LIVE from the ROTTERDAM 14 day Aug 11/2012 Norway Voyage!!!

[monina01]

However, the menus seemed designed more heavily for the Dutch contingent onboard..it is now 3 straight nights of rather strange menu combinations in the dining room.

 

now you have me really really curious as to what these rather strange, Dutch oriented, menu combinations are?

 

(the only strange one that comes immediately to my mind is Zuurkool (Sauerkraut) with raisins and Shoarma....I find that one "icky" :))

[sldispatcher]

Day 11 – Alesund

Alesund has lots of charm that even an untrained eye may focus on and appreciate. The 1 hour train / tram ride through the city is priced at $30 per person. No credit cards are accepted. Be ready to rush onboard when it pulls up. No organization to the outfit and they seem far more interested in taking your money than providing the experience. I would suggest getting off the ship early and heading straight there if that is your fancy. There is lots and lots of shopping nearby.

The town is very walkable from the cruise terminal. This would probably be a good place to consider a shore excursion from the ship. The timing of the arrival/departure pretty much guarantees that you cannot make any of the locally offered fjord excursions…just the HAL one. Imagine that.

Lido for lunch today and then main dining room early today. We had asked the day before for the HAL parmesan Dijon chicken breast and the request was honored. I would have to say that one might consider anytime dining prior to 630pm for faster service. Conversely, you might also be better off with arriving after 8pm if that is to your liking as well.

So Alesund is definitely one of the more overall attractive cities. On a clear day, the view from Aksla would be awesome..it was nice enough on this overcast and sometimes dreary day.

The showroom tonight featured a flamenco guitarist which the group enjoyed.

As we are going into Flam early early in the morning, this report is brief by necessity.

[sldispatcher]

Day 12 – (AM Report)

Symphony of Sight

By 5 AM I could not stand it any longer. Preparation time was quick and I snuck out onto the balcony with cameras in hand, robe wrapped over and blanket ready for extra warmth. The night before the captain had alerted us that we would be traveling into the fjord around midnight and entering the narrowest portion by 545 AM. Telling me there is going to be a scenic portion of the cruise early in the morning is equivalent to telling a 7 year old that Santa Claus is on his way.

Sneaking onto the balcony trying not to disturb the DW and her first love, the fan, I was able to take in the transforming scenes over the next 2 hours.

The clouds looked like the ghosts of glaciers past. They traced their paths through the gorges just like the fingers of those ice fields from several thousand years ago. Others rolled down hills in the form of a freeze frame of an avalanche. Up above, the grey overcast set a deep sense of timelessness into the picture. This was the bass section.

The water is not even awake. The ROTTERDAM seems to be gliding on top of the cool aqua green mirror otherwise known as the ocean. No fish jumping. Just a gentle ripple heads to each shoreline like a harpist runs her fingers over the strings to make music. In this setting, the water is not the main player, but fills the scene with majesty.

Only one of the Psalmists could accurately describe the mountain scenes. They loom small and large and are covered with trees. Where the slopes are too steep, sheer rock walls are a testament to the power of nature to make things more beautiful in scope and sense than man ever could. Surely the fingernail of God had something to do with scraping this out. Snow still clings to the higher peaks making for a dalmation type pattern on the higher altitudes. These are mountains from which angels blow their trumpets.

The remaining snow packs provide fuel for the ever present waterfalls. On each side of the ship, pearly white veins of Scandinavian fresh water give a pulse to the scene. Everything here is tied to water and its effects. Much like handmade instruments, none of them are copies of the other. Each has its own character. There are high mountain tumblers. There are thin ribbons that nearly disappear as they drop into spouts plunging 100 feet before splashing onto rocks and reforming the ribbon to the water’s edge. Others pretend to wash over rock stairs and terraces. Giants and trolls must surely wander up and down these gushing waterways. At times, you are close enough to hear the sounds they make. These are percussions and pulsations of pure delight for the nature lover.

The true miracle is that each of us will experience a different symphony of sight in this magical fjord into Flam. From our aft collection of three open verandahs, it felt like we were sitting in row A of God’s orchestra section.

[RuthC]

Your description of the fjord has stirred me almost the same way that sailing it does. I feel as if I were there again.

Hope you had a lovely time in Flam. Not much to do right there, but there are some excursions well worth doing.

[hippychick925]

Scenery sound absolutely breathtaking! I do hope you are taking some pix for us back here in LA! :)

[MightyQuinn]

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Not when you're doing the writing!

 

What dramatic imagery you've created. Who cares about minor aggravations when you're surrounded by all that natural beauty? As I've said before, you should be a travel writer. Find someone to pay you to write this stuff. Seriously.

[monina01]

....you really got me with this last one. It sounds magnificent.

 

now I need to go find some tissues.....

[Krazy Kruizers]

I love the way you write.

 

This has been a wonderful "Live" report.

[kazu]

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Not when you're doing the writing!

