Live from Rotterdam - Northern Transatlantic, Oct 12 - 27, 2025

[akeka]

When Club Orange had a wait list for breakfast wasn't the main dining room an option for you? Curious as it sounded like your only other option was the buffet.

[81Zoomie]

 

 



Day 9 - Sea Day (4)

 

We are now halfway across the Atlantic on our way to Bermuda 🇧🇲!  Good news!!!  The seas 🌊 have calmed and so have the gale force winds 💨.  It’s not foggy or rainy 😀.  We may actually be able to enjoy our verandah today!!!

 

 

On tap for today

 

 

 

DH sprung out of bed early and left me nestled under the covers.  He went to spin class.  I’m jealous, he got his exercise 🚴‍♂️ out of the way early. I am definitely not the early bird  🦜 in the family!  Now that he is back and showered and my eyes 👀 are open it’s time for breakfast 🍳 🧇☕️.

 

It’s 9:15 and we saunter down to catch Club 🍊 before it closes at 9:30.  The hostess is popping outside to look for guests.  That is not a good sign….   Today we are told we are #6 in line for a table.  Hmmm, I ask DH to peak around the corner at the main MDR line.  He looks and waves me back.  Variety is good and this is our first time in the MDR this cruise. The brighter atmosphere with blue, white, as well as the large windows was striking.  It looks quite inviting.  And so does the beverage cart 😍!

 

There was a wait for a table for 2 so we agreed to sit at a large table for 8.  It was nice to meet more of our fellow cruisers ⛵️.  To our surprise, it was Caribbean Brunch day!  How lucky is that 🏝️?!?  The menu was quite different from the usual.

 

The fruit 🍌 🍊🍓🍇 plate was a nice light starter.
 

 

 I ordered the walnut caramel pancakes 🥞 with sugar free syrup, but the waiter told me they ran out (SF syrup).  DH had the salmon crab cake with poached egg 🍳.  There were a few quirks.  The waiter came to pour coffee, but no one had cups.  The fruit was good, but a small portion.  Then came the pancakes.  The lady sitting to my left ordered the same 🥞.  
 

 

We both asked for syrup since they were a bit dry.  This was interesting.  The waiter came and drizzled something from a gravy boat.  A bit dark I thought to myself.

 

 

The lady next to me mentioned the strange strong flavor.  We both chatted about the color, but couldn’t figure it out.  Finally, DH looked at it 👀, and said “molasses”!  BINGO… that was it.  The pancakes were good, but passing molasses off as syrup gets demerits ⬇️.  I was hungry and ate them.  Poor DH 😢, I was already finished with my breakfast before he was served.

After many inquiries, he was finally served.  Mission accomplished, breakfast complete!

 

I have heard some chit chat about the speaker series on this cruise 🚢, but was reluctant to comment without having attended a lecture.  HAL topic selection for this TA is different than expected.  It is sports stars ⚽️🏀🏈🥊🚴; Tom Brady, Lionel Messi, Mohammad Ali, Michael Jordan, and today Lance Armstrong.  It’s as told by a retired sports columnist reflecting on sports affecting life.  This morning the timing worked out and I went to hear for myself.

 

 

 

The session was very sparsely populated.  There were ~150 people in attendance.  Over the years there have been some great enrichment lectures on cruise ships.  The tunnels in Norway, volcanoes and tectonic plates in the western Med, the characteristics of whales, expeditions to Antarctica, etc. are quite memorable.  Today’s sports talk 🗣️ did not rate favorably with those.  However, just like all things, it’s subjective, YMMV.

 

The Captain 👨‍✈️ made his noon announcement. It is 73 deg, winds 17 mph, seas at 10ft decreasing to 7ft.  The next statement was a bit eerie 😱, “Rotterdam is presently 550 miles SE of Titanic” ⚓️. That is a reference I prefer not to think about 🤫 when at sea 🌊.

 

Its a little cool, but wrapped in our blue and white HAL towels, the verandah and ocean views are enjoyable ❤️!

