Cruise #44: Atlantic Crossing

April 19 - May 3, 2025

 

Ship: Holland America (HAL) Oosterdam

Cabin : SA 7081 Neptune Suite

 

Itinerary:

SAT 19APR25 Sail from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US 5:00pm
SUN 20APR25 Sea Day
MON 21APR25 Sea Day
TUE 22APR25 Sea Day
WED 23APR25 Sea Day
THU 24APR25 Sea Day
FRI 25APR25 Sea Day
SAT 26APR25 Sea Day
SUN 27APR25 Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Azores, Visa Required For Some 8:00am 5:00pm
MON 28APR25 Sea Day
TUE 29APR25 Funchal (Madeira), Portugal Visa Required For Some 5:00pm
WED 30APR25 Sea Day
THU 01MAY25 Ceuta, Spanish Morocco, Spain Visa Required For Some 8:00am 5:00pm
FRI 02MAY25 Sea Day
SAT 03MAY25 Debark Ship Barcelona, Spain Visa Required For Some 7:00am
 

Videos:

Oosterdam Neptune suite 7081

Ellie and Alfredo - 1

Ellie and Alfredo - 2

Ellie and Alfredo - 3

                           

 

Click on image to enlarge.

Holland America Oosterdam On day 2 we spent the evening at the Billboard lounge listening to 2 singing pianists, Ellie and Alfredo. We very much enjoyed them - they were spectacular. Carol says Ellie is gorgeous. We were there almost every night of the cruise..	Holland America Oosterdam	Holland America Oosterdam Lou got trip Jacks after just a few minutes at the Casino! Pays 30 to 1. A quick $300.00! Our favorite dealer, Jesus. Carol couldn't lose that morning.
Holland America Oosterdam Carol celebrated her birthday on this cruise.	Holland America Oosterdam Dinner at the Pinnacle Grill.	Holland America Oosterdam Dessert at the Pinnacle.
Holland America Oosterdam Our cabin stewart made us a towel bunny!	Holland America Oosterdam Lou got Americanos and Carol got capuccinos most mornings at the Pinnacle Bar. Deliciouso!	Holland America Oosterdam The Rolling Stone venue. Showed movies. Weird seating.
Holland America Oosterdam The naturalist Alexander Sanchez Jones daily lectures were spectacular and we truly enjoyed them. Learning about the ocean and the wildlife, dolphins, whales, turtles, etc in the very waters we are in.	Holland America Oosterdam	Holland America Oosterdam Rehearsal at the World Stage
Holland America Oosterdam	Holland America Oosterdam 18,000 feet deep! Looking for dolphins and whales. No luck!	Holland America Oosterdam
Holland America Oosterdam	Holland America Oosterdam	Holland America Oosterdam Cecelia from Arizona.
Holland America Oosterdam	Holland America Oosterdam Pianist Alfredo	Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Azores We were supposed to see a lake with two different colors (Blue and Green) from the top of the mountain. However, visibility was only 10 feet. So our tour guide took us to a beautiful beach.
Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Azores	Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Azores	Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Azores Here's the pineapple plantation. Lou bought some pineapple liqueur. One bottle for himself and one for Liz and George.
Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Azores	Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Azores	Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Azores Wisteria!
Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Azores	Funchal (Madeira), Portugal It was actually a rather cold day in port today. So cold there was snow at 3,000 feet! So we stayed on the ship. Did not like the fact that we parked at a dock far away from town so you had to take a shuttle that cost $15 per person each way.	Holland America Oosterdam
Holland America Oosterdam Trips for Lou again!! Lou had a good time at the casino meeting interesting passengers and drinking free cocktails.	Holland America Oosterdam Our cabin steward is such an (towel) artiste!! An elephant this time!	Ceuta, Spanish Morocco, Spain
Ceuta, Spanish Morocco, Spain This port stop was a bust. No excursions worth mentioning. We got off the ship and walked for a couple of hours looking around hoping to find a siddewalk cafe to have a Spanish meal. No luck. Not much to see. We walked back to the ship where we had a nice lunch. This port stop should be deleted.	Ceuta, Spanish Morocco, Spain	Ceuta, Spanish Morocco, Spain
Ceuta, Spanish Morocco, Spain	Ceuta, Spanish Morocco, Spain	Ceuta, Spanish Morocco, Spain
Holland America Oosterdam	Holland America Oosterdam

 

 

Excursions:

Excursion: Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Azores, Portugal
Fire Lake & Ribeira Grande

Sunday, April 27 , 2025

8:30 am

3.75 hours

TOP 3 REASONS TO BOOK
Ribeira Grande -- the oldest city on the north coast
Pico da Barrosa Mountain and Fire Lake
A visit to a pineapple plantation

ABOUT THE EXCURSION
Drive through Ponta Delgada; then, head northeast along the pleasant roads bordering agricultural areas and stretching across the island to Ribeira Grande. This is the oldest and largest city on the north coast and has a distinct air of Portuguese influence.

From Pico da Barrosa Mountain, you will see fine views of the Fire Lake. Return to Ponta Delgada along the new road, descending towards Remedios.

