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Holland America Rotterdam

Below Expectations 

I chose this cruise to visit the ports (Cartagena, Malaga, Cadiz in Spain and Lisbon and Funchal in Portugal). Unfortunately due to weather and a pilot boat strike in Portugal the only port I visited was Malaga. We then went to the Canary Islands as a contingency plan for two ports (one was five hours long and the other was 12 hours). These ports were not interesting to me. 

The ship itself was fine. There was some work for plumbing on my deck one afternoon and it smelled of vomit in the hallway for a few hours. I was stuck on the ship for eight straight days with basically nothing to do. This ship is geared towards the elderly who just want to sit around reading books or playing bridge. 

The food everywhere was great and all wait staff were on the top of their game. I only ate in the dining room a couple of times, otherwise it was the Lido Market or The Dive In. I did try both specialty restaurants and enjoyed the choice of food as well as the taste.

The crew was excellent and almost everyone I talked with were on their first or second contract. They all appeared to be happy with their jobs and were very friendly and helpful concerning onboard questions.

This was my first cruise with Holland America and I think I'll look for another cruise line that has more to offer and covers the same ports.

Not Captivating 

We chose this cruise because a Transatlantic cruise has been on our bucket list, we liked the itinerary, and we had two previous enjoyable cruises on HAL (one on Oosterdam and one on Zaandam).  We have been fortunate that all three HAL cruises have been in a Neptune Suite, which is a special experience.

This cruise didn't go as planned, because a large storm caused an itinerary change.  We had to miss the ports of Cartagena, Cadiz, and Lisbon.  Instead we visited two ports in the Canary Islands.  HAL did an incredible job in terms of arranging excursions on the Canary Islands.  It was the right decision to make the itinerary change.  Really enjoyed visiting the Canary Islands and the new course was extremely smooth (staff said it was the smoothest crossing they've ever experienced.

Why HAL?  We like the experience on this premium cruise line.  There are no noisy parties in the hallways, no hairy chest contests, and no constant pandering for tips.  HAL ships are beautiful and nautically classic as opposed to the Las Vegas style ships you see on other cruise lines.  We've also found the staff on HAL to be consistently excellent and friendly.  Dining (in the MDR and specialty restaurants) is better than we've had on Carnival, Royal, and Celebrity.  Staterooms (especially in Neptune) are the most comfortable we've experienced on any line.

Why Oosterdam?  This is our second time on Oosterdam and we really like the ship.  Granted it is not the newest in the fleet, but 2,000 passengers is the right size in our opinion.  It is large enough to have the key things you need on a ship, but not so large you get lost.  The ship is also kept very clean and spotless.

Here is a quick summary of some additional things we liked and didn't like on this particular cruise:

Liked:

* Enrichment/Exec/Coffee talks were great (too many to choose from)

* Embarking/Disembarking was very easy and well managed

* Navigator App is very good

* Beautiful new ship library (looked like a bookstore, with many new books)

* Wonderful common areas to read, play a game, or watch the ocean go by

* Appropriate number of announcements.

* Communications from the Captain was very thorough and he did a great job explaining things (including weather and itinerary changes).

* Quality and Variety of menus in restaurants was very good

Didn't Like:

* Entertainment was a mixed bag.  One of the reasons I would like to try another cruise line.

* Demographics on this cruise was very old.  Another reason I would consider another cruise line.

* Spa.  Didn't like all the upsells.  Spa was consistently crowded.  Thermal spa wasn't worth the cost.

* Drink/wine service in MDR took too long.  Tip:  Order all your drinks up front.

* Wish Dutch Cafe was on a lower deck, midship like it is on Zaandam.

* Couldn't find anyone manning the future cruise desk (visited 3 times).

I would recommend HAL and Oosterdam to others and would take another Transatlantic cruise with HAL.

Enjoyable Transatlantic Cruise

Tortola

Although we've been to the other cities on the itinerary, we were attracted to this one because it featured two cities that we wanted to visit --- Istanbul and Barcelona.

