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Showing results for 'oosterdam' in content posted in Holland America Line.
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Calling this the lazy waltz (although my dancing ability is akin to Elaine on Seinfeld) to recap this 14 day journey to Spain onboard the Oosterdam as I can’t promise to post every day consistently, especially as we get to Spain and have port days EVERYDAY for almost a week. But I will do my best to keep up. Unfortunately we will not be continuing on to Italy and Greece with the ship after Barcelona. The extra days in Barcelona and to get home to the East Coast are stretching how long I can be away from the office on top of the 14 night cruise. As background, this is my second TA after a Rotterdam trip last October. My sister and I chose this cruise because it was going to Spain where we had never been before, and because we LOVED the slow life of continuous at sea days of a TA. We are a little apprehensive about losing hours at the beginning and have many sea days in a row for the last week of the trip. We liked the west bound trip because we lost hours all at once (flying to Amsterdam) and then gradually got them back as we reached Florida and had the last week of the trip to recover after busy consecutive port days; thinking that was a more relaxing way to end the cruise. However, since you can’t do a westbound in April, this was our first choice of sailing. My sister frequently travels with me as her husband does not have sufficient vacation to do these longer trips and we share a similar travel style and interests. I am HAL loyal but will share the good and disappointing, recognizing that the disappointing are first world problems and through my personal filter. Nothing can be perfect and although it may sound like complaining at times, it is a travel recap of what we experienced. No matter the inconveniences, there is nothing better than being on a HAL cruise. I will apologize in advance for any typos and the length of reports. I know when I am looking forward to a trip, I want to soak up everything about the experience I may soon be having so I am erring on the side of detail. In any case I will endeavor to share my thoughts and experiences of on board life, ports, etc. Since there was a healthy CC roll call, I welcome others on board to chime in on any thoughts they have as well. We started this journey by doing the unthinkable and traveling to Florida on the day the cruise was departing. Decided the risk was worth it since I am not a great fan of the Ft. Lauderdale hotels near the airport or Port Everglades and since it was April, past snow weather (at least for Baltimore) and we had a 6:20am flight, there would still be time for delays or alternate flights if ours had an issue. Not only did everything go as planned, but I had the middle seat next to me empty on the nearly full flight! A good start.- 121 replies
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I am about to book a January 2025 South America and Antarctica cruise on Oosterdam. Not many cabins still available, and since the southern waters around Cape Horn can be rough I am thinking of going for a lower deck. Does anyone have experience of balcony cabins on deck 4 forward section? They are above the theatre so I am concerned about noise levels. They also seem to be the only balcony cabins that have steel and not glass balustrades, so I am wondering how much that spoils the view.
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Thought I'd give some impressions at just past the midpoint of our first TA. This is our 7th cruise, 2nd with Holland. Cruise is April 5-19, FLL to Barcelona. There's already a great almost live thread going so I won't try to duplicate that. First, the ship. They are currently freshening the decor, replaying carpet and painting things. There's a team in the lido every night painting nicks in the chairs. But you can tell she's got some age. Rusted out door frames, corroded supports, etc. Also some of the decor items, statues, etc are dark and ornate, not "current" cruise ship style. I'm aware that's a matter of taste, just mentioning it. The new carpet is updated so hopefully when everything is complete it will be lighter and brighter. Our balcony cabin is the smallest we've ever had, and the bathroom is tiny. That said, the overall size of the ship is good, doesn't take too long to get around. -
Hello; I am looking on the Oosterdam deck plans. On Deck #10, there is a room without a door, forward of cabin #10002. In the diagram it shows a wheelchair and some short lines that look like it could describe stairs/steps. Question: What is that room forward of cabin #10002? How often often used? Is there a library wall of book that would be on the wall adjoining to cabin #10002? If you have, it would be nice to see a picture of that room forward that is sharing a common wall with cabin #10002, Also, considering cabin #'s 10002 and 10004, can you tell me if the bed is closer to the verandah windows or is the sofa closer to the verandah windows? Happy sailing to everybody. Many Thanks, Ruth. -
And the end of winter season Port Everglades departures have begun….and this is a late departure, as well. ms Oosterdam will be at pier 26 from 5:30 am to 8:00 pm, and she is on a 14 Night Passage To Spain Also in port is Disney Dream at pier 4 (4:15 am – 5:00 pm), Regal Princess at pier 2 (4:45 am – 5:00 pm), Jewel of the Seas at pier 25, (6:00 am to 4:00 pm), and Liberty of the Seas at pier 19, (6:30 am to 4:30 pm) The PTZtv webcam can be found at https://www.portevergladeswebcam.com/. Next up: Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam on April 6, 2024 Leanne
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Fun fact….Santiago, Chile has two different cruise ports! Valparaiso and San Antonio. I didn’t realize till I fortunately saw mention of it just a couple of days before sailing. If you depart from here, make sure you know which one (HAL makes that easy) but make especially sure your transfer driver knows! checking in was pretty quick and easy, because of me being conservative about transit time from Santiago I arrived 45 minutes before the Noon schedule, but was able to start checking in after waiting less than ten minutes after arrival. My room was ready, and I was relaxing in my balcony stateroom minutes after Noon. Headed up to the Lido for roast beef, corn, and cauliflower. I took full advantage of the wonderful view from my stern veranda… I couldn’t log onto the internet, and had to go to customer service who quickly sorted it out. I stopped and made some dining reservations, and was surprised to pass the library. Spacious and attractive, but I’m not sure the selection is that great! hopefully, I will have more interesting shots after a port call or two!
