Oosterdam Review...A bit long

[gdries]

Mexican Riviera Cruise March 25 through April 01, 2006

 

First allow me to thank James Deering and his crew for the outstanding hospitality. The crew was wonderful. I believe this to be the overall happiest crew of any ship we have sailed on. The Cruise Critic meeting organized by Mr. Deering was great, with his “insiders look” at the “way it works” very insightful.

 

About us, we traveled as a family of 4 with 2 SY mini-suites connected by the balcony partition being opened. I am in my mid forties and my wife in her mid (late) thirties. We travel on cruises with our 2 daughters ages 6 and 11. this was our 11th cruise, our first on Holland America and for our daughters it was their tenth.

 

We have sailed previously on NCL in their suite categories AA and A1 and Celebrity category PH with connecting accommodations for the children as appropriate. We originally booked on the NCL Star out of Los Angeles in category A1 when we were notified that our cruise would be cancelled due to propulsion problems on the ship and it would be in dry dock during our planned cruise. We have sailed the Caribbean many times as recently as this past Christmas and were looking forward to the variety offered by the Mexican Riviera. With the last minute cancellation our options were limited to an pair of insides on a “Fun Ship” or a pair or balconies on the Oosterdam. I called Holland America and was unconvinced that I was going to be the only under 70 family on the ship. I then resorted to the CruiseCritic and learned that James Deering was the Hotel Manager…..OK, I might consider this now. Arter reading the recent reviews I promptly called my wife and became the sales person to let her know that in fact this was the best of the options. Well, it worked……

 

After all the last minute flight changes we made a series of connections to arrive into San Diego on United on Friday night. We stayed at the Residence Inn on Pacific Avenue and it was a wreck. We had booked adjoining room, but the only way they were adjoined was by the elevator and were told this was due to our late check-in (10:00 PM). I am a Marriott Platinum, and I was not happy. I do not mind the inconvenience when I travel for business, but the thought of my time with my family being interrupted by rude indifference of a hotel angered me. So they found a room for us on the same floor, I agreed to sleep alone and off we went. Well, we went to the first room and it had not been serviced. That was it, we went and pulled into a single room with the girls on a sofa bed. What a start to what should have been a wonderful vacation.

 

I had promised my younger daughter that we would get up and watch the ship come in at 5:30 AM, and of course she was up and ready to go watch. We arrived at the dock and the beauty of the Dark Blue and White ship was already in port. We found our rooms from the dock and I took a deep breath and knew that it only could get better.

 

We ate a casual breakfast, found the Ralph’s for soda and snack and departed on the hotel shuttle at noon for the pier. Dropping the bags was simple enough. Took them to the bag guy on the center island and we were off to the check in line. Unlike many cruise lines where you get in line regardless of the condition of your documents HAL pre-screens you to make sure that your information is complete before going to the line for the counters. We missed the health form, filled it out and went to check in. We waited at most 15 minutes and then were wisked aboard the ship.

 

We were greeted and taken to the Lido Deck were we were asked to camp until 1:00. OK, I appreciate the early boarding, but give me a break, there was not a seat to be had, I was grumpy and un-appreciative and just a ball of stress. At 12:45, which was only 15 minutes, we were told the rooms were ready.

 

The trials and tribulations listed above ended promptly upon entering our cabins. The rooms were spacious and clean. The bedding excellent and the cabin service impeccable. We were impressed. The balcony partition was requested open and I breathed a deep sigh of relief. OK, if we are on the cruise from heck, we can deal with it in here.

 

The weather in San Diego turned cool and overcast. We abandoned the aft lido pook for warmer climes and went looking for the mid-ship pool. I admit, I never thought a retractable pool roof would be a good thing, WRONG……We walked into an warm oasis in the middle of a cloudy afternoon for sail-away.

 

The ship is beautiful. It truly is different than the Megaships we are used to. Mr. Deering did a wonderful job of explaining why. The traditional customers of Holland America are used to the older and smaller ships. The lack of the huge atrium and the narrow hallways are a tribute to Holland America’s heritage and loyal customer. So, that makes sense. We had the luxury of having a couple of long-time Holland America customers on board join Mr. Deering’s Cruise meeting and after listening to them, it becomes far easier to understand the heritage of the mega-ships from HAL we see today.

 

We dined every dinner meal in the Pinnacle Grill with the exception of the first night when we ate at the casual dining venue. The casual dining is nce, as we took our daughters there almost each night for dinner before taking them to the childrens program. It is an interesting blend of Buffet and cooked to order. It works, especially if you do not want to dress for the occasion. The Pinnacle Grill is great. We had wonderful food and service there and thoroughly enjoyed the service. I would not rate it as a 5 star venue, but it is on the higher end of 4 star. Very good. The steaks were great, the variety is reasonable, and given the minor uptick in cost at 20 dollars per head it was more than fair.

 

In summary, the ports, the ship and accommodations were awesome. Having sailed many times on other lines, mostly with a “Free Style” experience, this experience was excellent. I would say that if you are looking for a less structured experience thant the incredibly structured line, want to avoid the ultra-low end customer HAL is a great place to be. I have realized just how long this thing has gotten, so let it suffice to say, a STELLAR experience and we have now added HAL to our short list for our journey to Europe this summer.

 

Please drop me a post or an e-mail if you have further questions. My e-mail is in my profile. Gene, Nancy and children.

[MikeT718]

Great review. I so enjoy reading the reviews of those who were on board before me as you can see in my sig we are on the April15 O'dam and I can't wait:D

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Gene, So Glad you and your family had a great time.:) With Captain Mercer and Mr. Deering you met some of HAL's best in my opinion. We have been on the Oosterdam 3 times with number 4 booked for next March. It sounds like you found a new cruiseline home. We had first cruised on RCL and once we found HAL can't imagine going any where else. It is just too bad your vacation started out a bit rough but great it had a happy ending.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for taking the time to post such a wonderful review. Glad you enjoyed the Oosterdam and your cruise.

[willowoodf]

gdries:

 

I enjoyed reading your review. We are sailing on the Oosterdam next week and I am looking forward to it!

 

I have a question - you said that James Deering organized your Cruise Critic get together - how did this work? I would like to get a Cruise Critic gathering together, but there are not many people on our roll call and it is very disorganized. If we could get Mr. Deering to get us all together sometime/somewhere, it would be great!

 

How did it work for you?

 

Mary

[Splinter]

Here she is getting ready to leave San Diego today:

[Tracyr]

I was also on this wonderful cruise and enjoyed the cruise critic get together. To answer the previous posters question. The cruise critic get together just appeared in the daily program, it was very informal. I have heard from other posters that Mr. Deering does this on most of his cruises. He was very pleasant and happy to answer any questions. I was brave and asked about the new tipping policy and learned a lot. I was also thrilled that Captain Mercer was our captain. He was the captain on my husbands and I's first cruise, which was on the Ryndam. We really enjoyed him.

[willowoodf]

Tracyr:

 

Thanks for the info! I guess I'll be sure to check the program!

 

Mary

[gdries]

I have been late reporting the ports reviews, yet I will get those posted today. The resorts worked well for us, details are to follow.