Rotterdam! Feb 16-25 Trip Report & Review

[MaryBethV]

Greetings from warmer-than-normal Michigan! It was sunny and 60 degrees F here today… IN FEBRUARY! I think we brought the gorgeous Caribbean weather back with us. You’re welcome, neighbors.

 

 

Even though I always LOVE coming home, there are still some post-vacation blues! We have only been home from our 9-day cruise to the A(-B)C Islands for two days and, I mean, no one knocked on our door this morning to deliver coffee & breakfast! 😭 Therefore, I consider writing trip reports my post-cruise therapy and you are once again invited to join me!

 

A few things about us… 

My husband and I are in our late 40’s/early 50’s. We have four young adult children and two *adorable* dogs. We live in Michigan and getting a good dose of warm weather and natural vitamin D in the middle of winter is always a good idea!

 

This was our 5th cruise overall and our 1st with Holland America Line. We have also cruised on NCL and Princess (each twice). Links to previous trip reports are in my signature for those who are interested. 

 

Our last cruise was in February of 2020 just a couple of weeks before the shutdown. We took my husband's parents on their first cruise to celebrate their 50th anniversary and had an amazing time! It is funny how that last cruise seems like both a decade ago and just yesterday. I think Covid messed with my sense of time.

 

Well, it is almost exactly four years later and we were SO excited for this cruise! My in-laws (MIL and FIL) who live near us traveled with us again, and BONUS - my dad (MrC) and his lovely wife (MrsC), who live in CA, joined us as well! 

 

At home I love to cook, grill a fabulous steak, pretend I’m Italian and make fresh pasta, grow herbs & veggies in my little backyard garden, etc… SO - food on any vacation is important to us. Food photos will follow with my OPINIONS. Why play food critic? Well, I find it a bit useless when someone says they love or hate the food but gives no actual reasons why! Remember, everyone is different and food is nothing if not subjective.

 

Once again, this trip report will likely be long and detailed with a lot of photos, menus, and info. - if that is not your thing, bail now!!! I always say there are two things I am not: a light-packer and concise bullet-point-style writer. My *goal* is to add to this trip report a little every day - and I will finish - I promise. After all, bailing on your own therapy session is frowned upon. 😂 I hope you will join me...

[iflyrc5]

Looking forward to your review.  We are long time cruisers with over 900 days on DAM ships.  We were on from Jan 14 through Feb 25 - 4 different cruises on the Rotterdam - and we could see a significant difference in the groups on each segment.  We were on the Rotterdam for the same time period in 2023 and had a great time then too.  The 2 Panama Canal segments (12 days each) had guests that seemed more "travelers" and interested in the sites and cultural of our ports.  The two 9 day segments had large family/friend groups and were more of the "party" folks.  Overall we had a great time on the Rotterdam.  Looking forward to your insights and impressions.

[oakridger]

@MaryBethV I will be checking back to read more as you are able to post!  I have family and friends in your age range so will be interested to get your impressions.

 

Thanks in advance for the report!

 

~Nancy

[horseymike]

Very much looking forward to your review !

[RK-NC]

Welcome home! Looking forward to following along. We are novice cruisers booked on Celebrity Beyond in April and Cunard QM2 in Aug/Sept and just started considering HAL Rotterdam for March 2025 yesterday. Thanks in advance for sharing!

[wdw1972]

Looking forward to your review - the more details, the better! I'll be boarding 3/8/24 for the same itinerary, other than you having an overnight in Aruba (I think) and we have the overnight in Curacao.  I'd love to see the daily events if you can post those! Currently the Navigator app has events listed, including an NFL playoff game that was played in January - so the credibility of the app at this point is near zero 😉

 

Sue/WDW1972

[MaryBethV]

Good morning! In true Michigan fashion - we had storms overnight and it is currently 23 degrees and snowing. Brr! I think I will curl up in front of the fire and post a lot of warm Caribbean photos today. 😀

 

Wednesday & Thursday | February 14-15, 2024 | Travel Day & Pre-Cruise Hotel

 

We flew to Florida on the 14th (Happy Valentine's Day!) - two days before our cruise because scheduling our flights one day earlier dropped the price drastically. Our flight landed a little after midnight and our heads hit the pillow around 2:00 am. Travel was challenging, especially for my husband (DH) and my MIL who both have physical challenges, and we were very thankful to have a rest day before embarkation.

 

 

 

 

The four of us stayed at SpringHill Suites Fort Lauderdale Airport & Cruise Port (Marriott) for two nights before our cruise and one night after. FIL and MIL enjoyed soaking up some sun by the pool and DH was able to rest in our room after literally taking care of everything & everyone while we traveled. We can be a LOT. 😜

 

 

 

This not-so-little guy was hanging out by us at the pool. I texted a photo of him to MrC & MrsC who were traveling today and MrC named him Spike. 