Our experience was a combintation of surprise, disappointment, a little anger, and some light-hearted moments. We have never traveled on HAL before, so we didn't know what to expect. The embarcation point and procedure should have given us an idea. 

Having flown from the US, the long trip didn't prepare us for what we experienced at embarcation. The long, long lines outside and inside. Couldn't they have assigned more people to the process, especially to prevent them from having to wait in the sun while they were checking in luggage? Remember that the majority of the guests were senior citizens! Once in one of the tents, there was another long wait before we were herded into another -- guess what? --- another tent! The whole process took approximately 3 hours. 

Our cabin was decent-sized, and we're glad we chose one with a balcony because that's where we hung up our clothes. We didn't want to pay the $150 charge for laundry especially since this line seems to charge for everything. But.....there was not enough power to use a hair dryer (some folks told us their cabin came with a hair dryer and an umbrella but ours didn't). But the worst part of is is that our room was under Lido --- and very early in the morning or very late at night, we'd hear all kinds of noises from above like their dismantling or moving furniture around 

The food at the Lido was decent but they serve the same things over and over again, every day. They had featured country cuisine, but those were not memorable. We're glad they had omelet stations at least. We opted to eat at the Dining Room most of the time, and managed to dine at Pinnacle which was the best of them.

The internet service was a joke --- it was hellish trying to get consistent service, and the long lines at customer service were of people all complaining about it.

Because there were no shore excursions included with the cruise, we signed up and paid for select excursions. But what shocked us is that as we prepared to on the excursions, they charged us $4 for water! For the price of the excursions, couldn't they have included free refreshments? To us, that's nickel-and-diming. The same can be said at lunch/dinner if we opted to have sodas or wine. We're not cheapskates, otherwise we wouldn't be on this cruise, but we found it ridiculous that we had to pay for little things like that. 

One excursion got us back on the ship around 8:30 pm, and we were shocked to find most of the food stations were closed for dinner! WTH? Couldn't they have anticipated the late arrivals, after all, it's THEIR shore excursion we were on.

On a couple of days, it was rainy. We went to customer service to see if we can borrow (or buy) umbrellas and were told there weren't wny. No umbrellas, no ponchos. On the shore, we were so envious to see Viking tourists toting Viking umbrellas. Holland could have provided rain ponchos for free. Goodness, those hardly take up room and are so inexpensive. 

What saved this experience for us was Daniel, the cruise director. He was the absolute best we've seen. He seems to be everywhere, and was always so cheerful, so helpful (loved his tech session). We also enjoyed the stage performances, but why only on select nights? We enjoyed the trivia nights, the one ballroom class we attended, and even sat in during an art auction. 

We were thankful for the service we received from servers Japar and Jenny (Pinnacle), Dhimas and Djunaedi (Dining Room), room attendants (can't remember their names).

The disembarcation process for us was better since we were self-assisted and didn't have to line up to get off the ship. We couldn't get off fast enough!

First and last time on Holland

We just returned from a 26-day TA from Athens to Fort Lauderdale; actually a 12-day Mediterranean to Barcelona and a 14-day transatlantic crossing to FL. HAL sold it as a single 26-day cruise but the second 14-day leg was much cheaper so many got on in Barcelona for TA. Unfortunately the weather prompted the captain to cancel Cadiz and Portugal. We had also lost 2 ports on the 12day segment but, while a disappointment, overall the cruise met expectations. Instead of Portugal we headed South to the Canary Islands.  Sailing was rough a few days out of Barcelona but once wind died it was hot and sunny.

It was a great itinerary at a great price. For those on both segments the daily program and the meals were a bit repetitious but the entertainment was varied and we lucked out with Lincoln Center playing on World Stage 4 nights; which was a treat. 

Cabin AFT was , large, quiet and close to elevators. Food was good and even with just 2 specialty restaurants, the Oosterdam is a great option for a smaller ship and classic itineraries. The staff is obviously short-handed but work very hard and are friendly. Ship's officers were more visible on this cruise. Captain kept us updated on the weather. 

