Oosterdam 31 day Buenos Aires to Ft Launderdale 3/5-4/5/24

[Joe&Barry]

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. 

[cabinluvn]

Wonderful! We join you in Valparaiso on the 19th

[freestyling]

Excellent news. We join you in San Antonio. Hope that is the port that  @cabinluvn meant. 

[cabinluvn]

20 minutes ago, freestyling said:

Excellent news. We join you in San Antonio. Hope that is the port that  @cabinluvn meant. 

Valparaiso is the port. Santiago is a bus trip away. We sailed from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso last march

[FLCruiser97]

Wonderful. Finally a "LIVE FROM" on the Oosterdam heading to Ft. Lauderdale. We are getting on when you get off in Port Everglades and taking her to Greece on the Trans-Atlantic. I have been following the "LIVE FROM" on a few previous sailings. Thanks for posting. 

[oakridger]

Yes, thank you for anything you would like to share with us!  I'm very seriously considering a BA to Santiago or vice versa via Antarctica in the next couple of years.

 

Have a great trip!

 

~Nancy

[freestyling]

@cabinluvn did same last year as well. This year they are leaving from San Antonio port. Confirmed by boarding pass, itinerary and HAL PCP. Hope all three aren’t wrong

[Sir PMP]

3 hours ago, cabinluvn said:

Valparaiso is the port. Santiago is a bus trip away. We sailed from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso last march

No stopping in Valparaiso anymore, it's Port San Antonio, 1 1/2 hour bus ride from Santiago.

[00649]

We did the B/A to San Antonia including Antartica this past Jan,/Feb. Loved the ship, would do the journey again in a heart beat.The crew was great,the Captain was awesome, out and about all the time,also keeping us well informed. The rolling rock band was very good.All in all no real complaints.Sailed back to Miami on NCL from San Antonia , thats a one and done Im afraid .i will do a report on that cruise later.

[0106]

6 hours ago, Joe&Barry said:

The crew is what makes this ship so much better. 

The crew on the Oosterdam from 1/29-2/20 made our trip exceptional!  Thank you for your report.

6 hours ago, cabinluvn said:

Wonderful! We join you in Valparaiso on the 19th

The port is San Antonio.

5 hours ago, freestyling said:

Excellent news. We join you in San Antonio. Hope that is the port that  @cabinluvn meant. 

You are correct.

5 hours ago, cabinluvn said:

Valparaiso is the port. Santiago is a bus trip away. We sailed from Buenos Aires to Valparaiso last march

HAL now uses San Antonio where we disembarked in February.  We took a wonderful tour with the German Pirate to the airport in Santiago.

3 hours ago, oakridger said:

I'm very seriously considering a BA to Santiago or vice versa via Antarctica in the next couple of years.

Book it!

2 hours ago, freestyling said:

@cabinluvn did same last year as well. This year they are leaving from San Antonio port. Confirmed by boarding pass, itinerary and HAL PCP. Hope all three aren’t wrong

This is correct info.

1 hour ago, Sir PMP said:

No stopping in Valparaiso anymore, it's Port San Antonio, 1 1/2 hour bus ride from Santiago.

We disembarked at 9 in San Antonio…our flight left at 11:55 pm.  I recommend a private tour which includes Valapariso on your way to or from the airport.

[FLCruiser97]

10 hours ago, 00649 said:

Sailed back to Miami on NCL from San Antonia , thats a one and done Im afraid .i will do a report on that cruise later.

I believe you did a "live" review on your sailing which I followed. I look forward to reading about this NCL sailing back to Miami. 

[Joe&Barry]

We have had a great cruise until now. I’m sorry but now our air conditioning has stopped working for the second time. Today we came back to a hot room at 2pm and they told us that they were working on it and now it’s after 11pm and no ac and we are unable to sleep because of how hot it is. Front desk says they are working on it, but I bet it won’t be fixed because they probably don’t have the parts. To me this is ridiculous, they should always be able to fix issues. I understand mechanical problems occur but no excuses for not fixing it promptly. 🤬

[oakridger]

@Joe&Barry Ugh!  Please let us know when they finally fixed it.  If it wasn't soon, hopefully there was a vacant cabin you could at least go sleep in.

 

~Nancy

[Joe&Barry]

Still no air conditioning and no communication either. I did ask about changing rooms and I was told the ship is full. So we didn’t sleep much, they gave us a small fan to use. We are in Lima today and tomorrow so hopefully they can get the part they need to fix it. 

[oakridger]

I sure hope your AC is fixed by now!  How was the day in Lima?

 

~Nancy

[Joe&Barry]

Finally have air conditioning! Ours was fixed late yesterday. Apparently a section of 80 rooms was affected. I think the ship may need some updating. As I mentioned the staff, food, etc are great, but the ship is a bit dated in areas. We took an evening tour and dinner at Casa Aliaga with the ship. Turned out to be a nice evening. We stayed on the ship today having a relaxing day. We have previously been to Lima when we went to Machu Picchu on a land trip.