Rotterdam refurbishment

[Cruizer Bill]

Absolutely, all public areas have new carpet and it is contemporary. As said above, the carpet is shedding naps quite noticeably.

[rapata]

Glad to hear is been spruced up, we are sailing on her on January 14th and very excited. Look forward to seeing some pictures.

 

Sent from my SM-T330NU using Forums mobile app

[RuthC]

Hopefully you'll be able to answer my question?

[Cruizer Bill]

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.

 

Ruth - Cruizer Bill, your Investigative Reporter here! Sorry no electric outlets at the nightstands. Yes, you can watch TV from the couch but the bottom one inch of the screen will be blocked to you unless you are over 6 feet tall. Or, you can sit on some pillows and get an unobstructed view.

 

I am happy to say we were one of the first to see the new pool/hot tub area on the aft end of the Lido Deck. There are two beautiful hot tubs about 40 feet apart and they are joined to one another by a “lazy river” pool about one foot deep that meanders between them. It is quite beautiful but it is just for dipping your feet into - sit on the side and dangle your feet into the water. There are lots of new lounge chairs and brand new tables between the loungers.

 

On the inside pool area of the Lido Deck, on of the old hot tubs has been removed and the space boarded up. I asked the Maintenance staff what was going on and they said two brand new hot tubs are on order and were expected to be there. They will arrive soon and new hot tubs installed. In the meantime, only one hot tub is next to the main pool until the new tubs arrive

[aliaschief]

Thanks Bill for the updates.👍🏻

[RuthC]

Sorry no electric outlets at the nightstands. Yes, you can watch TV from the couch but the bottom one inch of the screen will be blocked to you unless you are over 6 feet tall.

Just what I needed to know. Thank you.

[caladezi]

Quick note - no more BB King band on the Rotterdam. It has been removed.

 

Is BB King gone for good or is it a temporary thing? Last year they were gone from another ship for a week or so but then returned.

[Skoobings]

Is BB King gone for good or is it a temporary thing? Last year they were gone from another ship for a week or so but then returned.

 

Talking to one of the performers from the Rotterdam's last cruise pre-dry dock, it sounded like HAL didn't renew the contract with BB King, so for now, there won't be any BB King on the Rotterdam. In all fairness, my wife & attended 3 nights of their performances & never had more than 5 people including us listening. Tough to justify a 6 piece band with that poor of attendance. The space honestly doesn't suit them, an 8 ft ceiling isn't enough room to absorb the noise from the drums which forces everyone else to play louder & turns it into an acoustic nightmare. Great band, wish they had a better place to perform; the saxophonist actually played with the Ocean Bar band when BB Kings was off and that was a nice experience.

[caladezi]

Are they gone from just the Rotterdam or all HAL ships?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for all the updates on her refurbishing.

I have a feeling that quite a few passenger cabins are being used by the workers who have had to stay on the ship to keep getting the work done. Thus fewer passengers.

Hope you take some pictures.

[innlady1]

Perhaps hurricane cancellations are plentiful.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Cruise4food]

Are they gone from just the Rotterdam or all HAL ships?

 

 

 

Last New Year, on the Eurodam, the Queen’s Lounge was also the BB King Blues Club. When they played there, it was dedicated to just them, unlike the Crow’s Nest area on R-class. Queen’s Lounge was used for other events during the day.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[fireman845]

Thanks for all the updates! So nice to hear HAL continuing to make improvements. Looking forward to sailing on her in late late Mar 2018!!

[luvtwotrvl]

Thank you Bill for keeping us up to date on our DAM ship. Please keep her in top notch shape so when we get on board, she will be ready for us in April 2018. I can not wait either! I am ready for a DAM cruise.

 

 

Thanks,

David

[sailingskyward]

Does anyone know if these R-class ships are getting the interactive TVs like the Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam got in their dry docks?

[trident]

Are the deck chairs out on the aft pool area still in the water or are the on dry deck now?

Any photos of the new design out there? Thank you so much for all this great information.

We want to cruise on the Rotterdam to the Caribbean but never booked it because of the aft pool area.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[dfish]

It is a quiet bar in the evening until 11:30PM, and then it is dancing to a DJ.

That sounds like a step backwards. I'm hoping that is just a temporary situation.

[caladezi]

That sounds like a step backwards. I'm hoping that is just a temporary situation.

Agree! At least the good chairs should be available.

[InTheWASide]

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!

 

The changes sound great! Is there any chance you can share some photos?

[Cruising-along]

That sounds like a step backwards. I'm hoping that is just a temporary situation.

 

I agree!

[AtlantaCruiser72]

Cruizer Bill - Were any changes made to the decor of the Pinnacle Grill?

 

Thanks for all the updates!

[Hflors]

Quick note - no more BB King band on the Rotterdam. It has been removed.

 

Hurrah!!!! Best news I have heard in a while. Spent 42 days on Rotterdam last year and dh kept wanting to go "hear the music"..... horrible noise! We left after two songs! (I would have left in the middle of the first) The music was sooo loud in such a usually quiet and relaxing place. I didn't even know who they were until later. He wanted to go back and I told him he could go alone!

 

My vote is put the Adago strings in the crows nest in the evenings. Beautiful music, beautiful setting and beautiful views!

[jakkojakko]

That's too bad, BB kings gone. I understand Hollands decision, it's all about demographics. We did two Norway cruises out of the city of Rotterdam with the majority of passengers being dutch. BB kings was packed every single night they performed. I enjoyed it a lot.

On a voyage of the viking cruise the demographic of passengers was international with the majority being north american. On this cruise there were never more than a dozen people in the nest during BB kings. I guess that overall attendance was bad and Holland scrapped it. I hope they will reinstate them on european cruises.

[rotjeknor]

So Trivia is not hosted by the Cruise Director anymore ??? Tell me that is not true..:o

 

And are all the Vista suites redecorated as well ? We are on the Rotterdam next april, the last cruise on her was in june 16, the Vista' s were up to some work even then...

[Cruising-along]

Hurrah!!!! Best news I have heard in a while. Spent 42 days on Rotterdam last year and dh kept wanting to go "hear the music"..... horrible noise! We left after two songs! (I would have left in the middle of the first) The music was sooo loud in such a usually quiet and relaxing place. I didn't even know who they were until later. He wanted to go back and I told him he could go alone!

 

My vote is put the Adago strings in the crows nest in the evenings. Beautiful music, beautiful setting and beautiful views!

 

I love Adagio too. My sister, niece, and BIL are professional pianists and vocalists. Maybe because of that, or because it just isn't my cup of tea, I haven't found a piano bar yet that I can stomach. I pass by as fast as I can walk. But I would never say "Hurrah" if HAL decided to take the piano bar off a ship....to each their own. Some of us like BB King. I hope your DH did go back alone if he enjoyed it. :)