Back from Hawaii on the Oosterdam.

[mearsfansinboise]

Aloha!

 

We are back from a pretty fantastic voyage to Hawaii on the Oosterdam. We did the 16-day Hawaii circle cruise leaving Vancouver, BC on April 19th. I don’t know if I’ll do a “formal” review as I’m not that organized and tend to go on tangents, but I’ll share some tidbits of our trip here.

 

We drove from Boise to Vancouver, BC in about 10 hours. We stayed at the Coast Plaza Hotel which had a cruise package where you can leave your car for FREE, stay the night there, and get a $25 food voucher all for $169. We paid about double that in parking last time we sailed out of Vancouver, so this was a no-brainer of a deal.

 

Embarkation was a little slower than the last time we sailed from Vancouver. And I don’t mean to offend anyone, just being matter-of-fact, but I think it had to do with the speed of the passengers. The age onboard this HAL cruise skewed well higher than our previous sailing with HAL. One lady of about 65 commented “they really emptied out the retirement homes for this one!” Indeed there were a lot of walkers and wheelchairs. In conversations with other passengers, it seems that this was the ideal sailing for a lot of older/retired/homebound, etc. folks who live in Vancouver as it sailed out of and returned there. We certainly didn’t have a problem with the demographic, our kids have sailed Disney and HAL and like the attention they get on HAL from being 2 of the 10 children on board the entire ship. But I digress. So just a little crowded and slow getting on, but no real issues per se.

 

When we boarded, we went to our stateroom and then mainlined it to the lido to eat while my husband went to book Canaletto and the Pinnacle. We’d never done the Canaletto and for free we were all for trying it. But then were told that it was going to be a $10 charge, so we passed. We did book the Pinnacle, but our children loved our servers in the MDR so much that we decided to stay there every night. We opted for the as-you-wish dining, and after the first night, our server asked us if we liked this table and time. And we did. So every day we got a little “reservation” card to the as-you-wish dining with our same table assignment. Ketut Disco was our server if you ever have the chance to have him – just a fine fine server. The kids’ apple juices were always there, if the kids didn’t order the steamed rice, he reminded them about it because it must have been an oversight, and the bottle of Kikkoman soy sauce was there for us each night too – LOL The kids didn’t have to order their dessert – he knew their standing order was the brownie stack. Sometimes the dinner service was slow…not quite half the time, but more than a couple of days. I don’t think it was any issue on our server’s part, more of HAL trying to do more or the same with less staff as we see in a lot of industries these days.

The food in the MDR was just as good if not better than we remembered it from 2 years ago. A lot of different offerings every night, always something to enjoy. There seemed to be a lot of veal offerings which I didn’t mind because I love veal and don’t seem to eat that in my everyday life. The desserts were a delight. I couldn’t wait to enjoy the pavlova again – different fruits, this time it was cherries, but delicious as ever. Chocolate crème brulee and chocolate Grand Marnier soufflé were superb as well.

We did the room service breakfast every morning – cereal and croissants mostly. I saw someone noted on their room service order that they wanted a bowl of nuts. So I tried that too and got a bowl of nuts with my fruit in the morning. MDR lunches were hit or miss with us – not as much variety and the few offerings were a little too different for our taste. We did the lido for late-night snacks…always good eats there – the pizza is pretty dang good and then there was usually a good pasta dish. The lasagna was very filling and oh-so-yum.

 

Our kids went to Club HAL every morning, afternoon and night and they loved it. 10 children onboard between the ages of 3 and 17 and only about 6 of them went to Club HAL. So the kids got a lot of attention. They build a big volcano all along that they exploded on the last night. They got to go up on the bridge with the captain. They had cooking classes where they made scrambled eggs and pizzas (pepperoni, apple and s’more). They had pirate night and pajama parties. The kids got Club HAL magnets, hats and backpacks (not full-on backpacks, but those lighter ones with strings that go on your back, not sure what they are called exactly).

