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Day 7: At Sea We did nothing today! It was great. Just read a lot and worked on crossword puzzles. It was interesting to watch the ship run an obstacle course of North Sea oil rigs. Nice final dinner in the MDR. I had a lamb shank (that was huge!) and my mom had crab carbonara. I'm so glad we could reserve a window table with the same waiter for every night we wanted to eat there. It made for such a pleasant experience. Tomorrow is disembarkation and one last chance to enjoy Amsterdam before flying home Sunday morning.

Day 6: Bergen We did a quick Lido breakfast this morning. They must have realized what a mistake it was to shut down right at 10am like they did a few days ago, because this morning there was still fresh food being stocked a bit before 10 and no one was rushing to shut down. It felt much more leisurely. Today is Indonesian Independence Day, and there was a big celebration for the crew. There was a big event in the World Stage just for the crew, and then as we got off the ship we saw an epic tug of war match being held on the dock. It looked like great fun. Bergen was fun to go through and easy to get around. It's quite a bit smaller than I expected so everything was close by (though I'm very glad we got one of the good docks, unlike the poor Princess ship below that was way off in the industrial area). We went straight to the funicular, Floibanen. It was a gorgeous day out so crowded everywhere, but the trains run constantly so the wait wasn't too bad. It was a fantastic view from the top. We had lunch in the fish market. Pleasant fish stew and wonderful bread. Then we did a bunch of shopping in the historic area, Bryggen. The Christmas shop is fun. If you're looking for Norwegian wool sweaters and such, both Bryggen Husflid and Susan Fosse have very nice items. Once back on board, HAL was hosting people from the Norwegian tax agency so people could file their VAT forms for any large purchases. You need to have the form from the shop and then fill out everything. We handed them in and were told it would take around 6 weeks to get it back on our credit cards. Tonight was dressy night again, so we had a nice dinner in the MDR. I had arctic char, and my mom had spinach tortellini. Both were tasty. After dinner, we used up some OBC in the shops and then read our books after getting some cocktails. I still need to finish the book I got from the book exchange! We ended the night at the chocolate surprise and listened to some of the BB Kings band. Only one of the chocolates was outstanding (an amazing little cupcake) but all were fun and plentiful. Tomorrow is our final sea day!

Day 5: Geiranger We did room service breakfast again. Again, it was decent, on time, and they even customized the veggie frittata for me. Spotty Wi-Fi today, due to the fjords. I didn't want to pay for international mobile phone access in town since I wasn't really going to use it today. So instead I huddled next to the ticket office in port which had free Wi-Fi so I could check email and such. We had nothing planned so we just wandered the town. We'd heard there was a good chocolate shop and, sure enough, the chocolate was tasty and it was a good place to buy gifts. We walked to the base of the main waterfall in town and that's about it. It was pretty dreary out. Our cabin window was right by the SeaWalk so we got to watch it accordion itself to the ship and back. That was a neat way to dock. Tonight was De Librije! I really wanted to try it, and I thought it was worth it. When I booked there wasn't an option to choose the wine pairing or not and we ended up with it. But the wine selection was nice, including the only dessert wine we've seen on the ship! All the food was fun, with all different kinds of tastes and textures. It was a lot of food, with 4 courses, a large amuse bouche, and large chocolate plate, so we were stuffed. As much as we liked it though, I think I'd be unlikely to do it again unless they changed up the menu. Still, a lively and enjoyable dinner. The timing was poor though, as I booked the 5:30 slot and it was right when we left port, cruising by the most scenic part of the fjord. It helped that we got a window seat so we could see some of the sights. After, I listened to some of the guest musician on board, Iris Kroes, a singer and harpist. I was expecting classical or folk music, but she actually played pop. She had a great voice though and told funny stories. Tomorrow is Bergen!

Day 4: Alesund 10am is way too early to stop serving breakfast in the Lido. There were a ton of hungry people scrounging through the little food still out. We spent the day exploring Alesund. It's a lovely little city and very tourist friendly. There are maps and free public restrooms all over (they're even clean!). We did a tour on the city train, a small train on wheels that takes you all around with time at the top of the hill, Aksla, to look around and take photos. It cost roughly 30 euros and lasted a bit more than an hour. It came with audio headsets describing what you see in a bunch of different languages. Well worth it. We had fish & chips for lunch right near the port. I don't know about the best in the world, but it was excellent. The fish was very fresh Norwegian cod. After walking around more, we came back to the ship and crashed. I'm still wiped out from this cold so we just grabbed dinner in the Lido (Norwegian night!) and are relaxing again tonight. Tomorrow is Geiranger where we have nothing planned.

