Trish Traveler

Con’t. HALF MOON CAY Monday 2/26 8AM-5PM Tender Port Although you could take the shuttle back, we enjoyed walking back to the area where the lunch would be served 11am-1pm. The set-up for the BBQ lunch buffet is good here. There are several identical islands for the offerings of salads, meats, and desserts. I took some pictures of the menus, but not much of the food other than the tasty key lime cupcakes. They also had ice cream for dessert. And I believe they had water, lemonade and ice tea included. There are lots of shaded picnic tables. We tried a variety of items and it was all very good, especially the Jerk Chicken Breast. There is a bar nearby also. Time for relaxing in a beach chair. We were also in port today with the Nieuw Statendam who arrived a little later than us. By this time most of the closest loungers were taken, but if you walk further you can probably get lucky and find something like we did. This is an ideal beach day on a perfect beach. Ahh…we were even able enjoy a Bahmaian Kalik beer purchased from the shipwreck bar nearby.

Con’t. HALF MOON CAY Monday 2/26 8AM-5PM Tender Port The shuttle took us to the area for the Stingray Adventure. It is on the lagoon area of the island where the stingrays are in a penned in area of the water. The gals running it were great. They gave us instructions and provided safety vests, snorkel gear if wanted and unlocked lockers for your gear. You enter the water by a staircase and the water is about waist deep for the main part where you are with the stingrays, and gets deeper further out. The water was a bit cold at first as the Bahamas are fairly north and Florida was having a coolish winter so the Bahamas water was also still pretty cool. You could see the stingrays, about 5 or 6 I’d say swimming in the water right away. You don’t really need snorkel gear as there wasn’t that much to see in this spot. I saw a school of small white fish. After enjoying the area for a bit, the gals had us form a circle to touch and feed the stingrays a piece of fish. It’s been a long time since I did a stingray encounter, so it was a delight to feel there soft bodies swim next to you. So cute with their big eyes and graceful movements. We also got to learn about and hold a live conch in its shell, sea cucumber, and starfish which needed to stay underwater to breath. There was a HAL photographer of course if you want to purchase those on the ship. Total time was about one hour from the start of the shuttle ride. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it for the price (although I was using some HIA excursion credit). Don’t forget to bring some cash if you want to tip the guides. While chatting with the gals, we learned most of them live on Eleuthera and have a one hour each way boat ride to work on HMC.

HALF MOON CAY Monday 2/26 8AM-5PM Tender Port We were awakened by the knock on the door with our room service order. The tray was huge stacked with all these dishes, as I soon realized my mistake – that I had ordered double of everything by indicating there were two people dining, when in my mind, we planned on sharing one set of all our choices marked with an X. Oh well, it was delicious. Just hard to find a place to set everything in an inside cabin. I always feel very bougie eating room service presented so lovely. The bow cam on the TV showed a nice day outside. We prepared all our stuff (HAL provides beach towels in your cabin to take ashore) and put on sunscreen so we would be ready if we did indeed get to go to Half Moon Cay. We headed down to BB Kings where you need to be ready to go and check in for a tender #. We were cleared right about 8am and set off to the tender. Yippee! We love exploring new places like this, so we spent the quiet early morning walking and exploring the grounds and beach areas. There’s a pretty little church, playground, shipwreck bar, walking trails and lots of pretty flowers and foliage to enjoy. It’s really gorgeous here, with amazing white sand and azure seas. I had a 10am HAL Stingray Adventure booked, so I needed to meet by the main entrance area kiosk for a shuttle to the Stingray enclosure. Although the drink package does not include drinks at HMC, I took a photo of the menu at the first bar near the entrance so you have an idea of the offerings.

Thank you. It will take me a while to complete posting. I don't use the internet that much, but it seemed fine to me. Love the offerings at Grand Dutch Cafe and plenty of great entertainment I will cover in the posts to come.

