sierramyst44

December 5 Mardi Gras 2 things going against me on this one. Up after that is March 12 Repo on the Legend from Tampa to Barcelona also a possible no go. 

Update for us we just received a casino offer for the Niew Statendam for a free inside so we will be trying HAL another time it will be interesting to see the difference in class of ships and something that is much more updated and modern. 

I need to make an "edit" of my beginning, the champagne was not as we entered the ship but at the show on the first sea day. Crew was passing out champagne as you entered for the Captains Toast. LOL I knew I got free champagne just listed in in the wrong sequence of events.

It unfortunate that HAL pulled out of Tampa they had been going out for the past 2 years. We asked onboard if their was another ship scheduled to call Tampa home but nobody had heard anything.

In closing the Rotterdam is a very classy ship with mute colors and lots of Asian art. The ship is extremely clean and the crew of this ship is superb they were always smiling and the english language was very good. The ship is small so it is easy to navigate your way around and you hardly ever had to wait for elevators or extreme lines for food. If you are looking for a true classy ship and classy experience then don't hesitate to choose the Rotterdam. If your looking for lively action, lots of music, and lots of activities then it may not be to your taste. We found that we are somewhere in the middle, We had a great time but felt like we preferred a little more of the party atmosphere. This cruise had a good mixture of ages but it was still probably more of an older crowd than the party boats. If you want quiet and relaxation this is the perfect choice.  

I hope you find this review helpful please let me know if you have any questions.

Roatan - Mahogany Bay - this is one of my favorite Western Ports as it has a free beach just a short walk or you can take a sky ride over for $12.00 each for the day this gives you some great views for pictures and saves your feet especially since it was very hot on the day we were their. We rented a clamshell with 2 chairs for $26.00 and had a "fish" pedicure for $20.00 each. The water was very clear and the bottom nice and sandy. Water is still a bit chilly to get in but very refreshing once you get over the initial cold shock. After we took the chair lift back to the shopping area and then back to the ship.

Costa Maya - Another gorgeous day and another nice port very clean and very safe although it has a VERY LONG pier to get to the main port. Their is a couple of swimming pools and a dolphin encounter that had lower prices than Ive seen on other stops. Their was an area you could watch but signs posted said no pics. We had 2 giant ships in port with us so it was very crowded compare crowded to a day at the Magic Kingdom, yes shoulder to shoulder people. They have a neat looking water park that is a shuttle bus away that was designed to look like a Mayan temple we didn't go over but if are traveling with kids it had reasonable rates and looked like fun.

Ports of call:

Key West - we love Key West its an easy port to walk around and it has a lot of restaurants and bars with a lot of unique food and since Key Lime Pie was founded here you can find plenty of that dessert in various forms around town. This trip we had found a Groupon for a 3 hour golf cart rental and thought it might be a fun way to just drive around and enjoy the scenery and architecture. We had pre-arranged a meeting spot at the Museum to get picked up but we should have done more research as the rental company was actually very far away (30-40) minutes and on some fairly congested major roads (A1A) we opted out once we arrived as when we factored in the drive back to the port area and then back again we would have used about 50% of our rental time. I guess the moral of my story is do plenty of research when you opt for non ship sponsored activity's. We ubered back to the port area and did some shopping and people watching before returning to the ship.

Guatemala - My least favorite port as its very industrial and most things I read said not to tour privately since we did not see anything the ship offered that interested us we just walked over to the straw market and walked around their were plenty of vendors selling souvenir and some local entertainment on the stage. They will barter on their pricing so don't be afraid to make a fair offer. As we were walking back to the ship I noticed in the corner a boat tour so I asked about this and it was a 3 hour tour by motor boat for $20.00 PP we were unfortunately too late and the boat departed but it would have been a good value and I thought since it was inside the pier that it would be safe.

TB Continued!

