Oosterdam 6-6 / 6-13

[cruise4fam]

I just got back from Alaska on the Oosterdam. I plan to do a review but if anybody has any questions I can try to answer them. We had a great cruise food was good ship & our room were clean. Crew very friendly! We did not book any excursions on the boat. We did our own thing in ports. I have 2 teens who used the teen program so any questions with the Loft I can maybe answer. Overall we were very happy with the ship and ports.

Janice :o

[senior lady]

looking forward to your review and any tips;) We're going the end of July and have never sailed on Holland America before

[MysticalMagic]

Also looking forward to your review. We leave on the same cruise in less then two weeks!!

[Susie51]

Were you able to see any calving while at the glaciers?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome Home.

 

Glad you had a wonderful cruise.

 

Looking forward to your review.

[cruise4fam]

A little info this is my 17th cruise my second on Hal. 2 Teens 17, 13 and myself and husband did this cruise as a graduation celebration for my 17 year old. We got to Seattle late Thursday night and stayed at the airport Doubletree. I got this on Priceline for $40 a night but there is a nightly parking charge of $9. Hotel was nice about 20 – 25 minutes from downtown. We headed downtown on Friday and walked around the Public Market. On the way we stopped at Top Pot Donuts if you like Donuts this place is great. Once in the market so many things to see and taste, oh my gosh so many great places to try as you walk around. I had the best chowder in Pikes Place Chowder I had the smoked salmon chowder in a bread bowl….yummy!!!

 

Ok on to Sunday we rented a car from Seattle Airport Avis and returned it to the downtown location. They will drop you off at the pier for no charge. It is about 3 miles to the pier from location. Check in was very easy you hand off your baggage and you are on your way to check in. We got to the ship around 11:45 quick check in and we were on the ship within 20 minutes. We headed to the Vista Dining room for lunch. By the time we were done with lunch we headed to our rooms we had a balcony and an inside across the hall they were ready. To my great surprise we walked in to the room and all our bags were sitting waiting for us. My room impression very clean balcony had two chairs with cushions an ottoman for your feet and a small table.

 

Food I know this can be a touchy subject but I found the food to be very good dessert I was not so impressed with. Great selections and they had tons of seafood. We ate in the dining room every night for dinner. We had any time dinning and when we got on the ship I called to make a reservation and they can do it for 3 nights. I suggest doing this since I had heard from people they couldn’t get in. After dinner we would go up to the buffet to see if there was any have to haves. We did breakfast every morning in the buffet except one. We had lunch every day at the buffet except one day in the dining room. Buffet food was good quality except the Pizza & Pasta which was terrible. The cookies on the buffet were delicious they always had different types and they were so good. They have a great ice cream bar which is pretty much open all day and night. Every night around 11 they would have a small buffet open which I found good and the time was good I am not one who stays up past midnight.

 

Room – As I said before very clean our 2 stewards were on top of everything. Both rooms we had were always spot less and done with in a timely manner. Plenty of closet space and night stands with drawers. We did use our Balcony a lot. Every morning we ordered some coffee / tea and muffins to sit and relax with on the balcony. We also did the bag of laundry the all you can fit for $20. Great bargain we got 4 pairs of jeans 9 shirts and a few socks and underwear in the bag. There is no self serve laundry on this ship so this helped us from over packing.

 

The Ship – This boat was very clean you always saw a person cleaning it has been maintained very well. Our favorite spot was the crow’s nest. We spent tons of hours relaxing and watching out the windows. This place does tend to get very crowed at times especially Glacier day get there early if you want a good seat. I did use the spa and they had a great deal that I took advantage of. The spa is another very clean and well maintained area. Pool area is nice and you didn’t have to fight for chairs. They do have a couple of big cushioned chairs to relax in. They had some good buffets here also. 1 big note is very little smokers on the ship even the casino only had 1 or 2 and it is very nice not to sit in the Casino and stink like smoke when you leave. Even on the Balcony there wasn’t a lot of smoke smell.

 

The Loft – My two teens went many times they did have some good activities. They also have bad ones but they went for friends to hang out with and they did find a bunch. Someone I meet told me the younger kids program was wonderful and her kids loved it.

