Rotterdam to Rotterdam

[CAVE MAN]

Just wonderng how you enjoyed this cruise? We will be on the Rotterdam September 7. How did you like the ports, the new upgrades on the ship, the food, and anything else you would like to share. Thank you soooo much!!! Carlotta

[carlmm]

I returned on August 14th from a Baltic Sea cruise on the Rotterdam.

A few thoughts regarding your questions:

 

All of the ports were different and all enjoyable. One port highlight was the departure from Warnemünde with shoreside festivities and fireworks. All of the city sightseeing besides of St. Petersburg is easy on your own. In several ports HAL gave fair information about public transportation and other options instead of just promoting their own excursions.

Yet be warned: Do not buy Rubel on board. On screen the lecturer promised an "even better exchange rate" than published but the rate was very bad.

 

Most of the so called "upgrades" are a mess. The retreat is a terrible waste of space and on sunny days the aft pool was really missed. The lanai cabins might be nice for their occupants but have taken away almost all seats with a view for all other guests. I doubt that anyone ever watched the movies/concerts shown on the outside screen at the retreat.

Still most of the ship is nicely decorated with wood, artwork and warm colours. A welcoming ship with many nice areas.

 

Food is subjectiv. I would say most of the food in the MDR was good, not perfect, but alright. The lobster was called by a fellow guest "a reason to become vegetarian". Interestingly fish at lunch was cooked perfectly, fish at dinner was most of the time overcooked. Service was most of the time good and we could enjoy nice leisurely meals.

 

Unfortunately HAL has a very passenger unfriendly (maybe even arrogant) attitude regarding provision. After a few days the first fruits were not available and from day to day less items were available. Talking to the assistant maitre he confirmed that there were no more and that they would not buy any. Well, eg. Helsinki and Stockholm are not lonely villages out in the ocean but major capitols. Markets provide an abundance of choices. HAL, please buy fresh food when needed!

 

The singers in the shows were good, as were the musicians in the ocean bar, most of the bar stewards everywhere were friendly and efficient, my cabin steward was good and saw what was needed to be done on his own.

 

Overall I think you can look forward to a enjoyable cruise.

 

Is there any specific area you have a question about?

[Pete Jackson]

We were on the Rotterdam transatlantic July 12-21 and there was no problem with fresh fruits. But, although the dining room food was usually quite good, there were some really major disasters in the seafood area. Two of us ordered rockfish, and both had to return it as totally inedible, not just overcooked but like it had sat on the stove for hours. Same for the lobster in a surf-and-turf one day (turf was fine!). There must be some major organization problems in the kitchen for such disasters to happen.

[Hlitner]

We were on the Rotterdam July 3 crossing (which started in Rotterdam) and posted some thoughts about the ship. And our thoughts were not very positive. The ship now has only a single pool onboard which is usually quickly taken-over by the kids and teens (we saw many older folks driven out of the pool since kids were jumping, diving, and splashing. There used to be a 2nd pool on the Rotterdam, but HA has replaced that with this absolutely stupid "bird bath" which is abou 5 inches deep. That allowed them to squeeze a few extra cabins under the area that used to house a real pool. We were also very disappointed in the crew on the ship, but perhaps that is because we had recently been on the Prinsendam where the crew actually smiles, says hello, remembers your name, etc. But crews are always changing so hopefully this was just a short-term issue. As to food, it was typcial HA cuisine which is OK.

 

Hank

[KirkNC]

Interesting, we were on the Rotterdam for 19 days in June and found the crew to be very friendly. We. Also enjoyed the MDR and the Pinnacle was the best Pinnacle we have seen on HAL. I agree on the retreat, a complete waste of space. The one pool was not an issue for us as we are not "sun people" but I understand others frustrations.