Our room service could have been better. It seems that our stewards didn’t really adapt to our schedule which we have always had. So when we’d want to be in the room, that’s when they’d show up. And then we didn’t want them there because we wanted to chill so we’d just have them do the bathroom and swap out towels or whatever. One day though, we left our room and had some things on our bed and came back and they were gone and the bed was made. We don’t think they were stolen, rather when they pulled the bedding off to take it to launder, they took everything with. One of them being my husband’s medication. It took a bit for me to get a response from the front office. Like days. They told me they would wait for it to turn up in the lost & found and I wanted someone to go and actually talk to someone in housekeeping. Finally got a visit from someone in the front office who understood the importance. He did his due diligence and came back with nothing. They gave us a credit for the value of the items, which was unexpected and appreciated.

 

I have read reviews where people comment on the age or quality of this ship. I found nothing wrong with the ship’s shape or décor anywhere. I found it to be clean and fun and sort of retro elegant looking and I really liked that. The staterooms could use some updating however. The carpet is flat and it does have stains but nothing that you don’t see in a hotel now and then so it certainly didn’t derail our experience.

Our first port of call was Lahaina on the island of Maui. Tendering in was….rough. It was hot and humid, the water was really choppy, the smell of the exhaust or whatever while we sat there in the lifeboat as it bang bang banged against the little dock next to the ship was tough. 3 people – one of my littles included – got sick in it. Ick. Once there, our first stop was for shave ice which is what the kids were really looking forward to and then we took a taxi to the Lahaina resort for a luau there. We booked it online and that got us some special tiki mug that other folks didn’t have for our all-you-can-drink drinks ;) We were on Maui from like 10a-10p.

 

Our second port of call was Hilo on the big island of Hawaii. We weren’t here for long and I didn’t know much about this place. There isn’t much here I don’t think unless you are going to see volcanoes (which we weren’t). The shuttle situation was a little crazy as the Oosterdam and the Volendam were both in port so there were a lotttt of people waiting for the shuttles. I didn’t want to spend all day in a shuttle line so I saw an empty one and just hopped on to see where it would take us. We went to a little farmer’s market where they had some handcrafted items for cheap and you could dicker a little bit which I had to teach my kids because they were willing to pay full price for everything. After that we found a Thai restaurant to sit and have some cold pop in – it was hot and humid – while we found a place where we would all want to eat. Found a little wrap shack kind of restaurant and went there. I took advantage of their free wi-fi while the husband and kids went geocaching. Then we hung out at a shaded gazebo by the bus stop, hopped on, paid our $1 and headed back to the O.

 

Our third port was 2 days in Honolulu. We did the Honolulu city and Pearl Harbor excursion through HAL and that was a big mistake. The bus tour from hell is more like it. We were not allowed to get off the bus to take pictures anywhere. Other buses and other tourists were, but this crazy bus driver held us hostage for 3 hours. And then we went to Pearl Harbor which was something I’ve been wanting to experience for about 20 years. But Pearl Harbor is free. So we paid $160 for that dang bus ride when we could have taken a taxi just to Pearl Harbor and it would have cost like $40 total. Live and learn. We did the shuttles here to Walmart and Hilo Hattie for souvenirs and met up with a friend who lives there who took us to the mall for dinner. The dock made me laugh because the ship is docked right next to a strip mall. It’s really odd. But on our last night there they were having some MMA fights with music and we just sat on our verandah and watched it like we were there.

Our last port was a day in Kauai. This is where we planned on hitting the beach – and we did for the entire day. Small beach…starts with a K…by the Marriott resort. It really was the part of Hawaii that we thought of in our dreams. More shave ice here before we left.

 

The seas were a little rough. Roughest we’ve ever experienced. 2 days there and 2 days back. So bad that they put up the caution tape and wouldn’t let anyone out on the decks. I medicate with Bonine so I had no issues. One of my little ones was not as fortunate.

 

Our Captain was Henk Draper with a great accent. Everyone always giggled when he rolled his Rs. I guess we missed picture-with-the-captain night and the kids really wanted to get a picture with him. So we sort of stalked him with the help of the MDR staff and found him after dinner one night where he obliged them with a picture. Our cruise director was Adena Sampson who I think is new. She was very friendly, and very visible.

