Oosterdam Seattle to Alaska Review May 30, 2010 to June 7, 2010

[alexandria]

So who gets golden cards and who gets blue cards? I thought everyone has the option of eating in the DR upon embarkation?

 

The golden color key cards are for Penthouse and Deluxe Suite categories (SA-SC) and allow access to the Neptune Lounge.

 

I believe that the Vista dining room is now open for everyone at lunch on embarkation day (at least it was on our cruise) as it was listed in the daily program as being open for lunch that day from 12pm-1:30pm and not just for Mariners.

[alexandria]

Day 6 (Saturday-Sea Day/Victoria evening port call)

Unfortunately, the service from the team of cabin stewards this entire week has been very inconsistent. On Wednesday, I requested a laundry bag to send out laundry but never received one. Yesterday, I asked again and he said he would bring one by when he turned down the cabin in the evening. When we returned from the late show, the cabin had been turned down but no laundry bag or laundry list. Also, it has now been two days since our ice has been refilled. This morning, I saw one of our cabin stewards in the hall and asked again about the laundry bag. He was apologetic and brought one immediately, but when he saw the pile of dirty clothes, quickly returned with two more bags. When we returned from breakfast, the room had been serviced and we finally had some ice, the champagne bucket was full of it, but none was in the ice bucket! No problem, I put some in the ice bucket from the champagne bucket so it might last the afternoon since I am not confident that we will see ice again this cruise.

 

After a caffe latte and espresso from the Neptune Lounge, we enjoyed breakfast in the Pinnacle with the same excellent service. Unfortunately, my fried eggs over medium were fried eggs over very well, apparently that is a difficult item for them to cook properly (the cook in the Lido the other day had some difficulty frying eggs) which surprises me as it doesn’t seem too difficult for me at home! The rest of the breakfast was perfect and delicious.

 

After breakfast, it was off to do the iPod art tour so we stopped by the Explorations Café to pick up the iPods for the tour. We learned from the library attendant that there was only one and that when she came on board, she mentioned to the home office that there was only one on board when there was supposed to be ten. So my wife and I had to share which was a touch awkward as we were walking along while sharing one set of headphones, one bud in my right ear, one bud in her left, and trying not to get too far apart and dislodge one or the other. The battery was also VERY low and I’m surprised it lasted the 45 minutes that the tour takes. Checking the iPod out made me feel like we were back on a Carnival ship. After seeing that towels were nicely placed on lounges and there were no slips to sign to use a pool towel, checking out the iPod required our stateroom number, our names and a keycard left as collateral with the library attendant, who cautioned us that we must return it to her directly and not leave it in the drop slot. Unfortunately, her hours seem limited, so we will have to make it a point to find her later in the day. (As it turned out, the Suite Lunch was in the Crow’s Nest and the library attendant was at her desk as that ended, so returning the iPod worked out fine.) The art tour was very enjoyable and we bumped into cruise director Matt Ferrell as we were about five minutes into the tour, who asked us if we were doing the art tour and if we were enjoying it. I replied that so far it was very enjoyable, but that we couldn’t find the ship model on the Observation Deck with the riveted copper hull. Matt said he thinks it isn’t there anymore but if he sees it, he’ll let us know. We’ll have to look again when we go up there at 12:30 for the suite lunch. I took photos of most if not all the art discussed on the tour and learned at the end of the recording that the tours are available to download from HAL’s website. Now I’m glad I took lots of photos, perhaps I can prepare a slideshow with the photos and downloaded audio when we return home!

 

At 10:30 am, we are cruising to Victoria which is 168 miles ahead, the seas are slight with waves of 1.5 to 4 ft and our current position is 49° 12’N 126° 45’ W, almost due west of Estevan Point, sailing down the west side of Vancouver Island, just as we did on the northbound leg.