Con’t. CRUISE DAY - EMBARKATION Sunday 2/25 After checking in at our muster station, we headed up to the Lido Market Buffet for a few lunch snacks. As expected on embarkation day, it was quite busy, so I didn’t get many pictures here. We enjoyed sitting out by the aft pool area and I got a delicious mocktail: Cool as a Cucumber from the Sea View Bar. We spent some time exploring and getting re-aquainted with the ship before sailaway. It was a beautiful day in Port Everglades. Our docking space here was interesting as we were horizontal and the RCCL Odyssey of the Seas was vertical to the left of us and the Celebrity Ascent vertical to the right of us. So like a squared off letter U with us being the bottom of the U. Anyway, it made for an interesting departure as we first had to slide out sideways before angling forward to depart. After Sailaway, we headed to the Grand Dutch Café on deck 3 for some coffee and snacks. I love the offerings here. We loved the beautifully presented Triple Berry Pannenkoek (crepe) and for savory snacks: the Bitterballen and Vlammetjes (spicy mini spring rolls). So delicious. I just wish some of these items would be served daily before 11:30am as they would make great breakfast choices. We did a bit more walking outside here on the Promanade deck which is great as it goes all the way around the ship. It just lacks any real seating areas other than an occasional bench, as it is narrow. But still a plus, especially when staying in an inside cabin, so we can pop outside easily when needed for views and fresh air. We had a beautiful sunset to enjoy before listening to a little music on the Music Walk. We had already seen the Origins Show on our last cruise, so we skipped it this time, although I highly recommend it as a fascinating look at Holland America’s history. Back to the cabin to unpack and turn in. We placed a hanger card on our doorknob to order room service for breakfast. Fingers crossed for HMC tomorrow.

Another wonderful cruise on the HAL Rotterdam! This was the 12 night Panama Canal (partial transit) Sunfarer, February 25 through March 8, 2024. Roundtrip Ft. Lauderdale to Half Moon Cay, Curacao, Cartagena Colombia, Panama Canal/Colon, Puerto Limon Costa Rica, and Grand Cayman. This review is a couple of weeks post-cruise. This was our 24th cruise overall on 6 cruise lines. This was our 2nd time on HAL and on the Rotterdam, which we sailed for the first time back in September 2023 on a Norway Cruise out of Amsterdam, which we loved. We were originally booked for a while under the $1 deposit sale, but right before final payment was due, we saw that the Monday Cyber Sale offered in November was a better price because the HIA included the gratuities also. After learning they couldn’t reprice it from customer service, I decided to cancel and then rebook as inside cabins were still available. That worked great, and we also had the new AARP OBC applied. This review also serves as my personal memoir so it is detailed. However, I won’t include all 2500 amateur photos I took! And I apologize in advance for any blurry, crooked menu pics as I snap those quickly, so as not to be obnoxious. And excuse my run-on sentences. Below is a photo of Rotterdam in Costa Rica later in the cruise. Having never been to the Panama Canal, we were very excited, but also concerned that the low water levels currently might impact the ability to transit the canal, which we would totally understand if that happened. To prepare we read The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal by David McCullough and Panama Fever by Matthew Parker. Also watched a documentary DVD - Panama Canal: Gateway to the American Century. We flew in one day prior arriving early evening and once again stayed at the Hyatt Place Ft. Lauderdale Cruise Port (1851 SE 10th Ave) with the discount price through ValueTrips online. Wow, during my hotel research I found prices are sure high in Ft. Lauderdale in February (high season), plus being a Saturday night. But we just factor that in because we just feel more comfortable flying in at minimum the day before. We used the Avanti shuttle service from the airport to the hotel for $8pp. The airport was crowded, but we only had to wait about 5 minutes after calling for the shuttle. Check in was easy. The staff there is always so nice and professional. We also signed up with the hotel for the 10am shuttle to the cruise port, which is also provided by Avanti for $9pp. The hotel had one of two elevators not operating due to “renovations”. I forgot to take pictures of the room, but it was identical to what we had last year, and shown on their website. Overall, it is clean and comfortable. The only glaring exception is the big fabric couch in the room had several large stains. I mentioned this to the front desk and they said they should be replacing the couches within the year. We weren’t using that anyway. As it was already evening, we were really hungry and walked over to the nearby shopping center where we had a nice Tex-Mex meal at La Bomba while sitting outside on their patio. There are several other restaurants located here as well as a Publix and Total Wine, and a TJ Maxx. Back to the hotel for an early bedtime in anticipation of “CRUISE DAY!” CRUISE DAY - EMBARKATION Sunday, 2/25 Up early for the included Hyatt breakfast in the lobby. It was sunny, but brisk for Florida, with the temperatures in the 50’s this morning. We took a walk to enjoy the day and heard some squawking and looked up to see what I believe were Monk Parakeets/Parrots. Seeing these brilliant green birds and green foliage all around puts us in a tropical mood. After packing up, we went to the lobby early in case the one elevator became a problem. It was okay for us, but probably got crowded later. We had also received an email earlier in the week from HAL indicating that traffic in the port area would be heavier this weekend, so allow more time. So we felt taking the earliest shuttle at 10am was a good idea, especially since sail away was 3PM. The shuttle ($9pp) worked great. Arriving at the terminal, we were able to go right in for check-in and security before we were seated in Group 3. We were on the ship by about 11:30am. Cabins were not ready yet, so we headed up to the Crows Nest forward on Deck 12 to check on some shore excursion waitlists. It was nice and empty up here and we had our first drink, (Negroni for me, and rum rocks for my pirate DH) enjoying the amazing views, while we waited for the Shorex to open. We chatted with a nice B2B woman who said they had missed HMC the day before due to wave conditions. We know this can happen with tender ports, but we were hopeful we would make it tomorrow as having never visited; we were excited for the chance to visit this new port for us at HAL’s private island. Time to head down to the cabin to drop carry-ons, watch the safety briefing on TV, and check out the first “Daily” to plan our day (I bring a highlighter for these). We stayed in an inside cabin aft on Schubert Deck 7 – 7153. It was very nice and clean with lots of storage, nice bathroom with the best shower with glass door. Of course, after staying in a Balcony cabin last time, this inside cabin did look small initially. I think what we missed the most was having no area (like a couch) to pile our extra items to get ready for port days i.e. backpacks, snorkeling gear etc. The closets had plenty of hangars, but can be a little awkward to navigate at times, right across from the bathroom. The vanity was nice and wide, but the large heavy cube ottoman was difficult to easily pull in and out (it is extra heavy because it serves as storage for extra bed linens). The bed was very comfortable with a nice large flat screen TV facing it. Plenty of TV stations and movies, but what we used the most was the bow and aft webcams which gives us the illusion of a “window” on an inside cabin. The bedside table area has good lighting and electric and USB plug-ins on both sides of the bed. The vanity also had plenty of plug-ins. The blow dryer provided is fine for me as I don’t want to waste space/weight packing those anymore. Just takes longer to dry hair than at home. One thing I found amusing is the “Gift” card which explains our beverage package… I don’t consider that a gift as I believe I am paying for that in the HIA rate I chose! We did however receive two nice canvas Hal tote bags again as a gift. We also met our Room Stewards Vincen and Wayan who were friendly and did a great job attending to our cabin needs all cruise!