 

We did the unlimited laundry service. We had asked here on the boards about the size of the bag but it doesn't matter if you get the unlimited. If you get the unlimited and you can't fit it all in a bag, you can use a pillowcase. Apparently our neighbors did too because we got her clothes and undies delivered to us one night *giggles*

 

UGH! - almost forgot. See - you can't let the bad stuff ruin your experience - but our toilet didn't work for about 4 of the 16 days. Yikes! Nothing like waking up and having to take the elevator 2 floors down to have to take care of your morning business. This problem was widespread and ongoing. Our entire floor. And then the bathrooms by the MDR. It was an issue for sure.

Joanie – I’ve got room pictures that I’ll send to you.

 

So that’s that. Questions if you’ve got ‘em.

 

Loved the O though.

[portofrome]

Glad you loved your cruise. Thanks for the review.

[Himself]

Thank You for your report on the cruise.

[MilliesMom]

Enjoyed your review ... sorry to hear about the bathroom issues on board.

 

Honolulu - Pearl Harbor: Altho it is free to go to Pearl Harbor, my understanding is that they only allow a certain amount of people each day. They start giving out tickets early in the morning and usually gone very quickly. When our friends went on Carnival, it was the only way of being assured of seeing Pearl Harbor. The ship didn't get in until 8 am or so, so to get to the ticket office on their own wouldn't of worked at all. The ship offered 3 different tours of varying prices and what was seen in addition to Pearl Harbor.

[hal lover]

Thanks for your review. Sounds like a wonderful trip! Welcome home.

[kazu]

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us. It sounds like a nice cruise and sorry to hear about your washroom problem - sounds like you made the best of it - good for you:):)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

Toilet problems for 4 out of 16 days -- not good.

Glad you had a great cruise.

We have been hearing that there is now a charge for the Canaletto on some of the ships.

[Viesczy]

Great review, glad you had a great time! I loved the line about the woman saying they emptied the retirement homes for that one! OMG that was great, from a 65 y.o.! Wonder if that'll spark some snarky replies? ;):D

 

As for the toilets 4 out of 16 days, if it is the entire floor I betting it is someone flushing a their bed spread or soemthing like that. Every line we've been on there has been a day or two that the head wasn't working due to someone putting a body, a personal product, a newspaper or something in there that shouldn't be put in there. How hard is it? Has reading stopped? Is that no longer taught?

 

Again, great that you had an awesome time! \m/

 

Derek

[igraf]

It is just a crime how they force cruise passengers to use those awful Lahaina tender boats when there is a perfectly good walk-off pier on the other side of the island which is used by other cruise lines like NCL. I love Maui too much to ever go on a cruise where I would be forced to use the Lahaina tender boats.

 

I have read reports of other HAL tours where the unlucky passengers were virtually prisoners in the bus. Way too much money to be treated like that. I usually avoid HAL tours for that reason.

 

igraf

 

 

 

...Our first port of call was Lahaina on the island of Maui. Tendering in was….rough. It was hot and humid, the water was really choppy, the smell of the exhaust or whatever while we sat there in the lifeboat as it bang bang banged against the little dock next to the ship was tough. 3 people – one of my littles included – got sick in it. Ick. ....

 

.... We did the Honolulu city and Pearl Harbor excursion through HAL and that was a big mistake. The bus tour from hell is more like it. We were not allowed to get off the bus to take pictures anywhere. Other buses and other tourists were, but this crazy bus driver held us hostage for 3 hours....

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for your objective review.

[granny23]

Aloha!

 

We are back from a pretty fantastic voyage to Hawaii on the Oosterdam. We did the 16-day Hawaii circle cruise leaving Vancouver, BC on April 19th. I don’t know if I’ll do a “formal” review as I’m not that organized and tend to go on tangents, but I’ll share some tidbits of our trip here.

