Oosterdam Review

Oosterdam - Would not recommend.

Review for the South Pacific Cruise on Oosterdam
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Trentham
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jan 2013
Cabin: Signature Superior Verandah Suite

This our most recent cruise was in an Superior Verandah (SY) Suite stateroom on Holland America Line's 'Oosterdam' to Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Our expectations were reasonably high - have you heard of the "Signature of Excellence" or Holland America's fine repuation before? It was quite simply the worst cruise we have been on. We had not travelled with the Holland America Line before and we were very disappointed in the overall experience compared to cruises on other lines we have taken in a range of stateroom classifications. This is for many reasons but here are the main ones. To begin with, we arrived at our stateroom to find that it was not adequately prepared. For instance we found clothing from a previous passenger in the wardrobe. Worst of all when we went to use the toilet for the first time we discovered that it was blocked and not clean. We reported it twice to customer relations before it was attended to. Once the toilet was unblocked it was then up to us to suggest to the ship's crew that it should be cleaned by our stateroom attendant for health and safety reasons. The toilet then blocked again on almost a daily basis for the remainder of the cruise and we seemed to be often on the phone asking for the technician to fix it, sometimes with lengthy delays. On two occasions the fire sprinkler over our bed started leaking and each time this needed repairing (and the bedding changed).

This was symptomatic of a bigger picture. The inside of the ship looked tired and not well maintained. The interior design is badly dated right throughout the ship. The decor was both garish and predominantly dark due to the colour scheme used in the public areas. Given that the ship is only ten years old the furnishings and fittings seemed to have come from a much earlier era (think of the excesses of 1980s decoration and you'd be on the right track). The cabin hallways looked like the hallways on a ferry.

Overall we got the impression that this particular cruise was run on the cost cutting. For example, used products in the bathroom were not replaced unless asked for. In the 'Lido' casual dining area essentially variations on the same food were prepared daily with no surprises. Whilst we did not eat there very often (only when this was the only lunch option available because the ship did not open the main dining room for lunch each day) we were surprised to find crew members eating there and this is something we have never experienced in the equivalent eating area on previous cruises.

Cabin Review

Signature Superior Verandah Suite

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