Rotterdam.....a mistake?

[Tampa Girl]

Hello, we are very interested in your review. You represent an excellent opportunity for our readers to see what new potential HAL customers feel about its ships. You are in an important age demographic and this is significant to the future direction of HAL marketing.

 

Forget about the Bruce Willis movie, and his buns skating naked around California streets, that is not a fair representation about the line in general.

 

Let us know especially about how you felt about the MDR (Main Dining Room) and its trend toward allowing jeans during dining. This is a hot topic here and you will get a lot of feedback. Also tell us if you like the music and why or why not.

 

Thanks in advance for your input!

 

You refer to "our line", "our readers", "tell us." It appears that you have some connection with Holland America Line. In what capacity? And, if not, what is your interest in enlightening Holland America as to a marketing trend?

[ski ww]

It sounds like there are more negatives then positive on this cruise.

Allan

[DalsPals]

We are very interested in reviews of The Rotterdam, as well. We are on the 37 day Viking cruise leaving in June and LOVE cruising but want to enjoy the beauty of the ship as well.

[dogo88]

...

I can weather problems, but I have three people joining me on the cruise that have never sailed on Holland America. Will this ship kill HAL for them?...

Simple question. Why should you have to weather a problem? You paid good money for a cruise and should expect and have delivered what is advertised.

Would a non working toilet in your cabin for a day or two be accepted? How about no AC in the Caribbean for a couple of days be acceptable?

Too many past cruisers give HAL a pass on maintenance issues. We don't anymore.

 

Dan

[Cruising-along]

We are very interested in reviews of The Rotterdam, as well. We are on the 37 day Viking cruise leaving in June and LOVE cruising but want to enjoy the beauty of the ship as well.

 

Ditto, I'm watching too. Reviews seem to be getting better (fingers crossed)

--- but the Voyage of the Vikings is in July and 38 days -- round trip Boston -- hope to see you on board! :)

[Skoogs]

We are very interested in reviews of The Rotterdam, as well. We are on the 37 day Viking cruise leaving in June and LOVE cruising but want to enjoy the beauty of the ship as well.

 

 

 

Greetings,

We (DW and another couple, friends of ours) went on a 14 day Southern Caribbean in April 2017 aboard the Rotterdam. This was our 8th HAL cruise of 10 days or longer (FYI- I’m a 52 year old immature adult, Who has been legally accused of being “cavalier” , yes, I’m easy going) We had a Lanai cabin mid-ship. It was a fantastic cruise for us. No problems with the cabin a/c or plumbing. I don’t like the beds that much, after about 10 nights of sleeping on them I get a little sore, at home we have a memory foam mattress, that probably explains that. My DW didn’t mind the beds at all.

The four of us ate in the MDR almost every night at 5:30. It’s a thing we do on all our cruises, we talk about our adventures of the day, enjoy the million dollar views while eating very tasty food. We always seem to get excellent dinning stewards that we become friendly with and enjoy their company throughout the cruise. We ate at the Pinnacle one night and Cantenello’s one evening. We enjoyed them both, good food, good service. I’ve never had a “bad” meal on a HAL. Yes, I like to eat food.

I found the ship in great condition in the public areas, I enjoyed the artwork throughout the ship. We went to a show almost every night and I enjoyed them. Some were better than others, I think all the entertainers tried to put on the best shows they could. There was piano bar entertainment, BB King, Classical. I think there was more, but that’s what I went too. I had fun time and appreciated the music.

The casino was active, I avoided it due to smoke allergies ( I’m a ex-smoker, not anti smoker) and I hate to waste money on gambling, I mean I never win, ever. So I quit. My DW and friends enjoyed and won in the casino or won and enjoyed the casino.

Sea Days- what to do, what to do. That is the question. It all depends on the individual. I like solitude. I go on cruises to get away from work and forget about my life back home. It’s not a bad life, just very busy. My work is 24/7, thank you internet age! So on a cruise I can relax without my cell phone ringing and no e-mails to respond too. I come back a much better version of myself, at least for a little while. So I read, eat, watch a movie, eat, walk around the ship, eat, play cards or a board game, eat, go to lunch, sit in a lounge chair on the promenade deck and watch the sea go by, you get the idea. A whole lot of nothing.

Ports- I could write pages on what we do in ports, this is a big part of the cruise experience for us. We try to rent cars on every island, if possible, I think with four people it’s a great way to see and experience an island.