Thank you! We haven't tried them on the Rotterdam but enjoyed both on the Koningsdam. I should add then to our to-do list!

Day 3: Eidfjord Internet was down most of today, for the first time. Maybe because we're deep in a fjord all day? My mom came down with a cold yesterday, and I've got it now today. Annoying, but not too surprising considering all the people we've been around. We did room service breakfast, which is as always decent food and very convenient. We booked the Waterfalls and Waffles excursion, using our HIA credit. We both love waterfalls and figured having a waffle break sounded fun. It started at 10:30am and lasted 4 hours, right up to all-aboard time. There were bathrooms at 2 of the 3 stops, but we only got beverages at 1, so I highly recommend bringing water. First stop was for waffles, at Halne Fjellstova. The waffles were very good, with a nice texture and thick sour cream and berry jam to have on top. They also gave us coffee or tea. We then went to Sysenvatn, a dam that's part of the hydroelectric power system here. It wasn't that interesting, but there were nice views of Hardanger glacier. Note that the toilets were shut down there. Finally, we arrived at the waterfall, Voringsfossen. It was breathtaking. Dinner tonight was our HIA Pinnacle Grill meal. I got the lamb chops, and my mom got the scallops. Chocolate souffle for dessert. Everything was very enjoyable, and we left happy. But I don't think I'd pay for it separately from HIA. While it was very good, it wasn't all that better than last night's gala night dinner, so not really worth the upcharge. Then we got some nice drinks at the Ocean Bar and chilled. Hopefully our colds will be better by tomorrow, when we teach Alesund.

Day 2: Sea Day Seas were a bit rough last night, so I was glad we were down on deck 1. Much calmer today. We went to the MDR for breakfast (it is really convenient being so close to it). We arrived a little before 9, and it wasn't busy, but shortly after it seemed like the entire ship showed up and completely filled it. We talked with a couple who had been on the previous cruise, and they said the MDR hadn't filled for breakfast the entire time. We walked through the Lido after, around 10, and it was packed too. Looks like everyone slept in today! We spent a while reading in the Crows Nest. I found it a bit nicer here than on the Koningsdam, more cozy. There's very little scheduled today that looked interesting, with mostly shopping related activities. But I don't really mind a relaxing day doing nothing. We had lunch in the Lido just before 1pm. The pool area was packed and loud, but the buffet wasn't busy at all. We sent out laundry yesterday afternoon, and it came back a bit less than 24 hours later. We have the laundry package so we sent another bag out today. Buying the unlimited laundry allowed me to bring just a carry-on suitcase, which made getting around much easier. Tonight was dressy night. Always fun to get dressed up, although we changed into casual clothes right after dinner. The MDR dinner was excellent. I had the lamb chops, and my mom had the cheese and mushroom ravioli. Afterwards, we went to the captain's welcome. It was nice to put a face to the voice we've heard over the PA system. Our captain is Werner Timmers, and he seems like a nice guy. The event was packed, filling the pool area. We then wanted to listen to some music, and tried the Rolling Stones band first. Unfortunately, the group isn't very good on this cruise. Way too mellow, nothing like the rock band on the Koningsdam a couple months ago. So instead we went to BB Kings. Thankfully, they were much better musicians. Although they also played slower music than I prefer, and I clearly wasn't the only one because the crowd came alive more when they rocked out. Hopefully things will get livelier as the cruise goes on. We can see land again now as we're following the coast of Norway. Tomorrow is Eidfjord.

