Oosterdam - Nov 28 to Dec 5/04

[Searanger]

Just returned yesterday from a very enjoyable cruise on the Oosterdam. Honestly I can say I had a wonderful time. I have sailed the Zuiderdam three times and the difference between the two ships was very noticeable. Can't put my finger on it, but found the crew on the Oosterdam much happier and not so burnt up looking. The ship was in much better shape and maintained much better. The new linens, towels and beds were great. The only negative might be that the cabins now look a little smaller because the mattresses are so big.

Hers's a couple of negative observations.

The food was acceptable but they really need to rework their presentation, menus etc. I think the whole process needs to be looked at....there is a lot of room for improvement. It just wasn't up to my expectations. Now on the other hand the Pinnacle Grill ----Wow -- the best steak I can remember eating. A 22-oz porterhouse and the Baked Alaska put the one in the dinning room to shame...and all for $20.00. So they can do it when they want.

Now here's one of my pet peeves with HAL's dinning assignments. I was travelling solo (mid 40's) First night (830pm) a table for 4 and I was the only one there. Luckily close by (6") a couple at a table for two made the dinner enjoyable. Second night (830p) note in my mailbox --new table (not my idea) This time a table for 6 and guess what. One couple in there 70's. Not a whole lot in common. Now I requested to be moved. Third night (8pm) put me at a table with a wedding parting. Bride and Groom and two of their friends. They were married on HMC. Nice group, but once again the dinning staff failed miserably on the table assignments. Since I ate once at the Pinnacle and once intown I stuck with it. There were at least a dozen other people I talked too that were either eating alone or were mismatch this week. Now the reason I brought this up, was I noticed a post from another Cruise Critic member several weeks ago who was left to have dinner by herself in the dinning room. I met another lady in her late 30's who experienced exactly the same thing. She refused to go back to the dinning room the rest of the week. How could the staff in the dinning room be so insensitive? Can HAL not spend a little time with their table assignments to match single to single or couple to couple in the same age range? Is this really rocket science?

And my last point about the night-club security (or lack of) No one seemed to care that children (4 to 14) were in their after midnight - heck after 2am sleeping on the chairs sometimes. Now they were with their mother and not badly behaved....a smokey bar is not the place for children! The DJ even when asked by several people wouldn't ask them to leave. Maybe it was because mum was a hot blond....even the officers wouldn't do anything. (very stange) And one final observation on the behaviour of a number of the officers in the night-club (such as assistant and bar managers) Ladies I have never seen such deplorable crude behaviour on any ship before from the crew. These people were an embarrassment to the uniform. Enough said on that one....hopefully they will dealt with in the future.

Overall....a very enjoyable week...great weather, ports and a fun group of fellow passengers.

[scopewest]

Thank you for the review as I'm going on the Oosterdam at the end of the month.

[dakrewser]

Just returned yesterday from a very enjoyable cruise on the Oosterdam. Honestly I can say I had a wonderful time. I have sailed the Zuiderdam three times and the difference between the two ships was very noticeable. Can't put my finger on it, but found the crew on the Oosterdam much happier and not so burnt up looking. The ship was in much better shape and maintained much better.
Thanky you, thank you, thank you! I was worried that all the recent criticisms (which mentioned the Zui) were applicable to all three Vista class ships. I'm feeling much better now about our upcoming cruise on the O'dam :)

[HeatherInFlorida]

Searanger, thanks so much for your review! We were on the Oosterday 11/7 so I was particularly interested in what you have to say.

This dining thing seems to be an ongoing problem on HAL. The woman you refer to was Lois. Not only did they mismatch her to a table, but it was their terrible way of handling it that upset her so. She was trying HAL for the first time and the experience soured her so much that I doubt she'll cruise on HAL again. I see she's happily back on the Celebrity boards.

