REVIEW, suite experience, Rotterdam, Norway/Scotland 6/8/24-6/22/24

[Catlover54]

Below is a link to my review of our recent suite experience on the Rotterdam (RT Rotterdam-Rotterdam).  We are infrequent HAL cruisers (we usually cruise so-called "luxury" lines), but had a very good time.  With the right itinerary, we will return.

Apologies for the many typos.

If anyone has questions or comments, please chime in. 

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=716670

[chill6x6]

Enjoyed reading your review!

[Catlover54]

13 minutes ago, chill6x6 said:

Enjoyed reading your review!

 

I am glad it was of use to you!  

Happy sailing, mixing and matching different lines. 

[JimDee363636]

@Catlover54

Excellent review! Thanks. 

 

You mentioned in passing (more than once, I think) that the so-called luxury lines you've sailed on have often disappointed lately. This is a constant theme on the Silversea board (which I often read, having sailed with them three times). I'm a big HAL fan, and I feel that the gap between lines like HAL and Silversea is shrinking. Yes, Silversea is a nice experience, but is it worth twice the price of HAL (or more)? I think not.

 

Jim

[Catlover54]

18 minutes ago, JimDee363636 said:

@Catlover54

Excellent review! Thanks. 

 

You mentioned in passing (more than once, I think) that the so-called luxury lines you've sailed on have often disappointed lately. This is a constant theme on the Silversea board (which I often read, having sailed with them three times). I'm a big HAL fan, and I feel that the gap between lines like HAL and Silversea is shrinking. Yes, Silversea is a nice experience, but is it worth twice the price of HAL (or more)? I think not.

 

Jim

 

To me, SS is not priced appropriately, given the product offered today.  All  in, because we mostly ate in specialty restaurants on the Rotterdam (which I think are on average better than SS MDR), we aren't that interested in free hard liquor on SS, and we do more private excursions on HAL to avoid bus crowds,  it actually costs us net *more* to sail on the Rotterdam *in a suite* than on SS in a base  accomodation (which is about a 325 -350 square foot room they call a suite, smaller than a Neptune). But given the better available  food, the better overall service (at least in a suite), and the greater variety of entertainment on HAL , HAL provides a nice alternative.

Because we mix and match lines,  DH and I are not part of the "in" crowds of loyalists on SS or Seabourn, e.g., people involved directly or indirectly in the travel industry and/or where I have seen that guests well-known to staff who tip extra on the side, or who have pushy personalities,  quietly get more service  than run of the mill customers (basically  at the expense of other guests) even though it is allegedly a "gratuities included" and "all guests are treated equally" line.

On HAL I have had way less service comedies than on SS and Seabourn ( I have many stories), at least in a HAL suite. Seabourn and SS loyalists will deny that there is favoritism independent of cruise fare paid , but I have sailed with them often enough to observe that there is.  With HAL it is more straight-forward: you  pay more, you get more, regardless of your cruise history.  That, and more available food and entertainment variety, is an appeal, as long as you can tolerate the long return tender lines (and overly long Dutch cafe lines),  and the inadequate seating in most entertainment venues with a full ship. There is less phoniness on HAL, less faux luxury (e.g., the caviar isn't "free and unlimited", but it is actually very good, unlike on recent SS and SB, and wine options are more numerous.

 

The main real luxury I see most luxury lines providing is more physical public space per guest, which is nice visually, but I am more interested in my own suite space to retreat to , because the "in" groups have a way of loudly taking over the smaller public spaces anyway on luxury lines.  Customer service pre-cruise has  deteriorated, and food/included wines/entertainment has also cheapened.

I remain very fond of luxury Hapag Lloyd food and most service, and entertainment (they offer a lot of classical music, and in appropriate venues without sound distortion), but they are appropriately more expensive per diem, and are not popular among non-German speakers.  Plus their partial ownership by Royal Caribbean has started pulling even that stellar line down a bit (and DH doesn't like sailing on a primary German line, so I only go there when I go solo).

 

It is nice to have a variety of choices and overall, though there is room for improvement on HAL in line management, I am pleased with my HAL experiences so far (only five cruises). I plan on more as long as food and service quality is maintained.

 

 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for sharing ..

[swin26]

We were on this cruise as well, and up until our experience upon debarkation, it was our favorite cruise.  We had such a good time. 
 

Two notes. In your review you talked over the hike in Portree “ There is a 2.5 mile scenic circular walk directly from town (no excursion required), but be aware that only the first half is easy, the second half is very narrow and had too many rocks and people on it to allow safe enjoyment.”   We also did this walk and I wouldn’t recommend it.  We are regular walkers and hikers and we felt the middle section was outright dangerous.  If you don’t have long legs, it is almost impossible to get up and down the uneven rock steps.  Also you spend most of your time looking down at the ground to maneuver the rocks, rather than the scenery.  
 

Our second issue was on debarkation.  Typically we carry our own luggage off, but because we had an earlyish flight out of Amsterdam, we elected to use the ships transportation and leaving our luggage out the night before.  Well- HAL lost one of our suitcases and kept telling us we were fine time wise and they would locate it.  In the end we took a $240 cab to the airport (this was in addition to the cost of HAl’s bus that we could not use).  They did find the suitcase and dropped it off at the airport for us to pick up - causing further delays.  Thankfully the United airlines rep allowed me to drop my luggage off and for my husband to print his tag before he had his suitcase.  I made it to the gate 20 minutes before boarding started and my husband made it 5 minutes before boarding started.  Also, we were told by HAL that if they find the suitcase after we leave, we would be responsible for the costs of shipping it home.  A horrible end to what was otherwise a great trip.

