HAL ROTTERDAM..... AVOID DECK 4

[horseymike]

I sympathize with Richard @sea.

Once on the Zuiderdam I chose what I thought was a huge inside cabin , it was indeed.

Unfortunately , it was located under BB Kings music venue..

Once the music started , it was impossible for my wife to sleep.

Luckily , when I related our situation to customer service, they were able to relocate us to a quieter location. Problem solved. Lucky for us there was availability. 🍀

 

[doone]

I like to sandwich myself between two cabin decks either mid or aft locations, so far I have had nice quiet cruises, no issues.....

[RICHARD@SEA]

On 12/9/2023 at 1:09 PM, YourWorldWithBill said:

The strange thing is that as you spoke to so many, you were not offered a move to another cabin. Was this never an option?

On the 3rd nite(10;30 pm ) the nasty Assistant Mgr said they would move me to deck 8 below the lido the next day - the next day the Hotel Managaer said there were no available cabins.....

 

the ship wasn't that shifty compared to the management - by this time I had had enough.

[RICHARD@SEA]

On 12/9/2023 at 10:50 AM, Lady Arwen said:

May I ask which cruiseline you are considering instead of HAL?  We sail Princess and Celebrity as well as HAL and I can tell you each line and ship has some type of issue.  None are perfect.

 

What you experienced is not our experience with HAL.  Unfortunately, there are certain cabins on every ship that are noisier than others, even on the same deck.  We try to pick locations that are least likely to be a problem before we choose an actual cabin.  We research deck plans and do comparisons.  We would not choose deck 4 on a Pinnacle class ship for this reason.  Other people have no issues.  It depends on your level of tolerance for sound and vibrations.

 

We always enjoy the food on HAL and is, IMHO, comparable to both Princess and Celebrity.  Food is very subjective, so my experience may be different than yours and others.

 

Entertainment again is a matter of personal perception.  We’ve seen good, bad and awful, but it’s not something we’re really concerned with.  There is always somewhere else on the ship to find something we enjoy.

Right now I am looking at EXPLORA Cruises - as the ships are smaller & suppose to be a more luxury choice.  I have sailed on MSC & like the Euro flavor onboard - hopefully Explora will be more to my tastes.

 

BTW - I love the pizza & gelato on MSC  - when the Hotel Manager on HAL touted how great the pizza & Gelato were onboard ( we both had Pistachio) - i just told her HAL should get MSC recipes for both.....

[randylevy01]

Could you elaborate?

Edited Wednesday at 01:48 AM by randylevy01
Typing error

[ski ww]

Hope you enjoy your cruising on which ever cruise line you go with.

[AKJonesy]

I won't book any staterooms on the Pinnacle ships on deck 4 forward.  We did that once and we could hear the bass (boom, boom, boom) until 1 am every night.  

[Niagarawine]

I was on Rotterdam last November and agree about the Pinnacle food. The bread was so hard You could throw it against the wall and it would not break. Baked potatoe was cold and gray and I saw other diners complaining. That was really my only bad experience in nine days but I stayed on deck six. On Koningsdam the Pinnacle was fabulous, warm bread, baked potato great and food v good but I preferred the Rotterdam, had obstructed on deck four, with large balcony. Seems to be issues with quality control across the fleet. Imho

[Iamthesea]

I wanted to point out that this thread was started in December.  We were on the Rotterdam in May and had none of the above listed issues.  Our entire Pinnacle experience was excellent.  Much better than our dinner there (on the N. Statendam) in May of 2023.  I believe that HAL is really trying to get back to the days before the Pandemic.

Edited Wednesday at 02:54 PM by Iamthesea

[Niagarawine]

Did Rudy Sodamin leave HAL? Was on Niew Statendam  in first year of sailing and it seemed to me that his menus were much better, but maybe due to cut backs they changed it up. Putting boiled eggs on dishes like crab cake and seafood cocktail, can’t eat them.i know I can request without but it is an odd choice. Last month at the brunch they brought out a crab cake the size of a loonie.with this egg on top. Everyone at or table laughed . My husband thought he was getting two crab cakes as they were plural on the menu , had just ordered that and was hungry so he asked for another one. Guy beside us joked about Oliver Twist,

 

 

 

[Niagarawine]

2 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

I wanted to point out that this thread was started in December.  We were on the Rotterdam in May and had none of the above listed issues.  Our entire Pinnacle experience was excellent.  Much better than our dinner there (on the N. Statendam) in May of 2023.  I believe that HAL is really trying to get back to the days before the Pandemic.

That is good to hear, back on her in November

[ChinaShrek]

3 hours ago, AKJonesy said:

I won't book any staterooms on the Pinnacle ships on deck 4 forward.  We did that once and we could hear the bass (boom, boom, boom) until 1 am every night.  

What's funny is that many people post that HAL does not have late entertainment on their ships. I guess they do!

