So a bit of back-story first. This is my 3rd HAL cruise, and coincidentally, also my third on thr Oosterdam and in Neptune Suite 5190. My other cruises were 7-day round-trip Alaska cruises from Seattle, so this was my longest cruise on the ship. To be honest, I was worrying that I would run out of things to do on a longer cruise, since the Oosterdam is not a massive ship.
I was pleasantly surprised, although there were a few changes in the 4 years since I'd last boarded her that I wasn't thrilled with. For one, I miss B.B. King's. It was replaced with the Rolling Stone lounge earlier this year, and while I'll admit that the variation in musical styles is nice, the lounge isn't acoustically suited for rock music (the reverberation is a little too much sometimes), in my opinion. Another change is that they aren't doing the Rudi's pop-up dinner in the Pinnacle Grill, and that was one of the dining highlights of the Alaska cruises I took on the Oosterdam. HAL has apparently also cut out the additional Elemis toiletries in the suites now (used to have pillow spray, lip balm, eye gel, etc. provided at night). And apparently chocolates are no longer provided every night. I was given a couple of pieces on the cruise so far, but not since the first week (and I think only on two occasions that week).
My biggest complaint has been that I have been unable to get truly hot water in my suite at any point on this cruise. To the point where there was literally only cold water on two mornings. I've made a couple of complaints, but it's only been a temporary fix and still has never resulted in actually hot water. I've kept the knob turned as hot as it'll go, and it's still usually a bit tepid at best. To make the point, the mineral pool in the spa has always been hotter than the hottest water I've gotten in my suite. I'm guessing the root cause is a lack of maintenance, as this was never an issue during my previous cruises in the same suite. While she's still a nice ship, the Oosterdam is badly in need of updating in the staterooms.
The view from 5190 and its balcony can't be beat (it's a massive, completely covered aft corner wrap balcony with a dining table, four dining chairs, 2 arm chairs, and 2 lounge chairs with a side table) but the room and especially the bathroom are in need of updates. While admittedly subjective, the bed is probably the least comfortable bed I've had on a cruise, and that's counting the two previous Oosterdam cruises, where I was sleeping on the couch bed. The two sides have definitely had uneven wear. It's not a deal-breaker or the end of the world, but again shows a need for refurbishment.
In terms of food, service and quality has been decent to very good. I've dined in the Pinnacle Grill twice and Canaletto once. The Canaletto meal was okay, but the appetizers (burrata with tomatoes and some really tasty meatballs) were better than the ossobuco, which had decent flavor but seemed like it had been improperly pressure cooked (kind of tender, but somehow still dry). The highlight of the premium meals was the chocolate souffle that I had both times I ate at the Pinnacle Grill. It was perfectly cooked and just the right level of richness and sweetness. Again, I miss the pop-up Rudi's, as they have replaced it with a seafood boil in the lido. I'm not a fan, as I don't eat that much seafood and when I do, it's almost always going to be either fresh fish or king crab legs. As usual, the lido has been surprisingly good, to the point that I have yet to go the dining room. I'm still a big fan of the custom omelets and crepes.
We have today, tomorrow, and Tuesday remaining, and arrive in Ft. Lauderdale on Wednesday. This has been overall a good cruise, but I'll admit I am hoping I can actually get a truly hot shower in my stateroom before I get off the ship, especially with how much this vacation cost.
Although, I am finding today a bit questionable since I'm currently laying on a hot tile lounger in the spa listening to a lady casually pass gas multiple times on lounger two down from me and literally just started clipping her toenails. 😬😬😬