RevNeal - LIVE from the Rotterdam - Transatlantic

[Cristiano]

Ciao Greg,

 

le foto di Roma sono meravigliose e vi auguriamo un bellissimo viaggio.......as usual Greg I will look foward with much antiscipation of your reports and the wonderfull photographs that you provide.

 

We did the 28 TA out of Fort Lauderdale last April and are now 'hooked' on the idea of more TA's as money and time will permit.

 

We live in Sydney (AUS) and at the moment the Amsterdam is in our harbour and we are fortunate enough to have been invited on board and will be having dinner in the Pinnacle this evening with our dear frineds Anne & Dick (from CC).

 

The ship's crew will have to do all they can for us not to 'stow' away on board.

 

At least for a few hours we will have that wonderfull feeling of being part of another HAL Ship.

 

I digress, once again have a marvellous voyage, all the best from the "land downunder",

 

Cristiano.

[midgecruiser]

Looking forward to hearing more about this great cruise. Thanks for taking us along. As it is a Sea day for you today....maybe we will get a fix:). Hi to Hans Becker who is the Beverage Manager on board. I'm sure he and his crew are serving up some great drinks and service. Have fun.

 

Wendy

[Travelrd]

Fabulous pictures of Rome! Your pictures really enhance the city. Enjoy your cruise and don't worry about reporting daily. It's your holiday so just enjoy it and let us know what's happening when you have the time and inclination .

 

Thanks.

[Himself]

Greg:

 

I hope you are able to post as you cruise.

[Sunshine91]

Greg - Your photos are fantastic!! :)

 

Sure wish we were onboard Rotterdam with you & the rest of our little band of adventurers. Please say hello to Christopher, Ruth, Scotty, Adele & Em, MaryEllen & Karl for me. Sure hope I'm not leaving out anyone. :o

[Tamaracboy]

Greg,

 

You made me appreciate Rome more than I have on my own trips !

Say "Hello" to that certain table-mate of yours, but lock up your chocolates.

See you on this end.

 

Reuel

[Texas Tillie]

Saw the Rotterdam today docked at Malaga, Spain from the webcams of the Crystal Serenity!:)

[RevNeal]

I suppose that most of you quickly figured out that once I made it aboard the Rotterdam time and then ability to post quickly vanished. I had intended to post at least some from the cruise, however as I suspected the first week, or so, of our sailing was rather port-intensive. Every day but one we had extensive shore excursions which brought us back to the ship exhausted and in need of a shower and a nap before dinner, a show, drinks, and bed. It was difficult to find the time to download photos, much less write up a report of any kind.

 

Additionally, for some reason the ship's wireless network was functioning only sporadically from my cabin on the Lower Promenade Amidships. This is unusual ... in the past I've had no trouble getting signal in my J cabin on the Lower Promenade Deck, but apparently there were WiFi network issues that limited my signal strength within my cabin. And, yes, I was too lazy (tired, busy, etc) to take the time to take my laptop and go find a hotspot that worked.

 

Suffice it to say, by the time I felt rested-up enough to do any photo downloading or commentary-writing we were past the Canary Islands and heading out into the mid-Atlantic. And, by that time, we were losing all sorts of satellite signals -- no CNN, no ESPN, no Cartoon Network, no TNT, no ship-to-shore in-cabin telephone, and no Internet at Sea. Not until the day before HMC ... and by then it seemed short of fruitless to try and post anything from the ship, spending more money in the process. So, I gave my shipboard account a rest and just enjoyed the last couple of days of our crossing.

 

How to sum up 18 days on a Western-Med and Transatlantic crossing? In a word: glorious! Yes, those 6 days crossing from the Canaries to HMC were 5 days too many for some of my fellow passengers, but for me they were heaven. I met one couple that was threatening to toss people overboard before the end of the second day, but I was having a wonderful time. The seas were slight, weather perfect, the food excellent, the service superb, the activities plentiful, and the companionship of friends very special, indeed. We had one day (out of 6) in which the skies darkened and threatened rain, but the seas never got worse than moderate during the entire crossing; we had more swell and wave-action during the day's passage from Cadiz to Casablanca than we had on the entire crossing! RuthC was a bit disappointed that we didn't have 40 foot waves, massive swells, and hurricane force winds ... but most of us were pleased to just have the gentle motion of the ocean to sail our way on home.

