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Photo Review! Our Family's Spring Break Aboard the Rotterdam!


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Hello all!

 

We recently returned from 7 nights on the beautiful Rotterdam! I thought it might be helpful to write a review on our experience with a little bit about the ports and the ship.

 

I've written previous reviews here on CruiseCritic, but unfortunately, they now appear without photos due to the astronomical pricing Photo Bucket decided to implement. I will attempt to use a different photo hosting site this time around, so please let me know if you can't see the pictures.

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A little about us...We are a family of 4 with two young children (ages 2 and 8). This was my 23rd cruise (!). I guess that officially makes me a cruise junkie. My son apparently has inherited my genes, since he decided to make a list of cruises he has been on one night during dinner...This was his 12th. I guess my graduation gift to him will be that he has platinum status on a few cruise lines.This was my daughter's 4th cruise, and she loved it. In fact, on the final day when I was rolling the suitcase out the door she started crying, "more cruise momma!!!". My husband loves cruising too, although he's less of a junkie compared to the rest of us.

 

About the itinerary...We left Tampa on Sunday, April 1st and our ports of call inluded: Key West, Mahogany Bay (Roatan, Honduras), Santo Tomas de Castilla, Guatemala and Costa Maya, Mexico.

 

More to come!

Edited by sailawaybellaluna
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A little about why we chose this specific cruise...

 

We've sailed mainly with Royal Caribbean and Carnival, so this was our family's first experience with Holland America. Previously, my husband and I had done a one-night repositioning cruise with Holland America from Seattle to Vancouver. It's difficult to judge a cruiseline based on only one night, but we thought the ship and service was excellent.

 

Now it seems most people that sail on HAL are a bit older than us. :p I'm sure part of this is probably due to the fact that it's a bit more expensive than the other cruiselines we typically sail, and has fewer activities geared towards children.

 

Our kids usually hang out with us onboard, we've never used the children's clubs. So, that's wasn't particularly an issue for us. I really liked the ports of call on this itinerary - we'd been to Key West before but the rest of the ports were new for us. And my husband is from Guatemala, so while we've been there before, we'd never visited the Eastern coast of the country.

 

Probably the final deciding factor in choosing this cruise was the cost. We got an amazing deal over Spring Break (which happened to coincide with the Easter holidays), so we went for it. We were quite excited to try a new cruiseline. Carnival can be a bit too chaotic for us over the school holidays, and the menus and such had become so predictable that we were excited to try something new.

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We flew into Tampa the night before our cruise. While I've sailed from Fort Lauderdale and Miami several times, this was my first experience of sailing out of Tampa. I learned that flying from Southern California to Tampa is not easy or cheap! There are no direct flights and it was quite expensive, so we took a risk and booked tickets on Spirit Airways (more on that later).

 

Thankfully we arrived on time and were able to quickly grab a taxi to the Westin Tampa Waterside. We scored this hotel on Priceline for $122 and had no complaints.

 

The hotel does offer a free shuttle to the Port of Tampa, however it doesn't leave until 12:30pm or 1pm.

 

Now for me, I love getting onboard the ship as early as possible and I knew there was no way I could handle waiting at the hotel until 1pm! So we called an Uber and made our way there around 11:30am...

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Looking forward to the rest of your review! I can see the (beautiful) top picture but none of the others. [emoji20]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Thank you for letting me know! That was the only photo I wanted to show, although I did upload it SIX times! Ha. I think the fact that you can see it, and only see it once, tells me I've figured out how to upload these now! More to come...

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We arrived at the port around 11:45am, and were so excited to see the Rotterdam docked directly in front of the Rhapsody of the Seas! We're actually sailing on that ship this summer out of Venice!

 

We quickly unloaded our suitcases with the porters and took the escalators up to check-in.

 

The check-in process was extremely quick and went very smoothly. We were through security in just minutes, and standing at the desk getting our key cards soon after. In fact, I think we were already on the ship and in our cabin by 12:15pm!

 

Now I did force my family to take lots of photos outside on the walkway before getting onboard. They indulged me a bit.

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Now we typically sail in balcony cabins whenever we can. With young children that go to sleep rather early, it gives us a space to relax, read, chat, and not feel trapped in a tiny cabin where we have to be quiet.

 

Sadly, that wasn't possible on this ship. It turns out, the Rotterdam has very few balcony cabins that will accommodate four people. The agent at Holland America explained to me that since they don't get as many children/families sailing, most of their cabins accommodate two or three at most. So even though I booked this several months out, our only option was an oceanview cabin on the Dolphin Deck (1) or the Neptune Suite. The difference in price was around $10k, so you can guess where we ended up. ;)

 

Here we are, excited to be walking towards our cabin, #1935!