We did not purchase the  Have It All as 4-Star Mariners we got discounts on restaurants and drink packages. And we really cannot drink 15 drinks a day so $50 is a bit over the top. We did get free  valet laundry which on 26 days was a big help.

One serious issue was a HAL tour we took in Malaga. We had booked before embarkation as was promoted as Easy intensity and suitable for mobility impaired; as it was coach tour without walking. The guide changed it to Moderate intensity with 1 hour of walking uphill on unpaved road with steps. Not suitable for mobility impaired so we were left in a park for an hour while the rest proceeded on the tour. 

The excursion desk onboard said they are not responsible if the tour is modified. Riding in traffic for 1 hour and sitting alone in a abandoned park that was closed and was unsafe if we fell or were accosted is not what I paid for! HAL refused our request to credit it and am now dealing with Guest Relations at corporate. 

The other issue was that these ports are popular but small and when 5 huge ships are in port the traffic is impossible and the crowds unmanageable. This is an ever increasing concern as was definitely the problem with the tour above. 

Will we book HAL again? Am unsure as they are no longer the premium line they once were. They have obviously made some positive changes since we sailed in May 2023 to Norway but still have cut way back. There are other deals that may be more suitable to our needs as older Cruisers. a lot depends on how HAL handles my request for a credit for that tour we did not get!

HAL Are You Listening?

We chose this cruise with our friends because the ports of call were pretty close to where we wanted to visit in the Mediterranean.  Also the pricing seemed to be pretty competitive.

As with everything when we go on holidays, there are good and bad, pros and cons, highs and lows and this cruise was no exception.

Firstly, the highs ...

- the ports of call were a definite attraction

- the friendliness of the staff on board

- the ease on which we embarked onto the boat

- the shore excursions we chose were fantastic (or the ones we did anyway)

- the choice and variety of food on board

- food in the specialty dining room was excellent

Lows

- we contracted COVID (for the first time) on board and consequently isolated for 4/12 days on the cruise meaning we missed 2 of our eagerly anticipated shore excursions

- we were delayed in getting off the boat because the infirmary had not provided a/our release  

- the time it took to get a coffee (sometimes up to 30 minutes)

- the friendliness of one of the staff in the infirmary was questionable (eg. we would ask a question/seek clarification on something regarding our COVID/isolation ... and the reply was simply .. "I've already spoken about this" or ... "I've already answered this question!!"  She was very dismissive of questions being asked which was disappointing because it was our cruise and we caught COVID on their cruise ship

- food that was delivered to our room as a result of being isolated was often only just warm at best

- the internet that we paid extra for was often not reliable or unavailable

- food in the dining room was a bit repetitive

OVERALL

Generally speaking, we really enjoyed our cruise and would consider another cruise in the future.  Despite our unfortunate experience, our overall thoughts are generally positive.  The boat is definitely in need of a refurb which would brighten up things considerably.  This hopefully includes a more reliable internet service with a reliable TV service.

Also, a trick to consider is that it is NOT necessary to pay the gratuities which saves a LOT of money!!  We paid our tips/gratuities to those that provided us personally great service rather than paying a large amount of money to people we have nothing to do with that would not have enhanced our cruise experience at all.

The Navigator app was also a challenge to use at times.

The age range is definitely in the mid life to aged. As a result, only a couple of families with kids on the boat.

Fantastic Itinerary and Shore Excursions

This was our third Holland cruise and most ambitious.  A Mediterranean cruise is inherently busy because of all the port stops.  Several ports are commercial ports, so bus travel is required to get to the attractions.

The Oosterdam, as with all Holland ships is meticulously maintained.  The crew was very friendly and our cabin stewards Gusti and Mifta were top notch.  We had a cabin on the Rotterdam deck (7) forward and it worked out just fine.  Nice room and balcony.

The entertainment on Holland cruises is MIA.  But you don’t need entertainment when you are running around so much on your excursions, etc.  By the time you come back you’re ready to have a nice dinner and chill for the night.

IMHO, the food on Holland ships is consistently the best of any cruise line we’ve been on.