To summarize my two weeks on the Rotterdam, fun, great value for my vacation dollars. Zero disappointments. A couple of pounds heavier when I disembarked :)

Would I go on the this ship again? Yes, as a matter of fact, we are going on a 22 day cruise in April.

 

 

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[DalsPals]

Ditto, I'm watching too. Reviews seem to be getting better (fingers crossed)

--- but the Voyage of the Vikings is in July and 38 days -- round trip Boston -- hope to see you on board! :)

Actually, we are booked on the 37-day Viking Passage and Voyage of the Vikings which departs Rotterdam June 30th? That seems confusing.

[DalsPals]

Actually, we are booked on the 37-day Viking Passage and Voyage of the Vikings which departs Rotterdam June 30th. I guess you get on in Boston then we get off in Rotterdam.

[Cruising-along]

Actually, we are booked on the 37-day Viking Passage and Voyage of the Vikings which departs Rotterdam June 30th. I guess you get on in Boston then we get off in Rotterdam.

 

Thank you! Very interesting. So you'll be on with us our first half, which will be your second half. :)

[Cruizer Bill]

We need new people to keep us posted. We were on this ship for two weeks in May 2017 to the Norwegian Fjords and it was fine. Then, we took the first two cruises after drydock in November - a total of 22 days. There were lots of problems with the plumbing, hot/cold water and A/C. They were still working on the ship too. We saw some steady improvement from day to day. We were not happy with the cutbacks in entertainment, that is really bad. Let's hope things get better as they hear from us.

This is still a bargain.

[bleacher04]

We need new people to keep us posted. We were on this ship for two weeks in May 2017 to the Norwegian Fjords and it was fine. Then, we took the first two cruises after drydock in November - a total of 22 days. There were lots of problems with the plumbing, hot/cold water and A/C. They were still working on the ship too. We saw some steady improvement from day to day. We were not happy with the cutbacks in entertainment, that is really bad. Let's hope things get better as they hear from us.

This is still a bargain.

We just came off the Rotterdam on Dec. 31, 7-day Holiday cruise. No problems with A/C and the hot water temperature was quite consistent (and hot). No problems with plumbing in our cabin, but maintenance was working in one of the panels further down the hall (deck 6) for two days, and my wife said that several of the public-area women's restrooms were often out of service. And one of the two ice & water machines in the Lido was out of service for the entire cruise (which I wouldn't have thought of mentioning, except that an earlier poster made the same comment).

 

Staff and crew were excellent (except for whomever was in charge of entertainment), as were the dinners in the MDR. Breakfast in the Lido was also very good, but lunches were just okay IMO. But New York Pizza was an excellent alternative.

 

Entertainment was generally boring (also IMO). There was a solo pianist in the Ocean Bar who was very good (not to be confused with the piano bar entertainer in The Mix, who was not), and the Ocean Bar quartet was also pretty good. We generally prefer the BB King's bands, which were not on this cruise (and where would they put them on the Rotterdam anyway?). There was no evening entertainment in the Crows Nest, the jazz/dance quartet and then the DJ played in the Ocean Bar. I didn't care for any of the MainStage shows, and one or two nights in the MainStage they showed a BBC Earth movie, with live accompaniment, which to me smacks of either laziness / cutbacks or else an ill performer. I can entertain myself with books quite easily during sea days, but overall the daily program seems thinner with each cruise, such that they have to fill it with things like "9:00 am, Suduko available!!!".

 

Overall the ship appeared to be in good physical shape, but if I didn't already know that it had just come out of dry dock one month earlier, I would never have guessed .

 

But "a mistake?" Not at all. We chose this cruise for a family holiday when everyone had vacation time, not for the ship and not for the ports (although we luckily avoided the islands that had been hurricane-hit this past fall, and 3 out of 4 ports were better than my modest expectations). I would not avoid the Rotterdam for future cruises, but the ports or itinerary would probably have to be very attractive to get me on it again; we enjoyed the Zaandam more last spring, and generally we prefer the Vista or Signature class ships, as there seems to be more to do on board.

[Jellyfish21]

Currently on rotten dam, waiting to leave Cozumel.