I am going to spend a little bit of time on the Casino as its one reason we were on this ship. We had received a too good to pass up offer through their casino program and was shocked at how small this casino is. They had perhaps 4 card tables and a roulette wheel and maybe 50 slot machines. Fortunately the slots were all in good working order although a bit tight but I think that how most ship casino's are. In my past cruises on casino offers their is usually many activities going on during the week to encourage you to return. The Rotterdam had a nightly snowball raffle and 2 on sea days ( yes I won one of those) otherwise their was a lotto drawing at 11:30 and 1 slot tournament. They had complimentary how too play cards a couple of times and that was it. The casino did send a saucer with 3 small chocolate covered strawberries to out room at the end of the week. The casino staff did not do much to interact with guest other than Ray the host. He was a very pleasant young man and seemed interested in our comments about the casino experience. Gone or missing was no way to earn a free drinks cards but Ray did provide us with a few comp sodas during the week. I think other lines treat their players better HAL did nothing to encourage me to want to come back. My offer at the end of the cruise was a free play to come back and sail before 9/1. No flames please but I save my money before each cruise and I do spend a lot of time in the casino so maybe my expectations were too high or the casino is an after thought since most of their ships sail on much longer cruises so money is spread out over the length of the cruise. In any event I actually broke even on the week and I did enjoy hitting the buttons! They do allow smoking but only on the 15 machines as you walk in. The Costa Maya night was smoke free until midnight. 

Public Areas on the Rotterdam were very impressive the library/game room was very spacious and had a large selection of books and games. Often this area felt busy with many just reading in a comfy chair or playing Chinese Checkers or some of the other game choices. It was right next to the coffee bar and internet cafe so everything felt close. Shopping was limited to a few stores, the large jewelry store, a gift shop and a tiny liquor store. The main showroom was very nice with excellent sightlines, its too bad since their was limited entertainment. They held Bingo I think 2 x during the week and the usual port/shopping talks and held the Main Shows which was 3 nights of comedy, 2 Jukebox singing shows and 1 Planet Earth movie. The movie theatre doubled as the test kitchen with David Burke onboard his presentation was standing room only and only offered once. The pool area never felt crowded even though we had superb weather the entire week. Always a lounger available and plenty of room in the pool for a dip. The back area I think is supposed to be like a serenity area with basically a wading pool a hot tub and some loungers. This is also the 1 and only smoking area on the ship. The Crows nest up on the top deck hosted a Mardi Gras Party on Fat Tuesday and I think a Karaoke night other than that their were no other "parties" 

No USB ports on this ship we used an extension cord for hubby's C-Pap machine and used a 2 outlet, 2 USB plug in off the extension cord. It worked fine for us. The in room hair dryer also worked fine and plugged into the 2 prong European plug

Cabinluvn it was on trays as we entered the ship their were crew members on both sides and servers in front of us as we entered.

We chose anytime dining but it was still recommended to make a reservation. We found this a bit confusing nor make sense but we did as asked however when we would call and ask for the same table it always seemed to be "not available" We made our reservation for the same time each night 5:15 and would be in line at 5:10 so if you made a reservation and requested a certain table and maybe their was at most 30 people in line why would the requested table be gone? We have done anytime dining in the past and never did it require a reservation. Presentation of the food was superb and taste was good. I found the menu selections to not be to my taste as it was a bit fancy for simple me. Dessert was much better than other lines but it repeated several times during the week. Dining room gets a B PLUS although our server was excellent.

Other Dining Venues for no charge included the burger place which had odd hours 12:00 to 5:00 in front they had a full bar to make tacos, burritos ect. Burgers, Hot Dog and a chicken sandwich was offered with excellent fries. The burger was good but I prefer Guys. Pizza was available as well with very short hours I believe 11-8 the pies were good I just wish they were open longer  as I enjoy a late night snack while cruising. Ice cream was served in a cone or bowl and offered chocolate, vanilla, and usually 2 other flavors of the day. Soft serve machine seemed to always be not working properly the entire week. Ice cream was only available when the buffet was open. 

One disappointment was the Lido buffet had bizarre hours like the other venues, breakfast was typically 7:30-10:00, then lunch 11:30-2:00 and dinner 5:30-9 and then a small section would open at 10:30-11:30 of interest was this was the time people are looking for munchie type of snacks like burger, hot dog, fries, chicken fingers ect they carried full course meal and one sandwich which for several days was lamb.  Room service was available 24 hours and only a select few things had a surcharge. I heard many comments especially on port days about Lido being closed for those coming back after excursions.

Food quality was good, food choices were usually good except for the "munchie" choices but hours of operation gives the Lido an overall B 

More to follow tomorrow!

