Rotterdam questions

[Denali2003]

Hello.  My husband & I have previously cruised 16 times (17^th coming in May 2023) with Princess.  We are now looking at HAL for our future cruises.  We have been reading a lot and watching a lot of videos of the Rotterdam.  We are very interested in cruising on her in 2024. We both still work, so 1 cruise per year is what we can do.

 

I do have a few questions. 

#1 – Does HAL still use a card as your room key & for purchases? 

#2 – Since we’ve never sailed HAL, picking a cabin for us is a gamble.  For the Caribbean sailing we are looking at for early 2024, the most affordable cabins are Aft and Forward.  I heard the Forward cabins have a lot of “rocking & rolling”.  How are the Aft (mid-Aft) cabins? 

#3 – Can you get lunch in the dining room on Embarkation day? 

#4 – What are some of the daily activities like on sea days?  Does anyone have a photo of the event listings? 

#5 – If you are in Billboards, can you hear the music that is playing in the other venues in the Music Walk? 

#6 – Does HAL have a separate Vegan/Vegetarian Menu in the dining rooms?  I see (and love) that they have Beyond Meat options in other eateries on the ship!

 #7 – I heard that if you have dinner in the Specialty restaurants and want to have more than 1 appetizer, that you have to pay extra for more than 1 appetizer (per person).  Is this true?

#8 – If you have the “Have it All” package and order Room Service, are your drinks included or do you have to pay extra for your drinks?  For example, we were looking at Norwegian and while the food was free for room service, you had to pay extra for your drinks, even if you had a drinks package.

 

Thank you for your help!

[Real NHDOC]

1) Yes

2) stay on deck 1 if you’re sensitive to motion. 
3) Yes

5) The music acts usually alternate and play at different times in BBOB and Rolling Stone. You can’t hear BB King from those venues. 
6) Yes, they have separate vegetarian and Indian menus for the main dining room. Some ships require you to order the day before, some do not. 
7) Pinnacle yes, others no. 
 

The drink package is only for bars and restaurants. If you happen to be quarantined they will extend drinks service to room service. 

[Quo Vadis?]

1 hour ago, Denali2003 said:

Hello.  My husband & I have previously cruised 16 times (17^th coming in May 2023) with Princess.  We are now looking at HAL for our future cruises.  We have been reading a lot and watching a lot of videos of the Rotterdam.  We are very interested in cruising on her in 2024. We both still work, so 1 cruise per year is what we can do.

 

I do have a few questions. 

#1 – Does HAL still use a card as your room key & for purchases? YES

#2 – Since we’ve never sailed HAL, picking a cabin for us is a gamble.  For the Caribbean sailing we are looking at for early 2024, the most affordable cabins are Aft and Forward.  I heard the Forward cabins have a lot of “rocking & rolling”.  How are the Aft (mid-Aft) cabins? We often pick the forward cabins and have no problem with the motion of the ocean,  After 16 cruises you should not have a problem.  

#3 – Can you get lunch in the dining room on Embarkation day? Depending on boarding time, we prefer other venues such as the Dutch CAFE

#4 – What are some of the daily activities like on sea days?  Does anyone have a photo of the event listings? We love trivia and can't remember the other stuff.

#5 – If you are in Billboards, can you hear the music that is playing in the other venues in the Music Walk? No because the venue have different time slots.  Awesome

#6 – Does HAL have a separate Vegan/Vegetarian Menu in the dining rooms?  I see (and love) that they have Beyond Meat options in other eateries on the ship!  Sorry, but if I don't like what is on the menu, I order a cheese plate to compliment my wine.

 #7 – I heard that if you have dinner in the Specialty restaurants and want to have more than 1 appetizer, that you have to pay extra for more than 1 appetizer (per person).  Is this true? YES.  You can always get a salad in the lido or a snack elsewhere.  You won't go hungry.

#8 – If you have the “Have it All” package and order Room Service, are your drinks included or do you have to pay extra for your drinks?  For example, we were looking at Norwegian and while the food was free for room service, you had to pay extra for your drinks, even if you had a drinks package.  The bonus on HAL is that there is no extra service charge for your drinks. I normally get a beer unopened or a glass of wine the night before for in room consumption.

 

Thank you for your help!

We really like this class ship.  We were on N Statendam last year and have booked Rotterdam for 6 weeks come November-December.

