Live From Rotterdam (Jan 4-14, 2023)

[Charlene1985]

Again, I’m late.  We are at sea today but this post will be for our day yesterday, in Aruba. 
 

We woke up and had breakfast in the MDR.  Disappointed to find “powdered” eggs as my scrambled eggs today.  Now in the future I’ll know to order an omelet to get real eggs.  I don’t mind powdered eggs honestly but I don’t expect them in the MDR.  Oh well. Lesson learned.  I’m certainly not starving. 
 

We did a tour of the island with a beach break.  Husband has been to Aruba before but I have not.  We saw a small church and the lighthouse.  The cacti on the island are beautiful and I keep wanting to touch them.  I have yucca at home and those things are just as violent so I refrained.  We paid the $5 each to climb to the top of the lighthouse.  It was 127 steps and after my husband’s huffing and puffing about not wanting to climb, he built his bridge, got over it, and we climbed.  It took 4 seconds but it was quite narrow.  I sort of have a fetish with tall buildings and towers so if there are stairs, I’ll climb the structure. The view was beautiful from the top but of course it was caged in so pictures were nearly impossible.  After those two stops, we made our way to Eagle Beach for 2 hours.  The beach was beautiful but it was sandy so no fish and poor visibility.  We didn’t buy any sodas or snacks but there was a “food truck” there.  I have no idea what they offered.  We spent the time at the beach chatting with another couple. 
 

Now let me say this.  I’m not good with strong smells, loud noise, etc.  So this tour was on an open air school bus with loud music, a funny sounding horn, a driver who sang, and it was painted a variety of colors, most of which I have never seen before.  This was not the tour for me.  People stared at us and I felt like the typical American tourist.  I enjoyed the day, but in some ways the embarrassment and high energy made me not enjoy it. The driver was 20 minutes late picking us up (1:05 vs the 12:45 he told us all to meet- and yes, this was a HAL tour). 
 

We were docked in front of two Royal ships.  Majesty OTS and Harmony OTS.  Harmony is 227,000 gross tons.  She is almost 2.5X the size of Rotterdam.  I don’t like sharing a cabin with my husband half the time.  I couldn’t share a ship with 5,000 other people.  Too much. Too big. But I have a friend that loves them. To each their own.  
 

We were missing a passenger and we left about 10 minutes late.  Harbor pilot saw us out and we were under way.  My husband says they make an easy $300K a year, at least in the US.  So I figured next life, that’s what I’ll do for a living.  Good money and a horn blast of gratitude from the ship when the job is complete.  Can’t ask for more than that. 

 

 We were slightly hungry so we split a meatball hero (sub/hoagie/sandwich or whatever you want to call them). Since the sign says “sub” I know the NY Pizza name isn’t authentic.  Ha!!  Anyway, it was good and took about 10 minutes to make.  I ordered on the app.  Afterwards, I tried a virgin pina colada which may have been the first time I ever had one.  I’ve had pinna coloda flavored things like ice cream, but I’m not going to lie.  It was really really really good.  Without the rum at least.  I don’t like rum.  Maybe that would ruin it. Or maybe it would make it better?  And as we made our way back to the room to work on our crosswords, we passed a batch of cookies in the Lido.  We each grabbed a Macadamia nut cookie and I asked if I could try a chocolate chip cookie and the lady gladly gave us 2 each.  They were really good too but I was partial to the macadamia one. 
 

Did the crossword and showered for dinner.  We ate in the MDR and I had the farro salad which was out of this world good and he had the carrot soup.  His was OK but it wasn’t all that warm.  I had baby back ribs for dinner and a glass of the Pinot Noir.  I’m not a red wine drinker and after half a glass, I remembered why.  It makes me feel awful.  But the main course was great.  It came with spinach, what I can only assume was a spaghetti squash cake and half an ear of corn.  The corn was roasted with something sweet and it was a fantastic meal.  I had the hot fudge sundae for dessert and it came with pistachios.  That was also really good. 
 