 

The Mariner’s Brunch was held at 11am in the Vista dining room, champagne was served and refilled frequently, the menu consisted of two appetizers, three entrees and one desert. Since we are going to the Suite Lunch at 12:30, I had the pear and apple gazpacho appetizer which was refreshing and my wife had the quiche entree, then we shared a mango banana strudel with warm vanilla sauce. Before the meal was served, Captain Baijens spoke briefly about the fleet and voyages and the growth he has seen in HAL since he joined them, then introduced three folks who had achieved four star mariner status, each of them were called up and presented with a medal and had their photo individually taken with Captain Baijens and Hotel Manager Marcella Himmelreich. As we left the Mariner’s Brunch, we were each handed a beautiful tile.

 

The Suite Farewell Luncheon was at 12:30 pm in the Crow’s Nest, a very bountiful spread of food, including cheeses, vegetables, pate, smoked salmon, shrimp, dips, crackers, several types of quiche, tempura shrimp, beef pie and cold sliced beef tenderloin with béarnaise sauce, just to mention a few things. They also served a variety of drinks, including champagne, wine and Bloody Marys. My wife asked for a mimosa and it was promptly served. Captain Baijens, Ms. Himmelreich and Matt Ferrell were there greeting folks. Matt Ferrell recognized us and asked us how the art tour was, I replied that is was very educational and enjoyable and very jokingly informed him that we had not found the model ship and weren’t getting off the ship until we saw it! Well, Marcella asked us if it was the silver model in the Atrium, I explained that the model described early in the art tour was an intricate wooden model with a riveted copper hull that was on the Observation Deck. Well, Captain Baijens said “Follow me” and off we went to a nook in the port side of the Crow’s Nest and there it was! I guess Captain Baijens must have wanted me off the dam ship when we docked in Seattle! We realized that there had been a private function in that area when we had done the art tour so had not gone into that particular part of the Crow’s Nest.

 

After the suite luncheon, our luggage tags and disembarkation surveys were awaiting us, so we took a few minutes to fill them out before I headed to the signature shops to have Captain Baijens sign the Alaska Cruise Guide I had purchased on our first sea day. We had a very nice conversation as he signed the book, he recalled our names and noted when he signed the book that it was an honor for him to renew our vows and I know he was sincere in that expression. Now I don’t know what the rest of Holland America’s captains are like, but Captain Baijens has been a charming and interesting gentleman who always has a smile on his face and clearly loves what he does. Captain Baijens is an excellent ambassador for Holland America and for his native Netherlands and if the rest of the folks in the Netherlands are anything like Captain Baijens, what a wonderful country that would be to visit. I did ask about whether he has plans for a grand voyage anytime soon, he replied that he did not but that the Oosterdam is being repositioned to Hawaii in late 2011, so he is looking forward to that.

 

Our album from the renewal of vows was also delivered this afternoon to our stateroom, it was a lovely blue vinyl album with a page to write in our names and information on the cruise, some memento pages, two photographs, one of us with Captain Baijens and one of just the two of us, as well as copies of the vows and the toast that was given. There was no photo of the cake cutting, don’t know what happened with that one. There was also a certificate from Captain Baijens commemorating the renewal of our vows. We had received a note in our stateroom when we embarked that we had a credit ($15 or so) applied to our shipboard account for vow renewal photography, but then I noticed on our tentative statement we received today that there is now a debit for the same amount, so I assume it must be for the album. Seems like an odd way to handle that.

 

The Indonesian Tea was held at 3pm today, the dining stewards were dressed in colorful Indonesian garb serving several Indonesian teas and coffees, along with Indonesian confections, such as red and green crepes filled with a brown sugar coconut mixture and banana fritters. The tea was wonderfully served in a festive and enjoyable atmosphere.

 

At dinner, we observed the same phenomena that we have seen on other cruises, which is that the crew appears a little more subdued, a little less eager to serve, perhaps anticipating the hectic turnaround day tomorrow and the need to learn the names and preferences of an entire new group of passengers. The service and food was still excellent, just perhaps not as enthusiastic or attentive.

