Quick review - Rotterdam - Moorish Empires - Sept.29 - Oct.16

[lj77346]

I noticed that there is not much on the boards about cruises on the Rotterdam, so here's a brief report. My wife and I (in our early-60's) just completed the Moorish Empires cruise and had a great time. This was our 8th HAL cruise and first on the Rotterdam.

 

The cruise itinerary was interesting in that it included a few ports we previously had not visited. Ports were Cadiz, Almeria, Ibiza, Civitavecchia, Barcelona, Vallencia, Cartagena, Gibraltar, and Lisbon. The ship sailed from Rotterdam.

 

Embarkation was a breeze - arrived at the terminal at 11:30 and in our cabin by noon. Since Rotterdam is the Rotterdam's home port, the city and/or port authority makes a big event of the ship's departure with a port authority boat saluting the ship with its water cannons and accompanying the ship until it disembarks the harbor pilot. In addition, big crowds see the ship off - a pretty interesting experience.

 

The biggest difference between this cruise and other HAL cruises we took was that 75%+ of the passengers were Dutch. I heard that there were about 125 Americans and 75 Canadians on the cruise. So, announcements were made in English and Dutch, trivia questions were asked in English and Dutch, as were cooking demonstrations, etc. Everything went very smoothly as the cruise director and members of his staff were all bilingual. Shows were in English as were movies in the theater (with Dutch subtitles). Service aboard from our cabin and restaurant stewards was excellent. We thought that the food in the main dining room was very good and in fact, the quality of the beef seemed better than on our other recent HAL cruises. We had a veranda cabin and it was in very good shape - looked recently refurbished.

 

There were no ports with tendering so that made sightseeing easy. In Cadiz, Almeria, Cartagena, Gibraltar, and Lisbon, the ship docked close enough to the city that you could just walk there. In Ibiza and Barcelona we took the shuttle to town, in Valencia the public bus to the city, and in Civitavecchia the train to Rome. In Lisbon we went to the Rossio train station and took the train to Sintra for the day.

 

We had great weather and smooth sailing except for our penultimate sea day when it was very rough as we crossed the Bay of Biscay. Getting off the ship in Rotterdam went smoothly as well. After disembarking we checked our luggage at a bicycle store near the train station so we could get on the metro to ride to Schiedam to see the windmills. Then, we returned to Schipol by train to get to our hotel before flying home the next morning. This was a cruise well worth taking.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review, sounds like a great cruise. We also had a lot of Dutch on our cruise on the Rotterdam out of Rotterdam.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for taking the time to write a review of your cruise on the Rotterdam. Sounds like you had a wonderful time.

[Beejay4016]

I noticed that there is not much on the boards about cruises on the Rotterdam, so here's a brief report. .

 

Top report; thank you so much for it. We are booked on our first ever cruise in January, on the Volendam, but are planning on a Baltic cruise on the Rotterdam in July. As you said, there isn't a lot about her on the boards and so it was fantastic to switch on this morning and find your excellent review as it just confirms for us that we have chosen well in zeroing in on this vessel. And that departure from Rotterdam sounds like a real highlight to add to all the others - how wonderful. :)

[erewhon]

Thank you for the review of your cruise on the Rotterdam.

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.

[kazu]

Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with us. We really enjoyed the Rotterdam when we were on - glad you did too:)

 

I've always wondered about the sail a ways out of Rotterdam - thanks so much for confirming my suspicions there would be a nice fuss:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your review.

 

Love those water cannons. In 2004 when we were on the Maasdam arriving at New London, CT, for the first time, we were greeted with them as well.

[Alphen]

I noticed that there is not much on the boards about cruises on the Rotterdam, so here's a brief report. My wife and I (in our early-60's) just completed the Moorish Empires cruise and had a great time. This was our 8th HAL cruise and first on the Rotterdam.

 

The cruise itinerary was interesting in that it included a few ports we previously had not visited. Ports were Cadiz, Almeria, Ibiza, Civitavecchia, Barcelona, Vallencia, Cartagena, Gibraltar, and Lisbon. The ship sailed from Rotterdam.

 

Embarkation was a breeze - arrived at the terminal at 11:30 and in our cabin by noon. Since Rotterdam is the Rotterdam's home port, the city and/or port authority makes a big event of the ship's departure with a port authority boat saluting the ship with its water cannons and accompanying the ship until it disembarks the harbor pilot. In addition, big crowds see the ship off - a pretty interesting experience.

 

The biggest difference between this cruise and other HAL cruises we took was that 75%+ of the passengers were Dutch. I heard that there were about 125 Americans and 75 Canadians on the cruise. So, announcements were made in English and Dutch, trivia questions were asked in English and Dutch, as were cooking demonstrations, etc. Everything went very smoothly as the cruise director and members of his staff were all bilingual. Shows were in English as were movies in the theater (with Dutch subtitles). Service aboard from our cabin and restaurant stewards was excellent. We thought that the food in the main dining room was very good and in fact, the quality of the beef seemed better than on our other recent HAL cruises. We had a veranda cabin and it was in very good shape - looked recently refurbished.

 

There were no ports with tendering so that made sightseeing easy. In Cadiz, Almeria, Cartagena, Gibraltar, and Lisbon, the ship docked close enough to the city that you could just walk there. In Ibiza and Barcelona we took the shuttle to town, in Valencia the public bus to the city, and in Civitavecchia the train to Rome. In Lisbon we went to the Rossio train station and took the train to Sintra for the day.

 

We had great weather and smooth sailing except for our penultimate sea day when it was very rough as we crossed the Bay of Biscay. Getting off the ship in Rotterdam went smoothly as well. After disembarking we checked our luggage at a bicycle store near the train station so we could get on the metro to ride to Schiedam to see the windmills. Then, we returned to Schipol by train to get to our hotel before flying home the next morning. This was a cruise well worth taking.

 

 

So nice to read your review, many thanks for that, I have just started a thread regarding Happy Hour on the Rotterdam, http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1725646, was it still on, during your recent cruise?

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[Bluwater7]

Glad to hear the Rotterdam is in great shape - joining her in Jan. ..... Thanks for your review....