 

What dramatic imagery you've created. Who cares about minor aggravations when you're surrounded by all that natural beauty? As I've said before, you should be a travel writer. Find someone to pay you to write this stuff. Seriously.

 

I'll second that. Your reports are vivid and incredible:D

[sldispatcher]

Day 13 – Excursions

The sail out from Flam was no less stunning than the sail in. The first 90 minutes are the most scenic. We had rightly scheduled our Le Cirque dinner at 730pm.

Seated at the identical table for the third trip to the Pinnacle Grill, we enjoyed the menu choices. With the time and space they had allotted, I believe that HAL did a good job with the “transformation”. On that note, I’d propose that HAL might, just might, consider expanding the program to offer 3 or 4 special dinner nights where the Pinnacle Grill is transformed and new cuisine offerings are available each time. For instance, I’m reminded of a fantastic Chinese Bistro in San Fran (name escapes me) where everything is done with a French flare thus making it for an extraordinary experience. With Italian upstairs, one could easily choose other cuisine patterns in addition to the above. They did do a cellar master’s dinner one night, but I’m talking about the complete transformation. Perhaps a bit impractical…but with other lines throwing out 3, 4, or even 5 specialty dining spots onboard, it would be an easy way to increase the yield on a given sailing.

A note about our Flam excursion, the train ride. It was certainly scenic. It was also cruise ship classic in that they crammed you in the coach like sardines. Premium cruise ship treats you like 3 star customers once again. With the contingent onboard the ship, you can only imagine the pushing, shoving, and jockeying for position. They can do better. Much better. Save yourself the worry, purchase the train tickets independently for the roundtrip and enjoy the same style coach without the rest of the unwashed (not necessarily kidding about that part) masses from the cruise ship. Also, when they warn you that this is not really for wheelchairs and physically challenged people..they REALLY mean it. If you fall into either category, do the smart thing and take the independent train to the end of the line (1 hour away) and have wheelchair service provided.

Also of note, there is a souvenir shop in Flam that has everything you could want made in China that you can take home from Norway. You can wait until here to get any things you need to take home.

In Stavanger, we opted to arrange our own Lysenfjord cruise with rodnefjord cruises. Turns out, they provide the HAL excursion as well. Again, very nice cruise with amazing..AMAZING..close in sailing to waterfalls, rock formations, and…well…I’ll just leave the rest as surprise. Again, a mass of humanity clawed their way onto this ship. It looked like you could take the 200pm departure with A LOT fewer people. Look out for them to open the FRONT of the boat up as you enter the fjord. This was a much better spot than on the top deck.

In Stavanger, the shopping and café area just off the ship is extremely nice, but not easily navigable for less than nimble folks due to the cobblestone streets and hills.

Two notes on consistency. There is still a lack of it. There has been more of an upswing in service and food quality in the last 36 hours. Not sure why. Several crew seem to be at the end of their contracts which may also impact the situation. At any rate, on the Flam train, we visited with two well heeled travelers from the US. We found out that they are very frequent cruisers and tend to book high end rooms. Without any prompting from me, the question arose as to what we thought about this cruise so far as they thought it had been up and down/not consistent. In fact, she called the food “terrible” enough to get up and leave the dining room. She noted she had a wonderful HAL cruise just in June of this year.

With that in mind, I’m going to tell you what was said next which goes back to my point I’ve been hammering on. She said, “this is the last time we’ll travel on Holland” because of the inconsistent service and poor quality of several features on the cruise. She also mentioned the fact that the mix of the passengers on this cruise in terms of nation of origin may have played some part in the overall effect. This person is also a smoker. I mention that because HAL still has a relatively liberal smoking policy compared to most other lines now. This policy has rendered a couple of their public spaces essentially unusable by anyone even remotely sensitive to tobacco smoke. Here, I have a couple that are willing to make the trade from a liberal smoking policy to a line that will make their smoking habit a bit more of a challenge.

Why mention that? As a small business owner, you don’t want to run off your good paying and frequent customers. That’s a death spiral for a business. I would throw a flag up, send up a bat signal, whatever it takes to let HAL know they have a problem either on this ship (which appears to be the case) or fleet wide.

Anyone who enjoys the art of cruising should not be alarmed by what I’ve written. You know that there are ups and downs on any cruise on any given line. However, there are very few ships in this world left like the Rotterdam. I’m the number one cheerleader wanting this to work out right. I want to have confidence to book that 20 day Buenos Aries to Valparaiso Antarctica voyage….which we intended to do on this trip..but just can’t. That’s a problem.

So at any rate, we are still overall enjoying our time, but the cruise is drawing to a close like they all must do.

I plan on reporting again tomorrow, and then there will be time in Amsterdam to write a close out report and perhaps even another report card.

Here is a thought for the day….

If cruise line entertainment providers cut the number of soprano songs by 2/3rds in the productions shows, do you think anyone would right down on the comment cards “please have more soprano parts in your shows”?