 

They were late clearing the ship in Victoria, so passengers didn’t begin leaving the ship until about 6:30-7:00 pm. We walked to town and were very surprised to see how many shops were closed! In fact, I would estimate that fully half of the shops in the main section of town within 5-6 blocks from the Empress hotel were closed. Only one of three shops that we knew sold gelato was open and the gelato there was $6.95 plus tax in a cup and $1.50 more if you wanted a sugar cone. I wonder if that is always the price or if they have one price when ships are in port and another for the locals. Since we’ll be in Seattle tomorrow we’ll just wait and get some at the Chocolate Box which is delicious and only $2.25. In the meantime, we’ll have ice cream once back on board! We went in the Empress hotel and browsed the shops that were open. Unfortunately, we could not find a shop that had British goods, we were hoping to look at British teapots and such, just one shop on Government Street with Irish things. We asked at the Empress about the shops, they said that the shops with British merchandise were no longer in business and they didn’t know of any still in Victoria. After a few hours exploring the town, we returned to the ship for some ice cream on the Lido deck and to watch the Princess Sapphire depart just a short time before the Oosterdam set sail.

[alexandria]

Day 7 (Sun-Disembarkation)

 

One of the suite perks is that you have until 6:00 am to put your luggage outside of your stateroom for pickup, instead of the usual midnight, so we set the alarm for 5am, which will help us begin acclimating back to eastern time. We managed to get showered, dressed and packed by 6am, set the luggage in the hall, and headed to the Neptune Lounge for coffee. The Pinnacle Grill was open for breakfast from 6:30 until 8:00 am, but nobody was there to seat us until after 6:45 am, in fact, I was beginning to wonder if they were closed, even though they told us yesterday they would be open, when someone arrived to seat us. Instead of having several servers hovering over us, offering us chocolate croissants and refilling our coffee, there was one server working. We noticed that there was no spoon for the coffee nor cream, obviously service suffers to some degree on disembarkation day, but when asked for them, they were quickly produced. I was pleased, however, to find the same full menu as opposed to a more limited breakfast menu that we often see on other lines on disembarkation day, so we enjoyed a final leisurely breakfast on the Oosterdam in the Pinnacle.

 

One more walk around the ship, one thing I was looking for is the day of the week carpets at the elevators, since a few times during the cruise I had no idea what day it was. Couldn’t find them anywhere, perhaps we didn’t look in just the right elevator? Afterwards, we went back to the Neptune to relax with caffe latte until time to disembark. We were assigned group Black 1 and could leave anytime between 8:00 am and 9:30 am. They began disembarkation for the expedited early passengers who had signed up in advance at 8:00, about 15 minutes behind schedule, as the ship was late being cleared. That delay pushed all of the groups behind by 15 minutes. I wandered down to the gangway on Deck 2 near the atrium once at about 8:45 am and the line was very long. When we made our way down from the Neptune Lounge at about 9:30, there was no line and we were off in seconds. Our bags were easy to find and using the services of a porter not only meant we didn't have to carry all of our luggage out to the cab, but it also put us in the very short “porter” line with two customs guys processing the folks in that line, instead of what appeared to be otherwise lengthy lines, well worth the tip. Within ten minutes of stepping off the ship, we were in a cab heading to our post-cruise hotel. A very efficient disembarkation process.

