LIVE from the MAIDEN VOYAGE OF THE ROTTERDAM VII - TRANSATLANTIC

[sfocruiser]

As we are unpacking from this cruise though I wold pass along some comments.   All-inAll we had a great time and did not mind the 10 days at sea. 

 

A special thanks to sansterre for keeping up all the pictures observations and answering questions.

 

The Good

Crew seemed genuinely happy to be back.     Nearly all had great attitudes, this point alone made it worth the cruise

 

Cleanliness. Crew was working constantly to clean/wipe.   Saw this pre-covid for Norovirus but not to this degree.

 

The Half Moon Bar   Great addition and much better use of space

 

Rudi’s SDM.  They added some additional menu choices and overall, the experience improved.   Ended up going three times over the cruise.   Also liked the switch to fixed price.

 

Having a 1:1 crew to guest ratio   Will probably never see this again on HAL but it was nice.

 

Bringing back live music in the Ocean’s Bar.

 

Club Orange dining area.    Much nicer and designed as a dining room not as a repurposed space

 

The OK

MDR Food (VERY subjective)  The MDR food quality was really good but the dishes felt a step down, fewer choices less premium entrees.

 

Pinnacle. Still great for Steak (and crab cakes) but some noticeable downgrades.   The Shrimp cocktail appetizer went from 4 shrimp to 3 and the size went from roughly U12 to 16/20.    The entrée seafood went from 4 complementary choices to two. Losing Scallops and Crab Legs switching to an up-charge.

 

The not OK

Having the Servers be responsible for the drink orders.  This in our experience failed.  The servers had a difficult time entering the orders and a tough time with connectivity.   It said volumes and by day 3 many had switched to paper ordering pads.    Also the servers are not trained (nor should they be expected to be) on beverage.  It took about 15 minutes to take drink orders for our table.   

 

The insignificant but was noticeable

No sweetener for coffee until day 4.    Started out with only sugar.   By around day four Dutch café had some sweetener. (they sent someone ashore to buy some in the store)  why no one thought of this in Amsterdam is a mystery and caused an unnecessary hiccup in service.  Completely avoidable

Edited November 4, 2021 by sfocruiser

[fusion927]

We were on the cruise but didn't have the Internet package, so I will try to answer some questions which I didn't see answers for!

 

On 10/27/2021 at 4:52 PM, jeh10641 said:

Is the Microsoft lab gone? I saw that in its location was a library.

Yes, the contract with Microsoft is over.  Apparently the other ships will eventually be getting libraries too.

 

On 10/28/2021 at 10:00 PM, zgscl said:

I will never understand why they keep adding more features like this to the theater when it will only be used as another background for the Step One Dance Company to paint or pretend is an elevator 😞. At least the whale movie can show more whales. 

We were told there will soon be 4 Step One shows.  Two only dancing, two with dancing and vocals.  I'm guessing they still won't be like the production shows of the past.

 

Apparently they were hearing that people were tired of the 'same old' production shows, which is why they went in an entirely different direction.  It seems to me they are trying to go back a little to find some sort of balance.

 

On 10/30/2021 at 8:07 PM, TexasTrini said:

Thank you for posting this. It's very helpful. 

 

One more question, do they have the crepe station in the Lido Buffet?

Yes.  It was in the forwardmost station on the starboard side ('Distant Lands' during lunch and dinner).

 

On 10/31/2021 at 6:26 PM, MisterBill99 said:

 

Seems like the toilet still has no legroom. When we were on Kdam, one particularly large guy left a very negative review here on CC about that. You end up needing to sit on the toilet seat on an angle if you have long legs.

This is much, much better than the K.  You are still at an angle, but nowhere near as close as the Konginsdam.

 

The crew was amazing.  Nick is probably the best Quizmaster I have ever seen on a ship (or anywhere for that matter).  Rebekah was also really, really great as a cruise master, especially during the Origin story and Rotterdam in Review presentations, and during the coffee chats with so many of the crew and guest entertainers.

 

[rkacruiser]

1 hour ago, fusion927 said:

We were told there will soon be 4 Step One shows.  Two only dancing, two with dancing and vocals.  I'm guessing they still won't be like the production shows of the past.