Toilet- didn’t work one day, then they fixed

Ice/ water station still out of order in lido buffet

Saw couple of leaks

TV is ancient non hd set, pq is vhs quality, sound very distorted

Saw rust

Placed order online two weeks for pinnacle, was told tonight they didn’t have it and was sent back to mdr

We had assigned two top in mdr but dinner took 1.5 hours, or 1.25 if you skip desert

Forget “ its leisure dining”, it was poor service. Appetizer plates would sit in front of your for 20-30 minutes being bussed just to make room for dinner

Rotterdam sign on ship now has burned out “a”, it now says “ Rotterd m”

This ship looks and feels ancient .

Cabin service is good. Entertainment near non existent ( but did like comedian and magician).

[STLATL]

Just got off the Rotterdam a week ago. This was my first HAL cruise, although I've been on many other cruises before. I would say our cruise was fair to midland. We got a great deal so you can say we got what we paid for. The ship itself is showing signs of wear and tear. Additionally, we did have plumbing issues in our bathroom which I have to say were resolved very quickly by HAL. Have no clue what our stateroom steward looks like (only saw him briefly the first day) but our room was always kept clean - no complaints at all. Food was good but our waiter never even introduced himself on the first day. I thought the entertainment was horrible (the Rotterdam singers and dancers are not that great). We had a fabulous piano player one evening (Paul Pappas) and Andy in the piano bar was top notch.

 

HAL definitely caters to an older crowd so you are not going to get the loud DJ on the pool deck or singer waiters in the dining room, like you might on a Carnival Cruise. I would sail on HAL but probably not for another 20 years (I'm 50 yo).

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[Jellyfish21]

When my cabin toilet didn’t flush, I called the desk.

The mic on the phone didn’t work!

Had to visit them in person.

This was my first time on HAL.

Are other ships better?

This was my 30th cruise and this was the worst ship I’ve been on

I will say we like the headliners and American kitchen.

[Georgeny]

Just sailed the Christmas sailing Vista 6208. No plumbing problems, AC never got cold just adequate at times. Bathtub stained hate to get in it. Door to balcony wouldn't close until steward came with handle as hammer and hit right areas of frame. Entertainment hard to do less honestly. I did review little while ago should be up day or so. Bottom line for us, of 71 cruises this was the least enjoyed but still good but barely. Found crew and staff to be EXCELLENT and Guest Services very helpful. The condition and such of this ship is corporate fault not staff or crew, I think they do great job under sometimes trying circumstance. We received more than expected OBC for AC problems plus saw their constant efforts to repair. Honestly if you could cancel this ship without penalty and choose another I would do so! If not I would go expecting a little less than promised by the line. This ship is only 20 years old, not that old in the life of ships, either design or maintenance was lacking. We sail all the lines and Holland lately based on the service they provide as close to older day cruising. Sailed Oosterdam on this Xmas sail form tamp last year was great. Recently sailed Nieuw Amsterdam was great! Rotterdam does not fulfill Holland America's standards. I am sorry to have to say that. Again crew and staff not to be faulted by us, they were great.

 

George in NY

[coaster]

Sorry to hear the negatives about Rotterdam. It seems like HAL just isn't going to invest the funds on this ship to keep it current. The removal of BB Kings is an obvious sign. I cancelled right before final payment for a cruise in March. Thank you for those who have shared their experiences. Looking like the Rhapsody of the Seas for me in April out of Tampa now.

[Epicureangirl]

Hello, we are very interested in your review. You represent an excellent opportunity for our readers to see what new potential HAL customers feel about its ships. You are in an important age demographic and this is significant to the future direction of HAL marketing.

 

 

 

Forget about the Bruce Willis movie, and his buns skating naked around California streets, that is not a fair representation about the line in general.

 

 

 

Let us know especially about how you felt about the MDR (Main Dining Room) and its trend toward allowing jeans during dining. This is a hot topic here and you will get a lot of feedback. Also tell us if you like the music and why or why not.

 

 

 

Thanks in advance for your input!

 

 

 

I didn’t know I was in an important age demographic — I’m pretty sure HAL hasn’t been target-marketing my age group quite yet. It’s a miracle I know the words to the songs in the piano bar. But I still like HAL very much despite that [emoji6]

 

 

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[bleacher04]

I didn’t know I was in an important age demographic — I’m pretty sure HAL hasn’t been target-marketing my age group quite yet. It’s a miracle I know the words to the songs in the piano bar. But I still like HAL very much despite that [emoji6]

Without knowing your age demographic, I suspect that you appreciate the finer things in life, regardless of your age. We are also (only slightly now) under HAL's "stereotypical" age demographic, but we like the better food and interesting itineraries and the terrific staff and crew, compared to other cruise lines. And we have made some terrific friends who, yes, are 20 years older than we are. And we like dressing up for Formal Night. If the on-board entertainment is lacking, that's the trade-off; we like BB King's on the larger HAL ships, but we don't want a pool DJ every night.

