Just got back from the Oosterdam - June 2nd Sailing to Alaska

[stew949]

I just got back from the June 2, 2007 sailing Seattle to Alaska roundtrip on the Oosterdam. I'll say that my experience wasn't what I anticipated; however, I think my expectations were too high.

I am mainly posting this for people who have not cruised Holland before, but who have cruised various other cruise lines. If you've never cruised before and you're reading this; discontinue reading and have a great time on your first cruise!


cont.

I know there are many Holland fans on this board, so I'll try to keep that in mind; however, this last cruise (while not horrible) was probably one of the least enjoyable cruises I've ever been on (I cruised Carnival once and that was the worst). Now I'm thinking that I'm being too hard on Holland, but it didn't measure up to the Celebrity and Princess cruises I've taken in the past - the fact that it didn't measure up to Oceania goes without saying (that's an entirely different class of cruiseline).

With that being said, the last time I was on Celebrity was 3 years ago and the last time I was on Princess was 2 years ago. So, in all fairness, my experience on a Celebrity and/or Princess ship today may yield the same response - they may not be as good as they once were; especially since Carnival Corp. now runs Princess (as well as Holland).

Okay, the pros and cons of my recent cruise.

PROS: the ship is nice and spacious - there is still more people than I would like, but that's what you get with the econo cruiselines; our room (a suite on the 8th floor) was spacious and probably the best room I've ever had on a cruise - separate shower and tub was as huge plus, as was the oversized balcony; the spa was nice (whirlpool and therapy/sauna suite); there was a select few staff who we befriended and received great service from...; the culinary arts center is the best I've seen; getting on and off the boat while in port was pretty painless (that is a downside to a Princess ship - getting off the boat in ports is a nightmare); the best food we had was during our last night in the dinning room - surf and turf - the lobster and steak was excellent (the food during the rest of the trip was subpar); the service from our dinning room guys and our room steward was great - the rest of the ship wasn't the best (in all fairness, new people every 7 days is and would be pretty tough to handle).

CONS: the ship's staff wasn't that friendly at first - the bar staff in general were the worst (we did get great service from our dinning room wine steward, waiter, assistant, and head waiter, as well as the guys from the Martini bar) any other time we ordered a drink, the bar staff was unpleasant and acted like we were bothering them; the food was not that great - some of the worst food I've ever had (avoid the Lido Buffet restaurant - the food there was pretty bad); the Pinnacle Restaurant wasn't worth $15 extra let alone the $30/pp price tag; the shows and entertainment wasn't that good at all - even my last cruise on Oceania (where I was told not to expect much from the entertainment) was way better than on this Holland trip; the wine list on Holland is laughable - we brought our own wine on due to the fact that the wine list was/is downright pitiful...not only was the selection bad, but $12 bottles of wine were being sold for $50+...$30 to $40 for such a bottle would've been somewhat reasonable; afternoon tea wasn't anything special - again I am comparing it to Oceania and that probably isn't fair (I remember that afternoon tea on Princess wasn't that great either, but maybe slightly better than Holland - just barely though); all the great cruise activites on sea days seemed to be at the same time - other days there were no good activities at all (you can encounter this on any cruise); did I mention the poor food - that was the biggest dissapointment of the cruise.

That's most of what I can think of right now. Yes there are pros and cons; however, my cons are pretty big deals for me. Most of my pros have been standard on my past cruises, so I would expect such things.

Again, I'm not trying to bash Holland, but it didn't live up to the premier econo cruiseline status that everyone seems to give it. If I had to rate the three cruiselines I mentioned above, it would be Celebrity, Princess, and then Holland (if I were to travel Celebrity and Princess today, that ranking may change). If you want a great cruise experience, I highly reccomend Oceania - it is worth every penny.

[fcorey]

Thanks for taking the time to post, I like when people list Pro's and Con's. I do think comparing them to Oceania is a big stretch, but Princess and Celebrity are in the same market so thats fair. I was wondering if you could elaborate on the comment "the rest of the ship wasn't the best "? Also what was so awful about the food? On our Mexico trip on this same ship the food was quite good. One of our tablemates described the food as decent/good banquest food but not fine dining and I think when you are serving 2000 guests thats what you'd expect. Our Pinnacle grill dinners were both very good, but we had paid $20 more not $30, not sure how I feel about the upcharge. One thing that concerns me is what you said level of service, for us that was the first thing that set HAL aboveCarnival in our minds. Again, thanks for posting, please elaborate on the comment I mentioned if you can.

