LIVE from ms Rotterdam March 17-29, 2024

[Scrapnana]

Doing nothing in San Juan - March 26, 2024

 

I slept late and had contemplated walking around a little but after going out on the balcony, I decided it was too hot.  I did some knitting instead.

 

Frances and Tony had decided the same thing about going off the ship.  We had lunch together then changed for the pool.  It felt wonderful and I stayed in over an hour, skipping trivia.

 

After dinner we went to the show which was another performance by the steel band, Island Magic.  They were terrific again.

 

Sea day tomorrow.

 

Smooth sailing until next time!

[Scrapnana]

Last lazy sea day - March 27, 2024

 

Once again I had a lazy morning and lunch in the Lido.  After a piece of cake from the “Cake me Away” cake extravaganza, I sat on my balcony and knitted.  
 

 

Today’s trivia was really hard and I had only 10 of 17.  The winners had 14.

1.  What was the name of the cool guy gang in Grease?

2.  Which 1989 Disney movie was the last animated totally by hand?

3.  Which album came in second to Thriller in the 70s?
4.  In Morse Code, what letter is represented by a single dot?

5.  What is cynophobia the fear of?

 

 

 

 

 

1. T-birds

2. The Little Mermaid 

3. Born in the USA 

4. e

5. dogs 

 

I started packing (ugh!) after trivia.  After dinner we went to see the comedian.  Somewhere along the way I lost my keycard so I went to Guest Services and it had been turned in.

 

Half Moon Cay tomorrow.

 

Smooth sailing until next time!

[Haljo1935]

On 3/25/2024 at 8:31 PM, WriterOnDeck said:

Kathi, so glad to read about your adventures back on a dam ship! One thing I have learned is that shorex usually has one manager who specializes in knowing the "accessible" details about excursions. When I fractured my kneecap on the 2023 world cruise, they went over each of the excursions I had booked with more detail than in the description eg number of steps, number of stairs, etc. Once I may more ambulatory, they even emailed a tour operator asking for a photo of the access to a boat. It really helped me to be able to decide ahead of time what I could do.

Great information - I didn't know about having a more knowledgeable accessibility shore ex manager - we'll definitely ask for them when we book our next excursions.

[Haljo1935]

Quite enjoy you posting the trivia Q&A - very nice change up.

Packing is an awful way to end a lovely cruise🥺

Look forward to the rest of your posts- safe travels home.

[Scrapnana]

11 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Quite enjoy you posting the trivia Q&A - very nice change up.

Packing is an awful way to end a lovely cruise🥺

Look forward to the rest of your posts- safe travels home.

Thanks for following along.

[Ipeeinthepools]

25 minutes ago, Scrapnana said:

Thanks for following along.

Where are you!  We are down at BillBoard waiting for you 

[Scrapnana]

A half day at Half Moon Cay - March 28, 2024

 

I knew that I wouldn’t be able to use my rollator on the sand and wasn’t sure how good the pathways were, so I chose not to go ashore.  I heard later that a woman fell out of her wheelchair on a path - glad I made the choice I did.  The last tender back was supposed to be at 2:30 but they announced five people were missing.  Eventually they must’ve been found because we sailed away.

 

I had decided to try the pizza place and when I got there Frances and Tony were waiting for it to open.  They had gone ashore but found the water too cold for comfort.  
 

After a very good pizza and salad, we went to the Sea View pool.  I stayed in the pool about an hour.  The water felt wonderful 

 

The last trivia of the cruise was another hard one.  I had 10 of 17 and the winners had 14.

1.  According to Rolling Stone magazine, what is the only non-English song in the top 500 of all time.

2.  What is Canada’s #1 summer sport?

3.  What actor played Batman in the 1995 movie?
4.  What did the Wicked Witch of the West write in the sky?

5.  In what year was the first Tour de France?

 

 

 

1. La Bamba

2. lacrosse 

3. Val Kilmer

4. surrender Dorothy

5. 1903

 

After trivia I finished packing before a quick trip to the shops (I had non-refundable OBC) and then to our final dinner in the Club Orange dining room.  We skipped the show and I put my dinner clothes in the suitcase and wheeled it out.  
 

Early morning tomorrow- we are meeting at 7:20!

 

Smooth sailing until next time!

[Haljo1935]

1 hour ago, Scrapnana said:

...After trivia I finished packing before a quick trip to the shops (I had non-refundable OBC) and then to our final dinner in the Club Orange dining room.  We skipped the show and I put my dinner clothes in the suitcase and wheeled it out.  
 

Early morning tomorrow- we are meeting at 7:20!

 

Smooth sailing until next time!