 

The pre-refit Rotterdam was still in excellent condition. Oh, sure, there were elements of the ship that needed significant work, and I'm very pleased that she is being dry-docked for major repairs. The Rotterdam's vacuum toilet system was having significant function issues throughout the entire cruise and in certain specific areas of the ship (and it didn't help that at least one passenger was heard to be flushing half a roll of toilet paper with every press of the button! :eek: !); thankfully, it is going to receive a MAJOR overhaul while in dry-dock. The Hotel Manager gave a talk during one of the crossing-days on the work that was to be done on the Rotterdam -- work beginning right now, while I write this. All interior cabins are being gutted and entirely refurnished. Crew quarters and living facilities are receiving major upgrades. Mix is being installed, and other major upgrades are coming for other lounges. EVERY chair and couch on the ship is being either entirely reupholstered or re-padded. The installation of additional cabins on the aft-Navigation deck, the addition of the aft-facing verandah staterooms on both the Verandah and Navigation decks, will be executed in a far-more efficient and esthetic manner (I photographed the official blue-prints of the aft-refit and will post some of those later). The raping of the Veendam is not to be repeated aboard the Rotterdam, thank God ... IF they do what they said they're doing. The refit will result in an increase in the size of the main dining room as well to off-set the increase in the number of cabins and to maintain the aft aspect of the ship. Much more is being done -- major technological overhauls of the ships navigational and engineering systems are to be performed as well as several other important upgrades to the ship's internal communications systems. Needless to say, the vessel is going to receive some much needed TLC.

 

This being said, I must admit that the Line was preparing for all of this without disrupting those of us who were aboard for this last voyage prior to dry-docking. Yes, there were construction workers aboard ship from Rome to Fort Lauderdale, however their work occurred mostly being the scenes or at night, when most of us were sleeping. Meanwhile, the crew worked hard to keep the Rotterdam Ship-Shape and Bristol Fashioned ... even cleaning, polishing, painting, and touching-up sections that would be receiving major re-fit work at the end of the voyage. The Hotel Manager (Simon de Boer) promised us that the ship would not be demolished en-route to Fort Lauderdale, and (with one lone yet appreciated exception) he kept his promise. Indeed, I cannot say enough in praise of this Hotel Manager ... he was fantastic. And that goes for nearly the entire staff of the Rotterdam! They were wonderful to us during the entire cruise. They were attentive, helpful, efficient, and amenable in every way -- even with a major dry-dock and re-fit staring them in the face! They went out of their way on multiple occasions to do things for us, and for that I am deeply thankful. Problems? Oh sure, from time to time we had problems -- toilet problems being among them, but not limited to that. But when we had problems, it wasn't "we'll file a work-order for that, sir" it was "yes, sir, someone will be right down."

 

A word about the food. Above I said it was "excellent." That would be my over-all impression; nevertheless, I would have to say that some things shined more than others, and some food matters left something to be desired. For instance, desserts continue to be an element of the ship's food offerings that need a great deal of work. Yes, they have added many new sweet items to the menu, and there were some evening when we wanted "one of everything." However, there were other nights when it was "nothing, thank you" or "Ice cream, please." The salads have improved some, with some entrees now being salad-type items. There were MANY new dishes that I had never-before seen on a HAL menu -- like Veal Cordon Bleu, which was fantastic! However, even those dishes that should have been spicy (like Bami Goreng) weren't ... though one could (and some did) ask for some Sambal Oelek (Indonesian "hot sauce") to spice it up. :D The Pinnacle Grill was excellent, with the service quick and very pleasant -- we ate dinner there twice and lunch there twice, and enjoyed all four meals. The Lido was excellent, as always, and I enjoyed several breakfasts and many lunches there (especially on port days). The lack of trays certainly wasn't an issue for me (though, on occasion, a third hand would have been helpful :) ), though some people with mobility issues seemed to be having trouble with making multiple trips for items. The crew was attentive and helpful in regard to this, often making trip to get a plate of this or that for someone who couldn't do it themselves. The Main Dining Room is still my favorite place to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and the service we received from our table stewards was fantastic.

