Carl W wrote a review Oct 2024

8 contributions

This is a review of the 21 Night Venetian Delights & Adriatic Antiquities Holland America Line (Oosterdam). This is one of their "Vista class" ships that includes the Noordam (1,924 passengers), Westerdam (1,916 passengers), Oosterdam (1,964 passengers) and Zuiderdam (1,964 passengers).
Summary: Overall I would consider travelling with them again. Very few kids and mostly (90%) retirement age people on the ship.
Pros:
* Well maintained ship. Nicely adorned with beautiful paintings, statues and shiny brass etc.
* Plenty of stairs and elevators. Fast elevators.
* Buffet food (Lido Market) is excellent with tons of choices of good quality food. Excellent salad bar (lunch and dinner) and omelet (breakfast) stations. Plenty of comfort foods along with regional cuisine. You will never go hungry!
* Desserts and breads are incredible and almost worth the trip alone! Hats off to the pastry chefs. The weekly chocolate surprise and cake-off days were very pleasant.
* Crew is happy and friendly, especially the room stewards and buffet servers / waitstaff.
* Evening entertainment at the main stage excellent and with a good variety (comedians, music, dancers), however any trip over 10 days and you start getting repeats of the dance shows.
* Arts and crafts were interesting and fun.
* 5-star gym to work off those extra calories! Great variety of newer and good quality equipment.
* Comfy bed. Nice soaps, hand towels, conditioners and lotion.
* Captain and entertainment coordinator both excellent communicators with friendly personalities.
* Good speeds and bandwidth on the paid Star link connected Wi-Fi-internet ($30 per person, per day)(comes to $1,260 extra for 2 people over 21 days), however they block all video sites like YouTube unless you pay extra.
* They allow 15 beverages per person on there drink package. However would rather have less and more included drinks (better variety). They also start to nickel and dime you if the drink costs more than their set price of $11.
* Game room for kids (and in the evening for adults) had some great pinball machines to play, but the other electronic games were broken.
* Tendering / off-on boarding staff were efficient and pleasant.
* Nice welcoming crew upon returning from excursions offering fluids and hand towels.

Cons:
* They usually (not always) have you sign for each drink (soft drinks, water, coffee, alcohol) at the bars....even though they already scan your room card and automatically add 18% tips on your have-it-all package. Not only is this redundant, it spreads infectious diseases.
* Despite this automatic 18% drink tip, the only staff on the ship that were less "helpful" were the bar staff, they seem to drag their feet getting you a drink, no matter the type.
* Not uncommon for there to be wilted leaves (mixed greens and spinach) in the salad. Staff should pick this out in advance. Even buying the freshest container of these at home Costco has these and need to be picked out as decomposing and risk of bacteria infections.
* Often not enough small group tables around the buffet area, such that you have to take your foot outside by the pool to eat.
* Shower stall very cramped feeling but functional.
* Patio door whistles and patio dividers rattle loudly with any wind above 20 knots.....no excuse for this. Glad I use ear plugs at night.
* Pools a bit tiny for lap swimming and had murky water (need better filters) and questionable chlorine maintenance in hot tub or pool as neither gave you that typical chorine smell after exiting them. This could easily lead to infectious outbreaks. PS: I have managed my home pool for years and use a low chorine silver based system but can still smell and taste it swimming (much less however than a typical public system).
* A bit annoyed when two great ports-of-call in a row were cancelled at the last minute for "weather" reasons despite tour operators in one port saying the wind was back to normal at the scheduled porting time 8 hours after the ship's captain attempted an early porting to avoid the wind issues. Then google weather showing the weather was nicer in the second port they cancelled Vs the less desirable port they chose as an alternative. At least they credited us port fees in the extra sea-day. Customer service not even apologetic on our missed off-ship tours that we lost money on.
* Ship docked at several ports that were 30 minutes from listed towns and required additional $20 per-person shuttle fees to get into town. If its not within 15 minutes walking, shuttles should be included!
* Automatic $17 per person per day service fees in addition to automatic 18% drink and extra-fine dining service fees. Tipping is great but how is this divided? Clear as mud! A greater percent should go to the visible staff as they earn it more and are likely better qualified.
* Specialty coffee station has only one station and the lines get extremely long in the mornings.
* Ships announcements were nice but the time between the alert bell and the announcement is too short (2 seconds) when one is in their cabin when they need to turn on their TV and scroll to the "bow camera" in order to hear it (need 5 to 10 seconds or at least repeat the message or start with the weather).