At a pineapple plantation, learn about cultivating and marketing this delicious tropical fruit.

 

Holland America (HAL) Oosterdam review:
 

Not a good start. The cabins were not ready when we got on board. So they made us go to the Lido deck where we could not find an empty table to sit there. Finally found a table out by the pool area. We satg here for an hour and a 1/2 waiting for our cabin to be ready only to find out that an hour ago, an announcement was made that we did not hear in this noisy area . Note we cannot get our cruise card until we get to the cabin. Also, when we boarded, we noticed the ship smelled musty like it was recently wet.

Lounges like Explorer and Rolling Stone were out dated and lacked comfort and the feel of a cruise ship lounge.
Food and coffee from room service was pittaful. Pastries had no texture or flavor. Coffee was dish water.
Lack of central coffee shop which we have come to expect was very much missed.
We went to the Orange party by the Lido deck pool. However it was loud and we could not understand the speakers because of the echo. There was a retractable cover, but even though the weather was nice, they did not open it. We did not last long.
Buffet was done at 8 pm.
Specialty dining and main dining room were very good.
Lounges such as Billboard and Ocean View were what we expected from a cruise ship lounge and they had excellent music.
The daily events were very much the same from day to day. So not much to do during the day. At night there was the Billboard piano players which were very enjoyable. Theatre performances were rather mediocre.

Our Neptune suite is pretty awesome. Over 525 square feet. Veranda is about 20 feet long by 10 feet wide. Cabin sitting area with couch, coffee table, 2 end tables, and 2 chairs. There is a 10 foot long table with drawers along Veranda window. There is a king size bed, 5 closets, and Espresso maker. Bathroom has 2 sinks, bathtub plus, separate small shower with curtain. In addition, there is a vanity area for the lady of the cabin.
Disappointing for the cost of this suite there is no mini-bar set up.

The Neptune lounge - available to suite passengers - is pretty weak as it is. It's fairly small and no service to bring you drinks and food. You'll have to get it yourself.

Okay, this is a new one on me. We were wondering why our cabin was not made up and then found this card like a key card. That you need to insert into the door lock In order to have the cabin Stuart, make up your cabin. Note we filled-out a form on the 1st day. Instructing the cabin to be made up Morning and evening.

On day 2, we were headed down to watch a lecture on sea life in the Atlantic ocean. So we walked into the theater, sat down, and the show started. However, instead of a lecturer, it was a movie about a tsa. Family kidnapping, that looks pretty good, but it was not what we came to see. So I told Carol, we're in the wrong place. I walked out and noticed it was not the world stage theater at the front, but the Rolling Stone Nightclub Which does have movies. Yes, we did make it to the World Stage to enjoy the lecture.

We finally got the Wi-Fi internet issue resolved. We had to go down to the internetline, on deck one and stand in line for about an hour. Seems like everyone has been having issues. Apparently, it is not enough to connect to the WIFI and bring up the Navigator app. You have to jump through this hoop, that is not document it anywhere. You must click on the menu button at the bottom right hand corner of the app. Then press the button that says free resources. Then select the website link and then select return to portal. Finally enter your room number and date of birth. None of this is documented anywhere. I've never seen it on the HAL website.
I asked a guy why this wasn't documented and of course, he pretended not to understand. I told Carol this was job security.

Every ship we have ever been on, there has been a coffee bar with snack foods, little sandwiches, pastries, etc, located centrally on a lower deck. Not this one. here, you have to go to the crow's nest way up forwards on deck 11 and there is no sandwiches or pastries to enjoy because they are stale. So if you want a late evening snack of some sort you either go app to the buffet on deck 9 (which closes at 8 pm) or order room service.

On day 2 we spent the evening at the Billboard lounge listening to 2 pianist, Ellie and Alfredo. We very much enjoy them - they were spectacular. Carol says Ellie is gorgeous.

I've been having a pretty good time at the casino meeting interesting passengers and free cocktails. Gambling results were not so enjoyable.
We found pretty good cappuccino at pinnacle bar on deck 2.

We had steak dinner at Pinnacle Grill, which was pretty tasty, although head more fat than I would anticipate. Tomato salad was delicious.

On day 5 had a burger with Gouda cheese and bacon at the dive and burger joint on Lido deck, and it was most excellent.

Seating in Explorer and Rolling Stone Lounge was Not like a typical lounge, more like theater style seating and not very comfortable. Also, pinnacle Bar where you get cappuccinos until 2 pm. Seats are very rickety and kinda feel like you're going to fall over.

Specialty dining AT pinnacle and Cannaleto Italian have been very good. Last night at Cannaleto i had pasta with pesto and i had them at Italian sausage Which Just Knocked it out of the ballpark. Yum yum yum.

The naturalist Alexander Sanchez Jones lectures daily have been spectacular and we have truly enjoyed them. Learning about the ocean and the wildlife, dolphins, whales, turtles, etcetera.

I will not cruise on the Oosterdam or Holland America again. 4 out of the 5 HAL cruises I have been on have shown lack of maintenance or upkeep on the ship.

 

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