[sldispatcher]

As I've said before, you should be a travel writer. Find someone to pay you to write this stuff. Seriously.

 

Thanks for the compliment, but then I'd be afraid I wouldn't be so unbiased anymore.

 

Besides, when I was doing the LIVE from Marina Maiden Voyage, the cruise critic folks never once mentioned anything about Marina until they got on and started their own "live" report. They obviously weren't interested, but a few other people certainly were ;)

 

David

[MightyQuinn]

... Besides, when I was doing the LIVE from Marina Maiden Voyage, the cruise critic folks never once mentioned anything about Marina until they got on and started their own "live" report. They obviously weren't interested, but a few other people certainly were.

Another fab dispatch from Sldispatcher! Your vibrant descriptions have motivated me to press DH to move an Arctic itinerary a notch higher on our bucket list. We've done many of the traditional Norwegian ports but haven't actually crossed the Arctic Circle. I want to witness the majesty that you've described so eloquently.

 

Sad to note that you'll be leaving Rotterdam without an FCD in hand. There's no risk anymore since they are now fully refundable if not used within 4 years. As you say, some of your current dissatisfaction may be related to the specific target market of this cruise. I don't think the demographics you described are typical of HAL. Why not take a chance? Full refund on the downside but low deposit and OBC on the upside. Sounds like a winner to me!

 

As for Oceania, I noticed the same thing when you did your "live from" the Marina maiden voyage. The old guard didn't comment and probably didn't appreciate all the attention you received. They think they own the brand - not unlike loyalists on most CC forums! But your writing was irresistible and attracted many fans. Take comfort that your thread is still #1 on the Oceania forum for both replies and views. That's quite an achievement.

[Sbilko]

For instance, I’m reminded of a fantastic Chinese Bistro in San Fran (name escapes me) where everything is done with a French flare thus making it for an extraordinary experience.

I think you mean Tommy Toys - great experience.:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Loving your review.

 

Yes -- we have noticed that the food quality has gone downhill in the dining room.

[kazu]

thanks for another great report. Can't believe that others didn't appreciate your report on the Marina:eek:

 

We did the South America cruise (on the same ship) and it was marvelous. It was a few years ago.

 

So sad to hear the lack of consistency on your cruise - not good:(

[sldispatcher]

Day at Sea – Lounge Lizards

People seem to be relaxing and enjoying their final full day onboard the ROTTERDAM. The seas are very calm now, but the captain has warned that tomorrow morning will be a different story. Sorry for the folks boarding tomorrow as there is supposed to be gale force winds and heavy rains. That too can make for a great experience at sea, but not what most people desire for their vacation time.

 

Lunch was at the Pinnacle Grill in a quiet alcove. Afterwards, I attended a behind-the-scenes tour and Q & A with the entertainment staff. It was quite informative, and I am always reminded of how hard they work whether you like their product or not. Such is life on the cruise ship as they ALL work. Some are definitely more front line than others, but everyone works.

 

Tonight will be back in Canelletto for more of that fabulous Balsamic Vinegar and (hopefully more so this time) piping hot Italian food. Packing has already begun. Due to air arrangements, we are having to stay in Amsterdam until Monday for our flight back to the States. The original plan was to tour Amsterdam tomorrow, but the weather forecast is starting to dictate otherwise.

 

Without a doubt, there will be rave reviews of this cruise and perhaps some not so rave ones as well. It is my hope and desire that my reporting has simply been a picture framed with objectivity of a moment in time aboard the ship known as the ROTTERDAM. As stated in the first post, this is my way of giving back to the CruiseCritic forum whether it wants it or not!

 

In case you are wondering, my cruise was not ruined because of A/C problems, dining and service inconsistencies, etc. I am not one of those reviewers who have one bad thing happen and that becomes the theme of their review. Hardly is that an accurate portrayal.

 

As I sit in the quarter-filled Explorer’s Lounge typing this review, I can see the hazy sky meet the horizon of water to the west in a fashion that almost looks like the blurred lines of TV set displays of the 70’s. One crew member is dusting the large mural behind me. Another is picking out and caring for the pretty, but lonely flower arrangement in the middle of the room. Yet another is taking care to quietly pick up chairs set out for some function. None of the conversations or meditating in my midst has been disturbed. A speaker is playing a recorded selection of classical chamber music pieces.

 

Dare I say that I really don’t even want to get off the ship. In fact, I’d love to stay onboard and find out the “why” to the various questions that I have posed…and then fix them. That is my nature. The lack of business at the Future Cruises Consultant is very telling.

 

But for now, we will all sit like lizards. Our very nature is a reflection of what is going on around us. Some will be a little more cold towards HAL and the ROTTERDAM after this trip while others will be amazingly hot towards this cruise and cruise line. The crazy thing is we are all sunning on the same rock.

 

Which lends itself to a simple question. Is it the rock we are sitting on, our position on the rock, or is it just the type of lizard that we are that determines how much we enjoy our moment in the sun of a cruise vacation?