Sail Date: October 2024

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Destination: Mediterranean

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Oosterdam

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Nora M wrote a review 15 Mar

1 contribution

Why is it taking so long to get a refund?

Despite multiple phone calls to customer relations, the Line has still not (as of 15 March 2025) refunded the cost of an excursion they cancelled on December 31st, 2024, 6 days before the end of the cruise.

stephen p wrote a review Jan 2025

3 contributions2 helpful votes

Two continents off our Bucket List

The OOSTERDAM is an older cruise ship that had been refurbished. Everything was clean and the crew kept it that way. We had no problems while we were sailing their 22 day cruise from Buenos Aires to Antarctica to Santiago, Chile. We chose to stay the night before boarding in Buenos Aires and 2 days in Santiago before flying back to the United States. We had no problem boarding the cruise. We stayed on the first floor down the hall from guest services. There are plenty of elevators for us older folks. Getting around for Handicap people was easy. This was a wise choice because we couldn't feel the ship sway and always had a great night's sleep. We booked our hotels, flights, excursions, etc. well in advance. The excursions booked up fast on board so if you waited you weren't able to get some of the ones you wanted. We paid for the trip insurance, ship crew tips ($17 per guest per day) but didn't pay for the after cruise transportation to the airport ($90 per person) in Santiago. You could buy the drink package ($55 per person per day) or pay $6 for a liter of water, $2.95 for a coke, or $11/$12 drinks, $7.95 a beer. Guest services does not provide USD for local currencies and vice versa. The bus transportation on the excursions was excellent. The bike tour in Montevideo was tortuous. Think the old banana seat bikes you had when you were a child. Seats were regular ones but the handlebars were really high. You had plenty of medium hills to traverse for 3 hours. We took $800 for souvenirs and incidentals but ended up needing $200 more to pay for taxis to/from our hotels to the ship and to the airport at the end of the cruise. The local taxi from the end of the cruise to Matilda's Boutique Hotel in Santiago was $200 CASH versus $180 to the airport from the cruise ship's guest services. OVERALL: we would recommend this cruise. You visit South America and Antarctica to get 2 continents off your bucket list and have a good time.…

