Considering the Oosterdam for Thanksgiving

[Cruise Arizona]

Hey I'm considering taking DH and the two kids on the Oosterdam for the 7 day Thanksgiving Sailing out of San Diego next year.

 

Anyone done the Thanksgiving cruise to the Mex Riviera on the Oosterdam?

 

What are the things you like about the ship?

 

How did you like the food?

 

Service?

 

Activities?

 

Entertainment?

 

 

I've done HAL a long time ago in 1980 and 1993, one a Christmas cruise in the Carribbean, and the other our Honeymoon in Alaska on the oooold Rotterdam.

 

What will be quite different than those two cruises and what classic HAL touches will remain the same.

[dakrewser]

There are numerous reviews of the Oosterdam here, many on this page (or page 2). Read thru those, then if you have some specific questions - ask away!

 

Here's a few links to get you started...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=516904&highlight=Oosterdam

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=516962&highlight=Oosterdam

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=515605&highlight=Oosterdam

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=514591&highlight=Oosterdam

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=491798&highlight=Oosterdam

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=493311&highlight=Oosterdam

[Cruise Arizona]

Dave thank you for all those links....I guess I'm showing my laziness in not doing the work myself.

 

Sounds like service and dining are still excellent on HAL.:)

 

If we take this cruise it will be during the kids Thanksgiving break, which could be a good or bad thing.

 

When we take a family cruise it is to enjoy time together. We could easily do a cruise with no kids program at all. The kids, 9 &10, enjoy the whole "grown-up" atmosphere of a cruise like the fine dining, getting dressed up for dinner, and the production shows. We also do a lot of family activities together like board games, strategy games, or card games. However, the kids do enjoy participating in some of the children's program activities. Which leads to my next question:

 

Our last two cruises had enough other children to make it fun for my kids, but not so many as to be overwhelming. There were 53 on the Hawaii cruise and 103 on last year's Mexico cruise. I thought that amount was just about right. However in Mazatlan I talked to a lady who was on the Pride and I asked how many kids were on board her ship and when she said "about 700", my jaw dropped. That just seemed like too many. I asked my TA about how many other children to expect on a Hal Thanksgiving sailing and she said that 50-100 would probably be more likely.

 

So that it my first question.... On a 7 Day Thanksgiving sailing... Can anyone take a guess at how many kids?

 

Piano Bar???? Boy did we love the Piano Bar on the Stattendam and the Rotterdam. On the Rotterdam there was a regular crowd and we all took turns singing with the piano player and singing along all together with him on some songs. However on my recent Celebrity cruises.... it was more of a "Listen to the Piano Player" atmosphere? I thought the sing-a-long was more fun.

 

I love trivia and name that tune. Do they have these kinds of activities on the Oosterdam?

[CruiseBumm]

We are taking a Thanksgiving cruise with family and friend this year. NOt on HAL :( . They wanted to try RCI. We will have to just suffer with out thazt HAL treatment.

 

Holiday crusies sound like fun. Well any cruise is fun.:D

[leoandhugh]

notice that you are from S. AZ so assume you will be driving here rather than flying. If by chance, you are flying give yourself plenty of time because this airport can be a zoo on weekends like Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you are driving, go to sandiegoport.com and they have a listing of all parking downtown close to the cruise terminal. I don't have a clue to guess how many children but it will be a lot, for the same reason you are taking yours. But HAL does have a children/teen program which gets good reviews.:)

[Cruise Arizona]

Thanks Leo and Hugh,

 

No worries about getting there in time. We'll either fly or drive at least more than half way the night before. If we drive I'll probably use the same off site parking company we used last year. Very easy getting to the cruise ship, a little bit of hassle getting off, but not too big a deal.

 

Drive to San Diego wasn't too bad last year, did it in 7 hours.

 

I know I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth when I say I'm bringing my kids but don't want too many kids on board. It seems that the longer the cruise the fewer the kids. 15 day had 53, 11 day had 103, But I'm not sure where the 7 day HAL would be? 200? or 700?

 

So we'll see. I have the school calendar and I'm trying to find something affordable, but nice, that corresponds with their break schedule next year.

[CruiseBumm]

notice that you are from S. AZ so assume you will be driving here rather than flying. If by chance, you are flying give yourself plenty of time because this airport can be a zoo on weekends like Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you are driving, go to sandiegoport.com and they have a listing of all parking downtown close to the cruise terminal. I don't have a clue to guess how many children but it will be a lot, for the same reason you are taking yours. But HAL does have a children/teen program which gets good reviews.:)

 

Thanks Leo and Hugh for the parking info. Yes we will be driving to relatives for the night before stay. Is it November yet?:p

[Bill S]

Suzanne: we've done 3 Thanksgiving cruises with HAL. One was a 10-day trip and the other 2 were 7-day cruises, with one of those a Mexican Riviera cruise, but on the Ryndam. We were on the Oosterdam just 2 weeks ago for a Mexican Riviera cruise, however.