 

 

There may have been an eight-lane highway outside our window, but there was a palm tree in between - so I was a happy camper.

 

 

Oh, and FLOWERS! How I miss flowers...

 

 

The hotel lobby seemed to be recently remodeled and the pool area is small, but nice. A basic Marriott breakfast is included with your stay. This is a cruise hotel which means it is often a ZOO. It also means they turn the rooms (a bit dated) over quickly and while clean enough to sleep and shower in, they are not spotless by any means. In both (different) rooms we stayed in - the bathroom tub/shower as well as the sink would not drain. We ended up using the sink in the “kitchen” area to brush our teeth and wash up. If you stay here - the $ rate is good, but you will want to manage your expectations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As far as restaurants are concerned - there is a Panda Express and a Burger King right next to the hotel property. An Outback Steakhouse and a Chipotle are about a 4-5 minute walk down the street.

 

Next… on to what we all really care about - THE CRUISE! 😃

Edited February 28 by MaryBethV

[POA1]

Looking forward to your full report.

 

This may seem like a random comment, but you did an excellent job with your room photos at the hotel. 😃

[swin26]

Can’t wait to read more.  We spend a few weeks each fall in Northern Michigan.  We love sleeping bear dunes and Glen Arbor. 

[MaryBethV]

Friday | February 16, 2024 | Embarkation 

 

It’s CRUISE DAY! We were able to get an Uber from the hotel to the cruise port with room for the four of us and all our luggage. Great start!

 

 

I don't know about you, but my heart always beats a little faster at the first sighting of our ship.

 

 

We arrived at the cruise port at 10:32 am. My MIL can walk on her own for very short distances, and we had reserved a wheelchair for her through Special Needs at Sea that would be in her stateroom waiting for her. However, she also needed help during embarkation and they directed us to a waiting room while they arranged for transportation accommodations. A short time later they brought a wheelchair for her and we were able to board along with her. My photos say that we walked on the ship at 11:17 am. Not the quickest embarkation we've had - but not bad at all!

 

 

 

 

 

They wheeled my MIL directly to the elevator bank, so I quickly snagged a photo of the atrium area.

 

 

We loved the various Rotterdam ship models throughout the ship. I'll tell you more about my MIL's history with the Rotterdam later - it's a great story!

 

 

Heading aft towards our rooms -

 

 

Our rooms were 7144 and 7142 on the Schubert Deck 7, port side right by the aft elevator bank. Our room didn't have our bed together upon arrival as requested, but other than that our room was absolutely lovely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loved our embarkation view!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few quick thoughts on our room: 

- There was adequate closet space and SO many hangers. Too many hangers for us, however, I'm sure they come in handy if you are on a longer cruise.

- We loved all the drawers! Three drawers at the vanity/desk. Two drawers in each nightstand. Three more drawers in the closet area.

- Though the closets are nice, they do make the entry very narrow and are a little hard to access at times (especially the ones that open and block you in between the closet door and the stateroom door). There is no changing area unless you want to change in the main area of the cabin in front of the balcony door. (On Princess, they have an open closet design that gives you a spacious & private changing area right outside the bathroom.) Let's face it - changing in the tiny bathroom is just not an option. In fact, when I tried that later in the week - calamity ensued... more on that later. 😂 

- The balcony was spacious and the pull-out stools for each chair were WONDERFUL! We spent a good amount of time enjoying our balcony so this was a huge plus.

- The bed was quite comfy, though the "gap" was noticeable with only the fitted sheet spanning the middle where the beds join.

- Finally, I really should have packed my pillow. I just couldn't make friends with any of their pillow options for some reason. Probably just a getting older thing! I'm more high maintenance every year it seems. 😉

 

My MIL and I could have happily stayed on our balconies for the rest of the day. Isn't she beautiful?!

 

 

 

Sigh...  Time to tear ourselves away - there was lunch to get, people to meet, and things to do!

 

 

[MaryBethV]

13 hours ago, iflyrc5 said:

Looking forward to your review.  We are long time cruisers with over 900 days on DAM ships.  We were on from Jan 14 through Feb 25 - 4 different cruises on the Rotterdam - and we could see a significant difference in the groups on each segment.  We were on the Rotterdam for the same time period in 2023 and had a great time then too.  The 2 Panama Canal segments (12 days each) had guests that seemed more "travelers" and interested in the sites and cultural of our ports.  The two 9 day segments had large family/friend groups and were more of the "party" folks.  Overall we had a great time on the Rotterdam.  Looking forward to your insights and impressions.

Interesting observations! And WOW - that is a lot of cruise days under your belt. 😍 We are most definitely not in the "party folk" category, but we did observe/hear about some things you might be referring to. I'll elaborate later as I get to that part...