Dining room service is slow, but its slow on all cruise ships.  The food in the Lido Market Buffet is a more than adequate alternative to the dining room.  Lots of variety and well-prepared with a great salad bar.

We opted for the Have-It-All package to try it, but would not do it again.  It includes, WiFi, Beverage package, 2 specialty dinings, prepaid gratuities and some shore excursion money.

It just did not provide us a value for the extra cost.  For other people, I am sure it could be a great value.  Everyone has to do their own math on that one.

The Pinnacle grill food was awful, at least mine was.  The Canaletto food was fabulous.

Unfortunately, we missed two ports on this trip, Cannes (Monte Carlo) and Kotor.  Both of these were tenders and that’s the problem with tenders.  A bit too much wind and you skip the port.

In Marseille there was a shuttle to the downtown area for $16 round trip if you don’t want to do an excursion.  We went to Aix en Provence which was not bad.

We missed Cannes, but they substituted Corsica.  It was an OK excursion, but you don’t need an excursion there, can walk around from the ship.

Livorno is a commercial port so you must bus to Pisa and Florence.  Do not miss Pisa and Florence, they are quite stunning.  If there is a Pisa and Florence on your own, you can take that excursion.  Both areas are easy to explore on your own.

Civitavecchia is a commercial port near Rome.  We took a train to Rome and a guided tour.  A little too much talk.  If I could do it again, I would take the train to Rome and do Rome on our own.  Everything is very walkable from the train station and you can see a lot more than with a guide.

In Naples, we went to Sorrento and Salerno and took a cruise along the coast to Amalfi.  Sorrento is just charming and the cruise to Amalfi and time there was worth it.

In Taormina we went to the Castelmola and Taormina.  Castelmola is waste of time.

A lot of time to get up to the top to see it and not really worth the time.  Taormina on the other hand is phenomenal.  Just lovely.  If you can, just go to Taormina, you can spend hours there.

The Corfu stop is in Greece.  We took the Mon Repos tour and it was not worth it.  They provided a $16 round trip shuttle to town and if we could do it again, we would have just done that.  There is plenty to see and do in town.

Kotor was cancelled so we spent two days in Dubrovnik.  Again, we had an excursion that was not necessary.  There was a $16 round trip shuttle to Old Town and that is all you have to do.  It is a beautiful port.  Incidentally, Kotor is very close to Dubrovnik.  If you have an extra day and they spend two days in Dubrovnik like we did, you could hire a private tour from 

Old Town Dubrovnik and actual see Kotor by land.  I think it is 40 km.

Trieste was a disappointment to me.  It is so windy at this time of year that you could not focus on anything but the wind.  We saw the Miramare Castle.  It was decent, but you can see Trieste without taking an excursion, just walk right into town off the ship.

Fortunately, we had an extra day and we spent it in Venice instead of flying home at the end of the cruise.

Here is how you can do Venice if you have an extra day.  Book a room at the Courtyard Marriot Venice Airport.  In Marco Polo airport buy a 24-hour ACTV bus pass at the Public Transportation desk.  It is $25 Euros.  Get on the ACTV number 5 bus outside the airport and scan your ticket.  This starts your 24 hours.  Get off at the Courtyard Marriot stop, it is very close to the airport.  They have a restaurant with good food and a surly wait staff.   

When you are ready to go to Venice, the Line 5 bus stops right in front of the Marriot (use your pass again) and it takes you right into the bus station in Venice, the Piazzalle Roma.  Steps from the bus station are the Vaporettos, the ACTV water buses.  Your pass will get you on that too.  Get on the #2 Line.  This takes you to St. Marks, but you can get off along the way.  I would get off at the Rialto Bridge and explore your way to St. Marks.  In St. Marks you take the Line 2 Vaporetto all along the Grand Canal back to Piazzalle Roma.  Right by the bus station is a restaurant with a maroon canopied awning called Pizzeria Ristorante.  We ate there and it was very good. 