We had a Vista Suite which is a fancy name for a balcony cabin although it was nice to have a jetted tub and a sofa for watching tv the cabin still felt tight with a narrow entry hall appointed with plenty of closet space and shelves for storage then the bed area which was also tight to walk in front of the bed. To put the space in perspective you could fit a large suitcase sideways in front so you had to roll bags not pull. Our room steward was awesome and attentive to our initial request and kept us neat and tidy the entire week. The area in front of the balcony had the traditional desk area with 9 storage drawers and a very small screen tv that swiveled slightly so you could watch from bed. They did have several news stations, Holland sponsored stations and played first run movies daily. It took me 3 days to watch the Avengers in full and 2 days to see Bohemian Rhapsody. Darn those afternoon naps! Their was also a full size sofa which was a nice feature as it felt more like home. Two large beach towels were on the bed for our use for the week as well as 2 robes, a pair of binoculars, umbrella, and 2 lap blankets. The bathroom came with Elemis products with Shower Gel, Shampoo and Conditioner mounted on the wall in the shower and lotion, soap and shower cap on the vanity. Plenty of room to dry off and dress. The bath area was much larger than other lines we have been on so it was a nice surprise. Pillows and linens felt of good quality and although its advertised that you can choose your pillow I believe we had one of each, hard, medium and soft. The balcony had 2 chairs an ottoman, and small round table we had the coffee table that was in front of the couch outside to give us more space inside. So far so good A PLUS for the cabin and embarkation process.

We chose this cruise and ship based on pricing and ease of getting to the port as it was a short 90 minute drive for us. We parked at Parkway through groupon which was a easy location to find and the crew working the parking was very efficient. We got dropped off in the "luggage zone" around 11:45 and made our way into the check in area. We were pleasantly surprised that the lines were practically non existent and passed through quickly arriving at the check in counter and on our way to board the ship in under 15 minutes.

First impression was as expected, we knew the Rotterdam was an older and small ship and had done research ahead of time. You board on the 4th deck so you do not walk right into the grand atrium which is on deck 5 so basically you walk on and offered a champagne glass and directed to the Lido for lunch or since our room was ready we could go and drop off our carry on and head to lunch. Big surprise as typically we usually waited until 1:30 for room access. First impression was great! We ate our first lunch and was not disappointed the buffet has numerous stations and numerous options. Most of the main stations you are served by a crew member with stations like fruits, dessert and pre made sandwiches as help yourself. 

We were on the Fascination last September during Irma and Maria B2B and had a smooth trip both weeks. The captain did a great job dodging rough seas and bad weather. We had such a great time we are going again on 9/23

Final Thoughts:

I know a lot of people enjoy BTB and I can cross it off my bucket list now that I have done one. I probably would not book one on purpose unless it was a journey type cruise that had something different for each day. Having 2 weeks with the same menu's, same entertainment took a little bit of the excitement out of the second week.

The Fascination was a great ship we thoroughly enjoyed sailing on her and did not find one crew member that didn't love their jobs. It showed on their smiles and their desire to make our vacation the best vacation ever. I would not hesitate to sail on her again however unless she is moved to Florida probably will not do something that requires air fare.

If anyone has any specific questions I will be happy to answer if I can. Enjoy your next cruise!!

We chatted with other's that had cancelled flights but it seems that those that had planned a post nite in San Juan did not have their flight impacted from those flying into or through Florida on debarkation day. The process during a BTB was a bit disjointed we were told to meet in the lobby at 9:45 then we were asked to wait with a group of Barbados customers looking to exit the ship for their shore day/excursions. Finally around 10:45 we were led down the walkway through customs and then back on the ship. Not sure why that process was necessary as we walked around customs not through it but apparently they have to show the ship as "zero" and thats the only way to do it. It seemed kind of unusual since the ship would not be at zero since anybody who got on in Barbados was met required to exit and come on again. At this point we went to our new room to unpack and then go off to Old San Juan for some exploring. We returned back to the ship and inquired about the possibility of an upgrade as the airports were closed in Florida their would I assumed be a lot of cancelations we were told we had to wait until 10:00 pm to determine what upgrades if any were available. The next day we were moved down the hall to a balcony!! Again kind of a messed up transition but after moving our stuff ourselves got resettled in and enjoyed the sea day. The itinerary was changed due to the loss of St Thomas and St Martin so our sea day was first and we gained Antigua and Dominica which was nice for us as it was 2 new ports to explore.

