leave our bags, and were directed into the check-in line, so we ended up humping our own bags all the way to the cabin. Heads should roll!

 

This was our third trip on the O'dam. The maintenance is clearly being neglected. Three elevators out of service the whole week; one aft hot tub down the whole week, and another down for about 2 days. The other three near the mid-ship pool were constantly under siege buy the kids and associated riff raff. The paint work is showing rust stains I've never seen before, and some of the carpets are showing wear and tear.

 

Notwithstanding that, a good time was had, mainly because we had one of the larger suites and could hang out in relative peace and quite on the veranda away from the hoards of kids and inattentive parents.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Cruizer Bill

Cruizer Bill

Posted
Posted

Thanks to Cruise Kitty and Neil both for your feedback. HAL must have done a good job to give you a good impression considering the circumstances you faced. Beware of 7-day holiday cruises! We always go on longer cruises or ones when the kids are in school. Thanks again!

Bill

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Boatdrill

Boatdrill

Posted
Posted
Just off the Oosterdam...

We drove down Sat Morning & arrived at the port around 12:45....it was quite a long line....the crowd inside was amazing, there were hundreds, if not thousands of people jammed inside, but along came a woman with a HAL placard, who guided us through the throng of Carnival pax.

 

Just to clarify (nothing more)...the Carnvial Spirit was embarking 2,000 + passengers at the same time as the Oosterdam.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Cuizer2

Cuizer2

Posted
Posted
Sail-away, we headed up to the crow's nest ...

 

You may recall that just off your starboard side was another cruise ship. And you might have even noticed someone on that cruise ship taking pictures of the Oosterdam as it sailed away. These are really pictures of your sail-away ...

 

DSC_3893.jpg

 

DSC_3897.jpg

 

DSC_3902.jpg

 

DSC_3910.jpg

 

DSC_3918.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cruise kitty

cruise kitty

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Just to clarify (nothing more)...the Carnvial Spirit was embarking 2,000 + passengers at the same time as the Oosterdam.

 

Yes, & we found out at the end of the cruise that the O sailed with 2811 pax! (plus 791 crew); this was stated in our Cruise Log, handed out at the end...considering this, I am very impressed, we never felt overly crowded, nor neglected by the stretched crew. Meals may have taken a bit longer, but were mostly worth the wait. Kudos to HAL!

 

I'll continue later.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Cuizer2

Cuizer2

Posted
Posted
We never did see anywhere to leave our bags, and were directed into the check-in line, so we ended up humping our own bags all the way to the cabin. Heads should roll!

 

There were two trucks (large vans) on the street next to the port entrance. One truck was for the Oosterdam and one was for the Carnival Spirit. I have my luggage to the correct truck and my checked luggage made it to my cabin.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ccruisequeen

ccruisequeen

Posted
Posted
You may recall that just off your starboard side was another cruise ship. And you might have even noticed someone on that cruise ship taking pictures of the Oosterdam as it sailed away. These are really pictures of your sail-away ...

 

DSC_3893.jpg

 

DSC_3897.jpg

 

DSC_3902.jpg

 

DSC_3910.jpg

 

DSC_3918.jpg

beautiful!:D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Homala

Homala

Posted
Posted
day 2, Sunday

 

the burgers were awful to be honest.

 

Just had to comment, because we had the burgers a couple of days on our cruise on the "O" a week before you and thought the burgers were pretty good. They cook them all medium well, apparently, and I normally prefer medium, but I still thought they were good. Just goes to show that people's tastes re food really do vary a lot! :D

 

Thanks for your review - I feel like I'm back there again! Lovin' it! :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sopwith

Sopwith

Posted
Posted
Yes, & we found out at the end of the cruise that the O sailed with 2811 pax! (plus 791 crew); this was stated in our Cruise Log, handed out at the end...considering this, I am very impressed, we never felt overly crowded, nor neglected by the stretched crew. Meals may have taken a bit longer, but were mostly worth the wait. Kudos to HAL!

 

I'll continue later.

 

 

I also saw this figure, but I'm pretty sure it's a typo. The correct number is 2118 or 2181. The published figure of 2811 is well beyond the capacity of the O'dam.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cruise kitty

cruise kitty

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Day 3, beautiful weather, headed to the buffet as usual for breakfast, took a few laps around the beautiful promenade deck, watched the aft wake for a few awestruck moments, & then headed up to the aft pool.

 

I brought my kindle, fully stocked with some trashy novels, & spent the entire day reading & drinking! DH read his book for a few hours, & then headed to the cabin for a nice nap.

 

I strolled around the ship a bit, there is a very, very nice library up by the crow's nest bar, looked to be well stocked & organized. (at least for a ship's library)

 

We were scheduled to attend our role call wine party at 4, so we cleaned up a bit, grabbed our bottle of wine, & headed out. It was nice to put a face with the people I'd met on line, we also had an excursion planned the next day by one of the members.

 

Dinner was in the MDR, smart casual. Lots of jeans..(not dressy jeans either) & generally extremely casual attire, didn't bother me, but did surprise me.

 

Hit the casino for some craps again (note, the craps table does not open till around 9) & back in the cabin around 10:30 or so. We ordered breakfast on the little card that you hang on your door.

 

Woke up to beautiful weather in Mazatlan, sunny, but not too hot. We had signed up for the Let's Party Tour with about 10 members of our roll call, (we picked up two more on the way) Our breakfast delivery window came & went, we received a phone call telling us it would be a bit late, it arrived about 10 minutes late... possibly the nastiest omlettes I've ever encountered.

however, a little oj mixed with champagne, fixed that up nicely:D

 

will continue

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...