[MaryBethV]

12 hours ago, oakridger said:

@MaryBethV I will be checking back to read more as you are able to post!  I have family and friends in your age range so will be interested to get your impressions.

 

Thanks in advance for the report!

 

~Nancy

 

5 hours ago, horseymike said:

Very much looking forward to your review !

 

3 hours ago, RK-NC said:

Welcome home! Looking forward to following along. We are novice cruisers booked on Celebrity Beyond in April and Cunard QM2 in Aug/Sept and just started considering HAL Rotterdam for March 2025 yesterday. Thanks in advance for sharing!

Thank you for following along! I hope the information to come will be helpful.

[horseymike]

Thanks Marybeth,

We are actually boarding her on March 8 .ABC islands, however B was canceled.

Still very much looking forward to it.🚢😎

[MaryBethV]

1 hour ago, wdw1972 said:

Looking forward to your review - the more details, the better! I'll be boarding 3/8/24 for the same itinerary, other than you having an overnight in Aruba (I think) and we have the overnight in Curacao.  I'd love to see the daily events if you can post those! Currently the Navigator app has events listed, including an NFL playoff game that was played in January - so the credibility of the app at this point is near zero 😉

 

Sue/WDW1972

Yes, sadly the app is NOT accurate until you are on the ship's WIFI. I will be posting all the daily papers for you though - I hope those help!

 

Our cruise ended up with an overnight in Curacao and Aruba... though neither one really qualified as that in my opinion. For Curacao, the ship departed at 6:00 am - unless you wanted to stay out all night and stagger back by 5:30 am 😬 the overnight wasn't beneficial. And in Aruba - we originally were scheduled to dock at 5:00 pm on the 20th, but due to port congestion, we docked after 9:00 pm with permission to go ashore given a little after 10:00 pm. I didn't see anyone rushing off the ship to hit the town. 😉 I did hear a comment from a fellow cruiser that they were looking forward to sleeping without the ship rocking. Personally, I like being rocked to sleep... but obviously, not everyone feels the same.

[MaryBethV]

1 hour ago, POA1 said:

Looking forward to your full report.

 

This may seem like a random comment, but you did an excellent job with your room photos at the hotel. 😃

Thank you for following along. I absolutely LOVED your live-from recently!!! And thank you for the compliment on the room photos. I tend to take photos of everything... from multiple angles. 😂 I think I have roughly 1500 images and video clips to sort through from this trip. 

[MaryBethV]

12 minutes ago, horseymike said:

Thanks Marybeth,

We are actually boarding her on March 8 .ABC islands, however B was canceled.

Still very much looking forward to it.🚢😎

Bonaire was canceled after we booked as well - but we still thoroughly enjoyed Curacao and Aruba! I hope you have an amazing cruise!

[TinaLee]

We’re sailing the “baby” cruise of 6 days in April before she crosses, and we haven’t sailed HAL since about 2005(?), so very interested in your review. We are breaking our own “no short sailings” rule on this one! 🙂 

[MaryBethV]

1 hour ago, swin26 said:

Can’t wait to read more.  We spend a few weeks each fall in Northern Michigan.  We love sleeping bear dunes and Glen Arbor. 

That is a lovely area of Michigan! We now live in the Grand Rapids area, but I grew up a little bit NE of Glen Arbor on Grand Traverse Bay. Thus my love of water views! 

[wdw1972]

1 hour ago, MaryBethV said:

Yes, sadly the app is NOT accurate until you are on the ship's WIFI. I will be posting all the daily papers for you though - I hope those help!

 

Our cruise ended up with an overnight in Curacao and Aruba... though neither one really qualified as that in my opinion. For Curacao, the ship departed at 6:00 am - unless you wanted to stay out all night and stagger back by 5:30 am 😬 the overnight wasn't beneficial. And in Aruba - we originally were scheduled to dock at 5:00 pm on the 20th, but due to port congestion, we docked after 9:00 pm with permission to go ashore given a little after 10:00 pm. I didn't see anyone rushing off the ship to hit the town. 😉 I did hear a comment from a fellow cruiser that they were looking forward to sleeping without the ship rocking. Personally, I like being rocked to sleep... but obviously, not everyone feels the same.

That's a shame about your "overnights" - agree that's nothing great.  In our case we arrive Curacao at noon and depart at 11pm the following day, so 2 full evenings to enjoy the town! We're doing sunset happy hour at a local eatery the first night, and the cocktails with a view excursion the second night - should be fun! Aruba for us is the normal 8-5 day. That's assuming nothing crazy like weather or medical evacuations interfere 😉 Count me in with the crowd that enjoys the ship rocking.  If I want to be still I can stay home or stay at a resort on land.