 

We drove from Boise to Vancouver, BC in about 10 hours. We stayed at the Coast Plaza Hotel which had a cruise package where you can leave your car for FREE, stay the night there, and get a $25 food voucher all for $169. We paid about double that in parking last time we sailed out of Vancouver, so this was a no-brainer of a deal.

 

Embarkation was a little slower than the last time we sailed from Vancouver. And I don’t mean to offend anyone, just being matter-of-fact, but I think it had to do with the speed of the passengers. The age onboard this HAL cruise skewed well higher than our previous sailing with HAL. One lady of about 65 commented “they really emptied out the retirement homes for this one!” Indeed there were a lot of walkers and wheelchairs. In conversations with other passengers, it seems that this was the ideal sailing for a lot of older/retired/homebound, etc. folks who live in Vancouver as it sailed out of and returned there. We certainly didn’t have a problem with the demographic, our kids have sailed Disney and HAL and like the attention they get on HAL from being 2 of the 10 children on board the entire ship. But I digress. So just a little crowded and slow getting on, but no real issues per se.

 

When we boarded, we went to our stateroom and then mainlined it to the lido to eat while my husband went to book Canaletto and the Pinnacle. We’d never done the Canaletto and for free we were all for trying it. But then were told that it was going to be a $10 charge, so we passed. We did book the Pinnacle, but our children loved our servers in the MDR so much that we decided to stay there every night. We opted for the as-you-wish dining, and after the first night, our server asked us if we liked this table and time. And we did. So every day we got a little “reservation” card to the as-you-wish dining with our same table assignment. Ketut Disco was our server if you ever have the chance to have him – just a fine fine server. The kids’ apple juices were always there, if the kids didn’t order the steamed rice, he reminded them about it because it must have been an oversight, and the bottle of Kikkoman soy sauce was there for us each night too – LOL The kids didn’t have to order their dessert – he knew their standing order was the brownie stack. Sometimes the dinner service was slow…not quite half the time, but more than a couple of days. I don’t think it was any issue on our server’s part, more of HAL trying to do more or the same with less staff as we see in a lot of industries these days.

The food in the MDR was just as good if not better than we remembered it from 2 years ago. A lot of different offerings every night, always something to enjoy. There seemed to be a lot of veal offerings which I didn’t mind because I love veal and don’t seem to eat that in my everyday life. The desserts were a delight. I couldn’t wait to enjoy the pavlova again – different fruits, this time it was cherries, but delicious as ever. Chocolate crème brulee and chocolate Grand Marnier soufflé were superb as well.

We did the room service breakfast every morning – cereal and croissants mostly. I saw someone noted on their room service order that they wanted a bowl of nuts. So I tried that too and got a bowl of nuts with my fruit in the morning. MDR lunches were hit or miss with us – not as much variety and the few offerings were a little too different for our taste. We did the lido for late-night snacks…always good eats there – the pizza is pretty dang good and then there was usually a good pasta dish. The lasagna was very filling and oh-so-yum.

 

Our kids went to Club HAL every morning, afternoon and night and they loved it. 10 children onboard between the ages of 3 and 17 and only about 6 of them went to Club HAL. So the kids got a lot of attention. They build a big volcano all along that they exploded on the last night. They got to go up on the bridge with the captain. They had cooking classes where they made scrambled eggs and pizzas (pepperoni, apple and s’more). They had pirate night and pajama parties. The kids got Club HAL magnets, hats and backpacks (not full-on backpacks, but those lighter ones with strings that go on your back, not sure what they are called exactly).

Our room service could have been better. It seems that our stewards didn’t really adapt to our schedule which we have always had. So when we’d want to be in the room, that’s when they’d show up. And then we didn’t want them there because we wanted to chill so we’d just have them do the bathroom and swap out towels or whatever. One day though, we left our room and had some things on our bed and came back and they were gone and the bed was made. We don’t think they were stolen, rather when they pulled the bedding off to take it to launder, they took everything with. One of them being my husband’s medication. It took a bit for me to get a response from the front office. Like days. They told me they would wait for it to turn up in the lost & found and I wanted someone to go and actually talk to someone in housekeeping. Finally got a visit from someone in the front office who understood the importance. He did his due diligence and came back with nothing. They gave us a credit for the value of the items, which was unexpected and appreciated.

