MaryBethV

I will try to remember to do that! Those sites are very helpful when looking to book staterooms. Our rooms were very quiet. We did have an adjoining door with MIL/FIL and could occasionally hear a cough or their TV when it was turned up. We didn't hear a peep from our neighbors on the other side.

Embarkation day cont... The Daily - Next, we headed to lunch in the Main Dining Room (MDR)... it is an impressive space! My in-laws and DH are Dutch (my MIL and FIL were born in the Netherlands). I mean... I was blessed to travel with my favorite Dutch people on a Dutch ship to Dutch islands... what could be better? We all enjoyed the Dutch Delft Blue plates on this cruise. They even included one with room service orders. Always a lovely touch of elegance! Here is the lunch menu - which was the same for each sea day lunch. Today we had Ricky and Budayasa for our servers - they made a very good first impression! For a starter, I had the Calamari Fritti. It was served piping hot and the calamari was tender. It came with three dipping sauces: marinara, chipotle tartar sauce (my favorite of the 3), and Dijon aioli. I also made good use of the lime wedge - YUM. My DH and MIL both ordered the Pannenkoek (a pancake with bacon and apple cooked into it). When ordering, MIL asked our server how large the pancake was. He replied "Oh, small ma'am" gesturing with his hands... when it was delivered and was the size of a dinner plate my MIL joked with him that he had lied to her. He replied, "If I said it was big, you wouldn't order it and it is good." 😂 Love him! Well, it WAS good (I snuck a bit of DH's) and I think we all need a server looking out for us like that! For my main entree, I ordered the Cobb Salad with Salmon. It was delicious - beautiful sear on the salmon and not overcooked/dry at all. I could have happily eaten this for lunch every day if there weren't so many other options! DH and MIL both ordered the classic Club Sandwich. It had a generous portion of meat and tomato and they both loved it. It was far from the last club sandwich ordered during our cruise. FIL had the Signature Burger - he said it was very good! Dessert! FIL enjoyed the Sundae. DH ordered the Cheese Cake. He loves cheesecake and it is always compared to a NY Cheesecake (which Princess did perfectly). This one was just OK. It was a little more creamy/whipped than the NY-style and had a barely-there/flavorless crust instead of a graham cracker crust. Not his favorite, but not terrible by any stretch of the imagination. I had the Double Chocolate Tart. It was delicious, but extremely rich... almost like a wedge of pure chocolate ganache. After I enjoyed a couple of bites, I passed it around for others to try. After lunch, we all checked in at our muster station, and then FIL/MIL went back to their room to unpack while DH and I made our way to the Explorations Cafe (Deck 12 forward) Had to grab a quick peek into the Retreat Cabana area... (I think if DH and I ever sail HAL with just the two of us - this is something I would seriously consider. We aren't into the towel-chair-saving game, and having guaranteed loungers in the shade & sun would be nice.) Explorations Cafe/Crow's Nest: What a great area with a forward view - and it is available to everyone! We loved that. (On NCL this is a suite/Haven area, on Princess it is the Sanctuary area which must be reserved much like the Retreat Cabanas on HAL.) After exploring, we sat by the window and ordered a couple of drinks. A Cosmo for me, please! Next up: We meet up with MrC and MrsC! 😃 Then... Sail Away followed by dinner & a show!

That is a lovely area of Michigan! We now live in the Grand Rapids area, but I grew up a little bit NE of Glen Arbor on Grand Traverse Bay. Thus my love of water views!

Bonaire was canceled after we booked as well - but we still thoroughly enjoyed Curacao and Aruba! I hope you have an amazing cruise!

Thank you for following along. I absolutely LOVED your live-from recently!!! And thank you for the compliment on the room photos. I tend to take photos of everything... from multiple angles. 😂 I think I have roughly 1500 images and video clips to sort through from this trip.

Yes, sadly the app is NOT accurate until you are on the ship's WIFI. I will be posting all the daily papers for you though - I hope those help! Our cruise ended up with an overnight in Curacao and Aruba... though neither one really qualified as that in my opinion. For Curacao, the ship departed at 6:00 am - unless you wanted to stay out all night and stagger back by 5:30 am 😬 the overnight wasn't beneficial. And in Aruba - we originally were scheduled to dock at 5:00 pm on the 20th, but due to port congestion, we docked after 9:00 pm with permission to go ashore given a little after 10:00 pm. I didn't see anyone rushing off the ship to hit the town. 😉 I did hear a comment from a fellow cruiser that they were looking forward to sleeping without the ship rocking. Personally, I like being rocked to sleep... but obviously, not everyone feels the same.

Thank you for following along! I hope the information to come will be helpful.

Interesting observations! And WOW - that is a lot of cruise days under your belt. 😍 We are most definitely not in the "party folk" category, but we did observe/hear about some things you might be referring to. I'll elaborate later as I get to that part...

