Oosterdam Review 12/5

I just returned from a 7 day cruise onboard the Oosterdam - here are my reflections:

Pre-cruise - We got lucky on priceline and stayed at the beautiful Renassiance. We were able to eat dinner right across the parking lot at Bimini Boatyard - it was pretty tasty.

Embarkation - Really pretty good. We had a deluxe verandah suite which is supposed to entitle you to priority check-in. It really didn't but it was not slow.

Cabin - We had a deluxe verandah suite and loved it. The cabin was spectacular! The Neptune Lounge = overrated. All they had was a bunch of the same foods in there everyday. It is nothing to be missed.

Food - The food was give or take. For the most part everything was pretty good. They had some great seafood selections - mussels, king crab legs, crab and artichoke dip, jumbo shrimp cocktail, tuna steak, mahi mahi, etc... The seafood was pretty good. The steak in the Pinnacle was AWESOME - comparable to a Ruth's or Morton's. I had a ribeye twice and loved it. The infamous chocolate volcano cake was served runny (not at all coooked)! The Lido food was good but sickening. It seemed the same everyday. The deli had great sandwich selections. The burgers on this ship were the best I have ever had on a cruise ship. The room service food was horrible - especially the breakfast. The breakfast was not even edible.

Service - The cabin steward was almost too great - he kept knocking all the time! The service in the dining room was good but VERY slow. The service does not even come close to comparing with the service Celebrity offers. We never once had anyone offer to give us a refill on our coffee. They were just not very attentive. The rest of the service on the ship was pretty good but SLOW - always slow. It would always take at last 15 minutes to get a drink once you ordered one...

Ports - We missed HMC because of the weather. Nassau was a waste of time due to the short amount of time there. Tortola and St. Maarten were great!

Entertainment - COMPLETELY BOGUS. They had no caribbean band. They had elevator music by the pools, XMas music in the casinos, etc... There was no comedian either! Furthermore, they have a sports bar but only have one channel... Why do they even bother calling it a sports bar???

Overall - Had a great time. The ship was gorgeous! Would cruise with HAL again but not as a first choice. They need better atmosphere!

Let me know if anyone has questions...

Did you go into the piano bar???

I was on the Oosterdam last month & we spent several nights in there -- alot of fun for people of all ages and musical tastes.

Hello,

Could you tell me what time they let you off the Oosterdam? I have booked an 11:20 flight out of Flort Lauderdale airport and I am wondering if I should change it? Thank you,

Jaime