 

We are at the Seattle Westin for one night post-cruise and anticipated having to leave our bags as we arrived here at about 10:00 am, but as luck had it, they had a king room available to us on the 34th floor, the same location as we stayed pre-cruise in the North Tower, just twenty two floors higher with a nice view! One correction from my pre-cruise observations, the Seattle Westin has complimentary Starbucks coffee in the lobby near the front desk only from 4:00 am until 6:00 am, when their café opens for the morning. Once again, a very nice stay in a very clean and well appointed room. Internet in the lobby is VERY slow, however, so this review is taking longer to post than intended, I’m finishing it up as we fly home from SEA to ATL via DFW and posting as I can from the Delta Sky Club and in flight using the Go Go in-flight internet (or should I say Slow Go in-flight internet…)

 

Conclusion

 

While this was not a flawless cruise, I am not sure that there is such a thing. The food and service in the main dining room was outstanding, as was the experience in the Pinnacle, both at dinner and during the deluxe suite breakfasts. The entertainment was also excellent and we found no shortage of experiences to enjoy on board, from cooking demonstrations to the shows, it was all wonderfully done with style and class. The Neptune Lounge was a very nice retreat most of the time, and both Jules and Nette were very attentive and responsive to our needs, which were very few. The coffee machine was a regular stop for both of us throughout the day.

 

Our room stewards were good, not great, not terrible, just good. I do, however, wonder if the inconsistency in the quality of the service they provided was a reflection of the number of staterooms they must service, as I have read comments here on Cruise Critic from more seasoned HAL cruisers that the number of staterooms assigned to each steward has increased in recent years. I believe that they both worked very hard and they were always very courteous and helpful, so I suspect that forgetting to leave a laundry bag a few times, even after it was requested, and neglecting to refill the fruit basket and ice repeatedly over several days was just an oversight.

 

Having spent the past seven days on the MS Oosterdam, this has been an excellent experience and reinforced my suspicions when booking this cruise that Holland America probably would provide the type of cruise experience we would enjoy the best. It was elegant without being pretentious with very gracious service, wonderful dining, splendid accommodations and a friendly crew. Without a doubt, we will sail again with Holland America and look forward, as we become empty nesters and eventually retirees, to more frequent and longer voyages with them.

[MysticalMagic]

Thank you for your great review! It is a great resource.

 

We are going in a few weeks and I'm glad to hear you didn't have rough seas and sick stomachs!

[Rapunsel]

In reading this, it was like I was sitting on your shoulder.. Such wonderful details! Thanks you so much for posting!

[KruzerKittyKat]

Alexandria! I'm totally in love/awe/appreciation of your daily reviews of your cruise! Hubby and I will be taking the August 22 sail to Alaska on the Oosterdam and are getting pumped by reading your "work". I also appreciate the insider tips about cruising. Even though we've been on 25 cruises over the past 33 years, we're still learning. I'm new to e-chatting so am not sure how to access the daily menus you took pix of. Is there a special trick, or are they embedded somewhere in your notes?

 

Thanks again!

 

KruzerKittyKat

[alexandria]

Alexandria! I'm totally in love/awe/appreciation of your daily reviews of your cruise! Hubby and I will be taking the August 22 sail to Alaska on the Oosterdam and are getting pumped by reading your "work". I also appreciate the insider tips about cruising. Even though we've been on 25 cruises over the past 33 years, we're still learning. I'm new to e-chatting so am not sure how to access the daily menus you took pix of. Is there a special trick, or are they embedded somewhere in your notes?

 

Thanks again!

 

KruzerKittyKat

 

I haven't yet posted the menus as they are oversize (we have the actual menus, not photos), so I'll have to scan them on a larger scanner to post as PDF files.

 

I have scanned the daily programs which are now online for download here: http://www.filefactory.com/f/8479a11d798df013/

[IRL_Joanie]

Absolutely AWESOME REVIEW!!!!

 

I am back, obviously:D

 

I took portions of your review and used it for the HAL Staterooms/Cabins pages along with the photos you took for the site.

 

The review was exactly what we needed! You gave the good and the bad and most importantly, your overall impressions. I LOVE IT!!

 

Thank You so very much for the review and the photos!!

 

Joanie

[alexandria]

I've now posted PDF scans of all of the dinner menus from the Main Dining Room, the Daily Programs along with a few other things, like the Luggage Direct information, Disembarkation information and spa specials for the last sea day.

