kdakda

It is such a pleasure to pack less, and Holland does an excellent job with laundry. We recommend it highly.

Excellent information!!!! Thanks!

We've eaten in the Club Orange dining room on Rotterdam and Koningsdam and enjoyed it very much. It's open seating, with no reservations, BUT there was definitely a "busy time", which seemed to vary for each sailing, depending on the preferences of those passengers. (and, as in the MDR, the first night may be more crowded). We prefer to eat later and never had to wait if arriving at 7:30 or later. We were told that the busy time on the Thanksgiving Rotterdam cruise was 5:30-6:30. I usually ate breakfast within the first 1/2 hour it was open and never waited. There was never many others there. Highly recommend it for breakfast, since the food is cooked right there and comes out quick and hot. Yes, you can also eat in the MDR, but we never did, so don't know about that. We enjoyed the quiet CO dining room, although I didn't think it was particularly attractive.

Could use our cards for any beverage under $11 on the Rotterdam last month. This included non-alcoholic.

There was also a 10 oz strip steak and French Onion soup. We noticed last month that the entree "standards" did change a bit from night to night, but one server told us that any of them were available, if we requested..

I forgot to add that there were 2 additional large bottles of water in the room that could be purchased, as well as a can of water and a small bottle of Perrier in the mini-bar that could be purchased. (mini-bar purchases are not included in the beverage package on Holland)

There were no complimentary bottles or cans of water provided on our Rotterdam cruise last month, with the exception of the one large bottle provided on day 1. (there was also a complimentary bottle of champagne, which we traded in for another large bottle of water). There were cans of water in the Neptune Lounge that could be purchased, or taken if someone had the beverage package.

Wow!!!! I'd be disappointed, too. We were on the Rotterdam for 10 days last month and enjoyed a light lunch several days from the Neptune Lounge (it helped that we were only 2 doors down, so it was SO convenient). Lots of fruit, whole and cut up, 3 kinds of small sandwiches at lunch (tomato/mozz, veggie, and ham or prosciutto), shrimp cocktail at least 4 of the days (wasn't there every day to see), cold cuts and cheese, cookies, custard. I did miss the delicious macarons we had pre-COVID. I can't even remember seeing pretzels/chips/nuts, but wasn't really looking for anything in the late afternoon or early eve, so didn't notice. Oh, yes, there was pita chips with delicious hummus and baba ganoush and raw veggies.

This was our experience a few weeks ago on the Rotterdam. One side of the buffet closed, but much of the other side was open. We found many choices we enjoyed when eating at 2:30. On the other hand, the Late Night Snacks were very meager, but New York Pizza was great

The Rotterdam has a very nice library on deck 2, stocked with a variety of books that you take and return. There's also an area where you can Leave a Book/Take a Book, and I left a couple paperbacks I'd brought. Puzzles were there and a few chairs (with lap robes) that looked out at the water.

Thanks for the tips! We're on a 10 night Rotterdam cruise, and I've only seen a few kids around........ but I only do pools in the morning. We had a very good Thanksgiving dinner. The plate was full (LOTS of tasty turkey), but it's true that there was the tiniest scoop of mashed potatoes and dressing. But also sweet potato, Brussels sprouts, carrots/green beans, and I think something else. Many many staff wished us Happy Thanksgiving, all day long. There was cold soup 🙂 I agree, the price of spa treatments is ridiculous, and I only did a massage because there was a $70 off coupon which brought the 50 minute Swedish massage with special oil down to only $163, with gratuity. A real bargain. And it wasn't a great massage, but I did enjoy most of it.

The name on the dryer is proVersa (made in Texas). It comes with special plug that can only. be used in a special outlet (in my case, it's outside the bathroom, but is by a mirror). It seems pretty simple, but does come with the cone to direct the airflow. The lower speed is only medium heat, and the higher speed is hot. It took me 10" to do my shorter hair (5 inches on top) this morning, and that was 30" after I showered.

Holland has always done a phenomenal job with our laundry, and it's true that you can stuff a lot into the bag. It's a cloth bag, so it doesn't rip (like some other cruise lines). Roll the clothes tightly and stuff them down into the bag. There's a drawstring, so nothing will fall out.

Thanks so much for the info. We hope to be on the Rotterdam soon and I'll be sure to see this show.

We just got our boarding time assigned 13 days before the cruise.

What about the "Eligible Criteria: Due to USCBP regulations, you must be able to disembark at 7:30 am." ????? We love to have our luggage handled for us, but have no desire or reason to disembark at 7:30.

I haven't read anyone else post about this either, which is disappointing. We love Holland, but don't feel they deliver that much for the price of a Neptune Suite.

Did this this "complimentary drinks test" get implemented fleet-wide???? (see below) This was posted several months ago: "We are on Oosterdam right now; this is our first cruise since covid. We were quite surprised to find out there are complimentary drinks in the Neptune lounge for a couple hours every evening (not just on the first night of the cruise). There is a decent selection of wines, liquors, beers, and soft drinks."

It's also not automatic that you can add the HIA package to a cruise that is booked. We're past the final payment date and when I tried to add HIA for $50 pp/pd it repeatedly (I've tried dozens of times) gives the message that "sorry, but HIA can't be added to your cruise".

If I'm reading the "offer" correctly, the Neptune Suite is SQ/SC. Check out where those are --- looks like the forward most cabins on decks 10 and 11. (I could be wrong about this --- not always good at reading the deck charts). I love a Neptune Suite, but not sure I'd take those locations at that price.

Yes, the crew appreciation fees add up. They're posted to your account daily, so if you have OBC that isn't used for other purchases, that will be used toward this at the end of the cruise.

We use a lot of ice for soda and water and always request AM and PM ice.............. it's almost silly to see the tiny little ice buckets provided on the ships we've been on. We splurged on a Neptune Suite upsell a couple years ago and were given TWO of the tiny little ice buckets. 🙂

The Lido, if cruising with friends, but probably Dive-In if just the two of us (or a little of both 😇)

Hmmmm..... never had any water replaced and would have loved that (last cruise was January, just before COVID). The Suite concierge substituted additional water for the champagne we traded in. The little snacks available in the lounge were so convenient and tasty ---- especially the macarons. And Holland America does such an EXCEPTIONAL job on laundry, which will be complimentary. We send laundry out daily and pack much less. We're "balcony people", so really loved the big balcony, with large table and chairs. It was so nice to eat out there when we ordered room service, or dinner delivered to the room. There was a post last week that one of the ships was piloting a new perk of including complimentary soda (and some alcohol drinks) in the Neptune Lounge. I'd really love to see that. I plan to take advantage of the special coffee in the lounge on our next cruise. You might enjoy the complimentary mimosas at breakfast.

Sounds like an excellent plan that will bring Holland more in sync with other cruise lines. This wouldn't affect us .......... we'd love to see complimentary soft drinks and water. Edited: Just re-read the original post and see that soft drinks were included, too. Fantastic!