Skeptical on my choice of the Oosterdam

[travgurl]

We have booked our first Alaskan cruise tour on the Holland Oosterdam next summer. I have just read some very negative reviews regarding this ship and trip. I am beginning to wondering if it really that bad? Your comments please! Thanks

[marysb]

We have booked our first Alaskan cruise tour on the Holland Oosterdam next summer. I have just read some very negative reviews regarding this ship and trip. I am beginning to wondering if it really that bad? Your comments please! Thanks

 

Don't worry, the oosterdam is a very nice ship. Older yes, but well maintained. I think most of the ships doing Alaska are older ships no matter what line you choose. When we were on a couple of weeks ago, the carpet was all being replaced, and our balcony was repainted while we were in Juneau.. HAL ships have a full wraparound promenade deck (deck 3 I believe). This is great for Alaskan viewing of scenery and wildlife. Also the Oosterdam has a large covered pool area on the Lido.

 

I am thinking that the Oosterdam is going in for a sprucing up in dry dock shortly. I think I read that someplace. (All the experts on this board will certainly correct me enthusiastically if I'm wrong ;))

 

Anyway, the only place I was noticing wear and tear was on the chairs... Scratches on wood , and inside the elevators, but otherwise a nice ship.

[CowPrincess]

There's lots of time between now and then. Watch the reviews. If they don't improve, ask specific questions about the Oosterdam on the HAL board here on CC. Of course, do that BEFORE final payment date ;)

 

What specifically got you to choose the cruise you chose?

[travgurl]

Thanks for your replies. Holland cruise line was highly recommended and the itinerary was what we really liked. I went back and searched some more and found some positive reviews.

[CowPrincess]

Thanks for your replies. Holland cruise line was highly recommended and the itinerary was what we really liked. I went back and searched some more and found some positive reviews.

 

bolding mine

 

Alaska really is about the itinerary. I've been on the Oosterdam, several years ago. It was fine. For some people, it is their favorite ship in the Holland America fleet. Not my favorite, but it is fine. Alaska is about the itinerary. :)

[MSMcDuffy]

IMO itinerary over ship anytime but Oosterdam is a great ship anyway. I loved the glass elevators mid-ship. I'm not sure how old she is but when we were on her in '08 she seemed brand new. :)

[ClaudiaB]

We prefer Celebrity, but only one of their newer ships does Alaska, at least through 2015. I like all their Alaska ships, but Infinity and Millennium are just smaller and older. Solstice is gorgeous and right now there are *few* mixed reviews on the condition of the older ships. They only to a R/T though, which is still a great cruise but you don't get up to Seward and in position for inland excursions. I haven't personally seen anything amiss on the older ships, but I don't nit pick a speck of unvarnished area on my balcony rail, that kind of thing. I guess that's true in every line. All I know is that when we first started cruising we were under the impression that only Princess and HAL "did" Alaska well. Come to find out that's just not true. They are just two of the many options.

 

One thing that some never consider (or know) is that Celebrity has NO smoking on any inside area at all (yes, that means no smoking in the casino or ANY lounge) or any stateroom balcony, and just a handful of small areas out on deck.

That's always a deal-breaker for us. I mean, I'd hate to pay good money for a great balcony and have someone below or next to me smoking and make my balcony unusable. Just my two coppers. (And another point of view if that is important to you) I haven't sailed HAL however, just going on what I heard from some friends who returned unhappy about the smoking. Surely they've disallowed balcony smoke by now on HAL? Twice we've wanted to sail because their itinerary sounded good, but that smoking thing...

 

We are taking Infinity next summer on our 3rd Alaskan cruise and doing our own "cruise tour" as we really don't want to be stuck to their schedules and mealtimes and activities. In the process of planning that right now - great information over here.

 

Bottom line, there is a cruise line for everyone - we all have our preferences - isn't that a great thing?!! Hope you have a wonderful time and love your ship. And of course your Alaskan cruise. We can't help but to return every other year or so in-between other cruises, it's such an amazing place.

[shipfriend_max]

Hi,

 

I think you made a great choice with Oosterdam.

For our Alaska plans in 2015 we considered her as well, but decided for Celebrity Millennium, we really loved her sister Summit.