[gradmom]

I am so sorry to hear you did not enjoy your cruise. My family and I were on the same exact cruise. We had a wonderful time! From Kumong and Olan in the dining room, Gusti our lifeboat operator, Fat our Cabin Steward, Smiley and Honkey-Dorey, everyone went out of their way to be kind and meet our requested needs. The bar staff in the Crow's Nest provided many a pleasant word. The staff in Club HAL were gracious, as were the staff in every area of the ship we went. Our daughter had to visit the medical center because of an accident no less than 3 hours after we got on the ship and the nurse and doctor were very polite and thorough. They called to check on her and inquired about her each and every time we saw them for the rest of the week. The food was wonderful as well. The dining room staff went out of their way to meet specific needs and even brought special foods to our daughter when she was seasick. We saw the staff many times while in different ports and they called us by name and asked if we were having a good time...all on their time off.... We had a wonderful time. Having sailed another cruiseline in the past, my husband and I were eager to compare the two...no comparison...HAL wins...hands down. I have heard so many people praising Princess...hmm... they have been running Code Red for a number of weeks now. One bus operator told us that eachtime he is hired to transport Princess travelers, he is required to wipe his entire bus down with a Bleach-type cleaner since the company has not taken the time to take the ship out of service and clean it from top to bottom. I would much rather be greeted with Purell at every meal and returning from each port, than spending my cruise sick in my cabin. Sorry to ramble on but we had an amazing time and would go on any cruise HAL offers in a heartbeat.

[hammybee]

I too am sorry to hear that your cruise did not live up to your expectations. At least now you know that your prefer Princess and X to HAL.

[fcorey]

I am so sorry to hear you did not enjoy your cruise. My family and I were on the same exact cruise. We had a wonderful time! From Kumong and Olan in the dining room, Gusti our lifeboat operator, Fat our Cabin Steward, Smiley and Honkey-Dorey, everyone went out of their way to be kind and meet our requested needs. The bar staff in the Crow's Nest provided many a pleasant word. The staff in Club HAL were gracious, as were the staff in every area of the ship we went. Our daughter had to visit the medical center because of an accident no less than 3 hours after we got on the ship and the nurse and doctor were very polite and thorough. They called to check on her and inquired about her each and every time we saw them for the rest of the week. The food was wonderful as well. The dining room staff went out of their way to meet specific needs and even brought special foods to our daughter when she was seasick. We saw the staff many times while in different ports and they called us by name and asked if we were having a good time...all on their time off.... We had a wonderful time. Having sailed another cruiseline in the past, my husband and I were eager to compare the two...no comparison...HAL wins...hands down. I have heard so many people praising Princess...hmm... they have been running Code Red for a number of weeks now. One bus operator told us that eachtime he is hired to transport Princess travelers, he is required to wipe his entire bus down with a Bleach-type cleaner since the company has not taken the time to take the ship out of service and clean it from top to bottom. I would much rather be greeted with Purell at every meal and returning from each port, than spending my cruise sick in my cabin. Sorry to ramble on but we had an amazing time and would go on any cruise HAL offers in a heartbeat.

Thank you for your views, overall what was your opinion of Oosterdam? How does she look , I read that Alaska being such a busy season takes its toll on the ships. When we were aboard I found the crew to be friendly, professional and the ship was very clean. It makes me wonder why the CDC score for the ship is only 89

[stew949]

fcorey:

"the rest of the ship wasn't the best " - I was referring to the rest of the crew members...biggest complaint was the bar staff; most were not that friendly. I did find that if you stuck to certain people, they eventually warmed up to you. Perhaps we didn't stick with certain crew members and get to know them; in those cases, those people were quite nice and enjoyable.

food? um, just not as great as would be expected. The food on my last Princess and Celebrity cruises was better. Again, those cruises were 2 and 3 years ago - the food on those cruises may not be that great anymore either. Banquet food is a good way to describe it; some nights were better than others - the best food we had was at the end of the trip. We also ate at the Pinnacle Grill our first night - again, the food during the first few days was just not cooked right, nor did impress in any way.