 

4-Star Mariner Status was nice. It brought with it unlimited laundry (no dry cleaning and it was not express), which I took advantage of thrice on this cruise. Items placed in a laundry on one's bed prior to dinner would be picked up, processed, and delivered folded or on hangers (depending upon request and the nature of the item) within 48 hours. We got half-price on all Pinnacle Grill meals, half-price on in-cabin bar items (i.e., cokes), half-price on the Admiral Wine Package, and a discount in ship/brand (i.e. HAL) name items in the ship's shops. I didn't attend the complementary wine tasting that 4-Star Mariners are supposed to receive because I never received the invitation that would have enabled it: my invite went to my cabin mate (who had 3-Stars) not to me. Don't ask why, but Front Desk Administration sometimes doesn't always function well and will sometimes either give out the wrong information (like the meaning of "Express Disembarkation") or will fail to get notification of significant changes in booked shore excursions to passengers in time for them to cancel without 100% penalty (which they fixed after it was pointed out that I didn't get notification of the change until AFTER the cut-off date for cancellation). They try, but they made lots of errors (and I'll save for later some of the wonderfully funny typos that periodically made an appearance in the Daily Program and other official ship's publications). Another thing that were were supposed to get but didn't was priority embarkation. We had priority check-in (they had 4-star passengers check in with the Suite Passengers), but no priority embarkation of any kind. Personally, this wasn't much of an issue ... we still boarded at about 12:15, which was plenty early. Additionally, there appears to have been no Mariner Embarkation Brunch other than the standard Lido fare. I'm not complaining ... but it was strange to get that "blank look" from the Front Office Staff when I inquired about it later in the cruise. I even showed them the perk as it was contained in the Mariner Booklet and they still didn't understand my question ... and I doubt it was a linguistic issue. The Rotterdam simply hadn't implemented that yet.

 

In reviewing this post, I notice that it's grown longer than I had intended. I'll post more, later, including plenty of photos. :)

[momatibm]

Welcome Back Greg. thanks for the overview.

[IRL_Joanie]

Thank You Rev Neal for the review!! And WELCOME HOME!!!

 

You, RuthC, Sail7Seas, and a couple others have been dearly missed here on the boards!!!

 

Looking forward to more:)

 

Joanie

[mamaofami]

Welcome home , Greg. Glad you had such a wonderful cruise. You don't mention if the Rotterdam is still getting the retreat? What's happening with that?:confused:

[DFD1]

I'm glad to hear they are not going to "rape" the Rotterdam....as you very well put it.

 

Thanks for writing a good, informative review. Fun to read.

[aliaschief]

Rev. Neal, Glad to hear you had a wonderful cruise. Welcome home. As always a very thorough, educational and entertaining review.

[fcorey]

Greetings from Rome, pre-cruise aboard the Rotterdam! I've posted my first report covering our days of touring here in Rome! If you would like to view this report, you can do so here.

 

I don't know how often I'll report from this cruise; this itinerary is front-loaded with a lot of ports, and so I know I'll be pretty busy for several days before we have a day at see. Hence, I'm asking the board members for patience on this one. I might not do much more than say "hello" during the first few days ... at least until we get our first sea day.

 

Take care and enjoy the report and photos from Rome.

 

RevNeal, welcome home, hope you had a wonderful trip, looking forward to you posts and more pics

[bepsf]

Thanks for posting Greg - I really wish I could have been aboard with you all!

 

Color me interested in seeing how the Rotterdam post-drydock will be added to/improved beyond what was done to poor-old Veendam.

[RevNeal]

I'm home.

Just got back from picking up Dorcas (my Basset Hound) from my mother's and am now sitting at home wondering where those glorious days went ... and where are my cabin and dining room stewards when I REALLY need them?? :D

 

Still, it's good to be home.

 

LOTS of pictures to review and post. I'm going to try and do that before too long.