2 Helpful votes

8 contributions1 helpful vote

This is a review of the 21 Night Venetian Delights & Adriatic Antiquities Holland America Line (Oosterdam). This is one of their "Vista class" ships that includes the Noordam (1,924 passengers), Westerdam (1,916 passengers), Oosterdam (1,964 passengers) and Zuiderdam (1,964 passengers). Summary: Overall I would consider travelling with them again. Very few kids and mostly (90%) retirement age people on the ship. Pros: * Well maintained ship. Nicely adorned with beautiful paintings, statues and shiny brass etc. * Plenty of stairs and elevators. Fast elevators. * Buffet food (Lido Market) is excellent with tons of choices of good quality food. Excellent salad bar (lunch and dinner) and omelet (breakfast) stations. Plenty of comfort foods along with regional cuisine. You will never go hungry! * Desserts and breads are incredible and almost worth the trip alone! Hats off to the pastry chefs. The weekly chocolate surprise and cake-off days were very pleasant. * Crew is happy and friendly, especially the room stewards and buffet servers / waitstaff. * Evening entertainment at the main stage excellent and with a good variety (comedians, music, dancers), however any trip over 10 days and you start getting repeats of the dance shows. * Arts and crafts were interesting and fun. * 5-star gym to work off those extra calories! Great variety of newer and good quality equipment. * Comfy bed. Nice soaps, hand towels, conditioners and lotion. * Captain and entertainment coordinator both excellent communicators with friendly personalities. * Good speeds and bandwidth on the paid Star link connected Wi-Fi-internet ($30 per person, per day)(comes to $1,260 extra for 2 people over 21 days), however they block all video sites like YouTube unless you pay extra. * They allow 15 beverages per person on there drink package. However would rather have less and more included drinks (better variety). They also start to nickel and dime you if the drink costs more than their set price of $11. * Game room for kids (and in the evening for adults) had some great pinball machines to play, but the other electronic games were broken. * Tendering / off-on boarding staff were efficient and pleasant. * Nice welcoming crew upon returning from excursions offering fluids and hand towels. Cons: * They usually (not always) have you sign for each drink (soft drinks, water, coffee, alcohol) at the bars....even though they already scan your room card and automatically add 18% tips on your have-it-all package. Not only is this redundant, it spreads infectious diseases. * Despite this automatic 18% drink tip, the only staff on the ship that were less "helpful" were the bar staff, they seem to drag their feet getting you a drink, no matter the type. * Not uncommon for there to be wilted leaves (mixed greens and spinach) in the salad. Staff should pick this out in advance. Even buying the freshest container of these at home Costco has these and need to be picked out as decomposing and risk of bacteria infections. * Often not enough small group tables around the buffet area, such that you have to take your foot outside by the pool to eat. * Shower stall very cramped feeling but functional. * Patio door whistles and patio dividers rattle loudly with any wind above 20 knots.....no excuse for this. Glad I use ear plugs at night. * Pools a bit tiny for lap swimming and had murky water (need better filters) and questionable chlorine maintenance in hot tub or pool as neither gave you that typical chorine smell after exiting them. This could easily lead to infectious outbreaks. PS: I have managed my home pool for years and use a low chorine silver based system but can still smell and taste it swimming (much less however than a typical public system). * A bit annoyed when two great ports-of-call in a row were cancelled at the last minute for "weather" reasons despite tour operators in one port saying the wind was back to normal at the scheduled porting time 8 hours after the ship's captain attempted an early porting to avoid the wind issues. Then google weather showing the weather was nicer in the second port they cancelled Vs the less desirable port they chose as an alternative. At least they credited us port fees in the extra sea-day. Customer service not even apologetic on our missed off-ship tours that we lost money on. * Ship docked at several ports that were 30 minutes from listed towns and required additional $20 per-person shuttle fees to get into town. If its not within 15 minutes walking, shuttles should be included! * Automatic $17 per person per day service fees in addition to automatic 18% drink and extra-fine dining service fees. Tipping is great but how is this divided? Clear as mud! A greater percent should go to the visible staff as they earn it more and are likely better qualified. * Specialty coffee station has only one station and the lines get extremely long in the mornings. * Ships announcements were nice but the time between the alert bell and the announcement is too short (2 seconds) when one is in their cabin when they need to turn on their TV and scroll to the "bow camera" in order to hear it (need 5 to 10 seconds or at least repeat the message or start with the weather).…

steve.w wrote a review Sept 2024

Bern, Switzerland70 contributions3 helpful votes

Second Cruise with oosterdam

I was in my Second Trip on Board Oosterdam all was Great exepting you Are a party Animal you may get boored After 10 or so . I Specially enjoyed the Food buffet ,Main dining

jeannie g wrote a review Jul 2024

Blue Mountains, Australia42 contributions3 helpful votes

Floating Nursing home

Our cruise was not what we expected. Destinations were beautiful, the staff were very welcoming and helpful. The boat needs a little TLC as the carpet in our room was stained and a part of the ceiling needed fixing. Entertainment consisted of Bingo, Trivia and a band on some nights and a DJ who played for only an hour during our sail away from port, an extra hour or two would have been nicer. Even sitting around the pool the background music put us to sleep. There were no live shows at night, only a few dances, 3 singers and a "comedy" act consisting of a man solving a Rubiks cube for 45 minutes.…

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