Is HAL better than Carnival? Absolutely, but that's not saying much.

gradmom:

Yes, I appreciated the Purell as much as the next person.

Honkey-Dorey and Smiley were great, but I only saw those goes at the buffet. After a couple of meals at the buffet, I avoided that area if I could - the dining room was the best food on the ship, but it is difficult at times to eat every meal in the dining room.

As for Princess running code Red; yes, I heard the same thing from my boss who took a Princess cruise to Alaska just two weeks prior to our trip. He said that there were a couple of scares on the ship concerning the Norovirus, etc... My boss also said the food wasn't that great on Princess. I'll repeat, I haven't sailed Princess for two years. At that time, my experience was better than this Holland experience. It also may not be a fair comparison because that princess cruise was for two weeks - I think longer cruises allow the staff and crew members to relax more and get to know the passengers. If I were to sail Princess today, I may rank Holland over Princess. As it stands now, I don't think my wife and I will sail anything other than Oceania, Azamara (maybe - been hearing mixed reviews), Regent, Crystal, etc... I don't think the econo, big ships are for us anymore.

As for the Alaska itinerary: I guess I'm naive, but it was dissapointing to see Ketchikan and Juneau so commercialized towards tourists. There was hardly a genuine thing about those places. My wife and I dislike the Carribean for those reasons, and Ketchikan looked like a Carribean port with the crappy Diamonds International and all the cruise-sponsored jewelry stores. My wife visited Ketchikan about 8 years ago and she said it was quite depressing to see what it had turned in to. Sitka was the highlite port of our trip - eventhough we took some neat excursions in Juneau and Ketchikan.

I hope this clears some things up!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to post your pros and cons from your cruise.

Sorry that HAL didn't live up to your expectations.

[fcorey]

fcorey:

"the rest of the ship wasn't the best " - I was referring to the rest of the crew members...biggest complaint was the bar staff; most were not that friendly. I did find that if you stuck to certain people, they eventually warmed up to you. Perhaps we didn't stick with certain crew members and get to know them; in those cases, those people were quite nice and enjoyable.

food? um, just not as great as would be expected. The food on my last Princess and Celebrity cruises was better. Again, those cruises were 2 and 3 years ago - the food on those cruises may not be that great anymore either. Banquet food is a good way to describe it; some nights were better than others - the best food we had was at the end of the trip. We also ate at the Pinnacle Grill our first night - again, the food during the first few days was just not cooked right, nor did impress in any way.

Is HAL better than Carnival? Absolutely, but that's not saying much.

gradmom:

Yes, I appreciated the Purell as much as the next person.

Honkey-Dorey and Smiley were great, but I only saw those goes at the buffet. After a couple of meals at the buffet, I avoided that area if I could - the dining room was the best food on the ship, but it is difficult at times to eat every meal in the dining room.

As for Princess running code Red; yes, I heard the same thing from my boss who took a Princess cruise to Alaska just two weeks prior to our trip. He said that there were a couple of scares on the ship concerning the Norovirus, etc... My boss also said the food wasn't that great on Princess. I'll repeat, I haven't sailed Princess for two years. At that time, my experience was better than this Holland experience. It also may not be a fair comparison because that princess cruise was for two weeks - I think longer cruises allow the staff and crew members to relax more and get to know the passengers. If I were to sail Princess today, I may rank Holland over Princess. As it stands now, I don't think my wife and I will sail anything other than Oceania, Azamara (maybe - been hearing mixed reviews), Regent, Crystal, etc... I don't think the econo, big ships are for us anymore.

As for the Alaska itinerary: I guess I'm naive, but it was dissapointing to see Ketchikan and Juneau so commercialized towards tourists. There was hardly a genuine thing about those places. My wife and I dislike the Carribean for those reasons, and Ketchikan looked like a Carribean port with the crappy Diamonds International and all the cruise-sponsored jewelry stores. My wife visited Ketchikan about 8 years ago and she said it was quite depressing to see what it had turned in to. Sitka was the highlite port of our trip - eventhough we took some neat excursions in Juneau and Ketchikan.

I hope this clears some things up!

Stew, thanks again, also for the info on the ports, Sitka is the one I am really looking forward to, I'd read enough recently about Juneau and Ketchikan and your complaints were similar to those I read.

