Cruizer Bill Posted November 4, 2017 #1 Share Posted November 4, 2017 We boarded the Rotterdam this afternoon and these are our first observations: The entire outside of the ship has been repainted and looks great New carpet in all the hallways and public areas, not in the cabins In the hallways next to each elevator is a new piece of carpet with the ship’s silhouette with FORWARD and an arrow showing which way to the bow, Very nice feature! The Lido looks nice! New carpet, new tabletops, quite a bit of new Corian on the work surfaces and new vinyl on many of the walls. Very nice improvement! The elevators have been re-done with new carpets, new railings new fabric on the walls, they really shine now, New carpets with the day of the week. The cabins have new flat panel TV sets and a pair of USB ports on the desk - not by the bed stands. There is a brand new wood dance floor in the Crows Nest and the furniture has been rearranged. Not sure if BBKing band will play here now or not. It looks much cleaner and nicer, some new tables and chairs. Great looking place All the decks have been deep cleaned or replaced, they look great! All for now, will add more as we continue our cruise.. No damage to Tampa or the Terminalk at all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tampa Girl Posted November 4, 2017 #2 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Have none of the cabins been redecorated, to your knowledge? We will be on the Amsterdam next year for the Grand Asia, and that ship is due for refurbishment in May. I am curious if the Vista suite cabins will be redone or will they remain the same tired color scheme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruizer Bill Posted November 4, 2017 Author #3 Share Posted November 4, 2017 We are in a regular ocean view and it has not been redecorated except for some new pillows and a coverlet on the bed. I heard the Lanai cabins have some redecorating but have heard from the suites yet. I will ask around. Lots of new furniture in the Crows Nest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krazy Kruizers Posted November 4, 2017 #4 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Thanks for giving us some idea of what was done during dry dock. Look forward to your posts. Enjoy your cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innlady1 Posted November 4, 2017 #5 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Thanks for reporting in on the refurbishment. Have a great cruise! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcummin Posted November 4, 2017 #6 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Thank you for the good news. When you have time, please notice if the showroom balcony view is still obscured by a black box protruding from the balcony. Starboard, maybe port side too. I had asked HAL to at least lower the thing six inches or so, making its bottom flush with the lower ceiling. Views from one or two starboard balcony seats were ruined. Also, how do the aft Main Dining Room window frames look now, especially at the bottom? We were onboard in August. Thanks, Barbara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happily@Sea Posted November 4, 2017 #7 Share Posted November 4, 2017 I like the idea of a forward arrow next to the elevators. If there are new carpets in the hallways - housekeeping will be vacuuming up nap for the near future. After 16 days on Prinsendam, they were still collecting it every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkacruiser Posted November 4, 2017 #8 Share Posted November 4, 2017 Thanks for your report. I am glad to know that the Crow's Nest as not been transformed into the EXC "space" that seems to have taken place on the Westerdam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruizer Bill Posted November 5, 2017 Author #9 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Thank you for the good news.When you have time, please notice if the showroom balcony view is still obscured by a black box protruding from the balcony. Starboard, maybe port side too. I had asked HAL to at least lower the thing six inches or so, making its bottom flush with the lower ceiling. Views from one or two starboard balcony seats were ruined. Also, how do the aft Main Dining Room window frames look now, especially at the bottom? We were onboard in August. Thanks, Barbara Barbara, I just checked out the showroom and they are still there. They are two projectors used in some of the shows. Now, some good news, they have re-upholstered the seats and they feel GREAT now. Also, some new big chairs in the library that are fantastic. They are re-building the coffee bar in the Explorations Cafe and it is not done yet. They are also working on the rear of the Lido deck. It is not done yer. There are two nice hot tubs there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcummin Posted November 5, 2017 #10 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Thank you, Bill, for checking. I thought that I had suggested such a simple fix for the obtrusive projectors. They were not there in previous years. Maybe HAL never even read my cruise review? So glad that the Library is being respected. Do enjoy your cruise on such a beautiful ship. Barbara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthC Posted November 5, 2017 #11 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Thanks for the intel on the refurbishment of what once was one of my favorite ships. Please