 

 

 

Edited Sunday at 03:15 PM by 81Zoomie

[81Zoomie]

Just now, akeka said:

When Club Orange had a wait list for breakfast wasn't the main dining room an option for you? Curious as it sounded like your only other option was the buffet.

 

We ate in the MDR this morning 😀!

[grannyshell]

Glad you tried the MDR for bkfst but sorry it was a little glitchy....hope that won't stop you from trying again. It really is so much nicer than the Lido IMO. Re: towels on the veranda: look in the bottom cupboard under the ice bucket shelf. There should be 2 HAL fleece throws in there. If not, ask your cabin stewards.

[81Zoomie]

Time for LUNCH!  Definitely in the mood for light.  Salad for me 🥗.

 

 

DH was in love 😍 with the seafood Paella!

 

 

There were many choices in the Lido today.  The ice cream flavor of the day was banana 🍌.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Decided to take a quick look at the aft pool area.  The lounge chairs were finally out and there were a few folks covered in towels or blankets.  The heater under the covered eating areas, however, are now off.  It has cooled off as the day progressed, and the sun 🌞 is still MIA.

 

DH made an observation as we looked at the wake.  The port side wake had a greenish/brown streak in it that was not visible on the starboard side.

 

 

The internet has been a bit slower than normal today.  We were unable to call or FaceTime our kids.  Not certain if it is our current location, or the cool weather with lots of people online.  Pictures have been slow to load as well.  On a positive note, many of the NFL football  🏈 games are being broadcast without issue.

 

 

 

 

[twosit]

Oddly enough, the Caribbean brunch menu looks really similar to the Baltic/Dutch (can’t remember exactly what they called it) brunch menu we had last cruise. We were disappointed with both the food and the service. It took a half hour to even get our order taken. We chose to go to the Lido for breakfast today (I was inspired by your banana caramel crepe photo) and we were really pleased. I noticed maple syrup on the counter up there.

I was told today they can only make Bloody Caesar because they are out of tomato juice. They also said they were out of orange juice at the Lido.

[81Zoomie]

Just now, twosit said:

Oddly enough, the Caribbean brunch menu looks really similar to the Baltic/Dutch (can’t remember exactly what they called it) brunch menu we had last cruise. We were disappointed with both the food and the service. It took a half hour to even get our order taken. We chose to go to the Lido for breakfast today (I was inspired by your banana caramel crepe photo) and we were really pleased. I noticed maple syrup on the counter up there.

I was told today they can only make Bloody Caesar because they are out of tomato juice. They also said they were out of orange juice at the Lido.

We heard a rumor about no orange juice as well, but DH was served a (watery) glass of OJ in the MDR this morning.  This is the first inkling of no tomato 🍅 juice.  I’ve been waiting for the right time to order my Bloody Maria.  I hope there is tomato juice somewhere because Clamato 😝 isn’t going to float my boat 😆.  After my molasses ‘syrup’ this morning I am not fond of mysterious 🧙 substitutions.
 

Edited Sunday at 07:17 PM by 81Zoomie

[FLCruiser97]

I just read through your whole "Live from". So glad you are doing this. We will be on the Rotterdam on this same sailing next October and I am glad to get the information as we have never sailed on this ship. Don't you just love getting an extra hour every day or so. So much better than Eastbound TA's.

[M&L-Colorado]

81Zoomie,

Enjoying your review. On this cruise next year and have one request. Could you post a photo of the Daily Program's open hours page. Just one of any of the sea days would do it. Thanks.

[Northwest Nerd]

Hi 81Zoomie  - Thanks for a fantastic "Live From"!! When I read trip reviews,  I always learn more about the reviewers than I do about the actual.cruise experience. Your photos and commentary reveal you to be a " glass half full" individual, with a robust sense of humor and a positive approach to life. Good job 👍

[crossingfan]

I for one would be very disappointed and somewhat upset that the only guest lecture topics sports!  Ugh!!!