 

As to the piano bar, four years ago my sister convinced the singer to play "Bohemian Rhapsody", with massive crowd participation. Sadly I have not seen a piano bar entertainer or a crowd that would do a repeat performance.

 

Sorry if I hijacked this thread; go back to my earlier post https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=54899833&postcount=36 to get back on track :D

Edited January 12, 2018 by bleacher04
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[Epicureangirl]

Hi Bleacher04, this was in response to an earlier post by JRG about a couple in their 40’s (who shared my demographic). Yes, I did enjoy your earlier post too, and would choose to surround myself with mature travelers (enjoying the finer things in life) instead of being on a party ship of .... well... people maybe my age who are pretending to still be 21. Not do knock any awesome 21 year old’s! [emoji6] Sounds like I missed a fun evening of singing. A great cruise memory for sure!

 

 

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[JRG]

Yes, that is absolutely correct. I like to see the reviews from people in this demographic. I think their opinions are incredibly important, especially if they are new to cruising or new to this board.

[Epicureangirl]

Yes, that is absolutely correct. I like to see the reviews from people in this demographic. I think their opinions are incredibly important, especially if they are new to cruising or new to this board.

Just curious why their opinions would be incredibly important? Do you mean important to the future of HAL? I think the wealth of knowledge on CC is largely (though not exclusively) from the experienced cruisers here who are so generous with their feedback and suggestions. I enjoy the enthusiasm of some new cruisers, certainly. But I value experience more. Those mariners are arming me with great information to help me plan my future cruises. ;)

[JRG]

Just curious why their opinions would be incredibly important? Do you mean important to the future of HAL? I think the wealth of knowledge on CC is largely (though not exclusively) from the experienced cruisers here who are so generous with their feedback and suggestions. I enjoy the enthusiasm of some new cruisers, certainly. But I value experience more. Those mariners are arming me with great information to help me plan my future cruises. ;)

 

Why?....."Because the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one"

(Mr. Spock and Captain Kirk---The Wrath of Kahn---1982)

 

There should be a healthy exchange of reviews from both new cruisers and experienced cruisers. But alas, I digress, this post is about the Rotterdam so I'll capitulate and get back on topic here.

[Epicureangirl]

This thread was quiet for quite awhile and largely done, I’m sure it’s okay to diverge, even to Star Trek references. ;)

[BBQ Lover]

Then live long and prosper

 

 

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[Hlitner]

Without knowing your age demographic, I suspect that you appreciate the finer things in life, regardless of your age. We are also (only slightly now) under HAL's "stereotypical" age demographic, but we like the better food and interesting itineraries and the terrific staff and crew, compared to other cruise lines. And we have made some terrific friends who, yes, are 20 years older than we are. And we like dressing up for Formal Night. If the on-board entertainment is lacking, that's the trade-off; we like BB King's on the larger HAL ships, but we don't want a pool DJ every night.

 

As to the piano bar, four years ago my sister convinced the singer to play "Bohemian Rhapsody", with massive crowd participation. Sadly I have not seen a piano bar entertainer or a crowd that would do a repeat performance.

 

Sorry if I hijacked this thread; go back to my earlier post https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=54899833&postcount=36 to get back on track :D

 

You are a little out of date. HAL no longer has any "Formal Nights" but has replaced them with what they call "Gala Nights" which supports a dumbed down dress code. We do tend to dress formal on gala nights, but you will also see plenty of folks in less then formal wear..including some jeans and even an occasional guy wearing a baseball cap (this drives me nutz since I was raised to believe that this is bad manners).

 

As to your "piano bar" that has been eliminated on about half the HAL ships (but it still remains on the Rotterdam) and replaced with a "dueling piano" show which OK...but just not the same as relaxing in a piano bar (we also love piano bars). I am a long time fan of Queen....but sadly on our many HAL cruises the various musicians often think that Glenn Miller or Patti Page music is more apropro for the audience (usually less then 10 people by 10pm).

 

Hank

P.S. We are in a minority, but still a big fan of formal nights. Princess and Cunard are about the last mass market lines to still have formal nights.