 

Regarding the Retreat ... YES, the ship is getting the Retreat. However, we were told that they've figured out how to fix the problem that the Veendam experienced, so we'll see. It still means we lose the aft pool for a wading water-feature ... but at least the asthetic appeal of the aft of the ship won't be destroyed by a monstrous perversion of her otherwise sleek lines. One of the first pictures I'll pull and post here is a shot of the official blueprints showing the profile view of the aft of the ship post-refit. It will be curious if they mange to pull it off.

[Love Cruises]

Thanks for your update and I'm glad you got home safely. Now it is life "back to normal".

 

I am definitely looking forward to your photos (as always) but am especially interested in the Rotterdam blueprints since we are embarking on her on January 4th for the 33 day Hawaii/SouthPolynesia/Marquesa Island cruise.

[PathfinderEss]

I'm home.

Just got back from picking up Dorcas (my Basset Hound) from my mother's and am now sitting at home wondering where those glorious days went ... and where are my cabin and dining room stewards when I REALLY need them?? :D

 

Still, it's good to be home.

 

LOTS of pictures to review and post. I'm going to try and do that before too long.

 

Regarding the Retreat ... YES, the ship is getting the Retreat. However, we were told that they've figured out how to fix the problem that the Veendam experienced, so we'll see. It still means we lose the aft pool for a wading water-feature ... but at least the asthetic appeal of the aft of the ship won't be destroyed by a monstrous perversion of her otherwise sleek lines. One of the first pictures I'll pull and post here is a shot of the official blueprints showing the profile view of the aft of the ship post-refit. It will be curious if they mange to pull it off.

RevNeal, glad to hear you had such a great cruise on the Rotterdam. Can't wait to see the rest of the pictures and possible the blue print for the retrofit of the Rotterdam. I'm glad to hear that they are going to lengthen the dinning room to make the ship conform to a more pleasant looking aft end, unlike the odd lipo suction look of the Veendam. Recently when we were on the Veendam they were still working on that "retreat pool" trying to get it right. Have no idea if they had any success with it.

[JWJs]

Thanks for the great report on your TA on the Rotterdam. Interesting about the aft pool. We are on the Statendam 12/21. I've seen pictures of the Statendam's aft pool and pool area and it looks lovely. Glad we get to sail on the Statendam before she goes into dry dock for updates and the aft pool area is exchanged for aft cabins or whatever is on the update list.

BTW...saw the Rotterdam docked at Port Everglades today on inletcam.com.

We knew she was scheduled to leave early and figured she would be heading to dry dock after her just completed TA.

Looking forward to seeing all your Rotterdam/Rome pics. Love Rome. What a great city.:)

[Tamaracboy]

Greg,

 

Just must post one more "official" welcome back !

 

r.

[Overtime4me2]

Am looking forward to your pics and notes. I always enjoy your reviews.

 

Welcome home! :)

[Himself]

Rev. Greg Neal:

 

Welcome home to reality!

[PatsyAnne]

Thanks for your update and I'm glad you got home safely. Now it is life "back to normal".

 

I am definitely looking forward to your photos (as always) but am especially interested in the Rotterdam blueprints since we are embarking on her on January 4th for the 33 day Hawaii/SouthPolynesia/Marquesa Island cruise.

Me too!:D

[CDRMark]

Padre-

Another welcome home, and I echo Brians sentiment about wishing I'd been along. Looking forward to more on the cruise when you get the time.

Cheers

Mark

[NMLady]

Greetings from Rome, pre-cruise aboard the Rotterdam! I've posted my first report covering our days of touring here in Rome! If you would like to view this report, you can do so here.

 

Awesome photos. Took me back to the 3 days hubby and I spent in Rome pre-cruise a few years ago. You're right that it'll take another visit since there is no way to see everthing one wants to see in less than a week.

 

I don't know how often I'll report from this cruise; ...

 

I enjoyed immensely your cruise report after the fact and I hope you're back into normalcy now. I'm jealous of the upcoming cruises you've booked but I know you'll continue to share with us here on CC board.

 

Thanks for posting. Looking forward to cruise photos. Those TA crossings are our favorite kind of cruise. We love the sea days. Hubby likes all the socializing with passengers whereas I love finding a cozy nook and reading while looking out at the expanse of endless ocean.