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My wife and I will be making the voyage from Fort Lauderdale to Athens, Greece. We are seeking other passengers on the same voyage who would like to form a small group (4-8 people) to book a small group excursion in order to save money. I have found and communicated with a local independent tour guide (highly rated on TripAdvisor) who offers tours of the island – either short (3-4 hours) or long (4-5 hours) to various locations. After spending several hours researching tours, I have discovered that by booking directly through the tour owner/operator you can save a SIGNIFICANT amount of money compared to tours offer aboard the ship. And yes, this tour provider has specific tours designed for tourists arriving by cruise ship thereby ensuring he will get all back in plenty of time to re-board the ship. His prices are E 45 = $49 per person/$98 couple for the short tours and E 55 = $60 per person/$120 couple for the longer tours. Compare these prices with what Holland America is offering and you’ll understand why I’m trying to put together a small group. His website is: Azoreantours.com . Once there, click on Shore Excursions to see the different tours he offers. To make it perfectly clear – I do not get any “kick back” or discount by having others book a tour. The owner needs a minimum number of passengers to run any of the tours which is why I am reaching out to fellow passengers. My wife and I are favoring Excursion #1 or Excursion #4 but would consider all others. If you do book a tour, please reach out to me via Messenger of leave a comment on Facebook indicating which tour you’ve booked. Thank you and I’m looking forward to the cruise.
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We are just finishing our first week onboard and I just wanted to let everyone know that our experience so far is excellent! The staff are wonderful and even remember our names. They’re are always smiling and so friendly. The food in the main dining room is great and service is great. We went to the pinnacle grill last night and it was also excellent. We have only taken one Holland America cruise in 2012. We’ve tried several others including Silversea. Our last cruise was on Silver Dawn last fall. We are enjoying this experience much more. The ship is older but in good shape. The crew is what makes this ship so much better.- 15 replies
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Hello - we have been booking shore excursions for our “Magic of the Mediterranean” cruise in June. In Villefranche, we are interested in a couple of tours offered on Trip Advisor (thru a company called “Hire & Tours” that has a 5* rating.) They are “Shared Tour to Discover the Pearls of the French Riviera Full Day” and “Full Day Tour Medieval Villages Grasse Gourdon Tourettes St Paul.” Both are $99/ pp for a full day tour! The problem is that these tours (particularly the “Pearls” tour) are 8/9 hours, slightly too long for the time we have in port (8-5). The tour guide/owner of the company said that if we could fill a van (7 passengers max) with OOSTERDAM passengers, he would arrange the tour to fit our time schedule and interests. 🙂 It sounds like he’s a wonderful guide, possibly a university prof (?) with a great deal of historical, cultural knowledge on these locations that he loves to share. So I thought I would post this in hopes that some of our fellow passengers might be interested:)! Pls let me know if you are! Looking forward to cruising with you all in June! -
Finally made it back home last week from a wonderful South American cruise onboard the Oosterdam. We left Miami (was originally supposed to be Fort Lauderdale) on November 19th and disembarked in Buenos Aires on December 20th. We did not depart Miami until quite late. One of the reasons I heard for the delay was that the Oosterdam had to be recertified by the American authorities. This required everybody (including staff) leave the ship while a full inspection was performed. I understand this inspection even included the lowering and testing of all lifeboats. While onboard I tried to do an ongoing “Live" report, but I did not have much success due to poor internet connections. Therefore, I will now attempt a complete cruise review and hopefully, including many photos. Overall, we found the cruise interesting, as almost all the ports were new to us and we didn’t experience any of the anticipated ‘early spring’ nasty weather. We made it into all the ports and surprisingly - even the Falkland Islands. I just noticed that the Oosterdam, on it’s return trip around the Horn, was to visit Falkland Islands a few days ago, but was not able to do so, due to bad weather. Regrettably, we found almost all aspects of the shipboard experiences to be disappointing. Regardless, we travel for the destinations and, as such, we would readily recommend the cruise to other people - as it had a great itinerary. 😎
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We’ve had our RCCL cruise cancelled and about to press the button on a HAL Greek Islands cruise. Experienced cruiser but never HAL usually DCL or RCCL. I’ve done searches but they’ve not yielded much! Do you know if there is a good selection for gluten free on board? Things like pancskes and pizza outside of MDR - daughter is Coeliac. Is there a privacy curtain in the cabin between the master bed and the third person bed - is this a bunk/murphy or fold out sofa? Or how can I find out as GTY! Are there ‘shows’ in the theatre, or is it just ‘acts’ and singers? Do they have quizzes or trivia on sea days? Many thanks, I’m sure there’ll be more!
