Oosterdam B2B January 18 – February 8, 2016

[July_Cruiser]

Oosterdam B2B January 18 – February 8, 2016

 

Ship: I was aware of the upcoming dry-dock so worn carpets and loose wall coverings were to be expected. I was not pleased to have workers scraping paint and varnishing while I was eating breakfast outside by the pool. Workers were wearing facemasks to protect them from the strong odors.

 

Cabin 5023: Very small – smallest inside cabin we’ve had in over 30 cruises. Other inside cabins we have had on this same class of ship are configured similar to the outside cabins, but this one was sideways and has awkward floor plan. The cabin steward kept it very clean and towels were replaced daily. Bed sheets were good and bed comfortable. This cabin has a noise problem, the back wall must back up to a storage room. On nights where the sea was rolling there was a loud banging on the wall next to the bed. Something in the storage room behind it needed battened down to prevent the battering noise during rolling seas. Yes, we mentioned it to the cabin steward and he asked his supervisor to check out what the cause of noise was. We even asked the captain about the noise on his Q&A session but nothing was done.

 

Entertainment:

Loved the steel drum player, Junior, and the accompaniment from a great vocalist! I took advantage of several steel pan lessons.

Comic had the same routine that we heard on the Noordam a year ago.

Mentalists – 2 different mentalists, one for each segment, both were rather boring for the length of the show.

Ship’s singers and dancers – Don’t miss the “Roadhouse” show if it is offered on your segment of the cruise.

Filipino Crew Show – Best show of all!

Piano Bar – We attended Piano Man Van every night and especially enjoyed his farewell show in the underutilized Crow’s Nest. His replacement for the second cruise was Piano Man James and we only attended one time on that segment.

Adagio – Although the room was always full with people waiting, with buzzers, for their dinner table; the strings always seemed to be on break when we wanted to listen. Can’t comment on if they were good or not. (We loved a different duo that played on Prinsendam a couple years ago and listened every evening back then).

Lido Pool – The piped in music by the pool was obnoxious and loud. It would be so pleasant to eat breakfast and just enjoy the sunshine and waves rather than being subjected to the “Beach Boys loop”. The steel pan & vocalist were great when they played and sang their live music by the pool.

B.B. King Blues Club – First segment of cruise the group was mediocre, but they left the ship and a new group came one. The second group was fantastic – especially Adam, the trumpet player, and both the male & female vocalists. The group needs to play more different songs so that they don’t repeat the same sets so often. Very talented group. Entertaining indeed.

I recommend “Impact Noise Reduction Earplugs” to attend all musical shows. Holland America seems to believe louder is better even after continued complaints about the volume. We bought our ear plugs specifically because we loved the B.B. King Blues Club group last year on the Noordam and wanted to better enjoy them. Good music ear plugs add to your enjoyment.

Age of Cruisers: Their niche is older people even if management is in denial. Average age is mid – 70’s.

Dress: Well dressed crowd! Some seemed unaware of the new dress down “gala” nights. I left my tux at home and just wore a sport jacket and tie for gala night. You could enter the dining room with just a collared shirt but I was glad I had my tie with me. There were many guys in tuxes especially on the first leg of our cruise.

Lido: Pasta made to order is excellent and hot. Ice cream – ask what else they have if you don’t see many flavors listed or if you want a sorbet and don’t see one listed. Caribbean Fish Chowder very good! First cruise the Jambalaya was great but on second leg it was like glue so take a chance on it and maybe it will be a great batch. Made to order omelets were good and selections were listed which seemed to speed things up. Another thing I liked was that there were now 3 burners instead of 2 for the skillets and 2 worker omelet teams that really speed up the process nicely. Had salads for lunch on port days – would have liked more variety on the non-lettuce selections.

Dining Room: We had 8:00 Fixed Seating. Appetizers were better than entrees. We liked cold fruit soups. Our waiter was very good. Lobster was good on the first leg but not so much on the second leg. The waiter did have to deal with a “special” table that was far from us that night so we understood the situation that one evening and the rest of our meal was good.

Mariner’s Brunch – much ado about nothing. Last cold quiche for me. Skip it.

Teas: Indonesian still nice. Dutch tea – nothing special anymore.

Embarcation – Ship was very late getting in but that was not HAL fault. Wife only had a yogurt for breakfast in anticipation of the ship’s lunch. Was starved by the time we finally got to board the ship around 3:00. We got to salad bar and some food on our plate and the announcement came for the mandatory lifeboat drill so could not enjoy the salad, wolfed down just enough to hold us until after the drill. Not a great start to wait in a holding area for hours.

Pre Cruise Hotel: Recommend the Rodeway Inn as they found out about the late arrival and called the rooms of everyone scheduled for the shuttle to the Oosterdam to tell us that they would extend the checkout for free to everyone that was on Holland America. They also notified us that our free 10:00 am shuttle to the pier would be transferred to the 1:00 time that would still be a free shuttle. Other people told us they had to wait in the terminal from 9:00 because their hotel checkout & hotel shuttles didn’t accommodate the late arrival. Kudos to the Rodeway Inn, we arrived at the pier at 1:30 and our wait was much less!

Disembarkation – They got everyone off the ship early and quickly so they could do a deep cleaning because of Norovirus that had been a problem the last 5 days of the cruise.

Norovirus: Remember even though the ship promotes Purell, it does nothing against Noro. Use soap and water and wash your hand often!

Summation: We were overall happy with this cruise and would do it again. Liked the ship and the itinerary. Their crew is very friendly and the waiter and cabin steward always called us by name. Good memories.

