Just back from 6/30 sailing on Oosterdam

[Tokyo Mom]

I just wrote this review and thought it was posted but for some reason I don't see it, so I will try one more time. It's rather long, so my first attempt probably would have been better.

My husband and I just returned from the June 30 sailing on the Oosterdam. We went for our 20th anniversay. We have been on one previous cruise, about 17 years ago on Carnival - a three day trip to the Bahamas. Since then my husband has not wanted to step foot on another ship. But, I have always wanted to go to Alaska, so he gave in. I choose HAL based on many of the comments here - thank you to everyone who posts here - although this is my first post, I've been faithfully reading this board for the past 6 months. We are in our early 40's with four kids (who stayed home), we are well traveled and currently live in Tokyo, though spend the summers in the states, we don't like much nightlife and liked the more traditional look of the HAL ships. In each port I thought the HAL ships were much classier looking then the other ships.

I knew I would enjoy myself, but didn't think I would love the week spent aboard the "O". By the second day my husband said, "I could do this again." The crew was wonderful and very friendly. If you looked anyone in the eye they said, "hello" or "good afternoon", or "have a good day", etc. The ship was also spotless - there always seemed to be someone vacuuming the carpet near the stairs/elevators or polishing something. We met Hunky Dory on about the 3rd day and he did indeed remember our names for the rest of the week. I don't know how he does that. Jay, the cruise director was great as well. Does anyone else think he looks and sounds like a younger Jerry Seinfeld? Our favorite part of the ship was the Crows Nest. We loved to go there in the afternoon and listen to Julie Clark perform - thank you to the Womnyfest group who booked her but let the rest of us listen - and then read while sitting in one of the comfy chairs and have a strawberry mojito.

Our cabin - I booked an SZ gurantee and ended up with 8051SS. Yes, we were right below the Lido pool, but there were only one or two times that the noise above was bothersome. I loved our room - it was a very nice size and we sat on the verandah quite a bit with the wool blankets provided in the room. I looked forward to the towel animal on our beds each evening. From what I heard, just about all wives felt the same. I even overhead one man asking his room steward if he could recreate that night's animal because he undid it before she had a chance to take a picture.

Food - Overall the food was good - not exceptional, which was just fine. We only ate dinner in the Vista dining room three nights - both formal and one other. The seating worked like this. If you had either one of the two early seatings you could arrive anytime between 5-6. If you had either on the two late seatings you could arrive anytime between 8-9. We had a late seating and from what I saw, 90% of the people arrived promptly at 8:00. We were seated at table 46 with one other couple who we enjoyed talking to. We ate breakfast almost daily inthe Vista though because my husband loved the eggs benedict. I always had one of the daily specials and liked them all. We ate lunches and some dinners on the Lido and liked just about everything. We both thought the burgers were quite tasty and my husband loved the German food one day - brats, sauerkrat, potato salad and pretzel. Also the grilled salmon during the Alaska cookout was tasty. Overall the desserts were a little bland, but I did like the warm cookies and ice cream in waffle cones seemed very popular though I never had one.

Ports - Juneau - I booked a whale watching tour with Harv and Marv based on the comments of these boards. Harv or Pete was our captain on a rather cozy (read small) boat. There were 6 passengers aboard and thankfully the water was very calm. After about an hour on the boat, as we were sitting still in one spot, two whales - a mom and baby came within about 10 feet of the boat. It was amazing and actually brought tears to my eyes. We also saw a group of sea lions, one was quite curious and swam right up to check us out before heading off towards another boat. Before our whale watching trip we walked around town and then had lunch in the Red Dog Saloon. It's a very fun place but you don't go for the food.

Sitka - Neither of us liked Sitka very much. I booked a city highlights tour (not much to see), visit to St. Michael's Cathedral (very small), the visitor/museum and a stop to watch a Russian dance show. We enjoyed the paths through the trees behind the museum - it smelled like Christmas. And the dance show was entertaining. The dancers were quite good, especially since they are all volunteers. My advice would be to do a tour outside of the city and anything within the city you can see on your own.

Ketchikan - This was our favorite port. I liked the look of the town, very quaint. I booked a floatplane tour with Michelle from Island Wings. We went up in the plane with two other couples. I sat in the very back and my husband got to sit in the front for the return trip. He was so excited - you would have thought he was about 5 years old. The views from the plane were amazingly beautiful - truly breathtaking. Michelle landed the plane midway and we got to get off and walk around a tiny little island to stretch our legs and take pictures. I would highly recommend this trip. Once back in town we did the requisite shopping.

Victoria - I booked another tour through HAL - city highlights with wine/chocolate tasting. We left at 7:30 and were back about 10:00. There were about 30 of us - half from our ship and half from the Princess ship docked with us. Our tour guide was a very entertaining older man. It took about 25 minutes to get to the winery where we were each given four glasses of wines to taste (not full glasses of course) and three chocolates. We were told about the winery and how different kinds of chocolate can change the taste of wine, which turned out to be true. The wines were all okay. I overheard one man say it was the most expensive four sips of wine he's ever had. We were there about an hour, and the wine tasting lasted about 15 minutes. The remainder of our time was so that we could purchase additional tastes at the bar. (We did not.) Then it was back on the bus with a 10 minute stop in the city center to take pictures of two important buildings (though I don't remember why they were supposed to be memorable). Not a great value for the money.

