Just off the Oosterdam

[tagor]

We recently finished an Auckland to Sydney cruise on the Oosterdam. This was my first trip with HAL, and we were in a Deluxe Veranda Suite on the back corner of the ship. I'm wondering if my experience on the Oosterdam is typical of HAL, or if there is anything "unique" about the Oosterdam.

 

My understanding is that the ship recently (within the last 6 months?) went through a refurbishment. While the public areas of the ship did look relatively new (if gaudy), I was surprised at how dated and worn the bathroom in my suite was. I'm confident that whatever refurbishment took place, they did little to nothing in the bathroom of my suite, which looked like it dated from the original build.

 

From a service standpoint, I frequently got the feeling that all the employees (particularly bar, restaurant and room service staff) were either new to their jobs, new to the ship, or both, as it was rare to find anyone that seemed to know anything. There weren't any egregious incidences that caused me to ask for a manager (well, except for one), but there was just an overall feeling that the food and beverage staff was under-trained and ill-prepared to do their jobs.

 

Just for the record, I'm not impossible to please, and I'm not just comparing the HAL experience to smaller luxury lines I've sailed on. I'm also comparing them to Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Cunard, all of which I think HAL would consider to be in a similar service league.

 

Does this sound like other HAL ships? I know there are HAL fans out there, but based on this first sailing with them, I'm not inclined to rebook. I'm wondering if there is something going on with the Oosterdam that might explain things and make me feel better about reconsidering a HAL vacation in the future.

 

Hello,

I was wondering if you might be willing to answer some questions I have about the Oosterdam. Like you we have sailed RCCL, Disney, Carnival, NCL, and Celebrity but never HAL.

We have booked a Christmas Cruise on Oosterdam, in a Cat. SC aft facing Deluxe Veranda Suite.

I would be interested in asking specific questions not only about Oosterdam, but also about those aft rooms.

My contact info is in my signature, If you are willing, I would love to hear from you.

Tagor.

[Valley Girl of VA]

I am trying to unpack that sentence...? :confused: :)

 

On either side of the benches are figures of children who have blue hair. I didn't take a photo but it is really tacky.

[Duck Creek]

For someone recently off the Oosterdam: Did the MDR charge for morning or evening cappuccino?

 

Thanks.

 

I had a few cappuccinos at night and they were free. However they were from a 'Nescafé type machine' not barista made like up near thei Internet cafe.

[Goingagin]

Aliaschief - it was a fantastic trip and I will do a full review within a few days but one of the problems is that not all ports were available because of the cyclone so I can't give a complete review on the ports of call. What we did see was Isle de Pins (gorgeous), Port Vila (lovely people), Suva (necessary call to gain access to Fiji but could have missed it as at the end of the day it is a working Port not a tropical island) and Dravuni (a bit of paradise).

 

Hi Wastegirl (crow eater) A coachroach here from Sydney. See you on the Oosterdam in September.

[brainyblonde]

Thanks, Babsjo, on the coffee info. Agreed, the cappuccino is not the "real stuff", but I like it with the MDR breakfast.

[SwissMyst]

On either side of the benches are figures of children who have blue hair. I didn't take a photo but it is really tacky.

 

Our favorite decor horror on the Oosterdam also, and we did include a photo in our trip album. The Blue Boy Benches -- but if you look carefully they can tell you which way to turn to your cabin when you get off the elevators. The one we used I called The Thinker, but DH said it looked like he had a headache so he came the Headache Boy.

 

Those same benches also appear on the Zuiderdam but are painted in more muted earth tones and actually look okay in their fundamentally garish way within the Zuidedam color scheme. However, the stark blue and white paint jobs on the Oosterdam indeed look very amateurish and tacky.

 

One of my pet peeves when cruising (or even in large hotels) that could be so easily corrected is elevator foyers that have identical decor on both sides and no distinguishing landmark clues for passenger orientation.

 

We always try to look for something somewhere that reminds us which is the way to turn to our cabin - a painting, sculpture, a change in carpet color ...something, but often there is nothing and we stumble for days (weeks) until we get our bearings with all the different stairwells and elevator banks.

 

I also think directional patters in wall coverings or carpets showing fore and aft are valuable too because in interior spaces you can't tell and even looking out windows does not make it immediately apparent which way the water is going.

[baileyboo22]

We cruised the Oosterdam right before the December dry dock and we have no complaints. We have cruised on Carnival,Princess and HAL. I prefer the HAL lines to the others. I have not cruised the "upscale" lines as mentioned here, but I feel for the money HAL offers I very nice vacation. Planning on the Eurodam in August 2013.

[kazu]

I was on the Oosterdam in February and I too have felt that it was "off" and I have never been on a luxury cruise. This was my fourth cruise on HAL (previously on NA, Zuiderdam, and Noordam). There was just something that was off on this cruise and for many of the people I spoke with, they felt it too.

 

Many of us sent "Let us know" cards to the front desk. No one went out of their way for us. I will say that we did have a very good waiter and assistant in the MDR as well as the wine sommelier.

 

The crew was not wonderful and did not take care of everything. It almost seemed like they didn't do very much. It seemed to be a passable "C" grade. Again, all this is subjective and I have used other HAL cruises as a comparison.

 

It does have me rethinking our next cruise but there are many things I like about HAL which traditionally I have on their other ships. So, I may try them again and think of my experience as the exception and not the rule.

 

I agree that the decor is outdated but I do not judge a cruise line on its tacky furnishings. What was the worst to me though were the tacky benches near the elevators where some of the them are painted white with the royal blue for hair and accents on the children on the benches.