 

[81Zoomie]

The gym called 🏋️‍.  I was a slacker yesterday.  It was surprisingly busy in the late afternoon.  Burning a few calories helps to justify another glass of wine 🍷.  Now I feel like I can reward 🏅myself without feeling too guilty.

 

It’s another lazy day, and a sit down dinner 🥘 doesn’t sound too appealing.  So, we have opened a bottle of wine in the cabin and are relaxing watching football.  After a bit we will go upstairs and enjoy a made to order pizza 🍕 at the NY Deli.  It’s been about 10 days since we ate our way through Italy 🇮🇹  and had pizza nearly every day 😂.  We miss the pizza 🍕🍕🍕🍕!

 

 

 

The pizza was very good!!!  BONUS to HAL!!!  We enjoyed our pizza in the covered 2 story pool area while watching football 🏈 . Another BONUS to HAL!

 

 

I asked the bartender about the tomato juice situation.  He told me he had 1/2 a container left.  Prior planning… I ordered a Bloody Maria straight up so I could put it in our fridge for tomorrow!  

 

Let’s go to the show!  Now if I was channeling Jackie Gleason, “And away we go…”. The comedian sounds like fun, and laughing is healthy 😂😂😂.

 

 

 

I have to be honest, a swing and a miss …. Richie was mediocre.  He offended some of the audience with a joke about the President and they walked out.   Richie followed up by insulting Barbara Bush, and more walked out.  All said, without any political commentary, he was past his prime. The ladies in front of us were shaking their heads, not good.  YMMV.

 

Time to move on, and we did.  The Rock Room was jamming and we were happy to grab seats at the bar and listen to them!  
 

 

 

 

And in a Deja vu moment… the clocks 🕰️ turn back another hour tonight.  We have no idea what time zone we are in anymore, or what city 🌆 marks the time zone.  DH figured out how to turn back the time on our Apple devices in settings.  We just set the time back one hour.

 

Everyone is hoping for some sunshine ☀️ tomorrow.  However, we hear Hurricane Oscar is executing a right hook.  Nooooo!

 

 

Edited Monday at 12:11 AM by 81Zoomie

[81Zoomie]

1 hour ago, M&L-Colorado said:

81Zoomie,

Enjoying your review. On this cruise next year and have one request. Could you post a photo of the Daily Program's open hours page. Just one of any of the sea days would do it. Thanks.

Will post tomorrow 😀.

[SUESEABE]

Just now, 81Zoomie said:

I have to be honest, a swing and a miss …. Richie was mediocre

We attended the show and stayed thinking that he may improve but felt he actually got worse, very poor IMO

[BigTeee]

Yes.  I am a pizza connoisseur, and the NY Deli pizza is worth it.

[81Zoomie]

Day 10 - At Sea (5)

 

The clocks went back again last night.  I’m pretty caught up on sleep 😴 since we keep getting extra hours 🕧.  At 5:30 it was obvious today would not be a sleep in day.  Up at 6.  I parted the curtains and what did I see???  Clouds  🌧️ and rain ☔️.  I am officially dubbing this the GRAY crossing.  The sun has only been visible for maybe 10 hours since we left Rotterdam.  On the plus side, it’s warm, we do have an unobstructed view of the ocean, and the seas have calmed down.

 

@M&L-Colorado, here are the opening times for a sea day.  Club 🍊opens at 8am.

 

 

 

 

Since I’m up, might as well get my walk in.  It’s shorts weather and I decide to brave deck 3.  HAL is one of the only lines that still have a 360 degree walkable promenade.  The deck was wet and there were 4 of us squeaking and swishing as we walked.  Yet another good use of my Goretex Brooks shoes 👟 👟.  3 laps is a mile and that was about my limit between the wet deck, drips from the lifeboat arms, and the wind 💨.  Time to lap the interior hallways!

 

I did a little recon on my walk.  I found the barrel of HAL branded Buffalo 🦬 Trace in the Ocean bar.  Bad news is we can’t try it because it’s empty 😢.  Looking at the barrel, I didn’t see any specific HAL markings.
 