 

Apparently they were hearing that people were tired of the 'same old' production shows, which is why they went in an entirely different direction.  It seems to me they are trying to go back a little to find some sort of balance

 

I thoroughly do not care for the Step One shows.  Such productions are such a poor use of a very expensive to create Main Theater and was much bally-hood before Koningsdam was introduced.  

 

If one likes the shows:  fine with me.  I don't.  And, as a shareholder of CCL, I feel it was money wasted on making a facility that does not live up to its potential or promise.  

 

3 hours ago, sfocruiser said:

he not OK

Having the Servers be responsible for the drink orders.  This in our experience failed.  The servers had a difficult time entering the orders and a tough time with connectivity.   It said volumes and by day 3 many had switched to paper ordering pads.    Also the servers are not trained (nor should they be expected to be) on beverage.  It took about 15 minutes to take drink orders for our table.   

 

Another example of a tarnish to the "Signature of Excellence" slogan.  If I want my bottle of wine to be served soon after I arrive at my seat in the MDR, it is not reasonable, as far as I am concerned, that I need to wait 15 minutes for my order to be taken and then how much longer for the bottle of wine to arrive and be served.  

[sfocruiser]

17 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Another example of a tarnish to the "Signature of Excellence" slogan.  If I want my bottle of wine to be served soon after I arrive at my seat in the MDR, it is not reasonable, as far as I am concerned, that I need to wait 15 minutes for my order to be taken and then how much longer for the bottle of wine to arrive and be served.  

 

It got to the point where we would get a glass of wine from the Ocean's Bar and take it to dinner with us.  Not a ding against our server's they were handed a poorly designed process

[canadianbear]

15 minutes ago, sfocruiser said:

 

It got to the point where we would get a glass of wine from the Ocean's Bar and take it to dinner with us.  Not a ding against our server's they were handed a poorly designed process

I would do that too in the past.  

[puppycanducruise]

52 minutes ago, sfocruiser said:

 

It got to the point where we would get a glass of wine from the Ocean's Bar and take it to dinner with us.  Not a ding against our server's they were handed a poorly designed process

Our last cruise was pre-Covid and we did that then too. 

[jeh10641]

Is there a live thread for the current Rotterdam cruise?

[CruiserBruce]

40 minutes ago, jeh10641 said:

Is there a live thread for the current Rotterdam cruise?

The Rotterdam just sailed a couple of hours ago. The person who started this "Live from" for the transatlantic cruise is also on the current cruise, and will be back posting...maybe tonight.

[Reagan0712]

On 11/3/2021 at 4:34 PM, sansterre said:

I did not see any sign of the Terra Cotta Soldiers on the Rotterdam.  Does anyone know where they went?

 

Is this what you are looking for? There was one on either side of deck 10 aft just outside the Tamarind near the area with the deck chairs.

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, Reagan0712 said:

Is this what you are looking for? There was one on either side of deck 10 aft just outside the Tamarind near the area with the deck chairs.

That isn't one from the last Rotterdam. It does look like an interesting reproduction of a terra cotta warrior, though. 

[RynoWally]

On 11/4/2021 at 2:46 PM, sansterre said:

A few pages ago, there was discussion on when drink cards are available. 

On the last day I asked if I could purchase a drink card for the day and the bar staff said only on Day 1 or Day 2.

I don't recall who it was, but someone wanted to purchase for just one day of his cruise.  

 

Now I am finished posting on here until Friday when  I will check out the aft pool area, looking for a glass floor near the stairs.

It was me, I was given an answer by someone saying they were close to 100% that I was wrong. Guess I will find out more when I board Dec 1st. I appreciate that you posted this, maybe there is a chance.

[Brodysmum]

Am I reading this right, you have to pay for lobster in the main dining room. I have never heard of this before

[yarnsinger]

On 10/20/2021 at 10:56 AM, tjcox9 said:

I just saw a Seth Wayne short video on Facebook. It should have been a sail away party, however, the winds and rain have decided to mess up that and that departure plan. Seth said it'll probably be midnight before they leave.

If you look carefully, you'll see our group waving in the background of his video.

[yarnsinger]

1 hour ago, Brodysmum said:

Am I reading this right, you have to pay for lobster in the main dining room. I have never heard of this before

That's not really new. They were doing the same thing in 2019 on the Nieuw Statendam. They tried charging for a second entree but got a lot of pushback, so I think this was their other solution. You do pay extra for lobster, but it's a whole lobster, not a small tail.