[Denali2003]

1 hour ago, Real NHDOC said:

The drink package is only for bars and restaurants. If you happen to be quarantined they will extend drinks service to room service. 

 

So if you wanted to have a meal in your cabin and order room service, you have to pay to have something to drink with your meal?  What about breakfast?  I know you fill out the card and hang on your door, but do you have to pay extra for your coffee / tea?  

Edited March 13, 2023 by Denali2003

[0106]

2 hours ago, Denali2003 said:

What are some of the daily activities like on sea days?  Does anyone have a photo of the event listings? 

Here is an excellent live thread that includes the Daily Programs.

Here’s a thread about vegetarian meals.

Check out the other info from “Crew News” posts for more menus.

 

You do not need to pay for coffee or tea when you get room service for breakfast.

 

[Denali2003]

@0106  Thank you for the links.  Good to know that there are other posts about Vegetarian / Vegan food.  😀

[Sea42]

38 minutes ago, Denali2003 said:

So if you wanted to have a meal in your cabin and order room service, you have to pay to have something to drink with your meal?

You can get drinks from the bars and bring them back to the room. Not a great system but workable.

[Real NHDOC]

1 hour ago, Denali2003 said:

 

So if you wanted to have a meal in your cabin and order room service, you have to pay to have something to drink with your meal?  What about breakfast?  I know you fill out the card and hang on your door, but do you have to pay extra for your coffee / tea?  

No, coffee and tea are included with room service. The OP was asking about drinks from the beverage package, those covered by that package are not included in the normal room service menu. 

[iflyrc5]

3 hours ago, Denali2003 said:

Hello.  My husband & I have previously cruised 16 times (17^th coming in May 2023) with Princess.  We are now looking at HAL for our future cruises.  We have been reading a lot and watching a lot of videos of the Rotterdam.  We are very interested in cruising on her in 2024. We both still work, so 1 cruise per year is what we can do.

 

I do have a few questions. 

#1 – Does HAL still use a card as your room key & for purchases?  Yes

#2 – Since we’ve never sailed HAL, picking a cabin for us is a gamble.  For the Caribbean sailing we are looking at for early 2024, the most affordable cabins are Aft and Forward.  I heard the Forward cabins have a lot of “rocking & rolling”.  How are the Aft (mid-Aft) cabins? We like aft and lower deck - quiet and very little motion

#3 – Can you get lunch in the dining room on Embarkation day? Most of the time but not always

#4 – What are some of the daily activities like on sea days?  Does anyone have a photo of the event listings? If you go to the main HAL board from back in Jan 14 I posted the daily programs for 42 days

#5 – If you are in Billboards, can you hear the music that is playing in the other venues in the Music Walk? The Bill Board on Board and Rolling stones alternate their show time.  There are doors between these and the BB King so you get some bleed over when the doors are opened

#6 – Does HAL have a separate Vegan/Vegetarian Menu in the dining rooms?  I see (and love) that they have Beyond Meat options in other eateries on the ship! Yes - get the menu the night before from your waiter

 #7 – I heard that if you have dinner in the Specialty restaurants and want to have more than 1 appetizer, that you have to pay extra for more than 1 appetizer (per person).  Is this true? Yes in the Pinnacle - not in the Tramarind 

#8 – If you have the “Have it All” package and order Room Service, are your drinks included or do you have to pay extra for your drinks?  For example, we were looking at Norwegian and while the food was free for room service, you had to pay extra for your drinks, even if you had a drinks package. 

 

Thank you for your help!

Here are some of your answers

[oakridger]

Room tip for any ship with refrigerators:  Using your beverage package, you can pick up unopened beer, sodas and water from any bar and put them in your cabin mini fridge for later use. I was able to pick up two drinks at a time.  This is particularly good on port days when you won't be on the ship using the beverage package for a lot of the day then put some drinks in the cabin fridge for the sea days or when you have room service or are hanging out on your balcony.  Unfortunately, that doesn't work for cocktails or glasses of wine though.  😏

 

~Nancy

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Maybe try club orange 

[doone]

For room selection I am on the Rotterdam right now on deck 6 aft in a verandah cabin.  You will always feel some movement being on the ocean, but it’s been minimal on my cruise in this area.  I have friends sailing with me who are on deck 10 forward and they said they feel the motion in that location.  

 

you will love the Rotterdam, this has been an amazing cruise so far.  Hope this helps with your decision making.