 

Sue/WDW1972

[Ineke]

I’m really enjoying your posts! Love the pictures, makes me a bit ‘homesick’ for a DAM ship. But not for long, boarding Apr. 6 for a Panama Canal cruise to San Diego. Keep up the good work!

[MaryBethV]

Embarkation day cont...

 

The Daily - 

 

 

Next, we headed to lunch in the Main Dining Room (MDR)... it is an impressive space! 

 

 

 

 

My in-laws and DH are Dutch (my MIL and FIL were born in the Netherlands). I mean... I was blessed to travel with my favorite Dutch people on a Dutch ship to Dutch islands... what could be better? We all enjoyed the Dutch Delft Blue plates on this cruise. They even included one with room service orders. Always a lovely touch of elegance!

 

 

Here is the lunch menu - which was the same for each sea day lunch. Today we had Ricky and Budayasa for our servers - they made a very good first impression!

 

For a starter, I had the Calamari Fritti. It was served piping hot and the calamari was tender. It came with three dipping sauces: marinara, chipotle tartar sauce (my favorite of the 3), and Dijon aioli. I also made good use of the lime wedge - YUM.

 

My DH and MIL both ordered the Pannenkoek (a pancake with bacon and apple cooked into it). When ordering, MIL asked our server how large the pancake was. He replied "Oh, small ma'am" gesturing with his hands... when it was delivered and was the size of a dinner plate my MIL joked with him that he had lied to her. He replied, "If I said it was big, you wouldn't order it and it is good." 😂 Love him! Well, it WAS good (I snuck a bit of DH's) and I think we all need a server looking out for us like that!

 

For my main entree, I ordered the Cobb Salad with Salmon. It was delicious - beautiful sear on the salmon and not overcooked/dry at all. I could have happily eaten this for lunch every day if there weren't so many other options!

 

DH and MIL both ordered the classic Club Sandwich. It had a generous portion of meat and tomato and they both loved it. It was far from the last club sandwich ordered during our cruise.

 

FIL had the Signature Burger - he said it was very good!

 

Dessert! FIL enjoyed the Sundae.

 

DH ordered the Cheese Cake. He loves cheesecake and it is always compared to a NY Cheesecake (which Princess did perfectly). This one was just OK. It was a little more creamy/whipped than the NY-style and had a barely-there/flavorless crust instead of a graham cracker crust. Not his favorite, but not terrible by any stretch of the imagination.

 

I had the Double Chocolate Tart. It was delicious, but extremely rich... almost like a wedge of pure chocolate ganache. After I enjoyed a couple of bites, I passed it around for others to try.

 

After lunch, we all checked in at our muster station, and then FIL/MIL went back to their room to unpack while DH and I made our way to the Explorations Cafe (Deck 12 forward)

 

Had to grab a quick peek into the Retreat Cabana area... (I think if DH and I ever sail HAL with just the two of us - this is something I would seriously consider. We aren't into the towel-chair-saving game, and having guaranteed loungers in the shade & sun would be nice.)

 

 

Explorations Cafe/Crow's Nest: What a great area with a forward view - and it is available to everyone! We loved that. (On NCL this is a suite/Haven area, on Princess it is the Sanctuary area which must be reserved much like the Retreat Cabanas on HAL.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After exploring, we sat by the window and ordered a couple of drinks. A Cosmo for me, please!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up: We meet up with MrC and MrsC! 😃 Then... Sail Away followed by dinner & a show!

 

 

 

Edited February 28 by MaryBethV

[lauriek]

Thank you for the wonderful report!  We join the ship on Mar 8 and are also from Michigan, Suttons Bay.  We have sailed 6 times on the Konigsdam but this is our first on the Rotterdam.

Laurie & Michael

 

[Mr. Boston]

I’m loving your review so far. We were on the same cruise and your photos of the Retreat featured ours, #3. It totally made our cruise.  When we first booked in October, they were all sold out.  I called every three weeks or so until finally #3 became available.  I think I would have hated this cruise if I had to outsmart the chair hogs every day.  By the way, I’m originally from Northern Michigan.  

[Anastas617]

I was on the cruise before you and I can't say enough about how much I loved being on Rotterdam. I'm hoping to be back on it in August if things line up right.

 

I laughed at your comment on the hangers. I swear I had twice the amount showing in your photo. As a solo traveler the amount of storage was more than I would need on a World Cruise if I never sent out laundry!

 

I am kicking myself that I didn't explore enough and find that Crow's Nest/Explorations Cafe. Would have been a great afternoon spot to get some reading done while having a few drinks. Now I know for next time.

 

Looking forward to the rest of your report on my new favorite ship.

[Caribbean Chris]

Thanks for posting about the Crow’s Nest being available to all. A forward lounge view has always been a happy place for me.

 

I did not realize it was not open to all on the NCL & Princess ships you experienced.