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Holland America Line

MS Oosterdam

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Reviewed by: Barry Vaudrin
# previous cruises: 50 or more
Date of Trip: January 29, 2006
Itinerary: Mexico-Western

I would highly recommend the Oosterdam with Holland America Line and the Mexican Riviera itinerary on this ship. The ship is large and very comfortable for this or nearly any itinerary. Embarkation in San Diego is very smooth, and it's an exciting port to depart from.

Public areas on the Oosterdam are indeed comfortable. Some of the color schemes are a little odd, however, there is a warm feeling onboard this ship. Show lounge had good sight-lines fore the most part, except in the box seats on either side of the show lounge, which are an awkward angle to view the shows and there's a plexiglass panel that you have to look through. When the lounge is filled to capacity most people can see just fine. The Queen's Lounge was less elegant than I had expected from previous HAL ships, but still comfortable. I didn't use this lounge too much, but it was among my favorite on the ship...the Crows Nest. I was very pleased with the wooden deck chairs and the walk-around promenade with teak decking. I though the glass elevators facing the sea was very cool. I felt that the atrium on this class of ship is a bit cramped and it's not as easy to sit and people watch in this space. The library was very nice and had very comfortable chairs to kick back with a book.

Food very good, not spectacular, but better than Royal Caribbean & Carnival. I often will order several entrees to better sample what's offered on the menu, and I was very pleased with the quality of the food. Food came hot or at the appropriate temps. I give the food and menu quality a four out of five stars. Service was good, but not as persoanl and attentive as I expected it would be, on the other hand I have very high expectations, higher than most people. The specialty restaurant was very good but not as first-class or upscale as I expected. For example; I would have expected a premium bottled water, but that wasn't offered only the ship's tap water. I could have purchased a bottled water from the bar waiter, but I didn't expect this after paying a premium in this restaurant. I felt the European waiters were just doing their job and the service, although good, lacked the personal flare of an upscale experience.

I had a balcony stateroom and enjoyed it very much. The beds are soft and comfortable and the linens were soft too. There seemed to be plenty of space for two, however we had three in our room so the "stuff" we brought added up to a little clutter in the room at times. The room could be made dark during the day because of the shades and the temp was just right too for sleeping. I was also very happy with how quiet it was.

The shows and entertainment throughout the ship and during the cruise was very good. They had very talented singers and dancers and the specialty acts were entertaining. I particularly enjoyed the Oosterdam Superstar program they had, which was a take-off from American idol. The last Oosterdam Superstar was a very popular event on the ship and it filled the main show lounge to capacity. Cruise Staff were all very nice and the Cruise Director was perfect for the role...very witty and everyone seemed to like him. There was one snippy male dancer however, who had a bit of an attitude, but the entire entertainment department was very good.

On this Mexican Riviera itinerary we stopped at the usual ports of Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta. I really enjoyed the spa on the Oosterdam which had a thalassotherapy pool and a special lounge with several steam rooms at varying temps and these thermal beds that conform to your body and were facing the ocean....fantastic! The pools and hot tubs were fun to use.

The Oosterdam and the Mexican Riviera itinerary attracts a wide range of age groups. There was of course the older HAL crowd, but also a good number of couples (40-60 age-group) and a few singles. Not too many families with children, but a few.