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After dropping our carry-ons down in our cabin, we headed up to the main dining room for lunch!

 

The Rotterdam has a two-level dining room which is not very big, but very nice. Now I wasn't terribly impressed by the decor in there, but the service was great!

 

One thing I noticed immediately upon being seated was the quality of the place settings. German porcelain dishes, silver vases with fresh flowers, and monogrammed silverware. It just felt a bit more "special" than Carnival, etc.

 

Now we always eat in the main dining room when we sail, and our children do quite well eating there. We eat out regularly at home, and I feel confident our kids know how to sit quietly and not make a mess when they're dining out. That being said, as soon as we were seated, there was a table of 4 sitting behind us that made it quite clear they weren't thrilled to see our children on the ship. They were probably in their 60's and 70's, and commented quite loudly, "I can't imagine why they'd bring their children on this cruise. What can there be to interest children on a ship like this? They must just be the type of people that travel with their children simply for virtue."

 

Now, I'm not going to lie, I was pretty shocked to overhear this and it did make me nervous about my children possibly not behaving just perfectly throughout their meal! This was the first time I felt that perhaps it was a mistake to book this cruise...We enjoy the quieter, smaller ship atmosphere and our children are very well behaved. In fact, the party ships make us feel a bit uncomfortable. At the same time, I kind of worried we'd be under the microscope and people would think because we had young children, that they would disrupt their meal somehow.

 

We also believe that traveling with our kids is a valuable education, in and of itself. Showing them different parts of the world, encouraging them to taste different types of food, and learning about people who look and live differently than they do is very valuable! So while the ship may have not been full of crazy adventures for little ones, it was important to us to take them along so they could experience and learn something new. We've traveled with our kids since they were infants. My son added his 36th country to his list of places visited on this vacation, and I don't believe for a second that we'll ever regret that!

 

As you can see, my two-year old handles her stemware rather well, and does say "cheers" every time she's seated in a restaurant. ;p:D

 

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Fortunately, this was the only negative experience we had. In fact, I was so touched throughout the remainder of the cruise by the number of older couples that came up to us and told us how well behaved our children were in the dining room. A few mentioned how quickly the time passes, and how they enjoyed seeing them eating in there. So my initial worries were unfounded. I think we just were unlucky sitting next to a group that may have been having an "off" day...

 

We also enjoyed wine with out lunch, something we rarely do! But when I booked this cruise, there were two promotions Holland America was offering: free gratuities and free beverage cards! Unlike other cruiselines, I learned the beverage credit must be used for just that - beverages. It can't be added as general onboard credit. So I enjoyed a nice Chardonnay with my lunch!

 

More to come...

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After lunch, we went to explore the ship a bit!

 

Now, I had read so much about the Rotterdam prior to boarding, and I admit, I was a bit nervous.

 

I know that several people had some very unfortunate experiences immediate following dry dock, so I wasn't exactly sure what to expect.

 

I knew this would be a smaller, older ship but was pleasantly surprised by how elegant it felt. It didn't appear as old as I expected at all!

 

It doesn't have the huge, flashy atriums of other ships. But the ornate art on board definitely compensated for that! We loved seeing the Asian antiques, European paintings, and statues, etc throughout the ship! I've never seen so many pieces of unique art work at sea!

 

Here's a few photos of some of the common areas:

 

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The casino was rather small, and not very exciting to be honest. But I did appreciate that it was the least smoky I've ever experienced on a cruise! In fact, some evenings, the entire casino was dedicated as smoke-free!

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We didn't eat in any of the specialty dining, but here are a few photos of the Pinnacle Grill, which I thought was so beautifully decorated!

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More to come...

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So far, so good.

I'm enjoying reading your review.

Looks like a beautiful family. It's hard to believe some cruisers can be so rude. I hope you were able to ignore them and enjoy time with your family.

Looking forward to more.

 

Thank you for reading along!

 

I'm sure I've probably said things about other people's children as well...I just try and be a little more discreet about it! :p Ironically, we were sat near the same people almost every time we went to tea as well! Ha. Fortunately, the kids did really well during tea, so...

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We love cruising on HAL and we are senior citizens. I love seeing children on the ship. I think it's great that you want your children to experience cruising, seeing other countries, and cultures. Spending time with your children is what is most important! Your kids look precious!

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By this point in the day, we thought we should return to our cabin and make sure our luggage had been delivered! A year and a half ago we were sailing out of Athens, and my husband's suitcase went missing! It seems Lufthansa lost it and never found it again! Ack. So cruising without luggage is one of my biggest travel fears. Fortunately, all three suitcases were waiting outside of our cabin and our very kind cabin steward, Dedi, was there to make sure we had everything we needed!