tell me, can you watch TV from the couch in the outside cabin? I am presuming the inside cabins will have the same arrangement. And, are there electric outlets at the nightstands? I know on some ships USB ports were added there, but the desperately needed outlets were not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare puppycanducruise Posted November 5, 2017 #12 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Thanks for the information. Have a great cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted November 5, 2017 #13 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Thanks so much for coming on and giving us the low down on the updates to the Rotterdam, Bill :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tampa Girl Posted November 5, 2017 #14 Share Posted November 5, 2017 We are in a regular ocean view and it has not been redecorated except for some new pillows and a coverlet on the bed. I heard the Lanai cabins have some redecorating but have heard from the suites yet. I will ask around.. Thanks for your help. Appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveOKC Posted November 5, 2017 #15 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Would like to know if the Vista suites were redone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruizer Bill Posted November 5, 2017 Author #16 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Quick note - no more BB King band on the Rotterdam. It has been removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruising-along Posted November 5, 2017 #17 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Quick note - no more BB King band on the Rotterdam. It has been removed. Nooooo! :(:( I was really looking forward to having them for 38 days on the VOV. :(:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dfish Posted November 5, 2017 #18 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Quick note - no more BB King band on the Rotterdam. It has been removed. Has something else replaced BB King? Thanks for the updates on the Rotterdam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtlantaCruiser72 Posted November 5, 2017 #19 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Has something else replaced BB King? Thanks for the updates on the Rotterdam. Another round of trivia - though this one is audience led as there is no longer a cruise staff to host :eek: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruizer Bill Posted November 5, 2017 Author #20 Share Posted November 5, 2017 It is a quiet bar in the evening until 11:30PM, and then it is dancing to a DJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruising-along Posted November 5, 2017 #21 Share Posted November 5, 2017 It is a quiet bar in the evening until 11:30PM, and then it is dancing to a DJ. Well dam....:(:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruizer Bill Posted November 5, 2017 Author #22 Share Posted November 5, 2017 We had an excellent turnout for our Meet and Greet today. We’d 60 people signed uo and 50 people were at the M&G. Amazingly, the HOTEL MANAGER showed up! We were delayed by 3 hours the day before boarding the ship. This was due to a large number of foreign national who were on board working on the ship from the Bahamas and a very small staff of Customs agents. He also said the bar on the Explorations cafe is unfinished because they are waiting for a brand new high-end espresso machine from Italy. Should be an awesome machine when it is installed I want to report that the ship is not nearly full. There are maybe 1000 passengers on board. I think it is because of the recent hurricane and the damage it created and possibly because the ship just got out of dry dock. I am happy to report that the service is SUPERB because the passenger to staff ratio is so low! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtlantaCruiser72 Posted November 5, 2017 #23 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Bill hopefully when you can you'l post LOTS of pictures of the refurbishments :) I'm glad to hear they seem to have given her a major refresh. I am booked on the Zaandam for next year and am watching the refurbs closely to know what to expect in terms of changes. So far it sounds as if the EXC concept as introduced on the Westerdam will not be rolled out the R Class ships and that the crows Nest and Explorations Cafe/Library areas will emerge relatively intact! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruizer Bill Posted November 5, 2017 Author #24 Share Posted November 5, 2017 There is a flurry of activity on the aft end of the Lido deck. When we left Tampa yesterday, there was supposed to be a Sail Away party and it did no happen because it was not finished. Well, I bet there are 40 workers out there now finishing up the back end with a brand new shallow pool linking two hot tubs. I have never seen so many workers working so hard in one place on a cruise, They have a 5:30 PM deadline to meet and they are going to do it! I willl write back again when we see the new area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMS Olympic Posted November 5, 2017 #25 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Thank you for the posts and information. Can you tell if the public rooms, dining room and general areas were recarpeted? If so does the ship have a slight contemporary look like the newer ships in the fleet? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now