The same bus pass can be used to get back to the Marriot.  Take the Line 5 bus again.  The Marriot stop is a few hundred feet from the hotel on the same side of the street.  You don’t have to ring any bells to get the buses to stop, they stop at every stop.

It really is simple and cheap.  We discovered all this by the seat of our pants, but it all worked out and we saw Venice on our own.  If I could do it again, I would spend hours just riding that water bus up and down the Grand Canal, it is quite an experience.

Now a word to the wise when using FlightEase.  DON’T.  I like Holland America, but the air department is populated with incompetent, unprofessional know-nothings.  Without going into the details, be forewarned that when you book your air through them, you are relinquishing control of your ticket to them.  They can and will do anything with your flight, often without telling you.  They changed our flights and put us back in main cabin.  Then minutes later put us back in Premium economy, but the NEXT day.  Then promised a hotel and never came through with it.  It was an inexcusable, hot mess.  I have vowed never to let anyone do my flights again.  It’s nice to not have to pay for air until final, but there is a price to pay for that and it is loss of control.

Overall, it was an enjoyable, eventful cruise.  Be discriminating when selecting excursions.  In many ports you really do not need a sanctioned excursion.

Exhausting, but enjoyable Mediterranean cruise and a word to the wise.

My husband and I sailed on the Oosterdam Sept 14th, 2023 - October 8th, 2023.  This was a 24 day trip starting in Barcelona and ending in Athens, Greece.  When booking, everything that could have wrong did.  I was given misinformation about having an assigned cabin and having premium economy flights.  This was straightened out by a very helpful Resolution Specialist.  We received an email from American Airlines that our 2 returning flights from Athens to LAX were cancelled.  I booked the flights with HAL, they never notified me the flights were cancelled.  When I called American Airlines, I was told to call HAL as the flights were booked by them.  The gentleman in the flight department screamed at me that it wasn’t HAL’s responsibility to book another flight.  Once again I contacted the same resolution specialist to straighten this out.  The lack of training in the flight department and excursions dept was poor at best.

The cabins are old and tired looking.  The bathroom needs a total gut job.  The sink water would be scolding hot, had to let it run for 3 mins to get water temperature down.  Shower had the opposite problem, water was ice cold, had to run water for 3 mins to get temperature up.  Holland has cut back, activities during the day were next to nothing.  Computer photo editing class has been cut, along with card making, scrapbooking, lanyard making.  Entertainment was just ok.  The main dining room no longer has lobster or filet mignon on dresser nights.  You can order this any night for an $18 - $20 dollar charge, comes from the better restaurant which is now $50 per person, skip it.  The free cuppachino coffee drink is now $3.50.  Like everything shore excursion prices have gone up.  The shore excursion dept had no clue what ports were walkable.

We  have been on many HAL cruises, and have been on over 20 cruises, anywhere from 14- 28 days.   Unless it’s a newer ship, I would not choose HAL again.  I’d recommend booking HAL cruises with Costco.  I won’t be booking with the trip dept at HAL again, after the numerous phone call and trouble I had to get things straightened out.  Sad to say, HAL is 3 stars at best.