 

I have also posted photos of the new breakfast menu and a few other things.

 

They are all available to download here: http://www.filefactory.com/f/8479a11d798df013/

[senior lady]

are there safes in the rooms??? and how do you set the combination for them???? on Princess you just put your own code in.

 

This is our first cruise on HA............ looking forward to the Oosterdam:D

[alexandria]

are there safes in the rooms??? and how do you set the combination for them???? on Princess you just put your own code in.

 

This is our first cruise on HA............ looking forward to the Oosterdam:D

 

Yes, in the closet there is a small safe, you set the combination by closing the door, entering a four digit combination you choose on the keypad followed by the lock (I believe it was the *) key. The safe has a digital readout so you can see what you are entering to confirm. To unlock, just enter the same four digit combination you used to lock it.

 

The safe doesn't save the combination after it is unlocked, so every time you lock it, you enter whatever four digit combination you want to use, which can be different each time.

[ChaCr]

Thank you Alexandria. I found your reivew, and the daily schedule of activities very helpful.

 

Charles

[senior lady]

Yes, in the closet there is a small safe, you set the combination by closing the door, entering a four digit combination you choose on the keypad followed by the lock (I believe it was the *) key. The safe has a digital readout so you can see what you are entering to confirm. To unlock, just enter the same four digit combination you used to lock it.

 

The safe doesn't save the combination after it is unlocked, so every time you lock it, you enter whatever four digit combination you want to use, which can be different each time.

 

thanks for the reply, sounds just like Princess.

We're cruising with "newbies" and was wondering how "formal" that night is and what are the other nights like????

[alexandria]

Formal night in the main dining room saw about 10% of the men in tuxes, the other 90% in suits or sportcoats and ties, with the exception of one older gentleman who showed up in blue jeans and an open collar shirt. It looked like the maître d' was offering him a sport coat to wear. I don't know if he ended up eating in the dining room or not, the last I saw he was arguing with the maître d'.

[MysticalMagic]

Yes, in the closet there is a small safe, you set the combination by closing the door, entering a four digit combination you choose on the keypad followed by the lock (I believe it was the *) key. The safe has a digital readout so you can see what you are entering to confirm. To unlock, just enter the same four digit combination you used to lock it.

 

The safe doesn't save the combination after it is unlocked, so every time you lock it, you enter whatever four digit combination you want to use, which can be different each time.

 

Do you know how big the safe is on the inside?

 

Don't have any big concerns but it would be nice to put our iPad inside along with a couple iPods.

 

Thanks!

[RuthC]

Do you know how big the safe is on the inside?

The door itself is small; guessing maybe 4"x6"? Getting things inside the door can be tricky. The inside is about one inch more on all four sides. It's about 6"deep.

[ballgown1]

I've now posted PDF scans of all of the dinner menus from the Main Dining Room, the Daily Programs along with a few other things, like the Luggage Direct information, Disembarkation information and spa specials for the last sea day.

 

I have also posted photos of the new breakfast menu and a few other things.

 

They are all available to download here: http://www.filefactory.com/f/8479a11d798df013/

 

 

Thank you so much for posting this blog and the .PDFs of the menus. This is our first cruise. I have learned so much from this. We will be taking this same cruise on 8/15/2010.

[BaltiGator]

Conclusion

 

While this was not a flawless cruise, I am not sure that there is such a thing. The food and service in the main dining room was outstanding, as was the experience in the Pinnacle, both at dinner and during the deluxe suite breakfasts. The entertainment was also excellent and we found no shortage of experiences to enjoy on board, from cooking demonstrations to the shows, it was all wonderfully done with style and class. The Neptune Lounge was a very nice retreat most of the time, and both Jules and Nette were very attentive and responsive to our needs, which were very few. The coffee machine was a regular stop for both of us throughout the day.