When we sailed, there was a group of 3 women and the DR just couldn't handle it. They had no problem taking their money to share a cabin, but they just had the hardest time getting them a table. One table they were assigned only had 2 spaces. It really was ridiculous.
Anyway, so glad overall you had such a good time and were able to overlook the incidental problems.:)

[KimberlyF]

Hi Michael,
Sorry we missed you on the ship. By the time we got on the ship and got slightly orientated, they announced the life boat drill. We knew then we would not make it in time to meet everyone. Plus I did not see the last postings of the roll call to see room numbers.

We had such a wonderful time on the cruise. We really felt like we were treated like royalty. Since this was our first cruise we had no other standard to go by, but HAL exceded out expectations. I am sorry about the mismatch for your dining room assignment. We had room at our table. There were only four of us at a table for six. We were couples, but the age group would have been closer for you. We really had nice, relaxing meals each night. I love trying all the different foods. Actually our only experience that was remotely not up to par was the Pinnacle Room. I think we had an off night. There was a large party in the same area, and it seemed hard for the staff to keep up with their demands; we seemed to play second fiddle. Our questions about the food selections were not answered, and since we book the night for our anniversary we were to get complimentary champage, but we did not see that. But you are right about the baked Alaska....absolutely worth the trip.

The overall staff on the ship did seem very upbeat. We really enjoyed getting to know some of them. In fact, plan on exchanging Christmas cards with one staff member that seemed to be always willing to meet our needs.

It simply amazed me how hard everyone worked to keep everything gleaming. The ship is beautiful and elegant. What also amazed me was that even with all the people on board, my hubby and I could still slip away and find a quiet and romatic place on the deck.

Without trying to sound to much like the 80's-we had the time of our lives.

kim

[bopa]

OOsterdam nov 28 to dec 5

1. We had some good meals in the dining room, but in general they need to do
some work on their poultry offerings.
Meatloaf was poor, my wife makes much better, and, she liked the comment,
made lots of brownie points on that.
Food in general was good but not outstanding.
2. Lido closses at 7:30 pm a bit early.
3.on embarkation they check for liquor coming on board, and hold it till the last day. Wine is okay as well as champagne.
4.Tipping policy is simply a means of increasing wages while keeping advertised prices for the cruise low.Tipping should be for service. Bar at 15% provides an incentive for each employee to sell more, although they are not pushy.
5. We loved our suite SS, with balcony, just beautiful.
6. We never got to see the whole ship, too much to do.
7. Swimming pools had warm water best I have been in especially the midship pool.
8. Entertainment was from good to great, and we enjoyed it all, the only negative in the Vista Lounge is the sight lines from the pillars, very poor,
you would think that in this day and age a little better engineering would have resolved this.
9. Tendering was fast and efficient, no complaints.
10. Life boat drill station #5, horrible smell coming from exhaust on deck.

The ship was more than we anticipated.

Bob

[PaulaJK]

Is this limited to the carry-on luggage or does
it include the checked bags also?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for the review.

One time many years ago on NCL we were seated at a table for 8 - 6 of whom were part of a group of 70 celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary - so we can relate to your table problems. All were seated in the same area and everyone kept jumping up and down the first evening and running from table to table to talk. Needless to say we had a new table the next evening.

[newmexicoNita]

I think the table seating problem seems to exist on all ships and I don't know why. The dining room knows our ages by the way we book so why not try to fit us in the right nitch. We too have had this problem and had to either aged to be moved or spent a week with a bunch of misfits (not necessarily them) us too. One more reason we like freestyle, you can decide if you want a table that night with someone else or whatever. If you aren't satisfied at least you know you won't have to eat with them another night. Now the food issue: could the quality of food or presentation have to do with some of the changing cruising trends, cheaper cruises, younger crowd, more kids? I don't know but it seems to me that to get what used to be part of the fun of cruising it is necessary to opt for the alternative, speicalty eateries. Just my 2 cents worth. NMNIta

[RevNeal]

Hmmm ... I am getting a little nervous as to my dining room arrangements for the Oosterdam this coming Feb. I'll be cruising alone; in the past I've not had any trouble -- the tables I've been assigned to have turned out to be excellent. However, I don't fancy sitting alone for dinner either, and I've heard of and seen that happen to some single people.

