33 Days Aboard the Rotterdam, Jan '10

[debshomespun]

Bob: What a great detailed review. We did this cruise last year (jan. 4/09) on the Ryndam, and loved, loved, loved it. Reading your review brought back my wonderful memories of our cruise. Even though you had a few problems, glad you were able to enjoy the cruise. We also spent our 2 days in Bora Bora with Patrick, and it was the highlight of our cruise! He is an excellent tour guide, and a wonderful person. We are hoping to go back on this cruise in the near future. Anyone that is thinking of booking this cruise, do it! It is a wonderful voyage and great opportunity to see the French Polynesian Islands, along with Hawaii.

[lardor]

Bob, your room number on the dolphin deck was.................?

TIA

[prescottbob]

Bob, your room number on the dolphin deck was.................?

TIA

 

...been fixed / repaired by now.

 

For the specific cabin you may want to do a little 'detective' work (hint= go to my picture storage site, Picasa, linked below my signature and open the my cabin folder for the HA/FP cruise).

 

BTW, we lived down in Tucson for a decade up by the Sabino Canyon area.

 

Have a GREAT CRUISE!

 

Bon Voyage & Good Health!

Bob:)

[luxurysailer]

I posted a reply yesterday evening responding to those who were kind enough to have answered my questions I had previously posted. But there was apparently something wrong with my password and it never appeared. Hope it has been fixed.

 

First, thanks to those of you who so gently pointed out my mistake in referring to dancing in the Explorer's Lounge. Having done most of my cruising on Princess the last four or five years where dancing regularly occurs in their Explorer's Lounge, I let my fingers and brain get out of sync. I knew that in HAL's Explorer's Lounge there is no dancing.

 

On our last HAL cruise (Zuiderdam) two years ago there was dancing in the Queen's Lounge on several nights, music provided by the HALCATS. We only had one B&W ball which was held on the last formal night and was very well attended and enjoyable. I just wish dancing had been available in this lounge every night, which on several nights sat idle with no activities during prime hours. It can be canned and piped in. Or they could even install a juke box. I don't care how they do it. Just make it available.

 

We had much the same experience with the Ocean Bar as posted in a prior response. The music was too repetitive. In addition it was way too heavily weighted with foxtrots for such a small dance floor. Having so little room we didn't want to interfere with the better dancers of which there were several couples.

 

Insofar as the Crow's Nest was concerned, this was our first cruise since the Filipino bands were discontinued. Those bands were great, and I think HAL made an error is no longer booking them. But I guess a pianist is cheaper than a singer and two or three other band members. At any rate, earlier evening hours were devoted to piano music, and the DJ in the later evening hours played music that was neither appreciated nor danced to by his patrons. I fail to understand the mindset of DJ's, which is much the same on all cruise lines that we've been on. They don't want to play music unless there is a significant danger that us older dancers will throw our backs out if we try to dance to it.

[Ken Gordon]

PrescottBob-

Thank you SOOOO much for your very detailed cruise review. It gave us tremendous insight on what to expect in every aspect of our journey. Thank you again and may you find smooth sailing in your future trips.

Ken Gordon

[Hope to Cruise]

Bob, did you notice, in the casino, if the poker table was automated or did it have a human dealer?

[prescottbob]

Bob, did you notice, in the casino, if the poker table was automated or did it have a human dealer?

 

...automated poker tables. Fancy that. I would think the least they could do would be to have a human being take your money with a smile versus a machine.:D

 

Seriously, I did notice human dealers at various tables when I'd walk through the casino but I did not pay attention to what games they were playing.

 

Good luck!

 

Bon Voyage & Good Health!

Bob:)

[NMLady]

Thanks for the long and detailed review. Sorry to hear that they have replaced a legitimate news station with a propaganda channel, HAL has lowered their standards in another area.

 

I thought he said it was a ~cartoon~ channel that the was replaced, not a news channel.

[luvcruisn']

...Black & White Balls... Some officers will have "prize envelopes" in their waistcoats. The prizes are usually (or used to be) bottles of champagne, PG dinners, massages, etc. So with that said I guess I was trying to say that if you only had only one more full day aboard the ship it would be difficult to utilize, perhaps a coupon for a freebie massage or PG dinner versus holding the ball earlier in the cruise.

 

On our 26 night Prinsendam cruise, the Black and White Ball was held the Wednesday evening before we debarked the following Monday. One of the prizes given was an Ammolite necklace, to be picked up at the Ammolite store in St. Thomas, which we didn't reach until the Saturday. This was the most expensive prize I have seen given out. It was worth about $200 or so dollars if bought. I spoke to the manager of the store in St. Thomas, and he said it was a good way of promoting the store. After our friend picked up her necklace, of course she needed to buy earrings to go with it, and two others in our group also bought jewellry there.

[Tigrito]

Bob;

 

Thank you, that was one of the best reviews I have seen in a long time, precise, informative and entertaining

[LiveLife0008]

Good Morning!

 

Have read, with much interest, your wonderful review. Thank you for the insight.

 

I am booked for the March 4, 2011 cruise and am looking at shore excursions.

 

Could you please tell me why you have described Arnaud's natura exploration in Tahiti as "for the adventurous". Would you please give me some detail concerning the excursion and why it is rated as B+.

 

Looking forward to this very special cruise. The countdown is on!

 

Thank you for any information you think would be helpful.

 

Jane #2