Friday | February 16, 2024 | Embarkation It’s CRUISE DAY! We were able to get an Uber from the hotel to the cruise port with room for the four of us and all our luggage. Great start! I don't know about you, but my heart always beats a little faster at the first sighting of our ship. We arrived at the cruise port at 10:32 am. My MIL can walk on her own for very short distances, and we had reserved a wheelchair for her through Special Needs at Sea that would be in her stateroom waiting for her. However, she also needed help during embarkation and they directed us to a waiting room while they arranged for transportation accommodations. A short time later they brought a wheelchair for her and we were able to board along with her. My photos say that we walked on the ship at 11:17 am. Not the quickest embarkation we've had - but not bad at all! They wheeled my MIL directly to the elevator bank, so I quickly snagged a photo of the atrium area. We loved the various Rotterdam ship models throughout the ship. I'll tell you more about my MIL's history with the Rotterdam later - it's a great story! Heading aft towards our rooms - Our rooms were 7144 and 7142 on the Schubert Deck 7, port side right by the aft elevator bank. Our room didn't have our bed together upon arrival as requested, but other than that our room was absolutely lovely. Loved our embarkation view! A few quick thoughts on our room: - There was adequate closet space and SO many hangers. Too many hangers for us, however, I'm sure they come in handy if you are on a longer cruise. - We loved all the drawers! Three drawers at the vanity/desk. Two drawers in each nightstand. Three more drawers in the closet area. - Though the closets are nice, they do make the entry very narrow and are a little hard to access at times (especially the ones that open and block you in between the closet door and the stateroom door). There is no changing area unless you want to change in the main area of the cabin in front of the balcony door. (On Princess, they have an open closet design that gives you a spacious & private changing area right outside the bathroom.) Let's face it - changing in the tiny bathroom is just not an option. In fact, when I tried that later in the week - calamity ensued... more on that later. 😂 - The balcony was spacious and the pull-out stools for each chair were WONDERFUL! We spent a good amount of time enjoying our balcony so this was a huge plus. - The bed was quite comfy, though the "gap" was noticeable with only the fitted sheet spanning the middle where the beds join. - Finally, I really should have packed my pillow. I just couldn't make friends with any of their pillow options for some reason. Probably just a getting older thing! I'm more high maintenance every year it seems. 😉 My MIL and I could have happily stayed on our balconies for the rest of the day. Isn't she beautiful?! Sigh... Time to tear ourselves away - there was lunch to get, people to meet, and things to do!

Good morning! In true Michigan fashion - we had storms overnight and it is currently 23 degrees and snowing. Brr! I think I will curl up in front of the fire and post a lot of warm Caribbean photos today. 😀 Wednesday & Thursday | February 14-15, 2024 | Travel Day & Pre-Cruise Hotel We flew to Florida on the 14th (Happy Valentine's Day!) - two days before our cruise because scheduling our flights one day earlier dropped the price drastically. Our flight landed a little after midnight and our heads hit the pillow around 2:00 am. Travel was challenging, especially for my husband (DH) and my MIL who both have physical challenges, and we were very thankful to have a rest day before embarkation. The four of us stayed at SpringHill Suites Fort Lauderdale Airport & Cruise Port (Marriott) for two nights before our cruise and one night after. FIL and MIL enjoyed soaking up some sun by the pool and DH was able to rest in our room after literally taking care of everything & everyone while we traveled. We can be a LOT. 😜 This not-so-little guy was hanging out by us at the pool. I texted a photo of him to MrC & MrsC who were traveling today and MrC named him Spike. There may have been an eight-lane highway outside our window, but there was a palm tree in between - so I was a happy camper. Oh, and FLOWERS! How I miss flowers... The hotel lobby seemed to be recently remodeled and the pool area is small, but nice. A basic Marriott breakfast is included with your stay. This is a cruise hotel which means it is often a ZOO. It also means they turn the rooms (a bit dated) over quickly and while clean enough to sleep and shower in, they are not spotless by any means. In both (different) rooms we stayed in - the bathroom tub/shower as well as the sink would not drain. We ended up using the sink in the “kitchen” area to brush our teeth and wash up. If you stay here - the $ rate is good, but you will want to manage your expectations. As far as restaurants are concerned - there is a Panda Express and a Burger King right next to the hotel property. An Outback Steakhouse and a Chipotle are about a 4-5 minute walk down the street. Next… on to what we all really care about - THE CRUISE! 😃

