Rotterdam “Pool scene” ?

[Kruising Kathy]

Pools do not open until 9 AM.  I was on Rotterdam March 29 to April 29, 2023, Fort Lauderdale to Amsterdam.  The first 5 days was a spring break loop Fort Lauderdale to Nassau, Key West, back to FLL.  There were 150 kids aboard and areas were not limited to adults only.  It was like Carnival and Royal Caribbean combined with  about 100 people smoking on the rear pool deck)..There were some children of the staff on board with another parent (we were on Rotterdam 6  Voyage of the Vikings in 2016 36 days where this also happened).  The ship was full 2700.  The hot tubs are smaller than on the old HAL ships (Rotterdam, Statendam, Volendam, Prinsendam...).  The thermal suite costs about 40-50 dollars per person per day..

 

At the end of our cruise, there were 2 5 days sailings where the Dutch cruise director told us HAL is trying to attract a Dutch crowd.  There were some kids aboard.

 

42 days on Koningsdam in April 2017 transatlantic from Fort Lauderdale

12 days Nieue Statendam April  2022 transatlantic from Fort Lauderdale

 

I have used the pools on all of the above named sailings...

 

[POA1]

On 8/8/2023 at 5:37 PM, Petronillus said:

The spa slipped my mind. If serenity is a high priority, then it would be to beat the ceramic-tiled, warm-water-fed loungers in the spa. Heaven on earth, imho.

Excellent point. There's both an age limit and a cost, so that will weed out nearly every minor child. And, if by some miracle, you see a youngster in the thermal spa every day, hit them up for stock tips or see if they'll give you a little something from the trust fund. 🤑

[Petronillus]

2 hours ago, Kruising Kathy said:

At the end of our cruise, there were 2 5 days sailings where the Dutch cruise director told us HAL is trying to attract a Dutch crowd.  There were some kids aboard.

 

On our recent Midnight Sun cruise along the western coast of Norway, I think the Dutch outnumbered the Canadians. It was r/t Amsterdam, and from what I could piece together it appears that HAL flooded the Dutch market with "last minute" promotions to fill up the unbooked cabins.

[CruiserBruce]

2 hours ago, Kruising Kathy said:

Pools do not open until 9 AM. 

 

There is frequently people swimming laps before 9am. But the hot tubs definitely don't open before 9.

[Btimmer]

2 hours ago, Petronillus said:

On our recent Midnight Sun cruise along the western coast of Norway, I think the Dutch outnumbered the Canadians. It was r/t Amsterdam, and from what I could piece together it appears that HAL flooded the Dutch market with "last minute" promotions to fill up the unbooked cabins.

This happened to us on the Koningsdam as well on a Amsterdam RT cruise to Norway.  They totally took over the Dutch cafe for most of every sea day and in the evenings.

[kazu]

4 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

There is frequently people swimming laps before 9am. But the hot tubs definitely don't open before 9.

 

Completely agree.  I am an early riser and the pools open early - I’m thinking around 7 AM or so but my memory might be off.

 

Hot tubs are later.

 

Heck on the Prinsendam there were pool exercises at 8 AM on the transatlantic portion.  Haven’t seen that since that ship on a Daily programme.