My wife and I embarked on this first-ever cruise to celebrate our fifth anniversary. After a long and exhausting separation due to work, we intentionally chose a cruise as a relaxing alternative to our typical DIY, adventure-seeking, see-and-do-everything vacations. Overall, the Oosterdam delivered a great experience.

We seemed to be in a rare demographic on the ship - early 30s and no kids. There were quite a few families on board, and a vast majority of older folks (50+). We would have enjoyed more couples our age, but really didn't mind the age distribution.

We flew directly to Seattle the morning of embarkation. We had not pre-booked an airport transfer, although we apparently could have done so as late as baggage claim at SEATAC airport. We took a taxi instead, which ended up being quick and about half the price of a transfer. Read more