Millennium's itinerary was slightly more appealing to us, and fits even better into our vacation plans.

 

Do not worry about the negative reviews.

I have read reviews of all ships doing our desired cruise between Vancouver and Seward (or Whittier), and all ships have mixed reviews --> Oosterdam, Millennium, NCL Sun, Radiance of the Seas, but accoridng to trip reports in the cruise critic forum, all passengers travelling in 2014 on these mentioned ships had a great time and really liked the ships! :)

So experiences from others are one thing - but own experiences count more!

 

And: On the one way cruises between Vancouver and Seward, all cruise lines deploy older ships which are at least 10 years old - no matter whether it is Celebrity, RCI, HAL, Princess or NCL...

 

Just my 2 cents.

Edited August 14, 2014 by celebrity_fan

[Old As Dirt Mom]

We have booked our first Alaskan cruise tour on the Holland Oosterdam next summer. I have just read some very negative reviews regarding this ship and trip. I am beginning to wondering if it really that bad? Your comments please! Thanks

 

We did a b2b (back to back) on the Oosterdam, July 6-20th, Vancouver-Seward-Vancouver. It was a great trip, one of our best on Holland America. We had Captain Pieter Bos, who has some twenty years' navigational experience in Alaska. He really took us into the inside passage between Vancouver and Ketchikan, and also brought us to the entrance of Johns Hopkins inlet at Glacier Bay, which was a bonus for the time of year. We had nice long stays at our port stops, one of the perks of doing this northbound/southbound itinerary out of Vancouver. We really enjoyed this itinerary, and the opportunity to revisit some of the ports and do extra excursions. The trip actually felt too short.

 

Our least favorite experience was dealing with security/customs/immigration at Canada Place in Vancouver prior to boarding. It took a long time.

 

I have cruised to Alaska and done Pacific coastals with Celebrity as well as with HAL, on the Mercury and the Solstice. I was surprised to find on the Oosterdam that with this size of ship (the Oosterdam is some 83,000 tons, the Solstice is much larger at 120,000 tons)) and this summertime itinerary, the onboard experiences between the two lines was quite similar. Lots of families and activities on both vessels, with the HAL demographic similar to the Celebrity demographic. Celebrity definitely had more nightlife, though, which may or may not be a factor for you.

 

For what it's worth, and not wishing to initiate any controversy, our personal experience (on Alaska cruises at least), is the lack of smokers and smoke. We had an aft verandah on the Oosterdam, and never smelled a whiff of anyone smoking on their verandahs.

 

We had no maintenance issues on our Oosterdam cruise, and no problems with a/c or the toilet. We did have to make sure our shower curtain was firmly in place in our bathtub/shower to prevent water leaking out onto the bathroom floor.

[BearInStPete]

General comment when reading cruise reviews here on CC - If you see very strong language either negative or positive, especially without well-laid out support, shy away from the review as it's likely an outlier. Particularly words like "Furious", "Ruined my cruise", and "Food was horrible" etc are dead ringers for bashing. Look for reviews where the poster had a legitimate issue and how it was resolved by the line. Question those who debate an issue that should have been addressed with cruise-line management. Lastly, look at someone's cruise-line pedigree and number of posts on CC - if not balanced/experienced - factor that into your evaluation. Many pontificate that various cruise lines are this or that, but have never personally sailed them.

 

Alaska is a unique animal for the cruise-line industry, the reason you see older ships in AK is two fold, many of the ships built in the 90s and early 2000s, had one or more of their engines that are gas turbines, which burn a lighter, more environmentally friendly fuel called Marine Gas Oil (MGO), or in the case of several princess and HAL ships, they actually can shut all the engines down in AK ports and run entirely from shore power. The second reason, is that the newest ships (i.e. large > 100,000 GRT) can't transit the Panama Canal due to its current size - Celebrity must have gotten a solstice class vessel there by circumnavigating around the Panama Canal.

 

I suspect you will enjoy the Oosterdam & happy cruising.

[wsb225]

We sailed the Oosterdam last month and found the ship to be very nice. The ship is older but in good condition. We had no issues with our Verandah Cabin and received excellent service. We would cruise her again. Hope this helps.