 

I have read reviews where people comment on the age or quality of this ship. I found nothing wrong with the ship’s shape or décor anywhere. I found it to be clean and fun and sort of retro elegant looking and I really liked that. The staterooms could use some updating however. The carpet is flat and it does have stains but nothing that you don’t see in a hotel now and then so it certainly didn’t derail our experience.

Our first port of call was Lahaina on the island of Maui. Tendering in was….rough. It was hot and humid, the water was really choppy, the smell of the exhaust or whatever while we sat there in the lifeboat as it bang bang banged against the little dock next to the ship was tough. 3 people – one of my littles included – got sick in it. Ick. Once there, our first stop was for shave ice which is what the kids were really looking forward to and then we took a taxi to the Lahaina resort for a luau there. We booked it online and that got us some special tiki mug that other folks didn’t have for our all-you-can-drink drinks ;) We were on Maui from like 10a-10p.

 

Our second port of call was Hilo on the big island of Hawaii. We weren’t here for long and I didn’t know much about this place. There isn’t much here I don’t think unless you are going to see volcanoes (which we weren’t). The shuttle situation was a little crazy as the Oosterdam and the Volendam were both in port so there were a lotttt of people waiting for the shuttles. I didn’t want to spend all day in a shuttle line so I saw an empty one and just hopped on to see where it would take us. We went to a little farmer’s market where they had some handcrafted items for cheap and you could dicker a little bit which I had to teach my kids because they were willing to pay full price for everything. After that we found a Thai restaurant to sit and have some cold pop in – it was hot and humid – while we found a place where we would all want to eat. Found a little wrap shack kind of restaurant and went there. I took advantage of their free wi-fi while the husband and kids went geocaching. Then we hung out at a shaded gazebo by the bus stop, hopped on, paid our $1 and headed back to the O.

 

Our third port was 2 days in Honolulu. We did the Honolulu city and Pearl Harbor excursion through HAL and that was a big mistake. The bus tour from hell is more like it. We were not allowed to get off the bus to take pictures anywhere. Other buses and other tourists were, but this crazy bus driver held us hostage for 3 hours. And then we went to Pearl Harbor which was something I’ve been wanting to experience for about 20 years. But Pearl Harbor is free. So we paid $160 for that dang bus ride when we could have taken a taxi just to Pearl Harbor and it would have cost like $40 total. Live and learn. We did the shuttles here to Walmart and Hilo Hattie for souvenirs and met up with a friend who lives there who took us to the mall for dinner. The dock made me laugh because the ship is docked right next to a strip mall. It’s really odd. But on our last night there they were having some MMA fights with music and we just sat on our verandah and watched it like we were there.

Our last port was a day in Kauai. This is where we planned on hitting the beach – and we did for the entire day. Small beach…starts with a K…by the Marriott resort. It really was the part of Hawaii that we thought of in our dreams. More shave ice here before we left.

 

The seas were a little rough. Roughest we’ve ever experienced. 2 days there and 2 days back. So bad that they put up the caution tape and wouldn’t let anyone out on the decks. I medicate with Bonine so I had no issues. One of my little ones was not as fortunate.

 

Our Captain was Henk Draper with a great accent. Everyone always giggled when he rolled his Rs. I guess we missed picture-with-the-captain night and the kids really wanted to get a picture with him. So we sort of stalked him with the help of the MDR staff and found him after dinner one night where he obliged them with a picture. Our cruise director was Adena Sampson who I think is new. She was very friendly, and very visible.