Day 1: Embarkation Amsterdam We left our hotel right around 11am for a 12:30 check-in time at the port. We arrived a little before 12, dropped our bags and waited in a seated waiting area where they took groups of people at a time for check-in. We only had to wait maybe 20 minutes and then the check-in line was another 10 minutes. We boarded the ship at 12:35. It was all very easy. Our bags arrived only a few minutes after we reached our cabin. The family Oceanview is very nice! There is just so much storage, @QuattroRomeo was right. Having 2 sinks is handy, though I'd rather have 2 toilets than the extra shower. We had lunch in the MDR and learned that the lunch portion sizes are way larger than we anticipated so ate more than planned. Then we wandered the ship. It's a lovely ship overall. We noticed that various places, such as the Dutch Cafe, had more seating than on the Koningsdam. We made MDR dinner reservations for the rest of the cruise, checked out the wonderful library (I already snagged something to read from the book exchange), got our Mariner cocktails, and went up to the Sky deck (is this the secret deck I've read about?) where the sun was shining on beautiful Amsterdam. Back in our cabin, someone else's luggage was in our room with our room number, so someone is missing their bags! Either that or they decided being in a family cabin means we have to share! The mystery of the other family then got weirder; they were on our steward's list of guests instead of us for our cabin. I keep wondering where they ended up. We made a last minute decision to have dinner in the MDR, and they were even able to get us a table by a window. There were some great fish selections tonight. This was a delicious sea bream. We watched the ship enter the locks leading to the North Sea from the Promenade, which was a cool sight. But we're now delayed due to a medical evacuation in the middle of the locks. We saw the ambulance crew discussing how to get someone off the ship safely when there isn't exactly a dock here, but we never found out what they decided. I overheard someone say that a woman fell and broke her leg. What an awful start to a vacation! Tomorrow we're at sea, then onto Norway!

Oh nice that's great to hear about the storage! And yup we're right by the aft stairs so I'm excited about the location. This was my first time doing a guarantee so I was a little nervous what we'd get but this is all sounding great.

Day 0: Amsterdam This trip is a lot of firsts: first time in Amsterdam and Norway, and first time on the Rotterdam! I was able to use one of HAL's random free cruise offers, and we upgraded to an Oceanview cabin. Just got our cabin assignment last night, and we have one of the family rooms, so that will be new too. My mom and I arrived in Amsterdam yesterday and spent a very jet-lagged day wandering the city and doing a fantastic canal boat tour with Flagship Amsterdam Tours. We're staying at the Banks Mansion based on the recommendation of so many people on Cruise Critic, and it is a wonderful hotel. Well worth the cost. Today was museum day, and we hit the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh. Both were excellent. Dinner was at a Dutch restaurant, the Pantry. Really nice food at good prices. It's super popular though so reservations are advised. Tomorrow we board the Rotterdam!

I agree that the decaf lattes are very good.

I'm not sure if it works for Canadians, but this is the link I used: https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/deals/teacher-appreciation-offer.html

The ginger mango splash mocktail is delicious. I think it's just mango puree and ginger beer.

They had that special historical happy hour for one day on my Koningsdam cruise in June. I saw it on the program but didn't go as I figured it would be super crowded.

We thought Rudi's was outstanding on the Koningsdam. By far the best meal we had on board. But it just depends if it's worth that cost to you. I personally wouldn't do it more than once per cruise even though I loved it.

Did the same itinerary in reverse earlier this summer. We were in a Signature Suite on the cruise, but you get the same hotel rooms as everyone else. Denali offers rooms upgrades but the price is steep ($100 per person per night). Most of the other hotels aren't great, but are clean at least. The Dawson one is rather nice and has a lot of charm.

I've reserved it for my August cruise. I'm looking forward to trying it, even if it ends up being a one-time thing for me.

You can find the Pinnacle Grill menu here (https://rogerjett-photography.com/specialty-2/hal-regular-and-specialty-restaurants/hal-specialty-restaurant-menus/). It shows what is included vs what has an upcharge.

I only have info on the educator OBC, but I'd guess it works the same. I applied for it last spring, after I had already booked two cruises for this year. For a few months, it just sat in my HAL account, but when I took a cruise in May it magically appeared on board and I could use it. It doesn't show anything in my HAL account anymore, and the system won't let me apply for it again (it just gives an error saying I already applied). I doubt another credit will magically appear for my next cruise in August, but if it happens I will be very happy!

I'll add that I also ran into other kinds of notification problems with the app. When I added events to my itinerary, it would push notifications for them even after the event was past. The only way to stop the notifications was to go in and delete the events. My feeling was that HAL has some issues with how they set the app to do notifications that makes it not work right with the phone.

Oh wow, what a cool opportunity!

It only gave a notification maybe 1/4 of the time for me earlier this month. It seemed to only work right if the app was open on my phone at the time a message arrived; then I got a notification. Otherwise, nothing.

The one a couple weeks ago on the Koningsdam has free Dutch appetizers/desserts (I saw three different trays going around) and orange cocktails for sale.

They didn't have my dad's photo even after we boarded. They just told us to go to guest services at some point and get his photo taken. It took no time at all.

I've gotten free stateroom offers from: hollandamerica@em.hollandamerica.com They always mention "Free Stateroom" somewhere in the subject line. I started getting the offers once I had a HAL cruise booked (my previous HAL cruise was 6 years ago).