Thanks for the link.

Thanks for the info.

Thanks for posting. That looks wonderful.

Saw that an afternoon Indonesian Tea Time is offered on my upcoming Rotterdam cruise. Sounds intriguing.🤗 How is it different from HAL's standard tea time?

Thanks for posting. That all looks amazing.

Thanks everyone for some great suggestions. I'm really looking forward to it now!

This will be our first time dining in Tamarind on the Rotterdam later this month. What are your favorite menu items? Are you allowed to have more than one starter, or do you have to pay extra if you have more than one? We also plan on trying some of the unique cocktails they offer there 👍

Well, we didn't visit any of those ports, but at least you can see some ship info. Although it seems that most of the Norway ports are gorgeous and offer a variety of things to enjoy. We visited Eidfjord, Alsesund, Geiranger, and Bergen. Have a great cruise!

We did the HAL Rotterdam Norse Legends itinerary last September and loved it! It was our first time on HAL. You can look at my review for some info on the ship. Not sure what cruise ports the Viking Sagas covers- it may include some that we did. In any case, you can see some info about the ship. We sailed roundtrip from Amsterdam.

I should be doing a cruise review after the cruise, as usual. I don't ever report live from the ship. Hope you're feeling better soon.

Oh gosh, I realized I never got back to respond on this thread. Glad you all enjoyed a trip down memory lane!

Thanks Norris for the wonderful review. Thanks for taking the time to edit and post as you weren't feeling well. Hope you and Carol are feeling better now. We are looking forward to getting back on the Rotterdam for a partial Panama Canal transit in a few weeks. Loved your photos!

Thanks for more great suggestions!

Thanks for all the great ideas. We are planning for fall of 2024.

Thanks for the info.

Advice Needed: I found the airfare to be cheaper on the website, but when I click for seats it won't let me choose like I was able to the first time. I see that one of my flights doesn't have my choice in coach seats. I don't want to lose the original seats I requested with EZAir on AA. I didn't go through with the change at this time. I used the Princess CHAT feature and the agent told me that they have to cancel and rebook flight, so no guarantee of same seat requests. Has anyone had this issue? Should I try calling Princess or an I out of luck with retaining seat assignments while repricing to lower fare?

I'm not the OP, but I have Dora reserved for a date in February. Her email said $80 per person in USD, payable at the end of the tour.

Loving your review and most excellent photos, as usual! Hope you are feeling better and that Carol might escape getting the virus. Take care of yourselves.

Great reviews of the ports. Very helpful info. Thanks for posting!