 

We did the unlimited laundry service. We had asked here on the boards about the size of the bag but it doesn't matter if you get the unlimited. If you get the unlimited and you can't fit it all in a bag, you can use a pillowcase. Apparently our neighbors did too because we got her clothes and undies delivered to us one night *giggles*

 

UGH! - almost forgot. See - you can't let the bad stuff ruin your experience - but our toilet didn't work for about 4 of the 16 days. Yikes! Nothing like waking up and having to take the elevator 2 floors down to have to take care of your morning business. This problem was widespread and ongoing. Our entire floor. And then the bathrooms by the MDR. It was an issue for sure.

Joanie – I’ve got room pictures that I’ll send to you.

 

So that’s that. Questions if you’ve got ‘em.

 

Loved the O though.

 

We were on this same cruise. Loved your review especially about the age of the passengers. We are mid 60's and were felt like youngsters on this cruise.

 

We hated the embarkation in Vancouver. Too many lines and waiting to board. Don't think we'll ever depart from Vancouver again. Took us two hours from arriving at port till we got to our cabin.

 

Loved our inside cabin (large large room)....no trouble with plumbing at all. Guess we were lucky.

 

Our cabin stewards, Rudy & Made were the best. Couldn't do enough for us. This was our 4th cruise on Hal...second on Oosterdam...and the first time we got a towel monkey!!!

 

We ate all meals in Lido and mostly loved it. Just had trouble with the slow lines. Staff was great just lots of rude people. We don't do the MDR or other eating areas.

 

Had to arrive 1 hour early for shows or movies just to get a good seat but oh well just more reading time while waiting.

 

We got off in Seattle, (7 minutes from home). Only about 400 of the Hawaii cruisers continued on the Seattle. However, about 1400 passengers got on in Vancouver. I heard that about 75% were continuing on to Alaska and the rest paid $35.00 for a one night cruise. Lots of partying going on and hangovers the next day.

 

The Oosterdam was great. Looked really good. The crew and staff were great and I too loved the Captain's accent. The Cruise Director was okay but not the best. Loved the entertainment especially Matillda from Jamaica.

 

Aloha, Granny23

[erewhon]

Thank you for your review.

 

Sorry you experienced the toilet problem.

[sail7seas]

Thanks for your review...... Hope the toilets on OSDM are working for our cruise. :eek:

 

Sounds like your family had a (mostly) good cruise.

Great the children enjoyed Club HAL. :)

Captain Draper is terrific and I'm not the least surprised he posed for photos with the children.

 

Welcome Back.

[KirkNC]

Welcome back, glad you had a great time. Hawaii is a wonderful place.

[DFD1]

Super Review!

You have a great attitude about travel and it shows in your writing. Glad you and your family had a good time.

 

We live in Tennessee, but we love your beautiful state of Idaho!

[dobiemom]

Great review, thanks for sharing! :)

 

Honolulu - Pearl Harbor: Altho it is free to go to Pearl Harbor, my understanding is that they only allow a certain amount of people each day. They start giving out tickets early in the morning and usually gone very quickly. When our friends went on Carnival, it was the only way of being assured of seeing Pearl Harbor. The ship didn't get in until 8 am or so, so to get to the ticket office on their own wouldn't of worked at all. The ship offered 3 different tours of varying prices and what was seen in addition to Pearl Harbor.

PH just started a reservation system this year through recreation.gov (I think that's the site). There's a $1.50 service fee per ticket, which is well worth it IMHO. You need to pick up your tickets 1 hour before your scheduled time. It worked out great for us this past March.

[MilliesMom]

Great review, thanks for sharing! :)

 

PH just started a reservation system this year through recreation.gov (I think that's the site). There's a $1.50 service fee per ticket, which is well worth it IMHO. You need to pick up your tickets 1 hour before your scheduled time. It worked out great for us this past March.

 

That you so much. This is GREAT information. We have friends going to Hawaii ... I will pass this on to them too.

 

here's the link: http://www.nps.gov/valr/planyourvisit/feesandreservations.htm

[Traveling Dot]

Loved your review, great writing. We did this same cruise from San Diego in March/April and really enjoyed reading about your experience. I felt I was back on the ship again and could picture everything you were writing about. We had hit terrible seas leaving San Diego and it went on for 36 hours and the outside decks were off limits then too, but safety first.