After dinner, we made our way down to The Rolling Stones Rock Room to listen to a 45 minute set.  I think this band is fantastic.  I don’t recognize all the songs but I would hire them to play at an event. After their set, I asked if I could take a picture with them and they happily obliged.  I really like that they are 30 years younger than the songs they are playing.  I wonder how long their contract is and if they will stay on Rotterdam or move to different ships from time to time. 
 

After their set finished at 10:15, we came upstairs to our room.  I had some work stuff to take care of and we got watching an old movie on the TV that became more addicting than it should have.  
 

I really liked Aruba.  The view leaving port was absolutely stunning.  I’ve tried uploading a few photos along the way but the cropping mechanism on this website distorts them, so I’ll try again when I get home and have my computer. 
 

I’ll post about today later or tomorrow.  
 

But for those of you who like these items, you’ll be pleased to hear we received two tiles this morning as well as our next level mariner pins since we crossed a level during this sailing. 

[canadarocks]

I totally agree with you about the "Kukoo" Aruba experiences. We've done a day and an evening tour and we didn't like either. A forced enthusiasm that is just not for me. But obviously there are many who enjoy it, and their tours are popular. 

 

Thanks for the great review so far. We're boarding in about 2 weeks. 👍

[Cruise Suzy]

30 minutes ago, Charlene1985 said:

Afterwards, I tried a virgin pina colada which may have been the first time I ever had one.  I’ve had pinna coloda flavored things like ice cream, but I’m not going to lie.  It was really really really good.

My go-to beverage during the day on a Caribbean cruise. If I had alcoholic ones (which are even better IMO), I'd be zonked out before lunch!

[CruiserN1]

1 hour ago, Charlene1985 said:

 I had baby back ribs for dinner and a glass of the Pinot Noir.  I’m not a red wine drinker and after half a glass, I remembered why.  It makes me feel awful.  

Red wine makes me feel awful also. It took years, but I finally found out why. I'm allergic to sulfites. They are also present to a lesser extent in white wine and in most hard ciders and beer (used as a preservative). Just FYI in case it helps.

[ew101]

Are there any signs or hints of ballroom dancing aboard?  

[thecruiserman]

Enjoying your posts. We are on Rotterdam for 21 days later this year.

What is the cost for WiFi?

And do they still offer the unlimited laundry package? How much?

Or the price for a bag of laundry?

[Charlene1985]

Received some tragic news from home.  As some of you are probably aware, the Atlanta area suffered major storms and tornadoes this afternoon.  Our lake house was destroyed at 5:30pm about one hour SE of Atlanta.  Our neighbors are accounted for however there is massive damage, no power, and no cell service.  We are disembarking on Saturday and flying home.  Luckily this is our second home so we still have a place to live and clothes, but we are devastated.  Especially being stuck on this ship for another 30 hours.  Therefore I will not be updating this thread as we start figuring out our mess at home when we have more info after daybreak.  
 

I have appreciated the feedback on this thread. And have enjoyed giving you all some information.   I am so thankful my pet is safe at our other home.  I don’t know what I would do if I also lost her.  
 

Thank you for being a lovely audience.  

[oakridger]

Oh no!!  Best of luck to you and such a sad day for Georgia.  Take care.

 

~Nancy

[QuattroRomeo]

Oh my, that is terrible news Charlene. It must be so incredibly frustrating to have to wait. At least you know your pet is okay, that is very good news. Safe travels home. 

[canadianbear]

This is terrible news, I’m so sorry.  Thankful your neighbours & pet are safe.  

[shippmates]

Charlene so sorry to hear about your home.  Thank goodness your neighbors are safe.  I really enjoyed you blog as I will be on the Rotterdam in October.  Stay safe.

[jimbob22]

sorry to hear that, glad no one was hurt.  

