QuattroRomeo

On Rotterdam in December, (Caribbean) the only true "sale" was 4 for $20, and they were all Baltic cruise t-shirts. The others were 2 for $40. There might be similar clearouts on your sailing.

I remember seeing some at La Aurora, which is a cigar place actually, during a tour last year. They also sold very nice rum and some jewellery. Lots of places will have it though. Since we didn't have time to shop right at the Amber Cove port places, I don't know if they have it there. I bought a larimar set years ago, in San Juan. What other ports will you be in?

Yes it has to be about the money, for sure! I'm not a marketing expert, but I imagine that if you buy a credit, you are more likely to actually follow through with a purchase!

Excerpted from the article above by retird, "Rotterdam 1873 is roasted fresh in small batches in Beukenhorst Coffee USA Inc.'s West Palm Beach facility and supplied to the ships. For more than 20 years, Holland America Line has been serving Beukenhorst Koffie imported from the Netherlands in the Lido Market, Dining Room and other venues where complimentary coffee is served." In the article (from 2019, when Rotterdam 1873 was introduced), it reads that coffee from Beukenhorst had already been supplying coffee to the free venues on HAL for 20 years. Since Beukenhorst makes various coffees, isn't it possible that Beukenhorst still supplies the Lido/MDR one, too?

Maybe we've been lucky, but on our last 3 or 4 cruises, we just showed up at noon and got in. No reservation and no problem! Sometimes, it was almost empty.

Hi there and welcome to CruiseCritic! There is a recent thread with lots of input on the standby program that you might find useful: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2975687-sail-standby-for-49-a-day-new-program/page/11/

Is it fairly recent, or has it been there for awhile? Similar amounts?

I don't own any EFFY pieces but there are some very nice ones in the shop! I did notice on our last cruise that there seemed to be a lot of promotion for them, and read on another thread here about an EFFY cruise, so it must be becoming a sizeable partner now..? I probably wouldn't buy these credits though; too much money to tie up "just in case" I like something...plus, the exchange rate would add over $500 to the cost of the silver credit for us..😲

I just happened to be browsing through the "extras" page of things to pre-purchase on a booking, and came across these EFFY credits. Never noticed them before! l guess if you're in the market for jewellery it is a nice deal. Has anyone had occasion to use one?

That's good to know. Could you hear anything from the Main Stage?

We have been on deck 1 three times on Pinnacle ships. Mid to aft, no problem. Wouldn't do forward though; too many music venues above.

Agree, I think a connect-the-dots paper sheet should simply be available at the front desk and library, along with the crossword puzzles and sudoko. The "adult colouring activity" also confounds me! I get that people like to colour just to relax, but to schedule it as an activity? Is it so they can keep track of their coloured pencils?! 😁

Yes, I too was hoping it would be something much more interesting when I saw it advertised, so I had to check it out! Oh well..

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2977662-live-from-rotterdam-dec-3-22-daily-mini-review/?do=findComment&comment=66614126

Glad it helped! I find that when you look at the excursions on a booking, sometimes the reviews are there and sometimes not. So I try the general (no booking) site too and often they are there. But we all know how bumpy the website maintenance is! Plus, in Jamaica many of the tours are the same from 3 different ports, so you can try looking at Falmouth and Montego Bay, too.

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en/ca/cruise-destinations/caribbean-cruises/caribbean-ports/ocj/29320 You might try reading this, it has 37 reviews, several are recent. I found it searching excursions on the general HAL site.

We had no issues on a couple of Rotterdam cruises in OV, more toward aft section . Nice and quiet!

So glad to hear that your family enjoyed the cruise! Very unfortunate to have a suitcase stolen, but you managed to recover really well! Was there ever anything found?

The dreaded polar vortex has descended upon us; we are -30°C tonight.. I am reading every thread about the Caribbean right now!!😄

Thanks for your comments! It's a shame about the Morimoto lobster though. I had it in December on Rotterdam and it was very good- in fact I wished there could have been more sauce because it was so tasty! Glad to hear that the cod was good. I. had the XO halibut and it was very nice also.

We really like photo excursions and haven't done one in Cozumel yet, so we're glad to hear you liked yours! Was the open air bus comfy enough? p.s. - how do you keep finding those ominous looking water creatures with the pointy snouts...!?!😄

I'm good with that!!

Beautiful looking spot! I will definitely consider it next time Roatan is on the itinerary. Although that fish swimming in the water looks rather menacing..😲.. Did you swim or snorkel there?

We had a missing lotion dispenser on Koningsdam earlier this year; actually, the lid was still barely hanging there but no dispenser! I removed the lid. That was 6 months ago, so obviously these things are proving to be not up to the challenge of the use they get, and HAL is pretty slow to respond to this need. We'll have to see who reports in the future of the "new" dispensers installed..hopefully something a little nicer than the "portable" one they gave you!😄

After a long day of airports and planes, we have made it home safely. If you have a Rotterdam cruise in your future I hope you enjoy it as much as we did! Merry Christmas and Happy holidays to all.