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I am booked for a 14 day Mediterranean cruise on the Oosterdam. I was wondering how much laundry services are as I'm obviously not bringing 14 days worth of clothes. Thanks in advance!
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This is YesFan giving a shout out! It's been more than a decade since we took our first cruise aboard the Oosterdam to Alaska. This is a reunion for us to be back aboard this lovely ship. Looking for info regarding excursions in ports of call on this 14 day cruise. Are HAL daily excursions worth booking, or is it better to go through a company like Viator for daily excursions? Also, we are coming to Rome 8 days prior to the cruise and will be traveling south to Salerno, the Amalfi coast, Capri, Naples, and Rome in that order. Any suggestions as to special places to visit along these stops? One more question; when we head out to Civitavecchia on the morning of the 14th, is it best to take the train from the main station in Rome followed by a taxi to the ship? Or are there better options to get to the port/ship? Thanks in advance and looking forward to communicating with other cruisers on our journey aboard the Oosterdam! -
My bags are (finally) packed, and I’m ready for the adventure of a lifetime! After 11 years away from HAL, I’m off to take the 22 Day South America & Antarctica itinerary from Santiago (San Antonio), Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina. With Antarctica, I will have now visited (and cruised to!) all 7 continents! If you haven’t followed any of my LIVE! Blogs, this is my 8th one here on Cruise Critic, and its always a joy to take my cruise critic readers along with me! I’m Dee, traveling with my dear hubby Russ. I adore cruising, and have done a ton of it. Lines we’ve cruised on include Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Regent Seven Seas, Celebrity, Viking (Ocean and River), Norwegian and many smaller lines. I always like to let readers know my blogging/review style before I start. I’ll tell it like it is, good and bad, but that said, I’ve never been on a totally bad cruise! I’m generally upbeat and I don’t let a few things that are not perfect ruin my good time. You can see that through my prior LIVE blogs! I have a cruising channel on YouTube, Cruising With Dee. You can completely enjoy this LIVE! without visiting my channel, but if you want to visit my channel, I won’t complain! I write my blog (prose) here with lots of photos, and the videos and live streams go on the Channel. Link to my channel is always in my signature, and I’ll include links for any videos I upload during and right after the trip. I am taking this cruise thanks to a free room offered by HAL. Which, of course, by the time I upgraded to a balcony cabin and paid for a bunch of excursions, airfare, etc, the trip is anything BUT free, but a free/lowered cruise fare certainly helps! If you’ve been following @NorbertsNiece blog, this is the same cruise, but in reverse (she went Buenos Aires to Santiago). It’s 11pm and I’ve got to get some sleep! I have a long flying day tomorrow, and I’ll continue the blog then. Thanks in advance for reading along and joining in! I don’t like my LIVE!s to be soliloquies; so please comment, suggest, ask questions! I’ll try my best to answer any questions I can while I’m on the ship. Let’s Cruise!- 580 replies
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What’s status on Oosterdam? Dining?
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I am so greatlful to @NorbertsNiece @Btimmer and @TravelBluebird that I thought I would add my insights to the same cruise itinerary. Their pictures are fantastic; my pictures will be minimal and taken with my cell phone. Their commentary was detailed and on all aspects of the ship; my comments will focus on the daily activities and tours. Their food pictures made my mouth water; I usually forget to take pictures until after I finish eating. I will attempt not to repeat what you have already read. Feel free to ask questions. Here goes… We left our home in MD Saturday at 11 am for BWI, onto Dallas, arrived in Buenos Aires at 10:30 on Sunday. Ten hour flight was the longest I have ever been experienced. Glad we paid for main cabin extra so I had a bit more leg room. Was able to sleep about 6 hours. Took a remiss from EZE, did not book in advance. Desks are immediately after immigration before you enter the main lobby of the airport. Used credit card, $40 to Wyndham Dazzler Polo in the Palmero area. Great hotel, suite with small kitchen, very clean, friendly helpful staff. Rooftop pool. My DH immediately jumped in the shower and then.., Two TVs, we are searching for a way to watch the Ravens game. After his brief nap, we needed some food. This is a wonderful neighborhood with a very nice park and the polo stadium, an easy 4 blocks from the hotel. We prefer to mix with local people and eat where they eat. After walking along restaurant row under the railroad tracks we decided.I use Google translate, it is not perfect but we ordered.I had a caipirinha, we ordered a bottle of Malbec, empanadas, a steak and cheese wrapped in potato bombas. Meat was cooked on a grill in our viewEverything was delicious and we lingered for two hours people watching.Paid with my credit card, $25.62. Tomorrow, we board. The terminal was damaged by a storm in December. I have read that you drop your bags at an alternative site and then take a bus to the terminal. My PCC says go to the terminal. Others PCC say go to the alternative site. Many on the Roll Call have contacted HAL. We all get different answers. This confusion about where to check in is not acceptable. Why not an official email from HAL?Other cruise lines have sent them to their passengers. We will see what tomorrow brings.
