Comments re Oosterdam's recent T/A

[royal65]

Knowing she was headed to dry dock immediately after this crossing, it was with some trepidation we booked Oosterdam's Atlantic crossing. But, it turned out to be a terrific cruise. The ship looked good and the weather was great. There were a few signs a refurbishment was in her near future: carpet wear on some step edges, a few carpet stains and nicks and bangs here and there, but nothing really bad. Most noticeable were workers aboard, especially the last sea day, preparing for the serious work to begin immediately after passengers disembarking -- I heard a few complaints about this, but didn't bother me.

Some random thoughts:

- For the last few HAL cruises, I've been disappointed with MDR food and this cruise was no different. Service excellent, but menu selection and food quality mediocre.

- Had dinner in PG twice. First time my Porterhouse was so tough I could barely cut. The waiter saw me struggling and brought me another knife commenting that it was sharper. Second night strip steak was perfect. Had breakfast there 3 times, food no better than Lido, but service was, of course, impeccable.

- Mixed feelings about the new salad process where the servers preparing them for you. I don't know whether the ingredients are fresher or what, but they taste better. The problem is it can be slower service when you get behind people who can't decide what they want. On balance, I think the new setup is a positive.

- On the other hand, the Lido change from custom made to prepared sandwiches is a negative.

- Dive in sandwiches were terrific and service fastest we've had.

- Entertainment was good.

- The captain was very visable around the ship and was communicative.

- The Neptune Lounge was terrific, as were the concierges Kathy and Nina.

All-in-all, a really nice cruise.

[RMLincoln]

Nice to read your comments. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

When I was first on Oosterdam I was wowed by her. I can't imagine what a Neptune Suite would be like, I was in a small inside, but loved being aboard. m--

[Roz]

Nice to hear some good things about the Oosterdam. Sounds like the cruise was a mixed bag for you, but overall a good experience. Welcome back.

 

Roz

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for the review.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

Neither DH or I like the already prepared sandwiches.

[TakesNotes]

.....It was a surprise to me that this was a big band cruise with the "Harry James Band" on board and playing nightly.

 

My overall impression is that a huge component of the sailing was that the pax were just about all "happy campers". I did not encounter one complainer in 13 days.

 

I was a bit disappointed that the on-board contractors started dismantling the ship three days before the cruise end. We lost the "sun area" outside of the Crows nest, and on the last day of the sailing, we were banned from the Fitness Center late in the afternoon.

 

I've been on several TA's the went to dry bock and this was the first where so much work was started before the cruise ended.

 

So.....I'll be on another next year because they are such a bargain!

[robertf57]

We too enjoyed this TA. Weather was quite nice and everyone seemed to be in good spirits throughout the journey.

 

This was my first HA cruise and I was a little disappointed by the MDR and buffet food. (We had just gotten off an Oceania Caribbean cruise the day before sailing which had outstanding food and may have skewed my expectations). Scrambled eggs and omelets had a funny taste and DW thinks they may be powdered.

 

We were fortunate to dine with the Captain and his wife on the night of the Black and White Gala celebration and that meal and the one time we ate in the PG were excellent!

 

The Cellar-master put on several wine tasting events which were fabulous and happy hour in the Crows nest was fun! Entertainment was quite good. The BBK band was out of this world and I could blame my poor dancing on the rocking of the ship :o Harry James played in the Crows Nest at the end of Happy Hour and I thought it was too load for the room. Couldn't continue conversations easily. Made it to most of the shows.

 

One disappointment was we didn't realize that the Piano Bar was THE later night place to be until the last few days of the cruise (although the piano player seemed to take more time off then he played). Disembarkation in Rome went well for us (We had a tour and got off in the X group to meet the car)

 

I was surprised as well that they started some work on the ship while we were still aboard. The area outside the library/coffee bar was actually cordoned off the day before we hit Rome.:eek:

Edited April 17, 2016 by robertf57