Help..VOS or OOSTERDAM

[rance222]

Hi,

 

My wife and I are looking to take our parents on their 1st cruise in Oct. and we are trying to decide between VOS and the OOsterdam.

 

My wife and I have sailed on EOS and loved the "big ship" feel, but we can get a balcony on HAL for the same price as an Oceanview on VOS.

 

Was wondering if anyone could give advice on the Oosterdam and HAL in general compared to VOS.We are 33 and my parents are 58. Entertainment will be important and food of course.

 

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks.

[hammybee]

We just left her a week ago and were impressed. She is part of the new VISTA class and very different than other HAL ships. Different is not a bad thing. WHile I do prefer the look and feel of some of HAL's other ships, this one is in tip top shape. It is the best rated ship in HAL's fleet and received 100 out of 100 on recent inspections.Service and food were fine. By all means go with the balcony.

[sail7seas]

There are lots of ships out there these days.....want to help us out and name the ships you are interested in.

 

 

I'm thinking you probably are talking about RCI ships (the huge ones) but what does EOS stand for?

[rance222]

EOS is explorer of the seas and VOS is Voyager of the seas.Both are the really big ones.

[dougnewmanatsea]

I assume by EOS you mean EXPLORER OF THE SEAS and VOS, VOYAGER OF THE SEAS? (It could be EMPRESS OF THE SEAS and VISION OF THE SEAS.)

 

Having been on VOYAGER and ZUIDERDAM (sister to OOSTERDAM) they're two different products, with different strong and weak points.

 

Entertainment would definitely be VOYAGER's big strong point; that is if you like big, flashy production shows. Hers are about as big and flashy as it gets. HAL's are well done enough but much more traditional, like what you would have gotten on RCI ten years ago. The rest of the entertainment is pretty much standard fare across all the major lines, I think.

 

Food... This is much, much better on HAL in my experience. I have come across people who prefer RCI's food; food is a very subjective thing and can vary across ships (or head chefs more precisely), but personally I thought HAL was head and shoulders above RCI in this area. The buffets in particular were leagues ahead of anything I've seen RCI put out.

 

Service is good on both lines. Very different style though; on RCI the crew act like they want to be your best friend; on HAL they seemed to be more formal and to keep to themselves more. Can't say I have much preference either way. I have never had bad service on any cruise. On ZUIDERDAM I did experience a bit of a language barrier with the crew, the first time I've ever seen this on a cruise.

 

In the end in some ways the two are very similar but in the details they're quite different and the result is a different "feel" to the cruise experience. I of course cannot guarantee that you'll like HAL but I do think it is a good product and a good value for money. Most likely you would not be disappointed.

[rance222]

Thanks Doug.

[mr.dodo.mtl]

My wife and I, sailed on the Oosterdam on last January. We're in the 40. Sure, Holland and RCI are not for the same style of cruiser. First, the age of passengers was 55-plus on the Oosterdam. It's definitely not a party cruise, it's more sedate and low-key profile. Forgot the party on the pool and the late-night dancing and bar hopping. The cabins are more larger than RCI and have a tub. The pools have fresh heated water (love it). A big plus for Holland, Half-moon Cay, their own private island. If you wish to try a more traditional ocean-liner ambience with a great staff, good food and excellent service, go for it. I don't regret my choice, very different but great.

 

Have a nice cruise:)