Oosterdam is outdated and tired looking

Holland America Cruise Did Not Impress Much. We just returned from a 12-day Mediterranean cruise on the Holland America MS  Oosterdam from Sep 2 - 14, 2023.  We boarded the ship in Trieste, Italy.  We were immediately dissatisfied by the lack of HA greeter staff present on the cruise dock in Italy during embarkation; and during port calls to guide you to/from the ship. This is not true on Princess who does a great job of this in Europe and in the Caribbean. Once onboard, the ship has an odd layout for a cruise ship with dark hallways, lower overheads, and no inviting brightly lit  open central multi-level common areas like other cruise ships that we have been on such as Princess or Royal Caribbean. Nothing onboard takes your brief away upon embarking.  Neatest thing onboard was deck 10 observation lounge. It takes a long time to find your way around the ship & between decks. The casino is very small and slots were generally bad. The ship itself is 20 years old and it shows! Not a modern cruise experience at all. Worn and dark interiors with oddly staggered bars on decks 2 and 3.  Much of the interior design looks  like 1970’s or 1980’s decor. Elevators were generally slow, often overcrowded and were hot. One elevator smelled like fish the whole cruise! That is the first elevator you take when embarking. Our balcony was extremely narrow. The ship only has two swimming pools and only a few small jacuzzis with strong chlorine smell (none are for adults only).  Some jacuzzis were hot, others stayed Luke warm. Pluming and ceiling leaks: Intermittently inoperable toilets were a problem the entire cruise (both in our state-room, in other staterooms as we had learned, and in common areas at times). We also noticed a bad ceiling leak through a light fixture onto the carpet outside one if the staterooms near us.  Drink Package: We opted to pay for our bar drinks without purchasing the drink packages and this worked fine because we were in port most days and tired in the evenings.  Learned about beer bucket purchase option on last day - bar tender or wait staff never mentioned before this. Holland Am. mandates the purchase of a separate drink package (15 drinks per day) for every adult in the room, if you decide to opt-in for the package. This is not the case on other cruise lines.  Wifi: Internet WIFI packages were expensive, and service was still rather limited.  Cruise ambiance: Generally a seniors cruise.  Rolling Stone lounge being the only exception playing rock & dance music.  Buffet had same items every day.  Food was good but lacked variety. Dining hall experience nothing spectacular with OK service.  Food was good. No movies shown on deck like in other cruises. Some movies shown in main theatre. “Midnight buffet” was just a limited service extension of regular buffet hours. Overall, we were not impressed with our first HA Cruise. Overall we found it to be rather stuffy & dull. We prefer Princess Cruises and will stay with them.

Disappointed in Holland America Oosterdam

We made a cruise from Venice to Barcelona. Since ships are not permitted in Venice anymore , we stayed 3 days to visit Venice first, then took a train to Trieste the departure port, 2 hours away, where we stayed at the Best Western hotel. Very nice city, visited with hop on, hop off.

Taxi from hotel to port was 15 euros.

Embarcation was most easy.

Cruise in the Adriatic sea with Dubrovnik as first stop. Wow! And Sarande,  Albania (who goes to Albania?) Nice city, nice people and surprisingly,  many speak English. The cities visited were interesting in history. We particularly loved Florence which we walked.

We have cruised many times with HAL and from one cruise to the other, service, food and entertainment are basically of the same quality.

Waiter in the dining room was very knowledgeable both with the food menu and with wine recommandation (no more wine steward with HAL).

Entertainment was good but we missed the Classical music daily entertainment we used to attend in a salon after supper.

Usual HAL quality

We chose this cruise for the itinerary and the cruise line reputation, as this was our first cruise on Holland America.

The servers were friendly and accommodating, often going out of their way to please cruise passengers. 

But we can’t help compare the Oosterdam to several previous cruises on Celebrity, which continues to be our favorite.

We enjoy the universally prepared Mai Tai cocktails, but the Oosterdam bartenders in different bars poured a totally different cocktail each time we ordered, some tasting nothing like Mai Tai’s  we’ve ordered on other ships in the Caribbean, Mediterranean, Alaska.

Only the evening dining room service was comparable to Celebrity, serving a tasty menu each night, though the lunch and evening buffet quality and variety was below what Celebrity offers.

Cabin quality was inferior to Celebrity. We enjoy sliding the balcony door open on Celebrity to enjoy ocean breezes and soothing sounds, but on the Oosterdam, the balcony single door awkwardly props open. We enjoy the full length sofa in a Celebrity cabin, not the 1.5 person love seat on Oosterdam., so maybe the Celebrity balcony cabin is bigger.

And these comments are for regular balcony cabins, not upgraded cabins or suites.

Some Oosterdam electrical outlets in the room did not work.

We’ve never been on a ship that didn’t offer an evening main theatre show every night, the Oosterdam missed 2 nights on a 7 night cruise.

We will wrap up the Holland America experiment and be back on Celebrity soon.

First Time on Holland America - Expecting More

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