 

Jane

 

Your experience with the crew sounds like my Nieuw Amsterdam cruise a few years ago. that's not the case on all of the HAL ships - I can assure you.

 

thank heavens:D

 

After the Nieuw amsterdam I kind of revolted from the big ships and we booked the Prinsendam. What a difference! I have since been on another small ship and the Westerdam and service was wonderful.

 

don't give up

[pke-atlanta]

PKE, you have access to the Atlantis Alumni board and I'm assuming you sailed on the newer fleets on RCL and Celebrity, but if you looked at the comments from the Celebrity Summit Caribbean 2012 March sailing which is more comparable in size/age to the Oosterdam, you'll see similar comments about even after a recent drydock refurbishment, the bathroom was old and dated on that ship.

 

I'm assuming just like in a home renovation, bathroom remodels on older fleets are just too cost/time prohibitive to keep a ship offline, thus even though they can throw on a new coat of paint, carpet, and furniture, the bathroom remains original.

 

I didn't think the service itself was bad, but also agree it wasn't standout jumping to go back. I will say that our cabin stewards were great in that our room was cleaned well, didn't see any evidence of mildew in the bathrooms, and they came in/out as soon as we went to breakfast.

 

Absolute, that's so disappointing to hear! We booked the Southern Caribbean sailing (March 2014) on the Summit. I figured we might not like it as much as the Celebrity ships built as Solstice class, but decided to give it a try. We managed to snag a Celebrity Suite on that sailing, so I'll be interested in comparing it to the SC-category suite we just left.

 

Don't get me wrong - I didn't let the little things interfere with my enjoyment of the vacation. Loved seeing the ports in New Zealand and Australia. I hope you enjoyed the trip as well!

[gelo7]

Thanks, for sharing your thoughts.

[comcox]

We are booked on a Nov. 2013 Oosterdam cruise and I had a question about the coffee bar (if there is one) on this ship. I think I remember that HAL often has a coffee bar near the library on at least some of their ships. Does the Ossterdam have one? If so, do they charge for their hot drinks there? I'm actually a cocoa drinker who brings my own cocoa but I need to get hot milk to make it. Any source for that on this ship (hopefully without charge)?

 

Thanks.

[RuthC]

We are booked on a Nov. 2013 Oosterdam cruise and I had a question about the coffee bar (if there is one) on this ship. I think I remember that HAL often has a coffee bar near the library on at least some of their ships. Does the Ossterdam have one? If so, do they charge for their hot drinks there? I'm actually a cocoa drinker who brings my own cocoa but I need to get hot milk to make it. Any source for that on this ship (hopefully without charge)?

 

Thanks.

Every ship has a coffee bar of some sort. On the Oosterdam, it's part of the Explorations Cafe, near the Crows Nest.

All the drinks there have a charge. They do have hot chocolate (delicious, btw); no need to bring your own.

 

They also have hot chocolate packets in the Lido for no extra charge. These are the type used with hot water.

I read one tip on CC re: hot chocolate: in the morning, in the Lido, there is hot milk available at the omelet station. You can try that for at least one part of the day.

[comcox]

Every ship has a coffee bar of some sort. On the Oosterdam, it's part of the Explorations Cafe, near the Crows Nest.

All the drinks there have a charge. They do have hot chocolate (delicious, btw); no need to bring your own.

 

They also have hot chocolate packets in the Lido for no extra charge. These are the type used with hot water.

 

I read one tip on CC re: hot chocolate: in the morning, in the Lido, there is hot milk available at the omelet station. You can try that for at least one part of the day.

 

Thanks Ruth. I like my cocoa really dark. Those packets are horrible--sort of like Nescafe would be for a serious coffee drinker.

Well at least I will know where all my OBC will be spent.

[PathfinderEss]

We recently finished an Auckland to Sydney cruise on the Oosterdam. This was my first trip with HAL, and we were in a Deluxe Veranda Suite on the back corner of the ship. I'm wondering if my experience on the Oosterdam is typical of HAL, or if there is anything "unique" about the Oosterdam.

 

My understanding is that the ship recently (within the last 6 months?) went through a refurbishment. While the public areas of the ship did look relatively new (if gaudy), I was surprised at how dated and worn the bathroom in my suite was. I'm confident that whatever refurbishment took place, they did little to nothing in the bathroom of my suite, which looked like it dated from the original build.

 

From a service standpoint, I frequently got the feeling that all the employees (particularly bar, restaurant and room service staff) were either new to their jobs, new to the ship, or both, as it was rare to find anyone that seemed to know anything. There weren't any egregious incidences that caused me to ask for a manager (well, except for one), but there was just an overall feeling that the food and beverage staff was under-trained and ill-prepared to do their jobs.

 

Just for the record, I'm not impossible to please, and I'm not just comparing the HAL experience to smaller luxury lines I've sailed on. I'm also comparing them to Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Cunard, all of which I think HAL would consider to be in a similar service league.

 

Does this sound like other HAL ships? I know there are HAL fans out there, but based on this first sailing with them, I'm not inclined to rebook. I'm wondering if there is something going on with the Oosterdam that might explain things and make me feel better about reconsidering a HAL vacation in the future.

 

Thanks for your report. We have always like the Oosterdam, and it does surprise me about some of your statements. This is untypical of Hal and I have found it not to be the case on most of her ships including the Oosterdam. You may be right that something was going on, I don't know.