[kftw]

Thank you for your review.

[July_Cruiser]

Thank you for your review.

Happy to see that someone already saw it. Thanks for reading my review.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Good review! I was on the second leg of your B2B and concur with many of your comments. We went to BB King only when they played in the main showroom, and I had to walk out for part of it when the woman singer was waaayyyy too loud. I resent the idea that someone should have to wear earplugs to attend a performance.

 

One disagreement--I don't think HAL is in denial about their demographic. On one of our HAL tours, I overheard an employee chatting with some passengers and he was explaining Carnival corp vs Carnival Cruise Line and how HAL and Princess are managed together. He pretty much said HAL is their "senior citizen" line. So that's how they see us, even if we aren't all seniors. I talked to him a little bit, agreeing that Carnival Corp has been smart about having so many different lines, not making every line they buy into a clone of Carnival Cruise Lines. I didn't ask what he does, if he's an employee of Carnival or HAL. Despite the fact that Fathom is in the HAL-Princess group, he didn't know anything about them, so I'm guessing he works for HAL.

 

I see that you didn't mention the banjo/guitar/bagpipe/turkey baster player. He was a good musician and very funny. We went to Adagio one evening. They were OK, but the music was all the same tempo and volume, sleep-inducing. More variety would have been welcome.

[Buffett123]

Happy to see that someone already saw it. Thanks for reading my review.

 

Also read it thank you will be on this cruise March 11

[borasue]

Nice review. We were on the second leg of your journey. This was our 5th cruise in 20 months on HAL, and we most definitely noticed more "mature" cruisers on this trip than the previous 4. (We're late 50's/early 60's) I'm thinking this is attributable to the longer itinerary and the warmer climate. Still, I found plenty to keep us entertained, loved the ports we visited, and had lots of interesting conversations with fellow passengers. I agree the ship is showing some wear & tear but we all know she's headed for dry dock soon. Nothing noticeable should ruin anything for cruisers lucky enough to be on her before that time. :p

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[retiredkid]

Thanks for the review. Enjoyable read.

[DeeniEncinitas]

Thank you for your review!!!

We enjoyed her when she was in San Diego as her home port!

At that time we did 2 cruises to Hawaii and did her b2b Mexican Riviera.

Denise:)

[July_Cruiser]

The turkey baster / banjo guy! Yes, I forgot him, we both really ended up enjoying that show.

 

Good review! I was on the second leg of your B2B and concur with many of your comments. We went to BB King only when they played in the main showroom, and I had to walk out for part of it when the woman singer was waaayyyy too loud. I resent the idea that someone should have to wear earplugs to attend a performance.

 

One disagreement--I don't think HAL is in denial about their demographic. On one of our HAL tours, I overheard an employee chatting with some passengers and he was explaining Carnival corp vs Carnival Cruise Line and how HAL and Princess are managed together. He pretty much said HAL is their "senior citizen" line. So that's how they see us, even if we aren't all seniors. I talked to him a little bit, agreeing that Carnival Corp has been smart about having so many different lines, not making every line they buy into a clone of Carnival Cruise Lines. I didn't ask what he does, if he's an employee of Carnival or HAL. Despite the fact that Fathom is in the HAL-Princess group, he didn't know anything about them, so I'm guessing he works for HAL.

 

I see that you didn't mention the banjo/guitar/bagpipe/turkey baster player. He was a good musician and very funny. We went to Adagio one evening. They were OK, but the music was all the same tempo and volume, sleep-inducing. More variety would have been welcome.

[July_Cruiser]

Also read it thank you will be on this cruise March 11

Have a nice cruise on the March 11th.

[July_Cruiser]

I forgot to mention in my review that we saw Pork Bellies as a menu item about 3 times in the MDR and one time in the Lido. I thought, maybe I would thy pork belly but then I saw it under the heat lamp on the Lido and decided that was something I may let pass. That's the first time I have seen pork bellies listed on a menu, always thought of pork bellies as a listing in the commodities futures market.

[Clarea]

Thanks for the report.

[Keith1010]

I very much enjoyed your report/review.

 

Keith

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking time to write your review.

Very good.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report. I know what you mean about paint fumes. We have had problems with while walking before.

[wntgoislnds]

I agree with much of your review. Especially the loud piped in music on the aft pool. Many us complained every day, wrote letters, received lip service but nothing was ever done about it. (a simple fix I would think) For me it's a deal breaker. When we would walk the top deck the sewie waif was terrible. I wonder if that was addressed.

[July_Cruiser]

I agree with much of your review. Especially the loud piped in music on the aft pool. Many us complained every day, wrote letters, received lip service but nothing was ever done about it. (a simple fix I would think) For me it's a deal breaker. When we would walk the top deck the sewie waif was terrible. I wonder if that was addressed.

 

Thanks for your comment. Were you also aware that the Oosterdam is having the cabanas above the pool and the extra cabins added behind the Crows Nest during the dry dock? We were on the Noordam last year after these changes were done and that somewhat changes the access that you have to walking around the deck above the pool. We had sailed on the Noordam a few years before and the layout was like the Oosterdam was during this cruise. I didn't care much for the cabana addition but HAL needs to keep finding extra profit to keep our cabin prices from increasing too much.

[wntgoislnds]

That's good to let people know about the changes. The public areas on these ships are so crowded. I'd rather pay more and have a better experience. I did not care for this ship at all. I had read someone else mention this and I agree with them. It depends on why you are cruising and some people would be just fine with it.