[irishmom]

We just returned from a b2b on the Oosterdam, and found the Maitre D' Tom Grindlay to be extremely responsive to our requests. Our first week was the holiday week (never again - but that's another thread) and we had a problem at the next table with an overserved group that thought it was time for karaoke. He took care of the situation as soon as he was summoned (the poor waiters didn't have a clue as to how to handle them!) and visited all of the surrounding tables to apolgize.

The next night we inquired about our arrangements for the following week, as we had 3 first-time HAL couples joining us. We really just wanted an oval table vs. a rectangular - nothing special. As an afterthought, my DH jokingly asked for their best waiter. Our first week's waiters were clearly overwhelmed, and I was a bit concerned that service was going to be an issue again. The Asst. Maitre D' personally confirmed our arrangements the following night, as well as the fact that we were celebrating an anniversary.

The next week was like being on a completely different ship. We had a great table and a waitstaff team that couldn't do enough for us. I really believe that my DH's comment to Mr. Grindlay didn't fall on deaf ears, as our waiter introduced himself as being their "best waiter" - and he was!

I wouldn't hesitate to voice my concerns the first day - Mr. Grindlay was the most attentive, visible Maitre D' we've ever encountered.

[HighFlyer]

We were on this sailing and here are my observations:

Background: we are in our mid 20's, veteran Princess and RCL cruisers, first time on HAL.

-food quality in the dining room and Lido was good, but found it lacking in selection and taste. Very friendly dining room stewards, though probably overworked. There were a couple accidents involving dining room stewards dropping plates on the floor.
-didn't find the magic shows entertaining at all.
-really enjoyed Oosterdam Superstar, although the Queens Lounge was too crowded.
-found the night club and casino too smokey.
-too many shore excursions included a lengthy shopping stop, which made up of 1/3 of the total tour time. The ferry from Cozumel to Playa del Carmen to catch our Tulum tour was extremely bumpy. Many green faces aboard.
-lots of quiet areas around the ship to hide out in ;)
-tenders were prompt, never waited more than a couple minutes.
-liked the fact that there was a priest on board and they had Catholic mass everyday.
-our cabin was kept extremely clean. The bedding quality was much higher than Princess or RCL. Never saw the cabin steward much, as I think he was overworked, but he did his job.

-to the person who asked about the number of 20-30 year olds on board, I think there were about 25-40.

Was subjected to the TSA 'grope and feel' before the flight back, but that has nothing to do with the ship or HAL :D

Overall for the price paid, we enjoyed the cruise. But compared to the other 2 lines, you can really see where the cutbacks took place.

[peaches from georgia]

Irishmom- Thomas was our maitre d' on the Rotterdam and we totally agree with your comments. He is terrific and a tremendous asset on any HAL ship he serves. We would love to have him in our dining room on every cruise. We also sailed the Oosterdam as you did, but heard he was on the Ryndam at that time.

Hopefully we'll run into him on one of our 2005 HAL cruises.

[dinobja]

Can anyone tell me what time you can get off the Oosterdam on the last day and is it realistic to make an 11:220am flight out of Fort Lauderdale?

[Searanger]

No problem. I had a 1035am flight...It actually pushed out of the gate at 1020a and I had no problem. However, I had #1 disembarkation number and was one of first off the ship and outside to the taxi stand. I'm sure it was a zoo behind me. The ship did not clear until 920am. Just make sure you fill out you disembarkation form and return it to the front desk the first night of your cruise.

A lot depends on your airline and how many ships are in port. The airport turns really nasty after 10am when thousands of cruise passengers show up. Just make sure you through security before it backs up. Also...some airlines ask you if you were on a cruise and then herd you downstairs. So...take any cruise tags off your bags before you check in.