This trip first attracted me because I was looking for a cruise that started in Venice and hopefully visited some ports in Greece such as Athens and the Greek Islands, This cruise filled the bill and was well priced.
Overall, the ship was lovely. The Main dining room, the main stage, the elevators and halls, were all beautiful
The cabin: My cabin was a Neptune Suite and I am very glad of ...
This was my 12-13th cruise and we had heard that HAL was among the best -- we found them among the worst. Poor, absent, on the verge of unfriendly, service; room steward constantly complaining about being overworked. Truly awful, repetitious food with few choices (even their BBQ was bad -- cold and VERY few choices); the simplest things, like getting a glass of milk,were all but impossible and the ...
A comprehensive review of OUR HAL EXPERIENCE on the 09/28/16 Oosterdam 12nt Mediterranean Dreams cruise follows.
Summary: With the exception of the two very negative experiences, our overall HAL cruise experience was nothing out of the ordinary. I highly recommend reading through all of our experiences listed, while paying special attention to the deal breaking experiences detailed at the end ...
Food was ever better than previous HAL cruises and we have done many (almost 5 star). Service was excellent and as delightful as ever. I understand that sometimes the 'open dining tables had slower than usual service, but during the set dining the service was excellent. The Oosterdam has been partly reno'ed (I understand the suites, although we did not stay in one), the Lido was super and so were ...
Love HAL, it is my favorite cruise line! This is my third or fourth time on this particular ship and have nothing bad to say about it except the crappy room location we got on a VA guarantee cabin. The french fries at the Dive In are the best on land or water. I went with a friend on this cruise but she doesn't like to eat with people so I ate in the dining room alone. I met lots of great ...
We selected this itinerary because of the many stops on the Spanish coast. In that regard, it did not disappoint. Malaga / Granada was amazing.... Alicante was also a delightful port. Calvi turned out to be quaint and charming. Likewise, Monaco and Nice were wonderful. The only port that was a complete waste of time was Gibraltar. 15 hours to look at a ROCK..... think about it. If you're ...
Sept 4 oosterdam 12 nights VD 7097
Bucket list:
Barcelona and Rome with a Sept 4 2016 cruise in the middle.
This was perfect. We saw lots of places that would have been difficult to get to on our own. We took the initiative and booked our own tours, or just ventured out on our own whenever possible. Cruise Critic was great for helping to organize others to go with us. This was fun ...
My husband and I have cruised many times, but never with Holland America. We chose them as we liked the Riviera itinerary and it certainly did not disappoint, nor did the Oosterdam. The ship has just been re-done and is stunning. Very tastefully decorated. We had a verandah room which I don't think had been re-done yet (?), however it was very nice also. It has a nice size verandah with two ...
Our third cruise, but the first with Holland America Line. Boarding as the usual stressful super heated mayhem. I wish cruise lines could learn something from Middle Eastern air carriers such as Emirates in that respect. The ship was clean and well managed. That it was a Dutch boat showed by the fact that they had LGBT single parties. We (traditional married couple) booked a suite and our ...
Last minute choice. Rather overpriced but it did tick the boxes and I enjoyed it greatly, would consider using HAL again if a cheaper alternative did not include the ports I wanted to see.
Always managed to find a sun lounger, even on sea days, though sometimes had to hunt for one. Staff mostly excellent and did not pester to buy drinks. Fruit juice available at mealtimes. Never had a long ...