Antigua - we just port shopped nice port area, nice people not too aggressive and since we were only about a half full ship the port area never felt crowded. I couldn't help but feel bad as they had rolled out the red carpet for us including some local entertainment on the pier and taxi drivers trying to find a fare. Their is a small casino to the left at the end of the pier if you want a diversion from the heat.

Dominica - we loved this port we took an excursion titled "easy Dominica and waterfall" I have a bad knee and DH has a bad ankle to so thought this would work for us. Not so much the Botanical gardens were nice but required a bit of walking on up inclines of grass and tree roots. The waterfall was small but the ride up was interesting through the lush rainforest it is an easy walk to see the fall from above but a hefty amount of stairs to go to the bottom to see the emerald pool the water drops into. They had a free sample of fruit and some VERY strong rum punch. Our tour guide was lovely and obviously loves her country and her job. I do hope her and her family did okay after Maria went through.

Day 6 - Sea Day

This was supposed to be our St Maartin stop but Irma had other plans and we were informed of the port conditions late last night and that today would be a sea day. Irma was now affecting Peurto Rico but appeared to not be a direct hit. This was also the day we got an email from Southwest that our flight Sunday from San Juan to Orlando had been cancelled. So now we are wondering what do we do?? Carnival opened up the phone lines for us to use to make alternate arrangements so after 45 minutes on the phone with Southwest the bottom line was a 1 week delay for a flight back to Orlando so now we have to decide do we get off on Sunday as planned and stay in PR for a week or do we try and stay on the ship and do the cruise again for the week. Financially it made better sense to stay on the ship so our next call was to Carnival and try and book the next week. Since their were already cancelations due to Florida's airports closed for the weekend we knew the ship would have space but at what price?? After explaining our predicament to the carnival operator she was able to book us on the same level but a different room but the kicker was we were being charged rack rate, no discount and last minute pricing higher than what we booked the current cruise on. Oh well we were stuck and had not many options. We then contacted our employers and explained that we were stranded and would not be returning to work as planned. Thankfully they were both understanding and more concerned with us staying safe.

Day 5 - St Kitts

Another perfect day another beautiful island. St Kitts had not escaped Irma's wrath although escaped relatively easy fortunately for us the pier area is also the main shopping area and as we were arriving they were still trying to prepare the stores to open. Many were still boarded up. We loved this port set up as the store fronts are very colorful and everything you could want is right their. Be careful with the men with the monkeys they are quick to put them on you offer to take your pictures and then ask you for $20.00 yikes I handed him $5.00 and said thank you. The monkeys are perfectly tame and are wearing little mini diapers so if you have kids you would probably enjoy this interaction just negotiate your price before hand. We shopped, stopped at the bar for wifi and had a cocktail. Their is a casino next to the bar but it was very dark inside.

Day 4 - St Lucia

This cruise was actually pretty surreal, we knew that Hurricane Irma was above us reeking havoc and causing tremendous damage but we were below and enjoying beautiful weather and strangely calm seas. We arrived in St. Lucia bright and early to another beautiful day. As this was our first time here we had decided on another private island tour so we walked off the ship in search of a tour. We opted to join another couple on a tour that promised sightseeing, a botanical garden and some beach time. Our first stop was a mountaintop view that has a great view of the bay and the ship however once you step off the taxi van you are attacked by many many many locals trying to sell you their jewelry. I found the pure #'s of vendors and trying to squeeze through to the viewing area to be intimidating and uncomfortable. The botanical garden was a walk through along a bumpy, rooty, path where the ladies point out local flora/fauna and talk about the old island life and how they lived it was interesting and they give you some samples of local fruits to eat at a couple of stops. The walk is short but tough if you have any mobility issues they do hand you a walking stick to begin the tour.

Our next stop was a beach alongside the airport near the cruise terminal it was a nice clean beach with a bar where you could get drinks and food. Their are a few chair/umbrella rentals at $5.00 each for lounger and $5.00 for umbrella. Our driver asked how long we wanted to stay and was back to pick us up at the exact time. Total tour time was about 3.5 hours. Did a little pier shopping and headed back to ship.

