Wonderful cruise on the oosterdam

My husband Ted and I were on the 18 day cruise round trip San Diego to Hawaii. During this cruise we celebrated my birthday and our 48th wedding anniversary. We did a vow renewal ceremony which was the best and quite touching. We even had a wedding cake and had pictures taken of us cutting the cake. It was so very special.

We both thought the staff were amazing and really seemed to cater to us. Food was delicious, some of the best we have had on any of our cruises, including Regent and Seabourn.

We stayed in a Neptune Suite and it was delightful. We spend a lot of time in our cabin and this was perfect. We were just a couple of doors down from the Neptune Lounge and that was our first stop every morning for a mini breakfast. This was great for us as we were trying not to over indulge. The girls in the Lounge were fabulous and took care of all of our requests with a huge smile on their faces.

We did the Pinnacle Grill twice and the Sal de Mer once. Our lemon soufflé at the latter was best we ever had. So enjoyed these venues.

I can honestly say this cruise was close to perfect. Since we live in San Diego county we did not have to fly and that was a blessing. Only issue was boarding and disembarkation. Both times they had computer problems at the terminal so things became a bit unorganized for a while but we still got on and off quickly.

We took one ship tour and had the rest independently. Even though this was our 3rd time to Hawaii we learned more on these tours than before. Would like to do this one again.

Captain Wilhelm and cruise director Taylor were a delight. They spent a good half an hour chatting with us before the vow renewal. We also were invited to have dinner at the Captain's table one evening and that was also very special.

We do not do shows so I can't say anything about them.

We enjoyed this cruise so much we booked a Transatlantic on the Oosterdam next fall. Having taken over 25 cruises we both agree that this one was in the top 3.

Prior to this cruise we had been taking a lot of cruises with Princess on their smallest ship, the Pacific Princess. We have both decided we prefer HAL.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise! Happy anniversary!

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Happy Anniversary! So glad that you enjoyed your cruise on Oosterdam. We sailed on her a number of years ago and we also enjoyed it immensely. Thanks for sharing your experience!

Thank you for your review.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

Happy Belated Birthday.

Happy Belated Anniversary.

So glad you enjoyed the Oosterdam. We loved sailing on her in April.

Happy belated birthday and anniversary. Sounds very special having the vow renewal ceremony. Nice you enjoyed the Neptune suite for such a special occasion.

Thanks for sharing-we are booked on a September cruise Venice to Rome [emoji41]

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Happy Anniversary and all the very best. So good to hear HAL not only met, but also exceeded your expectations.

We are also booked on the Oosterdam transatlantic in Oct.

Thanks for sharing. Friends are on the "O" right now (leaving in a few http://www.sundiegolive.com). And I'll be on her next month. :)

Happy birthday and anniversary! :D

Thanks for your review. We are sailing the same ship and itinerary in 10 days. Been reading the boards and getting a bit discouraged though i know often complaints get more press than the good things. Relatively new to HAL, do lots of Celebrity and Princess but liked this itinerary AND leaving from San Diego. We too will be celebrating our 48th anniversary though won't have a suite.....hopefully by the 50th will get lucky enough.

Thank you your review.

Thanks for your review. We are sailing the same ship and itinerary in 10 days. Been reading the boards and getting a bit discouraged though i know often complaints get more press than the good things. Relatively new to HAL, do lots of Celebrity and Princess but liked this itinerary AND leaving from San Diego. We too will be celebrating our 48th anniversary though won't have a suite.....hopefully by the 50th will get lucky enough.

We were on the same Dec 2, 2017 Hawaii cruise on the Oosterdam and I have to share this with you - be sure you plan for things to do for the 5-6 days back to San Diego. We thought the 5 days out were fine, with a number of activities to do/attend (mostly Hawaii oriented), but on the way back there were few activities and we (and others we spoke with) were bored and could not wait to get off the ship.

So glad to hear you had a positive experience! Thanks for posting, and congratulations!

How wonderful for you! I'm glad you had such a great time for your special celebrations!

Glad you enjoyed the cruise.

Keith

Thank you for reviewing your Oosterdam cruise.

Congratulations on your Anniversary.

I appreciate the "heads up" about activities on the way home. Some of what i have read implied fewer activities. Do they do any exercise dance classes...Zumba or anything of that nature? Could anyone comment on the weather onboard out and back....do i need a jacket if wanting to walk the promenade deck....of course i understand weather varies by the day but we are from FL where it is always hot or a little less hot......except this week, lol, which of course no one can really plan for.

It's very cold first days over and last days coming back. Be prepared. Best cruise I ever took. We did it Feb 2012 I think and I'd love to do again.

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Thanks for your review!

Thanks for posting you comments.

Belated wishes for a happy birthday and happy anniversary.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise, hope your next one is great too.

I appreciate the "heads up" about activities on the way home. Some of what i have read implied fewer activities. Do they do any exercise dance classes...Zumba or anything of that nature? Could anyone comment on the weather onboard out and back....do i need a jacket if wanting to walk the promenade deck....of course i understand weather varies by the day but we are from FL where it is always hot or a little less hot......except this week, lol, which of course no one can really plan for.

It was a bit "cool" (a light jacket would be good) on many of the sea days and on most of them the seas were a bit rough (but not real bad and we were in an aft cabin). Of course weather will vary.

Thank you for the review! Just booked for this summer and have never been on HAL but couldn't resist on the Greek islands itinerary and crazy price.

So looking forward to hearing about the ship, the crew, entertainment and most of all the food. We are big foodies.