 

Service- Everyone was friendly and very helpful. If you had 2 many plates in your hand someone always offered to help. A little slow at times getting table cleaned but if you asked they would come right away. The only bad service we had in the dining room one night it took an hour and a half to get a main course after the appetizer. I think that was more because the waiter had too many tables. The one other thing I felt was bad was the waiters need to make sure they see who was sat first to make sure they take the orders in the right order. Otherwise service was great.

 

Ports.-

Glacier Bay – Wow what a beautiful place. It is a real highlight to go through this. People are narrating and it’s so a pretty sight. We did see some calving while going through the Glacier it was exciting and a bit loud.

 

We got tons of info from the nature guy at the tour desk. I can’t remember his name but he was so helpful for great ideas and tips.

 

Juneau- We took the city bus to Mendenhall Glacier the bus was a great way to see the city. Price for Adults $1.50 each way and under 18 $1.00. The bus leaves you off about 1 ¼ miles from the visitor center entrance it’s a very easy walk flat surface. Free to get in to the Glacier. I think there is a charge for the visitor’s center. We just went into to use the bathrooms. Then we walked back to the bus stop. We got luck it was such a pretty day Sunny and 73.

 

Sitka – We walked around our self did pretty much the walking tour from the ship but did it on our own and only had to give a small donation to the church. Walking around town you check out some really cute shops. Weather was yucky drizzly and high 50’s.

 

Ketchikan – My husband and younger son went to the lumberjack show. They said it was great and had a wonderful time. We bought the tickets once we were off the ship. My older son and I walked around town into all the shops. Another cold high 50’s overcast at least it waited till we got on the boat to rain.

 

Victoria B.C. – We got in Victoria 2 hours late so we didn’t have much time. We got off the boat at 8 and had to be back by I think 11:30. No real time to see the gardens. We walked around the water front area and all the shops along Front Street. Checked out the hotel I think it was the Empress very nice to place to visit. We got really lucky it was still nice and Sunny and warm walking around. Wish we would have had more time in this port.

 

 

Disembarkation – Very easy we took off our entire luggage with us. We were off by 7:45. Called Avis to come and get us. They were there in 20 minutes got a rental car and returned it to the Seattle airport.

 

We enjoy the cruise a lot and would definitely do another Holland America cruise again. If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask. Any mistakes sorry for in advance....Janice :p

[cruise4fam]

Were you able to see any calving while at the glaciers?

 

Yes we did see some. Pretty cool and a bit loud.:rolleyes:

[cruise4fam]

looking forward to your review and any tips;) We're going the end of July and have never sailed on Holland America before

I had sailed HAL 5 years ago I was very happy with everything they had to offer on this trip. Any questions please ask!! :o

[Susie51]

Thank you for th info. and your reply to my question.

[TracieABD]

Thank you for your review!:)

[Sailkeywest]

Lovely report, thank you for taking the time to write it. It's no wonder about Victoria, the cruiselines are like "What?! We have to make a gratuitous stop in Canada?! I know, let's stop here (for 5 minutes)." I think if they could get away with just throwing a stone at Canada from the ship, they would do it. :P

[senior lady]

actually "Victoria" is becoming a popular cruise stop. Some of the cruises are there for a full day.

 

On our last coastal cruise we were there from 8am - 6pm. A large amount of people that live on Vancouver Island got off there also.

[scottndsky]

Great review! Thanks!

 

How were the pools? Was it too cold to enjoy the aft outdoor pool? Were either of them heated?

 

Thanks,

Scott

[cruise4fam]

Great review! Thanks!

 

How were the pools? Was it too cold to enjoy the aft outdoor pool? Were either of them heated?

 

Thanks,

Scott

Pools were warm and they do keep the cover mostly closed just a small opening at the top. Hot tubs are hot but not to hot that you can't sit in one for a while. Aft pool it was to cold and windy for me to go in. I did see people in it but I didn't go in.:)

[cruise4fam]

Lovely report, thank you for taking the time to write it. It's no wonder about Victoria, the cruiselines are like "What?! We have to make a gratuitous stop in Canada?! I know, let's stop here (for 5 minutes)." I think if they could get away with just throwing a stone at Canada from the ship, they would do it. :P

 

Thank you for the kind thoughts. I do wish we had more time in Victoria there were some many things we would have loved to see. But you are right it's like the boat has to stop even for a few minutes. I would think if it was an American port they probably would have passed it by. :)