BTimmer's Almost Live from the Rotterdam 11/21/21-12/1/21

[MisterBill99]

4 hours ago, Btimmer said:

Last night in the BBKing venue with the comedy sets, noise was a big distraction even with the doors closed.  Flip Schulz was really good.

 

Yes, I can see where one venue with loud music and the other with comedy could be an issue. Sitting upstairs in the BBK "balcony" might be the best spot for comedy.

[MisterBill99]

One last question. Were the cabins available as soon as you boarded, or did you have to wait?  I seem to recall that HAL always used to have them available immediately.

 

Heading to the terminal in 90 minutes and trying to figure out whether we should check our carry-on since we don't want to have to bring it to lunch with us.

[Cruise Suzy]

26 minutes ago, MisterBill99 said:

Were the cabins available as soon as you boarded, or did you have to wait?  I seem to recall that HAL always used to have them available immediately.

On the Nieuw Amsterdam on 11/20, the staterooms were available immediately. Keycards were in an envelope by the door.

[Btimmer]

1 hour ago, MisterBill99 said:

One last question. Were the cabins available as soon as you boarded, or did you have to wait?  I seem to recall that HAL always used to have them available immediately.

 

Heading to the terminal in 90 minutes and trying to figure out whether we should check our carry-on since we don't want to have to bring it to lunch with us.

Cabins are available immediately.  We saw many ready rooms on deck 7 aft before we left the ship.  We're off the ship doing a tour of Miami before heading home.

[MisterBill99]

So we go to the terminal around 12:25. Took five minutes to get inside and then 10 minutes to go through the whole check-in process, which was very well organized. Not a single person checked the time on our boarding pass. We were waiting for our food at the Dive-In by 1pm, after having visited our room to drop off my backpack.

 

It will be interesting to hear if the people who adhered to the required check-in time actually had to put up with lines.

[rkacruiser]

20 hours ago, MisterBill99 said:

As for senior leadership and the guest experience, one thing you do not mention is that with an excellent leader like Captain Kate, their attitude rubs off on the entire crew.

 

Please access my post #145 on this thread.  The Senior Leadership's attitude does indeed have an impact on the the hotel staff of the ship.  What impact it has on those "behind the scenes"?  I have wondered about that.  

[mocruzer]

3 hours ago, MisterBill99 said:

So we go to the terminal around 12:25. Took five minutes to get inside and then 10 minutes to go through the whole check-in process, which was very well organized.

Did you notice if the dining room was open for lunch?  Also hope you will keep us updated on what ports require HAL excursions only.  

[MisterBill99]

2 hours ago, mocruzer said:

Did you notice if the dining room was open for lunch?  Also hope you will keep us updated on what ports require HAL excursions only.  

 

MDR was open for lunch. No change in the ports that require excursion. St. Thomas and St. Maarten you can do what you want. St. Lucia and Dominica are HAL only. Barbados ad St. Kitts are "govt/port-authorized excursions" I will post if anything changes. 

[Btimmer]

1 hour ago, MisterBill99 said:

 

MDR was open for lunch. No change in the ports that require excursion. St. Thomas and St. Maarten you can do what you want. St. Lucia and Dominica are HAL only. Barbados ad St. Kitts are "govt/port-authorized excursions" I will post if anything changes. 

Thanks for your posts in my thread.  May I encourage you to start a new thread for your voyage.

 

We, BTW, are just landing in Seattle at 9:40pm local time.  It's been a long day of traveling.  The Miami tour and FLL transfer was terrific.

[Mimi19510]

Thanks for the pics of inside cabin. Is there any seating other than the bed?

[Btimmer]

4 minutes ago, Mimi19510 said:

Thanks for the pics of inside cabin. Is there any seating other than the bed?

There's a small cube under the desk which is also used for storage.

 

We absolutely loved the cabin with the bed placement and the large TV which gave us a window to two views of the outside world.  We didn't miss the seating as we're only there to sleep.  Otherwise, we're out and about all over the ship.  I'll do a wrap up video in a day or two to summarize our impressions.  It's mostly all good with one glaring exception.