Just back from an Alaska cruise ( our third), this time on the Oosterdam. We were so disappointed by the ship! The ship is old, worn and in need of immediate refurbishing, both in the public areas as well as the cabins. In our deluxe veranda suite, the leather chairs and sofa were worn down to the nubs... the yellow chair arms were brown! The towels, even in this very high category of cabins, were threadbare. The pool deck is chipped, the plastic "wicker" on the pool chaises are fraying... on and on. The food in the dining room is less than mediocre, the Indonesian wait staff, while very sweet and charming, have little grasp of English and the wrong food order is more common than not. The Lido is totally impossible... no flow of people and unless you don't mind waiting on long lines for a long time, and then trying to find a table is exasperating. On a positive note, the extras accorded to suite passengers ( which is why we booked this ship) are plentiful. We enjoyed dinner in the Pinnacle, with excellent service and excellent food, especially the steaks. Breakfast was also served to suite passengers in the Pinnacle, a lovely perk. The Maitre D and waiters were sure our favorite table was always available. The Le Cirques dinner ($40) was truly outstanding and worth the money. After sampling a few very mediocre lunches in the dining room, we choose to eat in either the Pinnacle or the italian specialty restaurant nightly. The food and service in the Pinnacle was outstanding and well worth the extra $20. The services of the private concierge in the Neptune Lounge were also excellent.

Unless you're booking this level of cabin ----- book on another ship!!!!

We've traveled on 2 of HAL's larger and newer ships and had nothing but good things to say about them. This ship is tired, old, needs a re-vamp in decor as well as food. Doesn't even come close to the Celebrity cruise we took in the spring.