 

So we did a bit of unpacking and freshened up for dinner. Today was Easter, and the dining room made the meal extra special!

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After dinner we went out and enjoyed watching the sun set from the deck. It was a beautiful evening! My little one kept saying, "me moving or water moving?!" Ha. I think she was finally understanding what "cruising" wa all about!

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One of my favorite places to walk in the evening was around Deck 3. It wasn't nearly as windy as Deck 8, and the views were just so picturesque! I'd be interested to see what staying in a cabin on this deck would be like? I saw the chairs outside the sliding doors of the cabins, but I wonder if privacy would be a concern, especially with people walking out there at all hours? In any case, I really enjoyed my strolls around Deck 3!

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More to come...

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We love cruising on HAL and we are senior citizens. I love seeing children on the ship. I think it's great that you want your children to experience cruising, seeing other countries, and cultures. Spending time with your children is what is most important! Your kids look precious!

 

Thank you for your very kind comment! We met many wonderful seniors on our cruise who were all so kind to our children! I think we just had a bit of bad luck at that initial lunch...

 

My husband and I were often so jealous of the older couples enjoying their lengthy dinners with a bottle of wine, just chatting leisurely with each other...No crayons or stickers or bottles on the table! ;p We will get there one day I hope!

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We recently returned from 63 days on the Amsterdam during her world cruise. I was surprised when we boarded that there were about 8 children on board, ages 8 to 14. Let me tell you, those children all became the darlings of the ship. They had 1300 "grandparents" who doted over them and they were all very well behaved.

All of them were being home schooled on the trip and, as the parents got to know other passengers and what they did for a living, they would ask some people with certain educational skills if they'd help tutor the children in various subjects the parents didn't feel as comfortable with.

I'm sure it's an experience that none of the children will ever forget. Most of them couldn't come into a room full of people without having to give or receive many hugs from their adopted grandparents on board.

Don't ever let anyone discourage you from exposing your children to other cultures.

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Thanks so much for your detailed review! We will be boarding the Rotterdam this Sunday with our two kids, so this is very helpful.

I hope we cross paths with you on a dam ship someday as your "traveling with kids" philosophy matches ours! In January our 8 year old earned his 4th mariner star:)

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We recently returned from 63 days on the Amsterdam during her world cruise. I was surprised when we boarded that there were about 8 children on board, ages 8 to 14. Let me tell you, those children all became the darlings of the ship. They had 1300 "grandparents" who doted over them and they were all very well behaved.

All of them were being home schooled on the trip and, as the parents got to know other passengers and what they did for a living, they would ask some people with certain educational skills if they'd help tutor the children in various subjects the parents didn't feel as comfortable with.

I'm sure it's an experience that none of the children will ever forget. Most of them couldn't come into a room full of people without having to give or receive many hugs from their adopted grandparents on board.

Don't ever let anyone discourage you from exposing your children to other cultures.

 

I loved reading this! Thank you so much for sharing. It's my dream to do a world cruise one day! And it's so nice to read how those children were treated throughout the journey. I bet these memories will last them a lifetime!

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Thanks so much for your detailed review! We will be boarding the Rotterdam this Sunday with our two kids, so this is very helpful.

I hope we cross paths with you on a dam ship someday as your "traveling with kids" philosophy matches ours! In January our 8 year old earned his 4th mariner star:)

 

Oh I'm sure you will have a wonderful time! Same itinerary?

 

4 Mariner stars is quite impressive! Hope we run into you on a future cruise! I'm already considering the Zuiderdam's Baltic journey for next summer...:D

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Thank you so much for your report--it brought sentimental tears to my eyes!

 

While working on a scrapbook today for my son's high school graduation, I realized that many of our precious family memories involve cruising on HAL. We started when our son was six, and my daughter was three. The kids are four-star Mariners and have traveled everywhere from Colombia to Russia.

 

I can't articulate how travel enriched my son's education, as well as his appreciation for other ways of life. He also learned about etiquette, social skills, food, and how to talk to all kinds of people. We met wonderful older folks on HAL who shared their life wisdom. He did meet other kids and still keeps in touch with teenagers in Amsterdam, London, and South Africa. And Senior Prom is this weekend, and he's been rocking a tux since the 1st grade!

 

World travel with little ones (and teens!) can be challenging and tiring but don't ever let anyone tell you that they "aren't getting anything from it." My husband's health no longer allows us to travel--enjoy these years--they are indeed fleeting.

 

Best to you and your family and your wonderful adventures together!

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