 

I spied orange juice as well as tomato juice up in the Lido.  The syrup in the Lido looked like a mystery brand, and there was no sugar free option in sight.  The Dutch Cafe had a line of 20+ people (some in bathrobes) waiting to order at 7 am.

 

This morning we have a new tactic to avoid a wait at Club 🍊, get there when it opens.  Success 😃!  Seated upon entry.  Coffee  ☕️ and a pastry 🥐 were a nice way to start breakfast.  DH even received a glass of real orange juice!!!

 

 

 

 

The jury is still out on what kind of day it will be today.  It’s gray in one direction and there is a bit of blue sky in another direction.  Plus, to the south… Hurricane Oscar.  Here’s hoping that by the time Oscar slides northeast we can pass to the southwest 🤞.

 

 

 

 

The enrichment lecture for today is about Peyton Manning plus the history of Holland America.  HAL is still attempting to sell off its stock of Baltic Cruise items, Effy is selling a different color diamond 💎, the Origami fold of the day is a penguin 🐧, and you can refresh and renew your eyes 👀 among other things.  We will go the the Mariners luncheon at noon.  Can’t remember the last time we attended one!
 

 Of my gosh… the sun ☀️ has made an appearance!  I popped out to get a picture.  Don’t laugh but it is raining 🤣🤣🤣🤣.

 

Edited Monday at 12:47 PM by 81Zoomie

[Lady Arwen]

57 minutes ago, 81Zoomie said:

Day 10 - At Sea (5)

 

The clocks went back again last night.  I’m pretty caught up on sleep 😴 since we keep getting extra hours 🕧.  At 5:30 it was obvious today would not be a sleep in day.  Up at 6.  I parted the curtains and what did I see???  Clouds  🌧️ and rain ☔️.  I am officially dubbing this the GRAY crossing.  The sun has only been visible for maybe 10 hours since we left Rotterdam.  On the plus side, it’s warm, we do have an unobstructed view of the ocean, and the seas have calmed down.

 

@M&L-Colorado, here are the opening times for a sea day.  Club 🍊opens at 8am.

 

 

 

 

Since I’m up, might as well get my walk in.  It’s shorts weather and I decide to brave deck 3.  HAL is one of the only lines that still have a 360 degree walkable promenade.  The deck was wet and there were 4 of us squeaking and swishing as we walked.  Yet another good use of my Goretex Brooks shoes 👟 👟.  3 laps is a mile and that was about my limit between the wet deck, drips from the lifeboat arms, and the wind 💨.  Time to lap the interior hallways!

 

I did a little recon on my walk.  I found the barrel of HAL branded Buffalo 🦬 Trace in the Ocean bar.  Bad news is we can’t try it because it’s empty 😢.  Looking at the barrel, I didn’t see any specific HAL markings.
 

 

I spied orange juice as well as tomato juice up in the Lido.  The syrup in the Lido looked like a mystery brand, and there was no sugar free option in sight.  The Dutch Cafe had a line of 20+ people (some in bathrobes) waiting to order at 7 am.

 

This morning we have a new tactic to avoid a wait at Club 🍊, get there when it opens.  Success 😃!  Seated upon entry.  Coffee  ☕️ and a pastry 🥐 were a nice way to start breakfast.  DH even received a glass of real orange juice!!!

 

 

 

 

The jury is still out on what kind of day it will be today.  It’s gray in one direction and there is a bit of blue sky in another direction.  Plus, to the south… Hurricane Oscar.  Here’s hoping that by the time Oscar slides northeast we can pass to the southwest 🤞.

 

 

 

 

The enrichment lecture for today is about Peyton Manning plus the history of Holland America.  HAL is still attempting to sell off its stock of Baltic Cruise items, Effy is selling a different color diamond 💎, the Origami fold of the day is a penguin 🐧, and you can refresh and renew your eyes 👀 among other things.  We will go the the Mariners luncheon at noon.  Can’t remember the last time we attended one!
 