[Hlitner]

Just a note about the "powdered eggs" issue.  This is not just on HAL but an issue with many cruise lines who use either powdered or boxed (pasteurized) eggs that come out of large milk-like cartons.  Ordering omelets does not necessarily help since these commercial eggs mixes can also be used for omelets.  If you want to be sure to get a real egg you need to order somethig with a visible yoke such as over easy or eggs benedict.  On some ships we have also had luck by ordering an omelet in the Lido and specifying that they crack real eggs (sometimes we have been told no).   Also consider that once upon a time, on HAL, you would get fresh squeezed OJ by simply asking.  Now, in the Lido or MDR there is not telling what you are getting when you get OJ, but it is anything but fresh.   

 

Hank

[CruiserN1]

I am so sorry that your lake house was destroyed. What a terrible way to end a vacation. Thanks for this thread, it was so helpful.

[hmorrow]

OH NO, so sorry to hear about the destruction, and specifically,  your lake house...So glad the pet is OK.

I've really enjoyed your posts, and can't wait to board in March.

Thanks for the reports, and be safe.

[REOVA]

I'll speak for everyone and hope that you will update this post once you can quantify damage and how you are. And of course if you need anything, I am sure many here will offer support. 

[Charlene1985]

Quick update.  We live very remote, like down a gravel road to a dirt road to a long driveway.  Many trees down but someone was able to walk to our house. The house was spared.  The debris and the intact roof that was found in the lake was from our dock.  That is in a million pieces.   We lost a big beautiful loblolly pine and most of our yard is a mess but spared.  
 

The power is off and my parents are heading there now to take a closer look.  We have very old trees that are gorgeous and thankfully most of them survived.   For both the sake of our house below them and for their beauty.  
 

We are fortunate. Our neighbors are too.  One eyewitness across our lake says a small tornado came between my house and another house and that’s the line of trees down.  
 

Thank you for the well wishes.  

[hmorrow]

1 hour ago, Charlene1985 said:

Quick update.  We live very remote, like down a gravel road to a dirt road to a long driveway.  Many trees down but someone was able to walk to our house. The house was spared.  The debris and the intact roof that was found in the lake was from our dock.  That is in a million pieces.   We lost a big beautiful loblolly pine and most of our yard is a mess but spared.  
 

The power is off and my parents are heading there now to take a closer look.  We have very old trees that are gorgeous and thankfully most of them survived.   For both the sake of our house below them and for their beauty.  
 

We are fortunate. Our neighbors are too.  One eyewitness across our lake says a small tornado came between my house and another house and that’s the line of trees down.  
 

Thank you for the well wishes.  

wonderful news!

[LouChamp]

blessings and prayers 

[tchrms]

I'm so glad to hear your house was spared and your neighbors are fine.  Thank you for taking the time to provide such an interesting blog of your trip.  Safe journey home and hope you have many more exciting adventures in the future.

 

[REOVA]

11 hours ago, Charlene1985 said:

Quick update.  We live very remote, like down a gravel road to a dirt road to a long driveway.  Many trees down but someone was able to walk to our house. The house was spared.  The debris and the intact roof that was found in the lake was from our dock.  That is in a million pieces.   We lost a big beautiful loblolly pine and most of our yard is a mess but spared.  
 

The power is off and my parents are heading there now to take a closer look.  We have very old trees that are gorgeous and thankfully most of them survived.   For both the sake of our house below them and for their beauty.  
 

We are fortunate. Our neighbors are too.  One eyewitness across our lake says a small tornado came between my house and another house and that’s the line of trees down.  
 

Thank you for the well wishes.  

Great news. Time to winterize 🥶 🧊 

[Charlene1985]

Couple of days worth of updates as I fly home. 

 

The day after Aruba was a sea day.  We slept in a bit and went to the Grand Dutch Cafe for some fancy coffees.  The coffees came with a ginger cookie but I liked the biscotti from the Crow’s Nest a bit more.  We worked on the crossword puzzles and then grabbed lunch at the MDR.  I had the spring rolls and something else but I can’t remember what it was.  The spring rolls were good.  Obviously my main course wasn’t memorable. 

