Oosterdam Question

[USNDiver]

The Wife and I are ready to book our first HAL cruise, on the Oosterdam, for next May, but I'm seeing some concerns over this vessel on the boards here. What's up with the Oosterdam and should we hold off, or book a different ship?

 

Any info from veteran HAL cruisers would be appreciated,

 

 

Dave

[Gone Cruising]

Dave,

 

Our cruise was excellent and have never been more impressed with the service and the food or entertainment. We were a little dissapointed with the night life. It seems this line is more geared towards a little older crowd and more refined population, but we have a great time with passengers of all ages. (Were in our late 20's to early 30's)

The crew were the best we have experienced and really go all out to pamper you. If your looking for more of a relaxing, luxorious, refined cruise, then HAL is the way to go.

 

Kirk & Krystal

[fcorey]

Dave,

 

Our cruise was excellent and have never been more impressed with the service and the food or entertainment. We were a little dissapointed with the night life. It seems this line is more geared towards a little older crowd and more refined population, but we have a great time with passengers of all ages. (Were in our late 20's to early 30's)

The crew were the best we have experienced and really go all out to pamper you. If your looking for more of a relaxing, luxorious, refined cruise, then HAL is the way to go.

 

Kirk & Krystal

 

I was on the cruise that had some propulsion "issues" they are working it out and I am sure the ship will be 100% soon. The new improvements done in the drydock looked great, they are still replacing some carpet and TV's. But I have to agree with the commments I saw above. The night life does wind down a little early, but the service from our room steward was fantastic, our dining room servers were great, as were our Pinnacle grill servers. Even with the missed port we had a great time and mywife and I may be taking a cruise to Alaska on the Oosterdam next year.

[Tinknock50]

I was on the cruise that had some propulsion "issues" they are working it out and I am sure the ship will be 100% soon. The new improvements done in the drydock looked great, they are still replacing some carpet and TV's. But I have to agree with the commments I saw above. The night life does wind down a little early, but the service from our room steward was fantastic, our dining room servers were great, as were our Pinnacle grill servers. Even with the missed port we had a great time and mywife and I may be taking a cruise to Alaska on the Oosterdam next year.

 

Did you enjoy the String group in the Explorers Lounge?

[legalslave]

Dave, so that others may be more helpful in answering your question, what are your concerns about the Oosterdam?

 

Diane

[duck tune]

DH and I sailed on the Oosterdam in March and have another cruise booked in December. My only concern right now is related to the propulsion issue caused by the damaged azipod. We enjoyed our cruise in March and just hope the ship is running at 100% when we return in December!

[duck tune]

We would recommend the Oosterdam.

[Copper10-8]

Go for it! I can highly recommend the Oosterdam, her Mexican itinerary and her crew. The mechanical problem she suffered with one of her azipods will soon be taken care of!

[USNDiver]

Dave, so that others may be more helpful in answering your question, what are your concerns about the Oosterdam?

 

Diane

 

It looked like there were some issues with the propulsion system.

 

Thanks,

 

Dave

[missygirl]

We were on Oosterdam in May cruising to Alaska...best cruise so far.

 

Zuk was the cruise director and he and his crew was wonderful. Events were planned during the day and the different nighttime events were great. Everything was clean in public areas and our cabin steward kept our cabin A++. Food was expected for me meaning better in the dining room opposed to the Lido, but still good in Lido. Out by the pool one lunch was mostly salmon and a huge berry cobbler, yum.

 

Really the only neg. comment that I personally have about Oosterdam is the photo dept. It is so congested trying to get through it on the way to the dining room. I think it need to be placed in a different part of the ship, but like I said that is my opinion.

 

I don't think that you will be dissapointed with Oosterdam and the problems that are happening now can be repaired in port.

Missygirl:)

[USNDiver]

Thanks very much for the info! I guess you've convinced me, just dropped a deposit for the May 5th sailing.

 

Now onto something more importatnt, how are the Martini's on board?

 

Thanks again,

 

Dave

[Copper10-8]

Thanks very much for the info! I guess you've convinced me, just dropped a deposit for the May 5th sailing.

 

Now onto something more importatnt, how are the Martini's on board?

 

Thanks again,

 

Dave

 

Good for you diver, have a great time! The Martini's are just fine; try an Appletini in the Pinnacle Grill:)

[bepsf]

Now onto something more importatnt, how are the Martini's on board?*

Dave

 

Excellent - no matter where you order them

(tho the Olive Pit at the base of the Atrium is a favorite place to meet for a drink before dinner on Oosterdam)

...and half the price of a comparable cocktail on X!

[Copper10-8]

Excellent - no matter where you order them

(tho the Olive Pit at the base of the Atrium is a favorite place to meet for a drink before dinner on Oosterdam)

...and half the price of a comparable cocktail on X!

 

And don't forget, the Olive Pit bartender gives Martini cocktail classes three times a week:) A very popular event!

