Just Returned from Rotterdam Cruise

[Djptcp]

DH and I had a wonderful 12-day cruise on the Rotterdam (our 5th on that ship). We went throught the new Panama Canal locks this time so have been through both old and new. Liked the new ones better - faster and they are different from the old ones. Due to political unrest in Panama, the Captain was told by the Panama Tourism Dept. not to dock in Colon for the safety of the passengers. For that reason we also did not get to cruise in Gatun Lake - we went through the locks to the lake but turned around and immediately went back through them. Colon was no big loss to us based on previous visits.

 

We are 4* Mariners and this was our 75th cruise overall (18 on Holland America). Looking forward to our Nieuw Statendam cruise in December. Love the free cruises and casino free play we receive from the casino. The casino was great the first two nights and then took a downward turn until the last day when I recouped some of my losses. As 4* Mariners we were invited to a free wine tasting and have done this before.

 

Crew was wonderful as always. The first day at Sail Away a bar steward at the Sea View Bar area remembered me from a Nieuw Amsterdam cruise last year and gave me a big hug. Funny because I don't drink much at all.

 

The food was really good as always. Only ate once in the main dining room, ate most dinners in the Lido or skipped dinners because we had too much for lunch:-) We ate at New York Pizza for breakfast every morning, had a delicious lunch in the Pinnacle Grill on one of the at sea days, and ate several times at the Canaletto and once at the Tamarind - both always good. Love the Wall Street pizza at the New York Deli for lunch or dinner.

 

Halloween evening was fun with both passengers and casino staff in costumes.

 

The Library was great and well used by us and others.

[mafig]

Thanks for your review. 

 

We'll be on Rotterdam at the end of this month; I really enjoyed your review.

[albingirl]

Nice review, thanks. I really have to pull the trigger and book a cruise. So to speak. Too much going on but isn't it nice to pause and stroll onto a ship? Glad you had fun. 

[YourWorldWithBill]

1 hour ago, Djptcp said:

The food was really good as always. Only ate once in the main dining room, ate most dinners in the Lido or skipped dinners because we had too much for lunch:-) We ate at New York Pizza for breakfast every morning, had a delicious lunch in the Pinnacle Grill on one of the at sea days, and ate several times at the Canaletto and once at the Tamarind - both always good. Love the Wall Street pizza at the New York Deli for lunch or dinner.

Thanks for your detailed review! I thought the pizza at the New York Deli on the Rotterdam was outstanding! I'm lactose intolerant, and they make any pizza vegan with the taste similar to the real thing.

[Don Kehote]

Wall St. Pizza, add anchovy, and we're in heaven.  Good God, I loves them little fishies.

[QuattroRomeo]

Thanks for your cruise summary. What is on the Wall St pizza? I usually get the Central Park one so cannot remember the others!

interesting that you had to rush through Panama. DH was in Panama in early Oct and apparently there were road blocks here and there as people protested high prices. Seems to be what the locals do to get attention to a concern! Although I agree that missing Colon isn't a big deal.

[shippmates]

I also was on this same sailing and it was wonderful.  The weather was great and the service was top notch.  

I just wish they would make better use of the big screen on Lido deck.  I enjoy watching the movies on deck at night.  They seemed only to use it when there was a football game.

Looking forward for my next sailing on the Eurodam.

[POA1]

1 hour ago, shippmates said:

I just wish they would make better use of the big screen on Lido deck.  I enjoy watching the movies on deck at night.  They seemed only to use it when there was a football game.

The issue with outdoor movie screens is that it's really hard to get the acoustics right. Modern films were made for a much more complex audio set up. (This was from an article asking if big format projectors were finally well priced, why were outdoor video systems not taking off.)

 

You would need an old movie, with regular stereo and maybe a center channel, to sound good. (I define "old" as movies I would have seen in a theater. You know, candle lit projection, piano player sound track...)

 

Anyway... Sports works well. New movies, not so much. Things like the Marvel movies sound awful.

[unclerich]

We were also on this cruise. It was our first cruise since the pandemic and it went well.  Food quality is a smidge down and upcharges in the MDR, Pinnacle, etc are noticeable. Overall comfort of the cruise was excellent. Music variety is a major plus. Interesting that the cruise was essentially sold out, but never felt crowded.

[kazu]

Thanks for your review, OP.

 

Your experience mirrors mine on the cruise before yours.  

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed it and the Rotterdam 🙂 

[saturn93]

21 hours ago, QuattroRomeo said:

Thanks for your cruise summary. What is on the Wall St pizza? I usually get the Central Park one so cannot remember the others!

interesting that you had to rush through Panama. DH was in Panama in early Oct and apparently there were road blocks here and there as people protested high prices. Seems to be what the locals do to get attention to a concern! Although I agree that missing Colon isn't a big deal.

The Wall Street Pizza has prosciutto, arugula, olive oil, white sauce, gorgonzola, and mozzarella. Had that several times, very good, as for all of them.

[QuattroRomeo]

2 hours ago, saturn93 said:

The Wall Street Pizza has prosciutto, arugula, olive oil, white sauce, gorgonzola, and mozzarella. Had that several times, very good, as for all of them.

