My Seven year old daughter and I were very fortunate to win this cruise on the beautiful Oosterdam for a 14 night cruise around New Zealand via Hobart.

Embarkation:
This was extremely fast and smooth. It must have only taken about 15 minutes from the bag drop off to boarding.
Bearing in mind that the ship had just arrived from the Trans Pacific cruise and a good percentage of passengers were staying on board for New Zealand cruise.
This would have kept crowds down considerably at the check in desks.

Cabin:
We had a standard outside cabin on deck 1, #1045. We found it very comfortable and cosy. Everything we needed was here. Flat screen TV, mini bar, plenty of wardrobe space (for a ship) and the most comfy beds you could ask for.
In recent years we’ve opted for a balcony, but to be honest, on this cruise I actually preferred have the large picture window, given the weather outside.

Ship layout and decor:
We both found the Oosterdam well laid out and very easy to get around. It never seemed crowded, apart from the buffet and tenders etc.
The décor is very traditional, but I really quite liked this. You actually feel like you’re on a ship and not just on a floating hotel.

Fellow passengers:
At age 43, I would have pretty much been the youngest adult passenger on board. In fact a few times, I was mistaken for a contract crew member on a break !!
The majority of people were from the USA and aged between 60 & 80. We were lucky enough to meet a great family from Canada with kids my daughter’s age. Given that there were only about 10 kids on board, my daughter forged this friendship on the first day. We basically did everything together, which really helped make our cruise fantastic !!

Food & drink:
The food in the main dining room was by far the best I’ve experienced on any ship. Actually one meal in particular (the rib eye fillet with lobster tail) was up there with best I’ve had at any restaurant ashore !!
On this ship everyone dressed for dinner, so a suit was essential.
The Lido buffet was our choice for Breakfast and lunch. The food up here was plentiful and always varied.
All the usual breakfast items were served, (continental and American). It did get rather crowded at peak breakfast times, particularly on port days and we had walk around for table some times.
The fresh sandwich bar was great for lunch, along with sushi. My daughter loved the pizza and pasta and of course the ice cream !!
Overall I thought the quality, selection and service of food was excellent.
Drink prices were reasonable too. I think from memory a bottle Budweiser or Stella beer was around $6.50 US.

Entertainment: All the usual cruise ship (slightly cheesy) shows were on in main theatre lounge. They were good quality however and everyone seemed to enjoy them.
If you are looking for a more organised entertainment programme then the Ootsterdam is not for you. You certainly won’t find any belly flop competitions on here. Personally I really enjoyed sitting by the pool without all the noise and pumping music or cruise director instructions.
There is also great little cinema on board showing a wide selection on movies all day and night.

Pool, Spa and Gym: Given the climate on this cruise (not above 5 degrees on the crossing to NZ from Hobart) the pool dome was used the majority of the time, making it an indoor pool. The water was kept quite warm though and the spa pool bloody hot !
Most days we were the only ones in the pool.
The Gym was excellent. Great views from the treadmill out over the bow. Although staying upright in swell was problematic. You can jog around the promenade deck. I can’t remember the exact distance, but I remember doing 13 laps was equal to 7 km’s.
There was a great free weights section, which was mainly unused apart from myself and the dance crew.
Although I didn’t use any on the spa facilities, it looked lovely and I felt better for just walking through it !

Kids Club: (by Charli, age 7)
The kids club is called Club Hal. There were only 9 kids in kids club. There were 2 teachers called Jeremy and Kate. Jeremy was really funny and Kate loved to do art with us. We sometimes went for ice cream breaks and sometimes went up to the sports court for relays and ball games. On Halloween we all got dressed up and went trick or treating around the whole ship. Then went back to Club Hal for a party.I think it was the best kids club ever and I didn’t leave until 10pm every night.

Summery:
All in all we had a fantastic time on the Oosterdam.
She is a very well kept and clean ship. I’ve read other review claiming she is a bit worn and tired. Seriously, if you want to look for that stuff, you will find it. But given the amount of traffic from passengers, not to mention the pounding from the weather, I think the ship is in excellent condition.

If you’re looking for a relaxing, refined and traditional cruise experience then this is the ship for you

Loved the Oosterdam! This was our 4th HAL cruise, we were upgraded to a suite, room, staff, food everything was awesome.

we have sailed with HAL many times and this ship is one of the best the food and crew and wonderful will be returning next year for a longer cruise. the cabin staff are great nothing is to much trouble

I had a really good time on the Oosterdam, the staff were so good at making you feel special from the time I got on. The cabins were cleaned twice a day, the restaurant's were amazing, the food was good, 24 hour room service and it was free. Great gym for when I ate too much, the pools were always kept clean and they had a hydro pool which was amazing, they also had cermic beds, the heat on your back from the beds was,heaven. Iloved it that much that before I got off i booked another.