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Has the Oosterdam been recently updated? Wondering about the ocean view cabins F large, looked at pictures on a site, some pictures look good but a couple pics look very dated. Pretty sure it has to be updated, just about to become 4 star on this cruise, never having cruised on her before though and would like to hear how the cabins are and any other info that may be interesting, Thank you
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Does anyone know where the Oosterdam docks in Marseille? Is it MPCC or Joliette? How reliable is the free shuttle that takes you to town? Are there other more reliable but inexpensive alternatives in case the free shuttle isn't running?
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Do these ships have pizza on board? Thank you
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Am I the only person having trouble finding a shore excursion that starts at noon when the Oosterdam docks in Ushuaia? all of the shore excursions that are independent start at 0900 hours.the only excursions that start at noon leave from the ship, and some of these are already sold out. Thoughts anyone? Kevin
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Has anyone been on the Oosterdam lately? We were wondering how many power outlets are in the room. Our last cruise there was only one plug by the mirror/vanity.
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We are headed back to Antarctica starting January 7, 2024 in San Antonio, Chile. Some of you may recall that we were just there on the Zaandam's Grand South America (GSA) which ended last week. Thanks for following along on that thread. Why would we return? There are several reasons. 1. Antarctica is a very cool place to visit and we want to get deeper into Antarctica since this voyage will be later in their summer. 2. We missed the Falkland Islands and want another opportunity to see the King Penguins. 3. It's a slightly different itinerary but includes Puerto Madryn, Argentina which is home to another large penguin colony. 4. We have another opportunity to visit Punta del Este, Uruguay which we also missed on the GSA. 5. We booked this cruise while on the GSA. It's fairly inexpensive at just over $100/day for an obstructed window room. 6. A chance to be back on the Oosterdam which we have sailed on a couple of times. 7. A possible opportunity to visit Iguazu Falls at the end of the cruise without the pressure of getting back to the ship. 8. We will not be leading or planning any group excursions and will enjoy visiting ports without outside pressures. We are participants on excursions in a couple of key ports to be able to see penguins. 9. Because we can. I'll post a few pictures here and make comments comparing what it's like to do a Grand cruise and compare it with a "regular" cruise as the route is quite similar. I'll also do one of my daily blogs that I'll later provide a link. If you have any questions about this cruise or comparing it to the GSA, please post the question on this thread. I'll try to answer as best as I can.- 151 replies
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I am (finally) organizing and labeling my photos from the Transatlantic cruise we took on the Oosterdam from Nov 1 -14, 2023. We attended a bunch of events led by a young South African Assistant CD and he's featured in a bunch of my photos. I thought I'd never forget his name because he was a lot of fun, but I have. Does anyone recall who he is? If it helps, his catchphrase was "Legendary!" Thanks! -
Hi all, I've had a cruise nap and am off again!! My friend Geoff has his 70th birthday on Thursday and we'll be taking a bucket list cruise for him 😃 Always take a pic of your checked in luggage. FYI the Aspire Lounge at NCL is well worth a visit. If you're also boarding on Saturday feel free to share my page so others can follow us. This will be our first cruise on HAL. You can expect loads of pics etc. Please feel free to ask questions and request info. For those new to me and my ramblings I'm a grandma of 6 boys, mother to 3 daughters. Retired from a couple of awesome careers far removed from the sea. Born and raised in London. Cruised as a child then more intensively since 2008 mostly solo. Previous blogs in sig. Currently in business class lounge at Newcastle International Airport. I should've booked a through ticket but didn't so have to checkin again at London Heathrow 🤦♀️ Cruise, flights, pre and post cruise hotels booked through a UK TA. Welcome aboard!
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Has anyone ever had a cabin on the main deck of the Oosterdam? We have a cabin booked on that deck but we worry about noise from the deck above.
