Got a great deal on cruise to Alaska on the Oosterdam so we took it. Since we live near the west coast and are seniors on a limited budget, but love cruising. We shop for cruise deals primarily from the west coast which limits us pretty much to Alaska and Mexico as destinations. This was our 16th cruise and second on HAL. In addition to HAL we have cruised Celebrity, Princess, Carnival Norwegian, ...
We were on the Oosterdam last October for a Mediterranean Cruise and were very happy. When we booked this Alaska Cruise, we were thrilled to be on Oosterdam again.
The staff, cabin stewards, food servers were wonderful and very helpful. We enjoyed the Lido Market and all the choices.
We had our eleven year old grandson with us and he loved the ship and the Lido Market and the pool. He was in ...
Our first cruise: we live in Seattle so very convenient departure of course. We went with our adult children for a 7 day including Sitka and Glacier bay. I'm not too into a lot of what cruise ships offer such as gambling, drinking, kind of cheesy entertainment and constant eating. But we enjoyed it a lot; it's a great family vacation because the kids could do stuff on their own and so could we and ...
We have taken Holland America and Disney to Alaska several times. This is not my favorite Holland American Cruise.. some great moments but the service was not as good as we had on the Westerdam 4 years ago and saw a lot of cuts in what was provided. Lincoln Center Stage was amazing with 4 lovely ladies playing strings and a great pianist and arranger. The Pinnacle Grill had good food but poor ...
The food was always excellent in the MDR. Service was good. I had no bad food and neither did my husband. Portion sizes were perfect. Embarking and disembarking was always quick and smooth. When we came in from the rain in Juneau they even greeted guests with hot cocoa.
I found the ship lacking in entertainment during the day. I don't need to learn how to use windows or digital photography ...
I chose this cruise because it was leaving from Seattle and going to Glacier Bay National Park. It had a full day of cruising on my birthday.
We have been to Alaska before, a two week cruise where we were running from beginning to end seeing the sights while in port. This was to be the opposite, time spent enjoying the ship and relaxing. That's exactly what I did.
Seattle embarkation ...
I wanted to be with Christians and also listen to Gospel Music. Every night the shows were very inspirational. The ship and our cabin were very nice. All of the crew seemed to be working all the time to keep things clean and sanitary. This made me feel very secure.The dining in the Lido was the best ever. I did also enjoy the meals in the dining room every night. I thought there could have been ...
The Oosterdam was a beautiful ship. I do recommend upgrading to a varanda suite when cruising to Alaska. My husband and I spent alot of time out on our deck watching the mountains roll by and looking for wildlife. We also used that setting to complete a few crossword puzzles together and enjoy coffee and cocktails. Great alone time! We were in suite 8072 which is mid-ship which is a location I ...
We went took the 7 day Alaskan cruise out of Seattle. This was our 2nd time to Alaska on the Oosterdam. We had Signature Suite 8065 and our 2 friends had a Verandah just down the hall. This review will be just some random thoughts. First, if you are thinking about Alaska a balcony is a must. IMO. Worth the extra $$.
General Pros: if you want a relaxing cruise this is it! No hairy chest or ...
I will start with the bad, and end on the positive.
BAD: Food quality was not good. I would say it was adequate to slightly sub-par.
This was my first Alaska cruise, and the last time I did another cruise was in 1994, so I may have had unrealistic expectations. But on that cruise, I was sincerely impressed by the quality of the food, and the diversity of options available.
With that ...