Review; Oosterdam, MR 12-3 to 12-10

[CruiseFarmer]

This will be short and sweet. After having sailed Princess, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity multiple times my wife and I find Holland America at the top of the list. We love food and cook very well ourselves (brag) and found the meals very tasty and beautifully presented. The Lido food was the best ships buffet ever. The ship itself is gorgeous, and never seemed crowded, hardly had to wait for the elevator. The SS room was so large and the accompanying bath made this cruise a pure pleasure. On and off in

San Diego was also very easy. Finally, who ever said "Holland is the line old people take their parents on" is full of what my bulls drop. It was a nice mix of age groups and very few real "geezers". One more thing, not really a poll, how many clothes hangers are usually in a cabin? Our three closets had 65. For those world cruises I guess.

[mechcc]

Glad you had such a wonderful time on the Oosterdam. Not only are the passengers younger then public perception, but most of the older passengers are really young at heart.

Did you find the dining time a problem?

And thank you for reminding me about how uncrowded it felt.

[CruiseFarmer]

Dining times no problem at all!! We were on late seating which allowed entry from 8:00-9:00, but everyone seemed to show up right at 8. The experiment works for me!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise on the Oosterdam.

[Tinknock50]

This will be short and sweet. After having sailed Princess, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity multiple times my wife and I find Holland America at the top of the list. We love food and cook very well ourselves (brag) and found the meals very tasty and beautifully presented. The Lido food was the best ships buffet ever. The ship itself is gorgeous, and never seemed crowded, hardly had to wait for the elevator. The SS room was so large and the accompanying bath made this cruise a pure pleasure. On and off in

San Diego was also very easy. Finally, who ever said "Holland is the line old people take their parents on" is full of what my bulls drop. It was a nice mix of age groups and very few real "geezers". One more thing, not really a poll, how many clothes hangers are usually in a cabin? Our three closets had 65. For those world cruises I guess.

 

Your short review reminde me how much I loved that big bathroom. I was even able to do my morning pushups in there before jumping into the shower. The beige marble walls were so elegant!

[coloradospringscruiser]

Would love to hear more about you experience on the "O". We are booked for the 3/25/06 Mexico cruise

[CruiseFarmer]

We ate in the Pinnacle the first night, half price you know. It was great, try it at least once. I had the lamb chops and the wife had the ribeye. Both were done perfectly and the atmosphere and service first rate. The staff we dealt with were all friendly and knowledgeable. The other cruise lines we sailed were equally well staffed. Mixed drinks from the bars were about $6 a pop but were large and tasted great. As for the ports, Mexico is Mexico. Too many vendors and treacherous footing with every step. Us and two ladies hired van in Mazatlan and were shown the sights by George Perez of van tours. They are waiting right off the ship and will dicker on the cost. George was great and spoke perfect English. We enjoyed the tour. P V looks a lot like Hawaii. Didn't do any tours just strolled on the beach and beat off the vendors. My favorite part of cruising is the sea days. If the ship just cut the water at high speed for the number of designated days and returned to port I would love it. I suspect the cruise lines make too much money from excursions on shore and fuel savings to ever offer such an itinerary. That's it, I will answer any other questions I can, but that's all the commentary.

[cdkempton]

Glad you had a wonderful HAL experience. We like the sea days also and have enjoyed the most on trans-atlantic and pacific crossings. Happy Sails!

[KAYEF]

You bring back lovely memories of our 24 day repositioning cruise from Seattle to Ft. Lauderdale on the O in Sept. and Oct. of 2004. We loved, loved that ship..........only the entertainment was lacking.

I especially loved the glass elevators. If you can be in one just as the red ball of fire sun is "sinking into the ocean" you will never forget the feeling because you are right over the water..............

We got so hooked on cruising we've been on four in the past year!!