Oosterdam Review

4.0 / 5.0
1,087 reviews

Oosterdam was fabulous

Review for the Western Mediterranean Cruise on Oosterdam
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jellytot
First Time Cruiser • Age 60s

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Additional details

Sail Date: Jul 2009
Cabin: Signature Superior Verandah Suite
Traveled with children

We embarked at Barcelona.  Did an overnight stay at Hotel Ramblas - highly recommend as location is everything.  We had a window facing the street but noise was never an issue as the double glazed windows were very effective.  We embarked the next day at 11:30 and in less than 20min we were on the ship and having lunch in the Vista Dining Room.

We had a fabulous vacation on the Oosterdam.  We found the crew very friendly and the front desk very gracious and helpful.  The cabin stewards are second to none.  Our tween has anaphylaxis to peanuts and the dining staff were very attentive to his food allergy on board as well as on the shore excursions where dinner was included.  The Lido buffet at breakfast, lunch and dinner offered plenty of choices and finding a table was never a problem even though our cruise was fully booked.  The Vista dining room food was average and the service was a little slow - but then what's the hurry?  We paid for shore excursions in Lucca, Rome, Olympia, Messina and Venice.  And for the most part they were long winded but you can't fault the passion they have for their country and you can always turn off the audio or just tune them out.  Monaco, Corfu, Dubrovnik are all very easy ports to do on your own.  We paid for internet service and had excellent WiFi access in our cabin but we were just below the Explorations Cafe.  But that being said, it is SLOW.  We also purchased unlimited laundry - $80 for the duration of the cruise.  Our laundry was always returned within 24hrs cleaned, pressed or on a hanger.  My only negative about the trip was the aggressiveness and deceitful photo gallery staff.  They are not employees of HAL and work on commission & you need to listen very carefully to their pitch.  I came up with a photo package that was much cheaper than what they were quoting and when I told the guy he should have told me how to select my pictures to get the best deal - he laughed and said "No you need to figure out and you are one of the few that did".  I also purchased the Panraven photo book.  The order form you sign says you are entitled to select 5 pictures, the email which I accessed on board says you are entitled to 5 pictures - but when I went to select my 5 they told me it was an old form and an old email and that I had to purchase the additional pictures.  And all our friends on the cruise were told the same thing..  I have since been in contact with Panraven and they informed me that I should have been instructed to select 5 pictures, but now it's too late.  If you are thinking of doing the photobook, Panraven customer service is exceptional.  I had Vista glitches and they were very responsive in making sure my issues were resolved and basically held me hand until I completed my book.  All in all a fabulous cruise, and my tween loved every minute of it.  He did not participate in HAL club.  He independently made friends and had a great time.  We disembarked in Venice.  The information about how to get to the airport was very sketchy so we paid for the very expensive ship to airport transfer because of our early flight.  Once we disembarked the ship, there were six - seven cabs waiting at the port terminal.  So certainly not a deluge of cabs but there are cabs if you happen to disembark early enough to get one.

Cabin Review

Signature Superior Verandah Suite

3 closets, lots of draw space.  very spacious verandah with two lounge chairs, and a table with two chairs.  two showers, double sink - mini-suite was bigger than our hotel room in Barcelona.  very quiet location and just one deck down from the Lido Buffet and swimming pool.

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