Julie

Age: 46
Occupation: Michigan Mom
Number of Cruises: 2
Cruise Line: Holland America
Ship: Oosterdam
Sailing Date: April 2nd, 2005
Itinerary: Mexican Riviera

The Oosterdam is a beautiful ship kept in immaculate shape. Not a thing was out of place. Our room (5058)was for our family of four - two teenagers!! It was cozy but it accomodated us and all our luggage and clothes well. Space is used very efficiently with drawers, closets, shelves, under bed storage in every free space. (Even in the seat near the vanity) There are many great choices for breakfast, lunch and dinner - something anytime for our hungry kids! My husband and I appreciated the dining room experience and even the buffet restaurant presented scrumptious choices. Our family loved the room service expecially at breakfast time on our balcony. The views were great from our balcony especially when we were docked in Cabo San Lucas.

Our 17 yr old son loved hanging out with his group of friends he met thru the teen program. In fact the highlight of the trip was watching his "a new friend" perform in the karaoke contest and winning. She was awesome! My 12 yr old daughter (at 5'6" and soon to be 13) was uncomfortable with her only choice being the tweens club with 9 -12 yrs old. It may also have been that most appeared to be friends prior to the trip - so she hung out with us a lot. Another option for her was the in room movies.

My husband and I would definately take a HAL cruise again because of the quality of the accomodations and services. Since most families on the ship (many traveling together) seem to be from the San Diego area and west coast, we would try a Caribbean with our family next time. Overall it was a very nice experience that I would recommend.