[USNDiver]

And don't forget, the Olive Pit bartender gives Martini cocktail classes three times a week:) A very popular event!

 

Thanks for the tip (I'm getting thirsty already!) Is the Olive Pit pretty much a dedicated Martini Bar? I didn't see it listed anywhere on the Oosterdam's list of "watering holes" anywhere.

 

Dave

[Copper10-8]

Thanks for the tip (I'm getting thirsty already!) Is the Olive Pit pretty much a dedicated Martini Bar? I didn't see it listed anywhere on the Oosterdam's list of "watering holes" anywhere.

 

Dave

 

Yup, pretty much! It's known as the Olive Pit Martini Bar and located on Main Deck (bottom floor of the Atrium) in between the Front Office and Shorex

[Atomica]

Don't worry at all! The Oosterdam is a fine ship and even though it's having some pod issues now, I'm sure they'll have them cleared up in no time.

 

It's worth noting that this is the first time a situation like this has happened on the O - it's different than that of say, Celebrity's Infinity, which has been plagued with pod issues since being launched.

[USNDiver]

Don't worry at all! The Oosterdam is a fine ship and even though it's having some pod issues now, I'm sure they'll have them cleared up in no time.

 

It's worth noting that this is the first time a situation like this has happened on the O - it's different than that of say, Celebrity's Infinity, which has been plagued with pod issues since being launched.

 

Aaron,

 

You were reading my mind when you mentioned the Infinity (I've heard the horror stories) and that was exactly what I was thinking. Thanks for allaying some fears.

 

Sincerely,

 

Dave

[Boatdrill]

was worked on in San Diego on 10/13-10/14/06. The ship sailed at about 5:30pm Saturday, at near capacity.

[fcorey]

Did you enjoy the String group in the Explorers Lounge?

 

string quartet was nice, pianist and band in the crow's nest was great for pre-dinner dancing, Kory Simon was fun too. I just wished things stayed open a bit later. We had late seating, and got along well with our table mates who were really great, so much so that we usually were one if that last tables to leave which meant we were getting out of there around 10pm!

[fcorey]

Excellent - no matter where you order them

(tho the Olive Pit at the base of the Atrium is a favorite place to meet for a drink before dinner on Oosterdam)

...and half the price of a comparable cocktail on X!

 

Martini's were ver ygood, DW was partial to a pre-dinner grapefruit cosmo, those were pretty darn good too!

[synman]

We've been on the Oo twice and can recommend it without reservation. As others have stated, only the entertainment is not up to snuff (pretty much a HAL trend), but that is not something interests us, so no harm, no foul.

 

Service, food, amenities are all great.

[Boatdrill]

I don't think anyone has mentioned the interior of the ship, so I'll bring it up.

 

What are you used to ? The Oosterdam has narrow passageways, low ceilings, bright color schemes, and some of the public rooms are small. This isn't a criticism, it's just describing how the ship was designed.

 

Some think it's great and flashy and has that "wow" factor. Others feel claustrophobic. It's definitely not for everyone.

 

Other HAL ships (Ryndam for example) feel a bit more spacious, even thought they are smaller, and the color scheme tends to be subdued.

 

Both are lovely ships to look at on the outside, but the interiors are very different.

 

Just FYI :)

[OutKast]

We sailed on the Oosterdam October 14-21 (while it was broken) and had the time of our lives! Because it was sailing slower, we lost a few hours in Cabo and PV (not a big deal). They told us it will be fixed within the next few weeks.

[fcorey]

I The Oosterdam has narrow passageways, low ceilings, bright color schemes, and some of the public rooms are small. This isn't a criticism, it's just describing how the ship was designed.

 

Some think it's great and flashy and has that "wow" factor.

 

those are some valid comments, the hallways do feel a bit narrow, specially if there is a power scooter barrelling towards you! The ceilings are a normal height, not what you would call spacious or airy. As for the color scheme, The carpeting is not to my taste, but overall I thought that the ship looked great, and it should have, just came out of drydock, however there is still more work to be done. The smaller areas and nooks were one of the things my wife and I loved about the ship and not something I expected on a ship of that size.

 

It rarely felt crowded except the Lido, if people wouldnt just camp out after they were done eating, they may actually have enough seating. That was VERY annoying and after the 2nd day we gave up on the Lido entirely for eating any meals.

 

I wouldnt call the ship flashy, if you want to see flashy take a look at Carnival or RCCL, been on one Carnival cruise and there was enough neon to make it look like vegas at sea, same can be said for the two other ships i've toured (Carnival Pride and Freedom of the Seas). Personally was fine with me, wife likes things a bit more understated, our room was quite nice is this regard.

 

However if you want a classic understated ambiance then maybe one of the smaller HAL ships will be your taste, which is great, it wouldnt be any fun if all ships were the same now would it? :)

 

One thing I do need to comment about Oosterdam was the crew, they were overall very good. Some excellent. Others in our group had lackluster service from their cabin steward, ours was great.