[grsnovi]

My wife and I (age 53) were on the 6/2 Oosterdam sailing and thought it was great. Upon getting back to work I found myself telling everyone that it was the people that made it great (the HAL people). Granted, I don't have particularly refined tastes with wine (but we'll usually taste all sorts of different wines, while keeping several bottles around to open - I don't stock a cellar). I found the Oosterdam "house" wines to be fine for drinking with my meals. We enjoyed the wine tasting hosted by Thomas in the PG along with perhaps ten others on Thursday afternoon. The food was pretty good in my opinion - these guys are preparing close to 8000 meals per day, what exactly are you expecting? I tried a number of interesting things in the dining room - some were great others weren't anything I'd have again, but there's no accounting for taste. The Lido offers quite a wide variety of options: sandwiches, sushi, entree platters, Italian. I agree that you can't dine in the dining room for every meal, but the Lido certainly worked for me for breakfast, lunch and the occasional dinner. My wife and I were both delighted with the freshly prepared carrots and string beans we had on the Lido.

I wasn't that impressed with the coffee on board (nor with the latte's) but again, I think coffee is very much an individual taste. I thought the fancy dessert extravaganza could have been better managed (from purely a traffic standpoint).

I don't have any point of reference for cruise quality more recent than eleven years ago but I was quite happy.

I was also in a suite on the Navigation deck (8).

I will agree with the crass commercialism of the three Alaska ports: Juneau, Sitka and Ketchikan. Luckily we had scheduled shore excursions for Juneau and Sitka. By Ketchikan I was pretty tired of wandering "the strip" of t-shirt shops interspersed with DI jewelry stores. We decided at the last minute that we'd better book something specific for Victoria rather than leave things to chance and the orca watch excursion was awesome!

Possibly the highlight of our week was the relationship we developed with James Deering as the result of attending the CC meet and greet on Sunday. Mr. Deering holds the Hotel Manager position on Oosterdam and was quite gracious with his time and knowledge on Sunday. His subsequent hospitality was befitting of a senior representative of HAL and we were glad to have been singled out for this extra attention.

We will likely look no further than HAL for future cruise opportunities.

[Tinknock50]

Just thought I would comment on commercializing of Ketchikan and Skagway (not visited on this cruise). I hate to see it and both these places have lost a lot of charm since I visited the 1st time in '97.

However, if you make the effort to find the interesting places, you will be rewarded. In Ketchikan, just walk past all the new gift shops and head to Creek Street. That is the old historical district and even though it has gift shops too, it is an interesting step back in time. Its also a nice walk up the hill to the hatchery and Heritage Museum. (You can buy tickets for both at a reduced cost and they are next door to each other).

There are ways to avoid the commercial aspect. You just have to do your homework before your cruise.

[stew949]

grsnovi:

I defiitely respect the time and hardwork the crew/staff put in during a cruise. After seeing what are tablemats and others on the cruise tipped, my wife and I may have been overly generous in our extra tipping (to show my respect and appreciation, I tip people). We paid our obligatory $10 pp per day, but we also tipped the other crew staff that we had a lot of contact with - we were also shocked that we were sometimes the only people who tipped the people on our shore excurions (if a tip was warranted - which was the case with all of our excursions). With that said, I don't expect miracles. I'm simplying comparing similar cruises with a similar amount of passengers.

As for preparing 3,000 meals a day - I'm baffled and amazed at how cruiselines deliver what they deliver. When comparing past Celebrity and Princess cruises from 2 and 3 years ago to my recent Holland one, the food was better on Celebrity and Princess. That's all I'm saying - I still think it is amazing what Holland and every other cruiseline does to service their passengers. Again, if I were to sail Celebrity and Princess today - I may think the food isn't what it used to be (that is my disclaimer). Perhaps the cruise industry - as a whole - is cutting back on variety and certain ingredients.