 

Afterwards, I did my run on the running track.  It was enjoyable because of the breeze and going in the afternoon was more enjoyable because it wasn’t crowded. My husband decided to donate some money to the casino.  Enough to get an offer that night for a free cruise <insert eye roll>. When I finished my run, I found him and sat down to play for a bit myself.  Super easy to take money off the room key and there is no service charge.  This money does not count towards your onboard spending.  We played blackjack and the first dealer was nice and slow.  Started with $100 and when I got to $105, I cashed out and went back to my room.  It was entirely too smokey.  They made you take cash- I would have rather just paid my onboard spending down with my $5 of winnings. 

 

Shortly thereafter, the storm stuff at home began and that completely preoccupied our afternoon.  Guest services was able to place two phone calls for me and so far I haven’t seen any charges for them.  I don’t care if they charge me since it was an emergency.  We knew we couldn’t get off at Half Moon Cay, so we did the best we could gathering information, some correct, some incorrect.  

 

That night was a gala night and thinking we lost our entire house earlier in the evening, we decided to skip dinner.  Around 8pm, someone texted and gave us a glimmer of hope that the debris in the lake wasn’t our house so we quickly got ready since I bought a new dress for the occasion and my husband wanted to wear his suit.   We made it to the MDR around 8:45 but our regular table was unavailable so we ate downstairs in open seating. The food was blah but I didn’t really want to eat anyway.  The service was good, but rushed since it was so late.  I felt bad we showed up late and that I didn’t think about telling the maitre D about our delay and to hold our table.  

 

Afterwards neither of us wanted to do anything so we just sat by the phone waiting for news.  At 2am a whole bunch of photos came in and showed our house standing.  With only a single shutter dangling.  100ft to the right and our trees are snapped like twigs and our dock is completely gone except for the pilings.  100ft to the left my garden lights remained upright and a glass turtle I have in a garden was unharmed.  The time stamp showed 6:15 so one of my neighbors must have sent it earlier but with their service being down, it was all delayed.  That would have been nice to see 8 hours earlier. Crazy how tornadoes can destroy one thing and leave something else in pristine condition. Thank goodness for insurance. The wifi all evening was good enough to audio FaceTime with my Mom.  Which I was entirely grateful for.  We did not purchase upgraded internet. 

 

The next day, we slept until 10 since we were just emotionally worn out.  Went down to get a Tender Ticket for Half Moon Cay.  Waited 45 minutes and got on one.  It was raining so we went to the lunch pavilion and my husband ate.  I still was too worked up to eat anything other than a piece of hot dog roll.  My husband said the food was good.  But it was crowded since everyone was under the pavilions.  Nieuw Statendem was also in port.  

 

We returned to the ship around 1:30 and my husband was amazed to see we weren’t anchored.  So he did some Googling and found that the ships keep their positions using GPS and thrusters nowadays and it is all automated.  

 

We packed up our bags that afternoon and took showers.  We went to Ocean Bar to have a drink to celebrate the end of a fantastic cruise and our house’s fate.  We went to dinner in the MDR and I had both the tuna poke and beef carpaccio.  Both were good but there were onions on the poke.   I hate onions.  They’re worse than capers.  Had sweet and sour shrimp and veggies for dinner and the pear strudel for dessert.  The pear strudel was very good but a chainsaw would have been helpful to cut the puff pastry. 

 

After, we went to Billboard Onboard to listen to some music.  My husband must have arranged for it, because they played The Sound of Silence which is my favorite song.  They didn’t play it the other night since it wasn’t on the approved list, but I am only assuming he was able to finagle it for me somehow.  It has become a tradition to have it played on all our cruises.  It was their second to the last song so I got it by the skin of my teeth.  A very kind gesture that made me so happy.  After they finished, we chatted with one of the players for a bit.  He was very happy with his job and how Holland America treats him.  I hope that all their employees are as happy as he is.  