[Lizard13]

I can sympathize with the poster, sleep interruption is miserable, and cruising should be fun.  I was on a 21 day Rotterdam cruise last month and found most of the food outstanding.  The BB King band was also great, the rock and roll a bit less so but entertaining and the piano player skilled on the keys but lacked a good voice.  
 

as far as issues and gettIng satisfaction may I suggest sending a message on the navigator app.  Both my SO and I sent a message via the app regarding separate issues.  Within 30 minutes we were contacted and the issues were acknowledged and corrected.  We also used the app to give a shout out for outstanding service.  

[AKJonesy]

1 hour ago, ChinaShrek said:

What's funny is that many people post that HAL does not have late entertainment on their ships. I guess they do!

I have no idea why anyone would say that.  The Music Walk has venues going on until late in the evening. 

[SetAnOpenCourse]

6 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

I wanted to point out that this thread was started in December.  We were on the Rotterdam in May and had none of the above listed issues.

Was your cabin on deck 4 forward?  If you did not experience the OP’s biggest complaint (noise in cabin), and you also had a cabin in that location, then could you share your cabin #?

Edited Wednesday at 09:03 PM by SetAnOpenCourse

[Mary229]

8 hours ago, AKJonesy said:

I won't book any staterooms on the Pinnacle ships on deck 4 forward.  We did that once and we could hear the bass (boom, boom, boom) until 1 am every night.  

Same here. I thought being two floors up was enough - it was not.  I will only sail 5 and up on the Pinnacle class though I am trying one on 1 this fall which does not get noise complaints.  Some one said a while back that noise on these ships travels up not down, I hope that is true 

[Iamthesea]

We were on Deck 8 and we could hear voices from the stateroom next door - our female neighbor. I think the sound was traveling through the air system, or from a gap between the ceiling and the wall where the plastic crown meets.  I do have very sensitive hearing!  DH could not hear it unless I pointed it out to him and he strained.   

 

Plus, DH and I both heard noises from above.  Mostly, it was the rolling carts in the hallway outside of Canaletto, and at closing time/clean-up in Canaletto.  We were told by someone on this forum that there was no noise if your stateroom was below this area because Canaletto is carpeted. The hallway outside is not.  We did hear noise, but it was not as annoying to me as the loud female voice.

[Laminator]

7 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

We were on Deck 8 and we could hear voices from the stateroom next door - our female neighbor. I think the sound was traveling through the air system, or from a gap between the ceiling and the wall where the plastic crown meets.  I do have very sensitive hearing!  DH could not hear it unless I pointed it out to him and he strained.   

 

Plus, DH and I both heard noises from above.  Mostly, it was the rolling carts in the hallway outside of Canaletto, and at closing time/clean-up in Canaletto.  We were told by someone on this forum that there was no noise if your stateroom was below this area because Canaletto is carpeted. The hallway outside is not.  We did hear noise, but it was not as annoying to me as the loud female voice.

I get annoyed when I hear a loud female voice also. Only because it is usually my wife scolding me for something I did wrong. And no one does wrong like I do wrong. You can ask my wife. 

[SusieKIslandGirl]

15 hours ago, Niagarawine said:

Did Rudy Sodamin leave HAL?

 

Now associated with Princess Cruises---Head of Princess Culinary Arts - Rudi Sodamin

[AKJonesy]

15 hours ago, Mary229 said:

Same here. I thought being two floors up was enough - it was not.  I will only sail 5 and up on the Pinnacle class though I am trying one on 1 this fall which does not get noise complaints.  Some one said a while back that noise on these ships travels up not down, I hope that is true 

I was wondering about Deck 1 and how that might work out.  I'll have to remember to get back to you this fall and ask how it went.  It has seemed to me that sound travels farther on the Pinnacle class leaving us fewer choices for more "budget friendly" staterooms and now of course, avoiding the 3 and 4 person rooms on top of it.  

[Navybikermom]

I was on deck 1 on the Rotterdam in May. Ocean view cabin 1070. It was under the aft section of the Billboard lounge but didn’t notice much noise from it. Occasionally I would hear some bass beats from something, but not enough to bother me and I don’t recall hearing it past 10 pm. 
 

[Niagarawine]

7 hours ago, SusieKIslandGirl said:

Now associated with Princess Cruises---Head of Princess Culinary Arts - Rudi Sodamin

Really liked his food

[jimgev]

On 12/12/2023 at 6:51 PM, RICHARD@SEA said:

 

 

BTW - I love the pizza & gelato on MSC  - when the Hotel Manager on HAL touted how great the pizza & Gelato were onboard ( we both had Pistachio) - i just told her HAL should get MSC recipes for both.....

Sorry you had such a negative experience. We sailed on the Rotterdam and loved it. Thier pistachio gelato was the best we had ever tastd. But tthen, everything is a matter of personal taste.

[Niagarawine]

I was on deck four  cabin 4135  and it was great, no noise and a large balcony with some obstruction, would choose it again