Rotterdam Nov 1-24

[SANDFILL]

2 Over 55 Couples Traveling On Rotterdam Nov 1 06 From South Florida - Anyone Else Out There. Canasta, Pan

[grannynurse]

Hi,

Welcome to the HAL board.

I was really surprised to see that the Rotterdam will be in Florida as I thought she was going directly from Europe to South America.

We have spent 60+ days aboard her and really love the ship. As co-flagship, she is truly special.

Enjoy your cruise, and if there are questions we can answer for you, just ask.

GN

[shipcafe]

Hi,

Welcome to the HAL board.

I was really surprised to see that the Rotterdam will be in Florida as I thought she was going directly from Europe to South America.

We have spent 60+ days aboard her and really love the ship. As co-flagship, she is truly special.

Enjoy your cruise, and if there are questions we can answer for you, just ask.

GN

 

Rotterdam sails from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro .. no stops in Florida. I think that Sandfill just means that THEY are from South Florida.

[SANDFILL]

Flying to Lisbon then boarding Rotterdam - 3 continents ending in Rio .....

We live in South Florida (sorry I was not clear) What is the story about formal nights...I am too through with that kind of 'dress up'. Just came home from Millenium(Celebrity) Venice to Barcelona... even formal nights were just sport coat for men...very few tux... suits (not even always with tie). And on casual nights, 3/4 of ship wore (nice) jeans. Anyone to play Canasta, Pan???

[grannynurse]

Hi,

The last cruise we took on the Rotterdam similar to what yours will be was in summer 2004, 35 day transatlantic. We had 8 formal nights and 6 informal scheduled but some of these were changed at the descretion of the captain and HM due to weather, ports etc. Approx 90% of pax followed the dress code. Our friends who were on Amsterdam this passed spring for 24 days (transatlantic and Baltic) say that the dress code was not as well adhered to. Seeing that Amsterdam is co-flagship with Rotterdam the trend may apply. Many men do wear dark suits on formal night and there are very few women who wear "ball" gowns. Most mix and match with long black skirts, pants and fancy tops. You will probably have 6 formal nights scheduled but don't panic you can easily switch tops and accessories. I personally wouldn't be comfortable wearing jeans on a formal night, and won't. AMOF my DH is bringing his Tux to Alaska next week because he loves it.

Boundaries seems to blur for women on informal nights. I take a travel knit long skirt and several pair of travel knit pants and some not too dressy tops and wear them for both casual and informal evenings. Packing for 35 days was a real hassle but I've learned to cut back since then. I now only take 2 pair of dress shoes, my DH was amazed, but we usually do pre and post cruise too, and don't want to lug the contents of the closet.

Transatlantic cruising used to be very formal on HAL, and usually includes a black and white ball, but it's been 2 years so I wouldn't accept this as gospel. Perhaps some recent European cruisers will tell us how well they followed the dress code this summer.

GN