Greetings from warmer-than-normal Michigan! It was sunny and 60 degrees F here today… IN FEBRUARY! I think we brought the gorgeous Caribbean weather back with us. You’re welcome, neighbors. Even though I always LOVE coming home, there are still some post-vacation blues! We have only been home from our 9-day cruise to the A(-B)C Islands for two days and, I mean, no one knocked on our door this morning to deliver coffee & breakfast! 😭 Therefore, I consider writing trip reports my post-cruise therapy and you are once again invited to join me! A few things about us… My husband and I are in our late 40’s/early 50’s. We have four young adult children and two *adorable* dogs. We live in Michigan and getting a good dose of warm weather and natural vitamin D in the middle of winter is always a good idea! This was our 5th cruise overall and our 1st with Holland America Line. We have also cruised on NCL and Princess (each twice). Links to previous trip reports are in my signature for those who are interested. Our last cruise was in February of 2020 just a couple of weeks before the shutdown. We took my husband's parents on their first cruise to celebrate their 50th anniversary and had an amazing time! It is funny how that last cruise seems like both a decade ago and just yesterday. I think Covid messed with my sense of time. Well, it is almost exactly four years later and we were SO excited for this cruise! My in-laws (MIL and FIL) who live near us traveled with us again, and BONUS - my dad (MrC) and his lovely wife (MrsC), who live in CA, joined us as well! At home I love to cook, grill a fabulous steak, pretend I’m Italian and make fresh pasta, grow herbs & veggies in my little backyard garden, etc… SO - food on any vacation is important to us. Food photos will follow with my OPINIONS. Why play food critic? Well, I find it a bit useless when someone says they love or hate the food but gives no actual reasons why! Remember, everyone is different and food is nothing if not subjective. Once again, this trip report will likely be long and detailed with a lot of photos, menus, and info. - if that is not your thing, bail now!!! I always say there are two things I am not: a light-packer and concise bullet-point-style writer. My *goal* is to add to this trip report a little every day - and I will finish - I promise. After all, bailing on your own therapy session is frowned upon. 😂 I hope you will join me...

We were on the Rotterdam last week and noticed this on the program. However, you had to purchase tickets to attend - so we didn't go.

What a fun cruise! Thank you for taking us along. 🙂

What an AWESOME live from (as if something else could come from the bubble/show globe of awesomeness) - thank you! December was crazy here and I'm just getting back to checking into CC... so, I'm a little late to your party - but what a party it was! We will be on an A(B-dropped)C Southern Caribbean sailing on the Rotterdam in February and I'll do a trip report when we are back home as I have done before with our previous Princess and Norwegian cruises (it is my version of post-cruise therapy). Let me know if there is any pre-research you need compiled before your March sailing. 😊

Looking forward to following your adventure!

Great video! While we don't travel with a chair, that may be in our future and I'm sure it is helpful to many! I loved your other Holland America reviews as well.

Thank you for such an amazing trip report! Beautiful photos as well! We may just have to consider this itinerary in the future. 🙂

I'm loving your review - thank you for "taking us with you" and for all the photos!

Our first HAL cruise is still upcoming in early 2024 (can't wait!)... but we have cruised on the Sky Princess (with my husband's parents) as well as the Regal Princess (with our teens). Links to full trip reports and tons of photos in my signature. The Regal Princess trip report will have all the info/paperwork for the teen club. Even though our teens were *almost* the only ones on board - the teen area and teen director were absolutely top-notch. Also, the medallion and the ability to track where your teens are on the Princess ships were really helpful and gave us some peace of mind.

I absolutely LOVED your trip report! Informative, entertaining, and witty. 🙂 It is also my preference to rehash everything after arriving home from a cruise, sort my photos, and write out a full report. (They are fun to go back and read your own memories later also.) Our first HAL cruise will be early next year and I learned so much from your writings. Thank you for taking the time!

I have to say I often just scan reviews - but I read yours from start to finish! Thank you for "bringing us along with you" and great job herding cats! 😉

Just WOW! I especially feel terrible for all the 1st time cruisers on that cruise. At least they had you to tell them that was not normal. 😔 We haven't even gone on our first HAL cruise as of yet (scheduled for next Feb) and I've been researching Alaska for the one after that. There is no way I will even consider a cruise leaving from Vancouver after reading this - thank you for that! A side note - the BEST thing to come from your cruise was your photographs!!! Thank you for sharing! Go to his blog to see them all, they are absolutely stunning.

@Cruise Suzy Thank you so much!

Thank you again! It sounds like you all had a great cruise. Your photos are absolutely stunning and make me want to visit the Netherlands! I do hope they have classical musicians on board again soon.

This is our first HAL cruise and we are going with my in-laws to the ABC islands in February 2024. My in-laws enjoyed the formal nights in the main dining room when we went on a Princess cruise with them - so I'd like to book the specialty dining (when it becomes available to do so) on our upcoming HAL cruise so it doesn't fall on those nights. Below is our itinerary. Does anyone know or have a good guess which days are likely to be the two (I'm assuming two) dressy/gala nights? Thank you! Friday 2/16: Embarkation Saturday 2/17: SEA DAY Sunday 2/18: SEA DAY Monday 2/19: Willemstad, Curacao Tuesday 2/20: Kralendijk, Bonaire Wednesday 2/21: Oranjestad, Aruba Thursday 2/22: SEA DAY Friday 2/23: SEA DAY Saturday 2/24: Half Moon Cay Sunday 2/25: Disembarkation