I've been cruising since I was 6 years old (my first cruise was on Sitmar - they later merged with Princess I think), and food on cruise ships has always been first class and gourmet. I've always been amazed at how cruiselines could deliver such high quality, ingredients, selection, and exotic food. My first experiences with escargot, lamb, duck, caviar, etc...were on cruises. As for my recent Holland experience (yes I appreciate how hard it is to feed 1800+ people); however, the food didn't hold up to food in the past. Someone described it earlier as banquet food - and I would completely agree. There were specific instances when the food was what I would consider first class and gourmet, but it wasn't like that throughout the cruise. I would equate the Lido buffet to Hometown Buffet, and some (not all) of the dinners to Olive Garden quality (disclaimer - I think Olive Garden is HORRIBLE, while most of America seems to love it). Again, there were some nights where Holland delivered a gourmet/excellent dinner, lunch, breakfast IN THE DINING ROOM! If I haven't cruised before I wouldn't have prior instances to compare with, and that's all I'm doing here. I'm still appreciative and amazed at the work and preparation it takes to even put on a Carnival cruise.

Here is an interesting side note. I've met people who have thought the food has been too gourmet and exotic - I think this has been the trend over the years. In the past, fewer people cruised. Today, you have a bigger audience. With that bigger audience, you have many people who do not like or appreciate gourment food and the preparation of it. I almost don't blame the cruiselines for scaling the exotic dishes back - the majority of passengers probably don't like caviar, escargot, frog legs, lamb, duck, rabbit, etc... Taste is a matter of opinion, and I'm putting in my two cents in for people who like gourmet and exotic food. If you think the Oliver Garden is great, than disregard anything I've said about food on cruiselines.

As for the ports in Alaska - I've only been to Juneau, Sitka, and Ketchikan. Yes, you must find the good excursions and locations. In Juneau, we hiked on the Mendenhall glacier for about two hours - it was great. I also visited the Alaskan brewery, since I am a fan of microbrews. In Sitka, we took a 4x4 excursion through the Tongass national preserve. The area we were in had one of the highest concentrations of Brown Bears - well, we ended up seeing two 3-year-old cubs that came within 15 yards of us. Our excusion guides had to blow the air horn to keep them from coming right up to us. I got a ton of pictures, and it was an amazing experience. In Ketchikan, we took a floatplane through the Misty Fjords - again, it was incredible. We then walked around Creek Street, which I agree, was much better than the shops connected to the docks. If you do your homework regarding your ports, you will be definitely be rewarded.

[Mary Ellen]

Thank you for taking the time to post. My DB/SIL were on the cruise before yours and also their first HAL cruise. They share some of the same opinions. They felt the food/service was uneven. When the two came together, it was the best they've ever had (compared to Princess & RCCL). Other times it could be BAD. They ended up with the 'dining window' in order to get the earlier seating. In their opinion: "It sucked".

SIL loved Hunky-Dory, but he could never get DB's name right. They did not like the layout of the Lido buffet and they had some real issues with the food preparation there - i.e. runny scrambled eggs and bacon half-cooked - if you asked for crispy bacon, it was put in the deep-fat fryer. :eek:

They will sail on HAL again (even with their issues, they MUCH preferred this cruise to their Princess cruise), but it most likely won't be on the Oosterdam. SIL held on to her comment card to mail directly to Seattle, she didn't trust it to make it to HQ if she turned it in on the ship. I did let her know that from what I've read here, it would have made it.

Happy sailing on your next cruise - where ever it may be.

[ORDPLATAA]

Great comments -

We were on HAL in 2005 (the Z'dam) and had a great experience for booth meals and service. We did Celebrity in 2006 and thought that it was on par with HAL. We did Princess earlier this year (hated it!) on the Caribbean Princess - probably due to the shear size/volume. We are back on celebrity in 4 weeks and are now debating between HAL and RCI for February 2008.

So, I guess I am trying to say is nothing is like it was 2-3 years ago and tastes/preferences vary from person to person. I personally didn't care for Princess but my 72 year old mom loved it. Unless you are going Ultra High end or Budget Budget level, everything kind of evens out.

[gradmom]

In response to the question about the condition of the ship. We found it to be very clean and not worn looking. There was constant cleaning, polishing, varnishing, painting and even regrouting going on. Everytime we visited restrooms throught the ship we found them to be clean and tidy. No complaints at all regarding the appearance of the ship.....

