Itinerary

We board the ship at Piraeus in Athens for a seven-day ‘Adriatic Gems’ itinerary from the Greek capital to Rome. The journey includes two days at sea and disembarkations with optional add-on shore excursions in Dubrovnik, Kotor, Corfu, Naples and finally Rome. Some passengers are continuing on for a full 14-day loop.

What’s on board

Built in 2003, the Oosterdam has 11 decks with a capacity for 1,964 passengers. By day, many are sunning themselves avec pina coladas around the ship’s two pools, and by night, they’ve moved onto tequila shots at any one of the Oosterdam’s nine bars and lounges, which includes live music venue Rolling Stone Lounge and the Crow’s Nest Bar on deck 10.

There are six dining spots to bounce your appetite between, including fine-dining options steakhouse Pinnacle Grill and upmarket Italian Canaletto, which are at extra cost. Deck 11 features an outdoor basketball court, and the ship has a spacious fitness centre, spa and an art gallery. There’s a jam-packed itinerary of on-board entertainment and activities to keep you busy during days at sea, including an unexpectedly raucous bar-hop (complete with speaker blasting beats and drinking games), trivia, beer tastings and cocktail making, bingo and pickleball and basketball tournaments for both adults and teens.

The room

My friend and I are sharing a Verandah Stateroom on deck 5, which is appointed with a small seating area, queen-sized bed, TV, ensuite with shower and tub, and a verandah with floor-to-ceiling windows from which we watch Mt Stromboli spew lava at dusk one night (absolute bucket list stuff). There’s a good amount of hanging space in the wardrobe and a nook to store my suitcase. The space functions exceptionally well for two people. A menu placed in the room on arrival gives you the option of changing the configuration of the beds into twin, if you prefer. Pro tip: 24-hour room service is included.  

Dining and drinks

First and foremost, you need to know about the all-day, every-day complimentary Taco Bar on the Lido Deck. It’s more of a nachos set up, with corn chips, hot queso, guac, beef and all the trimmings, including sour cream and jalapenos. As part of the brand’s sustainability and locavore efforts, the menu on the Vista Main Dining room includes five ‘port to plate’ options that are based off seasonal, local produce from the destination the ship is porting in.

Japanese celebrity chef Masaharu Morimoto of Iron Chef fame is the brand’s culinary ambassador, and the Morimoto By Sea pop-up occurs once during our cruise, serving up artful sushi plates, pork gyoza and Americanised Pan-Asian mains. My personal favourites, however, are the Morimoto lobster tails served in the Main Dining Room, and the osso bucco at Canaletto. All-day Lido Deck has various buffet stations that rotate daily and include everything from salad to steak and pasta. It’s all very tasty. 

Shore excursions

If you’re on a budget, the prices in USD of some of the shore excursions might be a turn-off, but there are plenty of affordable options, too. The small-group ‘Speedboat and Snorkelling’ adventure in Dubrovnik is soul-food in the form of swimming in the emerald Adriatic, and our group of six get a boat to ourselves. I also enjoyed a hike in Corfu, but the consensus among participants was that forward warning that it would a be 10-km walk in searing heat would be appreciated, especially for older passengers. A foodie tour in Naples takes in the city’s famous dishes, including lemon-ricotta pastry sfogliatelle and Neapolitan pizza.

What’s hot

If you often find yourself asking ‘what day is it again?’, you’re cruising right. The carpet in the elevators are printed with the day of the week and updated daily, so you literally have no worries.

What’s not

This is not an all-inclusive cruise, and some people may find the daily gratuity charges off-putting. The website and app are a bit clunky and there’s ongoing technical issues with my account. Despite providing my credit card multiple times prior to the cruise, I’m not able to disembark the ship on departure, as they have no card on file. This is resolved, but it’s an unnecessary and frustrating stress, and we subsequently miss our transfer to the hotel in Rome.

The verdict: 8/10

I was a sworn small-ship cruiser until the moment I stepped off this ship. The other passengers were good fun, the ratio of downtime to sightseeing was on point, and the food exceeded expectations.

A 10-day Adriatic Allure: Croatia, Greek Isles and Istanbul itinerary in 2025 is from $4349 per person twin share in a Verandah Stateroom. 

The writer was a guest of Holland America Line.