 

Kirk

[ger_77]

We also returned on August 14th (Hi carlmm; hope you made it home safely!), and enjoyed the ship. We aren't "pool people", so didn't miss not having an aft pool, but there wasn't a time that we saw anyone on the loungers back there. Some of our family used the hot tub - or the "lukewarm tub" as they called it, and a couple of evenings we sat out on the loungers watching a Beach Boys concert and a Cheryl Crowe concert. The Retreat area became a place for our family group (11 of us) to meet at the end of the day to see what everyone had been up to. Bar service was always good. :D

 

The musicians in the various venues were quite good; it was lovely to come out of the dining room and pass the Explorer's Lounge to hear the Adagio Strings performing. We went to a couple of the evening stage presentations and were underwhelmed - the magician was okay, but it was painful watching him try to interact with the audience. The singers/dancers were fine - one of the females has a fabulous voice and was a joy to listen to.

 

We did all but St Petersburg on our own; we used TJ Travel for our private 2 day tour there. All other ports usually have hop-on, hop-off buses available, and some have regular transit buses very near the port.

 

We stayed at the Inntel Hotels in Rotterdam which is just across the Erasmus Bridge where the Rotterdam docks. It was well located and we would gladly stay there again.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise - we certainly did.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[Cqis]

Also just returned (Aug 14). I found the food better than the Ryndam (2010). I think that HAL is improving their food. I enjoyed the Pinnacle Grill. The steaks were great. I like the crowds, so for me I would not do the Pinnacle Grill for just the two of us. We invited our table mates as it was my birthday and I really loved their company.I feel that the LeCirque night is over rated. I will not do that one again. No problem with staff or food, but not what I thought. It is one menu and no substitutes.

 

I don't have any complaints about staff, food or space.I left my dues in the casino and one of the attendants got free drinks for us.

 

I have some things to say about the excursions but not at this time.

 

A bad day at sea is better than any good day at work. Thanks to whoever wrote that, it is my creed.

[Bellair]

Tour the 'new look' Rotterdam after her re fit in December. This was shot on board in April/May 2010 and will provide a 6 min. tour of most areas of the ship's upgrade as we sailed to Peru.

[soccerpapi]

I was on the ms ROTTERDAM transatlantic crossing in July and the Retreat was one of my favorite places on the ship. It was nice to have an area that did not have a lot of children and loud music playing.

 

I like and used the shallow water pool area, it was nice to lay on the loungers and stay cool when it was warm outside. Since the Rotterdam cruises throughout the world and therefore through all kinds of weather, I like the Retreat area well enough. I did not see the need for another swimming pool on the ship since it not always in warm weather destinations.

 

Even when it was cooler outside, the Retreat provided an area to relax, have a drink, eat some pizza, and enjoy the view. The bar staff and servers were excellent in the Retreat area, they were a bunch of really good guys.

 

I also really liked the Pinnacle Grill and would highly recommend it. I also liked the Crow's Nest Lounge at night and the Ocean Bar for a drink before dinner. The staff at these the Pinnacle Grillm Crow's Nest Lounge and the Ocean Bar were are very nice and made me feel welcome.

 

I enjoyed my cruise on the ms ROTTERDAM and would definitely recommend the ship and Holland America Line.

 

soccer

[CAVE MAN]

Hi all, Thank you for answering some of my questions. I have sailed on the Rotterdam several times, but have never done a Baltic cruise. We are so excited, we are counting the days. Ger 77, do you remember which nights were the formal nights, trying to decide on reservations for the Pinnacle Grill. Again thank you, and blessings, Carlotta

[ger_77]

Hi Cqis, it was great meeting you onboard as well - I hope you had an uneventful trip home!

 

Cave Man, (Carlotta), our formal evenings were the first, second, and third sea days. Strangely enough, they didn't have a "Black & White" ball on the middle sea day; I prepared my wardrobe for it, but it didn't happen. It was a regular formal night - which by the way, there were at least 75% of the men in tuxedos or black suits. Just for those who might be fashion police wondering what people wore to formal nights, we didn't see a single person at late seating who was not adhering to the "suggested" dress code, which was nice.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[KirkNC]

Our formal nights were the same as Ger_77's.

 

Kirk