We had both but I believe the chat feature through the hub is still $5.00 extra. With the wifi package we were able to just use our regular text messaging. The Wifi is per unit so unless you purchase 2 separate wifi packages you will not be able to communicate unless the hub chat is activated with the $5.00 fee for each unit.

Ship Activities/Shows/Entertainment

Being a port intensive itinerary you may find the morning activities to be a little lacking. Afternoons were filled with a variety of trivia, giant size Hasbro games and all the typical outdoor activities, Ping Pong, Mini Golf, Main Pool, 2 Jacuzzie's, smallish water park for the kids. The Serenity area is nice but no pool and 1 jacuzzi. All stores and casino's are closed while in port. The evening entertainment had a production show which were just okay although I did enjoy the Motown show. Another night had a juggler/comedian and he also performed in the atrium and giving juggling lessons. Hasbro game show is fun, Love and Marriage and the Quest done one night traditional and one night Latin. Comedy show were at least 1 family version per evening and 2 or 3 adult shows late night. Karaoke each night and a couple of clubs that had late night dancing. Ice carving demo, towel animal demo, hairy chest and all the other cruise traditions were on the fun times with locations and times.

One new thing we enjoyed was the carnival hub app. Download the app on your phone before your cruise and when you get onboard you complete the process. This gives you all the activities, weather, dinner menu's, and port information if you "favorite" shows or activities you want then a text will pop up on your phone as a reminder. This has NO charge to use and works off the Wifi system and does not use your data as you are in airplane mode. If you have multiple family members you can enable a chat feature for $5.00 each phone.

Internet has improved dramatically we bought the deluxe internet for 1 and we were able to share by logging off and then logging in. Its pretty smart it will tell you that its already being used and did you want to log off the user and switch to you. Pricey for the 7 days it was $123.00 but we needed to keep in touch with our family and get updates on Irma as it was approaching Florida. We found that all the common areas got you a good strong signal, in the cabins it was so so and on the balcony it was frustrating as it would go off and on.

Day 3 Barbados

We arrived in Barbados to another beautiful day. We had already decided that we would hire a cab and get a "local" tour which we have done on other islands without issue. We had a choice to go private for $45.00 each or with a group for $35.00 we opted for private as its a more comfortable ride and you have more flexibility in what you see or how long you spend. He first brought us to a church which was billed as the oldest church in the islands we opted not to stop and look inside. We then continued driving while he pointed out local points of interest including a drive by of Rihanna's home, pretty huge and of course on the water! At this point it was pouring out and made it difficult to see things however our next stop was to the top of the island for a million dollar view. When we arrived at the top it had stopped raining but you could see the rain bands surrounding the outside of the island and therefore not much of a view. To our delight it started to clear and we were able to get our pictures. This stop had a small bar and a couple of souvenir tables and a monkey you could pet. Their was also clean restrooms. Our next stop was a small beach with a nice beach bar we were able to sit on a bench overlooking the water and enjoy a cocktail and watch the crabs scramble along the rocks. Very pretty little place and not a normal tourist beach. We concluded our tour with some more points of interest and was returned back to the pier in 3 hours. This was the perfect amount of time for us. We spent some time port shopping before returning to the ship for our daily afternoon nap

Day 2 - Fun Day at Sea

We both love the casino so since we spent a lot of time here on our sea day I can answer any questions you may have. The casino is not very large but only felt crowded after 8pm until about midnight. They had most of the popular slots including the baby's and buffalo's and quite a few card tables, roulette, craps and a texas hold em. The casino host is Marisol she was a sweetheart always checking in with us to see if we needed anything. It takes 1500 points to get a drinks on us card which gives you free drinks for the cruise I had mine before dinner so not that hard to get if you like a casino. The casino had several $$ giveaways each evening but they were always late between 10-12 I won $50.00 on a spin the wheel week 1 and $50.00 on the hot seat promo night. Week one had a lot of heavy gamblers with several big jackpots won ( one was for 16K on a poker machine). While you can drink in the casino food is not allowed. It is also 1 of 2 designated smoking areas and only 1 small section along the cage wall that was designated non smoking. We were comped a bottle of wine and a steakhouse selection during the week based on our play and we each received a bounce back cruise. These bounce back cruises are tough to book though you only have 2 weeks to book and although the paper says you have till March to go the only dates that show are through Dec.

Day 3 tomorrow Barbados!!