Placing luggage out is so bittersweet. Here's hoping you a smooth disembark and safe travels home.

[flyingfish123]

Thanks so much for doing the trivia for us "trivia nuts."  Sounds like you handled this cruise

so well Kathi.  Safe trip home.

[cunnorl]

 Thank you for taking us along. Enjoyed the trivia questions.  Safe travels home.

Looking forward to your next adventure!

[Niagarawine]

On 3/28/2024 at 10:20 AM, Haljo1935 said:

Great information - I didn't know about having a more knowledgeable accessibility shore ex manager - we'll definitely ask for them when we book our next excursions.

Me neither, thanks for letting us know

[Niagarawine]

13 hours ago, Scrapnana said:

A half day at Half Moon Cay - March 28, 2024

 

I knew that I wouldn’t be able to use my rollator on the sand and wasn’t sure how good the pathways were, so I chose not to go ashore.  I heard later that a woman fell out of her wheelchair on a path - glad I made the choice I did.  The last tender back was supposed to be at 2:30 but they announced five people were missing.  Eventually they must’ve been found because we sailed away.

 

I had decided to try the pizza place and when I got there Frances and Tony were waiting for it to open.  They had gone ashore but found the water too cold for comfort.  
 

After a very good pizza and salad, we went to the Sea View pool.  I stayed in the pool about an hour.  The water felt wonderful 

 

The last trivia of the cruise was another hard one.  I had 10 of 17 and the winners had 14.

1.  According to Rolling Stone magazine, what is the only non-English song in the top 500 of all time.

2.  What is Canada’s #1 summer sport?

3.  What actor played Batman in the 1995 movie?
4.  What did the Wicked Witch of the West write in the sky?

5.  In what year was the first Tour de France?

 

 

 

1. La Bamba

2. lacrosse 

3. Val Kilmer

4. surrender Dorothy

5. 1903

 

After trivia I finished packing before a quick trip to the shops (I had non-refundable OBC) and then to our final dinner in the Club Orange dining room.  We skipped the show and I put my dinner clothes in the suitcase and wheeled it out.  
 

Early morning tomorrow- we are meeting at 7:20!

 

Smooth sailing until next time!

They need buggies on Half Moon Cay like tgey do on MSC private island. From what I’ve read it is fully accessible and there are a lot of us who need better accessibility 

[Happily@Sea]

I hope this cruise was a successful warm-up for the 'Pole to Pole' you would like to do next year.

 

Thanks for your report and trivia [I'm not good at all].

 

Best wishes for a smooth trip home.

[leerathje]

@Scrapnana, I followed along this entire thread...it sounds like you had a good time!! I'm glad it was, for the most part, a good experience for your first since the C. I sincerely hope this is the beginning of a whole new opportunity for cruising experiences for you. 

 

Leanne

[alibabacruisers]

Thank you, Kathi for taking us along on your cruise.  How did you find it, as your first in awhile?  I hope you will find the experience useful in planning your next cruise.

[Bostongal16411]

On 3/27/2024 at 10:30 PM, Scrapnana said:

Last lazy sea day - March 27, 2024

 

Once again I had a lazy morning and lunch in the Lido.  After a piece of cake from the “Cake me Away” cake extravaganza, I sat on my balcony and knitted.  
 

 

Today’s trivia was really hard and I had only 10 of 17.  The winners had 14.

1.  What was the name of the cool guy gang in Grease?

2.  Which 1989 Disney movie was the last animated totally by hand?

3.  Which album came in second to Thriller in the 70s?
4.  In Morse Code, what letter is represented by a single dot?

5.  What is cynophobia the fear of?

 

 

 

 

 

1. T-birds

2. The Little Mermaid 

3. Born in the USA 

4. e

5. dogs 

 

I started packing (ugh!) after trivia.  After dinner we went to see the comedian.  Somewhere along the way I lost my keycard so I went to Guest Services and it had been turned in.

 

Half Moon Cay tomorrow.

 

Smooth sailing until next time!

These have been fun to read. We were onboard with you on this sailing and it's fun to read about other people's experiences. I walk with crutches & my dh has non-hodgkin's lymphoma so it was a quiet cruise for us too. 

 

As for trivia answers - Thriller was released in 1982 & Born in the USA was released in 1984. 🤷

 

Thanks for sharing your cruise. 

[Scrapnana]

Home again, home again! - March 29, 2024

 

Because we had an 11:52 flight and were using Luggage Direct, we were in the first group to disembark.  That meant an early wake up and you may have realized that I am not an early bird.