Thank you! Will give that a try next time. We do like the pizzas and the sandwiches that we've tried so far.

[DeadPool1979]

Embarking on the Rotterdam next Sunday, what was the entertainment like for the 12 days cruise?

[Mikeyto]

On 11/4/2023 at 4:04 PM, Djptcp said:

DH and I had a wonderful 12-day cruise on the Rotterdam (our 5th on that ship). We went throught the new Panama Canal locks this time so have been through both old and new. Liked the new ones better - faster and they are different from the old ones. Due to political unrest in Panama, the Captain was told by the Panama Tourism Dept. not to dock in Colon for the safety of the passengers. For that reason we also did not get to cruise in Gatun Lake - we went through the locks to the lake but turned around and immediately went back through them. Colon was no big loss to us based on previous visits.

 

We are 4* Mariners and this was our 75th cruise overall (18 on Holland America). Looking forward to our Nieuw Statendam cruise in December. Love the free cruises and casino free play we receive from the casino. The casino was great the first two nights and then took a downward turn until the last day when I recouped some of my losses. As 4* Mariners we were invited to a free wine tasting and have done this before.

 

Crew was wonderful as always. The first day at Sail Away a bar steward at the Sea View Bar area remembered me from a Nieuw Amsterdam cruise last year and gave me a big hug. Funny because I don't drink much at all.

 

The food was really good as always. Only ate once in the main dining room, ate most dinners in the Lido or skipped dinners because we had too much for lunch:-) We ate at New York Pizza for breakfast every morning, had a delicious lunch in the Pinnacle Grill on one of the at sea days, and ate several times at the Canaletto and once at the Tamarind - both always good. Love the Wall Street pizza at the New York Deli for lunch or dinner.

 

Halloween evening was fun with both passengers and casino staff in costumes.

 

The Library was great and well used by us and others.

Thank you for the wonderful review!  I will embark Rotterdam on Sunday for the same voyage and my first HAL voyage.

 

I'm curious about the breakfast offerings at New York?  My HAL experienced parents had no idea they offered breakfast.

 

Thanks!

[barb-ottawa]

4 hours ago, DeadPool1979 said:

Embarking on the Rotterdam next Sunday, what was the entertainment like for the 12 days cruise?

Excellent bands in both the Rolling Stone Rock Room and BB Kings. 

[DeadPool1979]

16 minutes ago, barb-ottawa said:

Excellent bands in both the Rolling Stone Rock Room and BB Kings. 

Amazing, the band in the BB KINGS was insane last year.

 

How about evening main showroom entertainment?

[barb-ottawa]

Main theatre entertainment was the usual stuff - dance in various formats, a comedian, steel band. We only attended a few shows. The band in the Rolling Stone Rock Room made up for all the lack of entertainment in the main theatre.

 

[MissiCruzs]

Thanks for your review!  We also are cruising starting next Sunday and I was hoping they would get the mining issue resolved.  I'm disappointed to be going thru the canal only to turn around and head back out and not cruising Gatun Lake.  Stopping in Colon is no big loss in my opinion also.

[Puchi boy]

37 minutes ago, barb-ottawa said:

Main theatre entertainment was the usual stuff - dance in various formats, a comedian, steel band. We only attended a few shows. The band in the Rolling Stone Rock Room made up for all the lack of entertainment in the main theatre.

 

Hi Barb, any idea if the band in Rolling Stone room was new to HAL? Were they the 20s ish slim British rockers? Or, slightly older with a bald lead singer?

 

Asking for a friend.

[barb-ottawa]

Don't know if you can access this, but here goes. And no, they weren't new to HAL. They are on the Rotterdam until February.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CzMPOCKOLt4/

 

Edited November 6, 2023 by barb-ottawa

[Puchi boy]

1 hour ago, barb-ottawa said:

Don't know if you can access this, but here goes. And no, they weren't new to HAL. They are on the Rotterdam until February.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CzMPOCKOLt4/

 

Thanks so much!

 

Checked them out on youtube, can't wait to see them live.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for sharing.

[seaoma]

1 hour ago, barb-ottawa said:

Don't know if you can access this, but here goes. And no, they weren't new to HAL. They are on the Rotterdam until February.

 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CzMPOCKOLt4/

 

 

We saw them(well, 1 guy was different) onboard the Rotterdam, Nov-Dec 2021. For me, they were among some of the best Rock and Roll I've ever seen on a ship. 

[0106]

4 hours ago, Mikeyto said:

I'm curious about the breakfast offerings at New York? 

Very good and never crowded. 🤫

[Hlitner]

25 minutes ago, 0106 said:

Very good and never crowded. 🤫

This begs the question of bagels.  A few weeks ago I was involved in a thread (elsehwere on CC) about bagels and made the simple statement that in 50 years of extensive cruising with 17 cruise lines we have yet to have a decent bagel on any ship!  Ever!  We had high hopes about the bagels on Explora Journeys (where they make all their own bread products) and it was just another lousy bagel (essentially normal roll dough in the shape of a bagel).

 

You would think that a HAL venue called "New York" would have New York quality bagels (this means they must be boiled before they are given a slight baking.  I should add, for our CAnadian friends, that Montreal bagels are similar in that they are boiled.  What say you?

 

Hank