 Of my gosh… the sun ☀️ has made an appearance!  I popped out to get a picture.  Don’t laugh but it is raining 🤣🤣🤣🤣.

 

Thank you for your daily weather report.  We’re getting a good idea of what we can expect October 2025 on our crossing.  It’s the first TA for us!  I’ve really enjoyed going along with you on your adventures!  Well done!

[js1357]

Have you seen anything playing on the lido screen besides football, especially in the evening? 

[81Zoomie]

Just now, js1357 said:

Have you seen anything playing on the lido screen besides football, especially in the evening? 

Yes!  There have been some movies in the evenings 🎥🍿🎬.

[81Zoomie]

Today seemed like Mariner’s Day because we received our tiles before the Mariners lunch.  It appears to be a new Pinnacle class tile.

 

 

The Mariner’s lunch was packed.  The 2nd floor of the MDR was filled and we overflowed to the 3rd floor.  The staff was pouring Grandial Sparkling wine 🍾 from France.

 

 

The menu was very nice and the food and presentation was excellent.

 

 

Lazy afternoon (again) with the exception of my finer fabric laundry 🧺.  It’s a mundane task I know 🙃…. I’m not brave enough to send out the jersey and technical fabric.  Roll in a towel and they hang dry fairly quick.  Hook magnets 🧲 come in quite handy for placing hangers on the ceiling.

 

 

 

It’s finally partly sunny.  The Captain 👨‍✈️ told us we are ~ 500 miles southeast of Bermuda 🇧🇲.  It’s 75 deg 😃, 20 mph winds and seas of 7ft forecast to decrease.  He is watching Hurricane Oscar, but at this time, there is no impact to the ship.

 

For those that are interested, there is a Seafood Boil for $35 pp in the Lido at 5 & 7 this evening.  And for those inclined to pull the handles, the slot machines are available all night!  Unfortunately, HAL does not allow you to gamble with nonrefundable OBC ☹️.

 

 

[pirate cruiser]

Enjoying the thread-we personally like sea days. We will be on Rotterdam in Dec. We were told CO was sold out initially but we were able to get a couple of spots-I am a little concerned so my question is have you had a long wait for breakfast or dinner-the main reason we wanted to try CO was for the separate dining. I would think that if HAL limits the number of people that get CO there should not be too much of a wait so I hope we did not waste our money-thanks for any info.

[grannyshell]

5 hours ago, 81Zoomie said:

 

"The Dutch Cafe had a line of 20+ people (some in bathrobes) waiting to order at 7 am."

 

 

Isn't it remarkable how many people walk around the ship in their bathrobes? They even show up in the Lido! Folks: if you're wearing them instead of a swimsuit cover-up, don't. They are bathrobes to be worn in your cabin. Period.

[Cruise Suzy]

55 minutes ago, 81Zoomie said:

Today seemed like Mariner’s Day because we received our tiles before the Mariners lunch.  It appears to be a new Pinnacle class tile.

 

 

This "Sea Monters" design was first available on 2021 cruises. The very first ones did not include the Rotterdam.

[81Zoomie]

Just now, pirate cruiser said:

Enjoying the thread-we personally like sea days. We will be on Rotterdam in Dec. We were told CO was sold out initially but we were able to get a couple of spots-I am a little concerned so my question is have you had a long wait for breakfast or dinner-the main reason we wanted to try CO was for the separate dining. I would think that if HAL limits the number of people that get CO there should not be too much of a wait so I hope we did not waste our money-thanks for any info.

One evening we had about a 10 minute wait for dinner.  Once people start going to specialty dining it is less busy.  The longer waits have been at breakfast.  We were #6 and #11 in line for tables.  On those mornings we went elsewhere, once to the MDR and once to the Lido.  One issue is they don’t open until 8 am for breakfast which is a little late, even on sea days.

[FLCruiser97]

39 minutes ago, grannyshell said:

 They are bathrobes to be worn in your cabin. Period.

AGREE!