[yarnsinger]

On 10/21/2021 at 4:01 AM, Caribbean Chris said:

So sorry you missed Zeebruges - Bruges is such a lovely place to visit. Perhaps you’ll stop there on a future cruise. Meanwhile - enjoy Rotterdam VII!

We have spent time in Brugge before, so we were looking forward to taking the coastal train from Zeebrugge to Oostend and back. Oh well, another time.

[TexasTrini]

On 11/4/2021 at 4:35 PM, fusion927 said:

Yes.  It was in the forwardmost station on the starboard side ('Distant Lands' during lunch and dinner).

Thank you! That was my favorite spot in the buffet on other ships. I'm looking forward to it again in December. #SoExcited

[yarnsinger]

On 11/4/2021 at 5:48 AM, sansterre said:

The mug on the right is $15, plus the tax and service charge which brought it to close to $17.  Friends purchased it on board and said it kept their coffee hot for a long time.

I wonder if, once you've purchased one of these, you can bring it on your next cruise and use it and get the discount. 

[yarnsinger]

On 11/3/2021 at 6:11 AM, 0bnxshs said:

I took some photos at Ask the Captain of the engine room.  Not sure if they are all from this ship or the New Statendam.

The captain said the photos were from the Nieuw Amsterdam. They hadn't had a chance to take pictures of the new bridge yet.

[yarnsinger]

5 hours ago, Reagan0712 said:

Is this what you are looking for? There was one on either side of deck 10 aft just outside the Tamarind near the area with the deck chairs.

We sat right behind this guy at the Tamarind. I didn't realize the connection to the art on the previous ship. What a very cool way to blend the two - a delft reproduction.

[yarnsinger]

On 11/2/2021 at 4:14 PM, sansterre said:

Here is a picture of the outlet in our bathroom.  Our room steward says it works with all shavers. 

So I think it is good for 120 volt.  Maybe others can tell for sure from seeing the photo.

We were able to use it for our Waterpik, but only after inserting its grounded plug into an adapter with European-style prongs. We used it on 120V. The switch on the right, as you know, switches between 120 and the higher European voltage.

[yarnsinger]

On 10/30/2021 at 6:30 AM, sansterre said:

Headed to the Pinnacle for lunch.  Seth had a HAL trivia the day we missed Azores and our team won.  The prize is lunch at the Pinnacle.

But first I want to post some of the names of entertainers on board.  We have enjoyed both of these on previous HAL cruises:

Pianist (with the hair) - Julian Gargiulo

Saxophonist - Akos Laki

Working on finding names of other on board entertainers.

I'm glad you won, but our team still maintains that Statendam is not a city. It is actually a dam. We missed the beer question, but still would have won otherwise. Grrr.... (just kidding, really). Maybe extra credit for giving him the tie-breaker question? Bottom line, though, was that it was lots of fun.

[Alphen]

35 minutes ago, yarnsinger said:

I'm glad you won, but our team still maintains that Statendam is not a city. It is actually a dam. We missed the beer question, but still would have won otherwise. Grrr.... (just kidding, really). Maybe extra credit for giving him the tie-breaker question? Bottom line, though, was that it was lots of fun.

Statendam is not a city, nor a dam, but a neighbourhood in the Netherlands, near the city of Geertruidenberg! Statendam is most likely named after “de Staten van Holland “ which was the origin of the Netherlands.

Edited November 6, 2021 by Alphen

[broberts]

Google told me "From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. A number of ships of the Holland America Line have been named Statendam, the name of an old dike on the island of Goeree-Overflakkee: SS Statendam (1898) was an ocean liner launched in 1898 and sold to the Allan Line in 1911, being renamed SS Scotian"

[rkacruiser]

8 hours ago, Reagan0712 said:

Is this what you are looking for? There was one on either side of deck 10 aft just outside the Tamarind near the area with the deck chairs.

 

This is not one of the originals.  Some of the art work went from the Rotterdam and the Amsterdam to Fred. Olsen.  There currently is on the Fred. Olsen CC Message Board an excellent report of a recently sailed cruise on Borealis (Rotterdam VI) with photos including food porn.  Some of the art shown in the photos, I recognize.  But, no Terra Cotta soldiers were seen.  

[VMax1700]

I think that these are the 'terracotta soldiers' from Rotterdam VI

Please excuse the poor interpretation of a photo opportunity.