 

Came back to our room and enjoyed watching the rough seas.  My husband is a boat enthusiast and was like a kid watching the wake we were throwing out. And so excited we were cruising at 21 knots.  

 

The rough water woke me up around 3am.  And I watched the water again.  Cruising to me isn’t about stuffing my face at the buffet or getting drunk.  Or even about the ports.  I like to reflect about how this is how most of our goods get to us.  How this was the only method of travel until airplanes.  I like how the Promenade Deck allow you to experience the water and the cruise for what it is: a ship in the middle of the water.  Yes, it has great food, pretty flowers, piano players, etc.  But more than any of that, I still love the nautical aspect the most. 

 

We woke up around 6 just as were were coming into port.  We docked at pier 19 and the sheer tightness on getting docked with ships all around us was fascinating.  We came in bow first and rotated 90 degrees to be starboard side to. The stern of the ship was astonishingly close to the bow of a city block sized RC ship.   We showered and ate breakfast at 7:45.  Finished at 8:45 and disembarked with our own luggage at 9am.  In the Uber by 9:20 and at FLL at 9:40.  Currently on a 10:45 flight back to ATL. 

 

Despite the news from home, which had absolutely nothing to do with HAL, this was by far the best cruising experience I’ve had.  The food was not as good as expected or as good as previous HAL cruises but I never left a meal hungry.  The ship is beautiful and the staff are hard working individuals who go out of their way to make our journeys memorable and enjoyable.  I can’t help but believe there are staffing shortages in some venues.  

 

If there was anything I could change, this would be it:

 

We would have posed more for the photographers.  It was fun looking at our photos at the photo shop.  We didn’t buy any but it was nice to look at them last night just the same.  Just scan your room key and they pop up via face recognition. 

 

I also forgot my digital underwater camera battery charger.  

 

The flowers I had pre purchased and delivered to the room on the first day lasted until this morning.  I tossed them because they were lilies (I have a cat) but they had life left in them.  I brought the vase home since I assumed it was mine to keep.  If not, I guess they’ll bill me.   I hope they don’t ban me for theft. 

 

The vista suite was perfect.  I wish all ships had that option. The size and storage was exceptional.  Our location was quiet.  And the decor was modern and  elegant and nothing was mauve.  Why do so many ships have mauve sofas? 

 

We are already thinking about what we want to do for our next cruise.  There are two itineraries on Eurodam and two on Rotterdam that interest us for next Jan.   

 

Once I get settled, I’ll type up an entire review.  I hope this thread gave you some ideas of what to expect on Rotterdam and from Holland America in 2023.  

 

Did I observe things I didn’t like?  

 

Yes.  I saw a bartender make a new drink in a dirty glass (refill) stir it, and then use the same stirrer in someone else’s glass without washing it. 

 

I saw seats get wiped down with a cleaning rag and then the same rag used to wipe down tabletops.  That is gross to me. 

 

Two of my beach towels were stained when I unrolled them.  One was an old stain that looked like mustard.  The other was fresh looking and still sticky when I accidentally touched it.  The pool towels were quite stained up as well. 

 

Nothing that would warrant a complaint letter.  Accidents and oversights happen. And I’m coming back from this cruise a bit more humbled than when I started.  

[canadarocks]

Thank you so much for your review! 

[cccole]

I have really enjoyed following your cruise.  Your comments have been great, both the positive and the negative.  Happy to hear that your house is in good order.  Thank you for all of our posts.  Cherie

[StLouisCruisers]

I'm so glad the lake house survived the tornado!  And I appreciated your fair review, something we don't always see.

 

A few miles from us was at least 1 tornado and possibly 3 of them.  The business district of the nearby town was hit hard and we haven't been out to see the destruction because the county asked people to stay home and not get in the way of cleanup.  We are so grateful our own home was spared.