We really like the Thanksgiving week cruises and there have not been an inordinate number of kids on any of those cruises, and certainly they were not very noticeable or any problem. We had a lot more kids on an Easter week cruise to the Mexican Riviera in 2004.

Our recent cruise on the Oosterdam was really one our best cruises with HAL-no bad or unpleasant moments whatsoever (other than having to disembark). We thought the food, service and facilities were all excellent except for not enough room on the dance floor.

I hope you and your family has a great cruise, whenever you choose to go!

[Cruise Arizona]

I just did a quad cabin comparison... I figure that gives me a pretty good idea about the number of families that could take a cruise. I realize that kids can be in triples, or connecting cabins, or in two seperate cabins with one parent in each... but I thought this might give me and idea of the "kid capacity."

 

Carnival Pride...Had 700 kids on a 7 day Thanksgiving cruise ...203 quad cabins

 

Celebrity Mercury...Had 103 kids on a 11 day Thanksgiving Cruise...142 quad cabins.

 

HAL Oosterdam...94 quad cabins....wouldn't think there would be any way to get 700 kids on board. :)

[BruceMuzz]

Last Thanksgiving on Oosterdam, they had 425 children. That's about 25% of the passengers. It was "special"..............................

[mom2m&a]

We were on the Oosterdam last Thanksgiving. Food was decent, service was poor except our cabin steward who was fantastic. Service in the dining room was downright awful.

 

There were a lot of families, especially large family groups on board. I believe there were over 400 children. We never saw a problem with the kids at all - extremely well-behaved and respectful.

 

I have a review of our cruise here on CC, but to recap, our experience with Club HAL was bad. The counselors were pretty good and tried really hard, but the whole program is set up poorly. For the group my kids are in, 8 - 12 year olds, there wasn't room for them in the normal Club HAL room so they spent the week in an empty conference room. Because they forced us to let the kids sign out so they didn't have to take responsibility for them when they left the room (for scavenger hunts, etc.) that meant there was no supervision for the bathroom either. So my 9-year-old son had to use a public men's room down the corridor from the conference room all by himself. We found that Club HAL did not compare to the kid's programs on other cruise lines we have been on. Many kids did not participate because there wasn't a lot for them to do.

 

The good thing about the Oosterdam is that it's convenient to leave from San Diego and it's a nice ship with decent ports.

[Cruise Arizona]

Wow,

 

425 kids seems like way to many for them to handle. I just can't imagine the supervisors being able to give the kids individual attention. That is my worry about a 7 day cruise during Thanksgiving...just more kids than they are really set up to handle. And Mom2 was kid of saying the same thing...wouldn't fit in Club HAL.

 

All these factor have to weighed with the positive aspects like mostly good reviews, easy access to San Diego and a good deal if one comes up.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Wow,

 

425 kids seems like way to many for them to handle. I just can't imagine the supervisors being able to give the kids individual attention. That is my worry about a 7 day cruise during Thanksgiving...just more kids than they are really set up to handle. And Mom2 was kid of saying the same thing...wouldn't fit in Club HAL.

 

All these factor have to weighed with the positive aspects like mostly good reviews, easy access to San Diego and a good deal if one comes up.

 

I am a mother of two children, and also a "HAL Pal". However, I would never ever take a 7-day cruise on HAL during the shorter main school-year vacations (I'm excluding summer). I have done a 14-day Caribbean over Christmas and New Year's, and that cruise only had 80 children, much more manageable. If you aren't into large numbers of children, stay away from the 7-10 day Vista class to Mexico or the Caribbean. Just my friendly two cents, and remember, it's only my opinion. I want you and all your family to have the best HAL experience.:)

 

Karin

[Cruise Arizona]

I'm now looking at longer voyages out of other ports than San Diego. It adds another at least $1600 in airfare to the voyage, but it definitely might be worth it in order to get a better overall experience rather than a crowded 7 day sailing.

[MrFSS]

I'm now looking at longer voyages out of other ports than San Diego. It adds another at least $1600 in airfare to the voyage, but it definitely might be worth it in order to get a better overall experience rather than a crowded 7 day sailing.

Hey Suzanne - Sharon and I will be on the HAL Veendam in Sept for a New England/Canadian Maritimes cruise. Why don't you come do that one with us. You tow kids would love that part of the world. Seems like a long time ago we were all on the Mexican cruise, but what fond memories.

 

Tom