Just got back from a 12-day HAL Denali-plus-Oosterdam trip (Seward-Vancouver cruise) and here are my thoughts. I’ve read all the comments on this board and I’m an intense observer once on the ship. There were six of us who went on the trip together.

Overall – Best cruise I have been on in six years covering 6 cruises on three different cruise lines. Well run ship. But HAL still has some dining staff issues to address.

Oosterdam Appearance – I had read a bunch of negative comments on this board about the condition of the ship being shabby. I really saw none of that – in fact, the ship looked 99% great to the point I went “wow.” I would assume they pulled it out of service and/or really worked on it this past month because much of the carpeting looked brand new, furniture mostly in good shape, and paint looked fine. It looked so good, in fact, it put an extra spring in my step! Our interior room was fine -- clean, well kept. Read more