Hubbard Glacier - According to our captain we got closer than he has been able to get all season - about 4 miles out. I would have guessed we were closer than that. It was spectacular, probably helped by the fact that it was a beautiful day - clear blue skies with the sun shining. My husband "only" took about 100 pictures that day!

Entertainment on board - We went to one of the singing/dance shows later in the week which was quite entertaining. We also enjoyed the illusionist/magician though we didn't like Broadway night. The four singers were all very talented but they should have kept the comedic banter out of their act - in my opinion at least. We also went to one of the cooking demonstrations - it gets packed quickly, so go early if you want a good seat. We took a cooking class as well. There were 7 of us - two making the salad, 3 of us the main dish, and 2 the dessert. The chef from the Pinnacle Grill was the instructor. He was certainly nice enough, but there really wasn't any instruction going on. Basically we were given the ingredients and the recipes and told to get started. We all shared the food at the end and were given a glass of wine as well. We decided to purchase a weeks pass to the hydro pool/thermal suite though did not think we got our money's worth from this. I thought the hydro pool should have been open later than 9:00 (yes, I should have realized this when I purchased the pass, but wasn't thinking clearly on the first day). I would have liked to use it after dinner, but by the time we were done eating it was closed. I also thought the water should have been hotter. Oh well. I also had a facial and my husband a foot/leg massage, both of which were enjoyed.

Embarkation/Disembarkation - We got on the ship very quickly - maybe 45 minute process at most. Disembarkation was a different story. Unfortunately we were given the wrong tags to put on our luggage. We had a noon flight and when our group had not been called by 9:00 I went down to the front desk and found out we had been given the wrong tags and should have been in a group off the ship around 7:45. If it would not have been for that, the whole process would have been very smooth - just bad luck. As it turned out, our flight was delayed by two hours.

I can't say enough good things about the cruise. We had a wonderful time and I hope to return to a HAL ship sometime soon - though with a son going to college in a year and three more right behind, it may be a little while. Thank you to everyone for your advice and reviews. They have been much appreciated.

Michelle

[Old As Dirt Mom]

:) Domo Arigato, Tokyo Mom; you gave us a very readable and organized synopsis of your cruise, and I think you covered everything very nicely. I agree with almost all of your observations. May I respectfully disagree slightly with your observations of Sitka, which I consider far more quaint and historical than Ketchikan:) . The Sitka National Historical Park has an excellent totem collection, and many trails for easy hiking. I agree with your recommendation to get outside of town, as there are some good independent tours of the area. (Captain Davey Lubin of the Esther G Sea Taxi comes to mind. www.puffinsandwhales.com) We all have our own opinions and preferences, however, and I certainly respect yours and thank you for sharing them with us. I think you gave us a very even-handed and fair recounting of your Alaska experience.

 

I'm glad you and your husband enjoyed your cruise with HAL. Thanks for a very nice review.

 

Karin

[Golfette]

Tokyo Mom - many thanks. We will be 1st time HAL cruisers on Oosterdam in December (SC5186). This is the first recent review I've read on Oosterdam. We don't sail for nearly 6 months yet, but, of course, I'm dying to hear more about Oosterdam experiences. I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

[Dance Fever]

I really enjoyed reading your review, Tokyo Mom. Thanks for taking the time to write it. :) I'll be on the Oosterdam myself in 20 days, and it can't come soon enough!

[Copper10-8]

Hi Michelle, thanks for taking the time and effort to write/post a review! One quick question, if you don't mind/ Was cruise director "Jay" Jay Gosselin by any chance?

Happy future cruises to you!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Michelle, first off I want to Welcome you even though you have been around for a while but want to say I enjoyed your first post/review:) It was a very well written review.

 

I appreciate you honest impression of the Wine and Chocolate in Victoria. We are returning to the Noordam September 9th and I had thought about doing that since 2 weeks ago we did the Butchart Gardens. I think we may now pass on that one as well. Thanks:)

 

The Oosterdam has always been my favorite ship and we fell in love with her on our first trip to Alaska in 2004. I am so glad you enjoyed your Alaskan cruise on the Oosterdam.:cool:

[Tokyo Mom]

Yes, our cruise director was Jay Gosselin. He does a very good job.

Also, we did enjoy the totem poles along the paths behind the museum in Sitka and took lots of pictures of them. I just didn't think this particular tour was worth the money - money would have been better spent on a tour outside of town. Seeing the museum, Russian dance and cathedral could have easily been done on our own.

Glad you all have enjoyed the review - can you believe this was the "shorter" version??

Michelle

[fcorey]

Thanks for taking the time to share your trip with us, its always nice to read a good review. We'll be taking that same trip 9/1 this year, cant wait, reading posts like this helps pass the time :)

[Tinknock50]

Very nice, well written review....thanks for taking the time to post it.

[Kolleen]

Thanks for the review. We are also booked in December, and it was nice to read a new review.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for your wonderful review. So glad you had a wonderful Alaskan cruise.

 

In Sitka we always go whale wacthing.

[dvdfreakmc]

Thanks for your review of the Oosterdam. We are only a few weeks out as well from our trip, but it was great to hear that things are going well.

[boballen]

We were on the Zuiderdam the same time and in port with you in Juneau

 

here are a few pix