 

I was amazed how many people were getting off in the first group.  I had to wait as four filled elevators went by before I gave up and used the “go up to go down” trick and finally was able to get to deck 1.  It took about 15 minutes to get off the ship, walk through the terminal, and get on the bus (we took the HAL shuttle) to the airport.  
 

We were at the airport with a couple of hours to spare so we had an ok breakfast at the Jack Nicklaus restaurant while waiting.  The flight to Charlotte was full but went quickly.  We had lunch at a good barbecue place before our flight to Richmond.  
 

My daughter picked me up and I was home by 6:30.  I was really tired so I made it an early night ( hence the lateness of this post).

 

I am going to write one more post with some final thoughts but want to thank everyone who has been following along.

 

Smooth sailing until next time!

[SusieKIslandGirl]

Thanks for taking us along. So happy that your cruise was a success!

[SUESEABE]

Good to hear that you made it home unscathed.

[alibabacruisers]

I am happy to hear you arrived home safely after that long day.

[Traveling Dot]

Kathi,

Glad to see you are back to cruising.  Hope you can make the Pole to Pole cruise.  I'm sure you will get stronger each day, so keep on sailing. 🤗

[Scrapnana]

Some final thoughts…

 

…The Rotterdam.  She is a beautiful ship and I enjoyed being onboard.  Since I normally take longer cruises with few children, it was nice having the Sea View pool as adults only.  Please note I have nothing against children (I was a teacher for 38 years) but it was nice to have a quiet pool where I did not have to dodge playful children.  On the topic of kids, all the ones I saw were very well behaved and polite.  My one negative is storage.  It’s fine for a short cruise but anything longer it would be difficult for two (or more) in a cabin.  

 

…Entertainment.  It was a mixed bag.  The steel drum band (Island Magic) and Chris Bannister (John Denver) put on amazing shows.  

 

…Have it All (HIA).  I found this well worth the money with the included excursions, drinks, dinners, etc.

…Club Orange.  I enjoyed the dining room and the ability to go when we wanted.  Elena and Monique were wonderful and very attentive.  There were small perks (fancy robes, dedicated lines at Guest Services and Shore Excursions, priority tendering and embarkation, etc.) which didn’t amount to much for me.  The change in cabins didn’t help me since I needed a handicapped cabin. Unless I was cruising with friends that had it (like this time), I probably wouldn’t get it again

 

…Internet.  This was the best internet I have had on a ship.  I had the Surf package as part of the HIA.  I had no trouble logging in or staying online.  The speed was great.  It was much easier to change devices than I remember from before.

 

…Food.  All the food was good.  Dinners in the Tamarind and Pinnacle were amazing.  We ate one meal at the NY Deli (the pizza was extremely good) and I ate lunch at the Grand Dutch Cafe which was also very good.  The Gelato was excellent and not that expensive (4ounce for $2.95 plus gratuity).

 

…Crew.  As usual the crew was fabulous.  
 

…Fellow cruisers.  As I mentioned in one of my posts, I couldn’t believe how nice people were whether offering help, making space for my rollator and me, or a dozen other things.  With all the negativity we hear on a daily basis, it was heartening to meet people that are caring.  You really do meet the nicest people on a cruise.

 

…All of you.  I appreciate all of you who read the posts and those who responded. It was fun hearing from those who I have met in person (brings back great memories of past cruises).

 

….Results of my test cruise.  The excursions I took went well.  I didn’t get off the ship at some ports but was prepared for that.  Things took me longer than they would have BC (before cancer) but I was able to do most everything I really wanted.  Knowing I won’t be able to do many things I liked to do BC ( wander around on my own, take longer excursions, do walking tours, etc.), I am planning to go on the Pole to Pole cruise next year.  My TA got me the handicapped cabin on deck 3 of the Volendam which is also in a location that is convenient to the Promenade deck.  So, barring any unforeseen problems, I will be writing another Live report in 299 days (according to my countdown clock).

 

Smooth sailing until next time!

[SusieKIslandGirl]

I've got goosebumps reading that you felt the cruise went well and you're ready to do the Pole-to-Pole. Fantastic news! And I can't wait for more trivia!!!😁

[RuthC]

21 minutes ago, Scrapnana said:

 So, barring any unforeseen problems, I will be writing another Live report in 299 days (according to my countdown clock).

Yippee! I am happy for you, that (as of now, at least) you feel well enough to do this long cruise. And I am happy for those of us who can't take the cruise that you will be reporting on it! (it's the next best thing to being there.) 

[oakridger]

@Scrapnana I have followed every word and am thrilled that you feel like the Pole to Pole is still a go!!  I'll be reading whatever you feel like posting when the time comes for that amazing trip as well.

 

Take care and thank you!

 

~Nancy