[grsnovi]

I'm not sure that I equate small portions and an effort at presentation with "gourmet" meals but the dining room meal presentation was certainly a step above Olive Garden. I enjoyed the duck the night it was offered and while I also enjoy lamb, for some reason I didn't have that (or the pork) on the nights they were offered. I guess all I was saying was that (as far as I was concerned) the meals were meals (and they weren't the reason that I was taking a cruise). My other point was that while I don't cellar my own wine, I know what works for me and I was happy with the "house" chardonnay all week.

[grsnovi]

Stew - My wife just read this thread and observed that perhaps its been a while since you've been to an Old Town Buffet... ;-)

[CruiseBumm]

Thanks for the honest point of view. When I cruise I only ask that the staf be respectful and curtious. Anything else is gravey. I was disapointed to hear that some staff ingnored you. I guess that can happen any where, because I got they same felling on my last RCI cruise.

As for food, too bad you did not enjoy the fare. I am glad that the positive reviews foir the culinary shows are still coming. Remember taste in food is as varied as taste in wine, friends and even soul mates.:rolleyes:

[cruisecrazytoo]

fcorey:

"the rest of the ship wasn't the best " - I was referring to the rest of the crew members...biggest complaint was the bar staff; most were not that friendly. I did find that if you stuck to certain people, they eventually warmed up to you. Perhaps we didn't stick with certain crew members and get to know them; in those cases, those people were quite nice and enjoyable.

food? um, just not as great as would be expected. The food on my last Princess and Celebrity cruises was better. Again, those cruises were 2 and 3 years ago - the food on those cruises may not be that great anymore either. Banquet food is a good way to describe it; some nights were better than others - the best food we had was at the end of the trip. We also ate at the Pinnacle Grill our first night - again, the food during the first few days was just not cooked right, nor did impress in any way.

Is HAL better than Carnival? Absolutely, but that's not saying much.

gradmom:

Yes, I appreciated the Purell as much as the next person.

Honkey-Dorey and Smiley were great, but I only saw those goes at the buffet. After a couple of meals at the buffet, I avoided that area if I could - the dining room was the best food on the ship, but it is difficult at times to eat every meal in the dining room.

As for Princess running code Red; yes, I heard the same thing from my boss who took a Princess cruise to Alaska just two weeks prior to our trip. He said that there were a couple of scares on the ship concerning the Norovirus, etc... My boss also said the food wasn't that great on Princess. I'll repeat, I haven't sailed Princess for two years. At that time, my experience was better than this Holland experience. It also may not be a fair comparison because that princess cruise was for two weeks - I think longer cruises allow the staff and crew members to relax more and get to know the passengers. If I were to sail Princess today, I may rank Holland over Princess. As it stands now, I don't think my wife and I will sail anything other than Oceania, Azamara (maybe - been hearing mixed reviews), Regent, Crystal, etc... I don't think the econo, big ships are for us anymore.

As for the Alaska itinerary: I guess I'm naive, but it was dissapointing to see Ketchikan and Juneau so commercialized towards tourists. There was hardly a genuine thing about those places. My wife and I dislike the Carribean for those reasons, and Ketchikan looked like a Carribean port with the crappy Diamonds International and all the cruise-sponsored jewelry stores. My wife visited Ketchikan about 8 years ago and she said it was quite depressing to see what it had turned in to. Sitka was the highlite port of our trip - eventhough we took some neat excursions in Juneau and Ketchikan.

I hope this clears some things up!

I guess I am a cruise slut! I have yet to go on a bad one and the Oosterdam 5-19 was my 6th since 2004 (I am a late bloomer). As usual, every cruise makes me feel alive. I bought few trinkets and did not fly or float on excursions. Hard to top the scenery as we chugged to our destinations, but we paid $12 rdtrip bus to Mendenhall Glacier where we spent 4 hours walking the trails, the shore, and looking directly at shear walls by the waterfall. We stopped by Salty Joes? to be insulted by the piano player. In Sitka we walked to and through the National Park and stopped by the college fish hatchery and chatted with a summer volunteer who lives about 150 miles from us. We lost count of the bald eagles and strained to see the seals out in the harbor. In Ketchikan we took the urban walking tour and found 200 year old totem poles. Who cares about the Pinnacle. I am hoping I made a good impression upon my Malaysian and Phillipine service providers. I am sooooo ready for another cruise....and life is tooooo short!

Sensation 2004
Glory 2005
Celebration 2005
Liberty 2006
Glory 2007
Oosterdam 2007