 

Our room stewards were good, not great, not terrible, just good. I do, however, wonder if the inconsistency in the quality of the service they provided was a reflection of the number of staterooms they must service, as I have read comments here on Cruise Critic from more seasoned HAL cruisers that the number of staterooms assigned to each steward has increased in recent years. I believe that they both worked very hard and they were always very courteous and helpful, so I suspect that forgetting to leave a laundry bag a few times, even after it was requested, and neglecting to refill the fruit basket and ice repeatedly over several days was just an oversight.

 

Having spent the past seven days on the MS Oosterdam, this has been an excellent experience and reinforced my suspicions when booking this cruise that Holland America probably would provide the type of cruise experience we would enjoy the best. It was elegant without being pretentious with very gracious service, wonderful dining, splendid accommodations and a friendly crew. Without a doubt, we will sail again with Holland America and look forward, as we become empty nesters and eventually retirees, to more frequent and longer voyages with them.

 

Thanks for such a detailed review! I'm glad someone resurrected this thread because I missed it before. We're on this same cruise in August.

 

You are so right about there being no such thing as a flawless cruise. It was really nice to read that you did your best to shrug off the problems and focus on the many well done aspects. It's hard to go 7 days on a cruise ship, much less a longer period of time, without a few disappointing items and a couple of meals that aren't quite up to par. We just remind ourselves that we're on a cruise ship and that's pretty darn good right there! And regarding a letdown meal, as my Mom likes to say, no big deal, we will eat again! :D

 

As for the room stewards, on every cruise we've ever taken they've always looked like they were busting their butts. It may indeed be the case that stewards are given more rooms now, and that service may be slipping a bit, but if so I suspect it's industry-wide and not a HAL-specific issue. In any case, there's no question that these people work very, very hard at what is, let's face it, not always an especially pleasant job.

 

Regarding your comments about whether deluxe accommodation perks are worth the extra money, our opinion is that they are generally not. Sometimes we have coughed up the extra dough for a suite, but we did so because on that particular cruise we wanted a bigger room. For us, the extra space is sometimes worth paying more for. But the perks that come with it? Not so much.

 

Thanks again for a great review, and congrats on your vow renewal!

 

Oh, and...go Dawgs! ;)

[Calif.Girl]

Thank you so much. I am going on this cruise on July 4th and you answered many of my questions. I'm going to read it again before I leave.

[WillowsEnd]

Thank you so much for the review, this is very helpful

We are doing the same cruise in September.

 

Can you tell us more about what Excursions you went on others you may

have heard about that you would have wished you had done.

 

thanks

[scottndsky]

Great Review ! Thanks!

 

How were the pools? Was it too cold to enjoy the aft outdoor pool? Were either of them heated?

 

Thanks,

Scott

[alexandria]

Great Review ! Thanks!

 

How were the pools? Was it too cold to enjoy the aft outdoor pool? Were either of them heated?

 

Thanks,

Scott

 

I don't know if either are heated, but I enjoyed the aft outdoor pool the morning we were in Glacier Bay. The pool temperature was a little cool but certainly not chilly and once in, it was very comfortable for the 20-30 minutes I swam...

[Assateague Island Princes]

The pools on HAL ships are heated to 80.5 degrees, and the hot tubs to 83 degrees. Brave souls swimming in the Aft Lido outdoor pool on Glacier Bay day on our 14 day sailing of the Amsterdam just a few short weeks ago - God bless 'em!

[ironin]

Alexandria: Thanks for the detailed review! The contrast between your view of this cruise and another posted to the Holland America board today is striking.

[RuthC]

...the hot tubs to 83 degrees.

:confused: Are you sure about this temperature for the hot tub? It seems awfully cool to me. Body temp is 98.6, and the hot tubs always seem hotter than I feel. Actually, usually the two hot tubs seem to be too different temps---one makes me feel like a human tea bag :eek:, while the other is more comfortable.