[SeaMatesNYC]

1 hour ago, swin26 said:

Also, we were told by HAL that if they find the suitcase after we leave, we would be responsible for the costs of shipping it home.  A horrible end to what was otherwise a great trip.

What they do not seem to realize is that the bad will they generate for you and all those who hear of your experience far outweighs the cost to make appropriate arrangements at their cost if they failed to get your luggage to you in time. Stupidity. Bred from those in charge or simply poor training?

[Catlover54]

1 hour ago, swin26 said:

We were on this cruise as well, and up until our experience upon debarkation, it was our favorite cruise.  We had such a good time. 
 

Two notes. In your review you talked over the hike in Portree “ There is a 2.5 mile scenic circular walk directly from town (no excursion required), but be aware that only the first half is easy, the second half is very narrow and had too many rocks and people on it to allow safe enjoyment.”   We also did this walk and I wouldn’t recommend it.  We are regular walkers and hikers and we felt the middle section was outright dangerous.  If you don’t have long legs, it is almost impossible to get up and down the uneven rock steps.  Also you spend most of your time looking down at the ground to maneuver the rocks, rather than the scenery.  
 

Our second issue was on debarkation.  Typically we carry our own luggage off, but because we had an earlyish flight out of Amsterdam, we elected to use the ships transportation and leaving our luggage out the night before.  Well- HAL lost one of our suitcases and kept telling us we were fine time wise and they would locate it.  In the end we took a $240 cab to the airport (this was in addition to the cost of HAl’s bus that we could not use).  They did find the suitcase and dropped it off at the airport for us to pick up - causing further delays.  Thankfully the United airlines rep allowed me to drop my luggage off and for my husband to print his tag before he had his suitcase.  I made it to the gate 20 minutes before boarding started and my husband made it 5 minutes before boarding started.  Also, we were told by HAL that if they find the suitcase after we leave, we would be responsible for the costs of shipping it home.  A horrible end to what was otherwise a great trip.

 

1. What an awful stressful end to your great trip! At a minimum, since *HAL* lost the luggage and not you, HAL should  have refunded you the cost of the bus fare, and since it was their fault, they should have agreed to pay costs of shipping the suitcase if it came to that.  

You might want to look into exploring if your travel insurance would pay for your $240 cab fare (with all the supporting paperwork and delays, of course, for the unexpected expense).

 

Since DH and I are now both retired, we have decided to do our best to if possible, avoid the blood pressure surges and stresses of same-day flights home the days of disembarkation.  The anxiety about all the things that can go wrong (and indeed does go wrong more often the last few years) is simply unhealthy. We had worked out it would made more sense for us to disembark late (up until 9:15 was allowed),  and just take a quiet private taxi  to the beautiful sound-insulated Hilton Schipol airport hotel (using points), get early check-in and an upgrade to an executive lounge floor for 45 euros, and just relax and work on sorting our photos and electronically catching up on getting back into the real world.  The hotel also has a nice spa (massages are cheaper than on HAL) and gym.

That night we had one last leisurely meal, and the next day with a lot of time to spare, we then rolled our luggage for about 15 minutes on a flat indoor surface,  to the uncrowded United check-in three hours before the flight, then hung out in the assigned lounge, and thus flew home Sunday instead of Saturday. For various reasons related to United Airlines discounted business class  'seat buckets'  I don't understand, leaving a day later also saved us about $2000, more than covering the cost of the points and the early check-in (and if luggage had been lost by HAL, would have allowed us more time to find it!).  

 

As you know, and for those reading and perhaps planning a future trip,  the airport is only 20-30 minutes or so from most of the sights in Amsterdam by train (cheap) or Uber (less cheap), and not far from scenic windmills. So if we had been more frisky, we could even have done another half-day excursion of some kind in Amsterdam (on top of the ones we did pre-cruise) after dropping our luggage at the airport Hilton .  The hotel concierge had some convenient excursions on offer, including a relaxing canal ride with Captain Jack I'd heard can be fun. But we were 'excursioned-out' so just took it easy.  

There is also a Sheraton at Schipol (five minutes less time rolling luggage to the terminal), as an alternative, though I have no experience with it.

 

2.  As for that rocky circular walk in Portree, the app "All Trails" we often use to find suitable easier hikes when traveling had rated it "easy" , presumably based on the first section , which wasn't too bad , though even there having so many people going in both directions made it trickier, otherwise I wouldn't have tried it. And yes, I had to keep staring at the rocks to avoid a fall and hip fracture.

The CD Nick had talked about that walk option in his port talk on the ship, but  I think he should have alerted people to the precariousness of the seond part.  There was a solo elderly lady who was stuck on one of the transitioning sections where she didn't have the thigh strength to step down 2-3 feet off a rock, so I gave her some support to help her get down (but I don't know how she did later). One can just do an in/out on the first part and still get a 2 mile scenic walk. And I think if people still want to do the whole thing,  they should bring their hiking sticks, to help not only themselves, but others who may be stuck (I had foolishly left my stick in our suite, not realizing that would be the day I'd need it). 

 

Here is the view of Portree with my iphone, from the beginning of the walk: