Rotterdam To Northern Europe

[aforman]

Can Anyone Tell Me the Pluses And Minus For This Trip. How the Ship And Cabins are. Which cabins Are Good And Not Good. I have not been on Holland America to day. Been on Princess, Celebrity, Carnival and Norweigen.

 

Thanks, Arlene

[mrskmirolla]

Arlene,

 

My husband and I took the Rotterdam on a 10 Med. last May 2006, we started out in Venice and ended in Rome. We absolutely loved the Rotterdam the ship the staff and the entire experience. This was our first trip to Europe so we were just beside ourselves. I had arranged our own air and did 3 days before and after, researching both Venice and Rome for hotels and transportation. This was an experience of a lifetime. You will not be disappointed in HAL or the Rotterdam!!!! We have been on several HAL cruises not as many as a lot of people on these boards but enough to say HAL is the BEST in our opinion.

 

Good luck and have a great trip and keep reading these boards as they have the best information. Go to the Roll Call boards and read what fellow passengers are saying they are the friendliest groups and the most knowlegeable!!

 

Kathy

[grannynurse]

Hi Arlene,

Welcome to the HAL board. We have been on Rotterdam VI four times and we love her. Our last time in 2004 we did a 35 day rt from NY that included the coast of Norway and North Cape. It's a great itinerary, losts of magnificent scenery, great shore tours, high currency exchange rate though (not good for the US dollar).

The Rotterdam is the sister flagship of the HAL fleet launched about 7 years ago. She's a beautiful, classy, and elegant ship.

We have always been in veranda cabins on deck 6, (6208, 6174, and 6148, all portside,) and they are great for long cruises. We had lots of space, wonderful storage space, nice sized veranda, great for 2 people. HAL's secret, however, is their service.

 

The minuses for a transatlantic are many at sea days if you don't care for 5-7 days at sea. We love them.

An in-Europe cruise is usually port-intensive, which wears me out. Other minuses, as I've mentioned are !. poor exchange rates, 2. inefficient shuttle service in most European ports, 3. lots of fog, some rain and snow, yes even in the summer. We hit a snow storm on the way to North Cape from Honningsvag. Ship minus was the poor internet service that far north. 4. the need to bring long sleeves and a winter jacket above the arctic circle.

The pluses are too numerous to mention. This was our best cruise so far and we've done 3 since on other HAL ships.

Hope this helps

Again, welcome

GN

[keydoc33149]

my wife and i sailed the rotterdam last summer - baltic cruise, when we travel without children we prefer HAL, this was our 40th cruise and we alsways seem to gravitate back to HAL. The daily mass, yum-yum, excellent service and attention to detials are part of a long list of distinguishable points of difference that make this line so enjoyable to sail with, and this summer we are taking our children who already have 35+ days at sea with other lines on thier first HAL cruise, to Alaska. My suggestion is to do you own due diligence, read the boards, and enjoy the experience.

[keydoc33149]

one way to avoid expense telephone charges is to get an I connect voice over internet protocal account, last summer we were calling from the middle of the Baltic Sea (when we had internet serve in the ship) to our childen in Honduras for about .03 cents per minute from our laptop using the wireless service on the ship. By the end of the cruise our dining companions were all calling love ones around the world from our laptop, it was a great thing to share, and the suprises on the other end of the line when they said they were calling from the middle of the baltic sea were priceless

[jcrandle]

one way to avoid expense telephone charges is to get an I connect voice over internet protocal account, last summer we were calling from the middle of the Baltic Sea (when we had internet serve in the ship) to our childen in Honduras for about .03 cents per minute from our laptop using the wireless service on the ship. By the end of the cruise our dining companions were all calling love ones around the world from our laptop, it was a great thing to share, and the suprises on the other end of the line when they said they were calling from the middle of the baltic sea were priceless

I assume your $.03 per minute doesn't include the HAL wireless internet charge of $.75 per minute (Less if you buy packages).

[dougnewmanatsea]

You might want to take a look at my review of a Baltic cruise aboard this ship last year. It's very long but hopefully it will give you an idea of whether this ship and itinerary are for you! (Assuming it is the same itinerary - most of her Northern Europe cruises are, though I think she does one or two that are different.)

 

I would recommend this ship and itinerary in a heartbeat... Of course, "your mileage may vary" but I would choose ROTTERDAM above just about any other ship in her market segment. Both the "hardware" (ship) and "software" (food, service, etc.) are top-notch IMHO.

[Navy_Chief]

My DW and I sailed in the Med in 2004 on Rotterdam for 16 days. The cruise, ship, and crew were tops. I've never gone to the Baltic on a civilian cruiser but sure have on a Navy Cruiser and I enjoyed all the ports in the baltic! Wish we had the chance to go to St. Petersburg though :( Well, the upside is to go on the Rotterdam with my DW and explore it together :D

[QQRZZA]

We sailed Rotterdam on the Norwegian Fjord cruise last June. It's a great ship, wonderful crew, heads n shoulders above the other choices on the Baltic. We had a mid-ship outside (non-balcony) cabin. It was spacious, well equipped, and a great place to call home for a couple of weeks.

[Copper10-8]

We had the pleasure of sailing with Doug and his parents on a 12-day Vikings and Czar's cruise on Rotterdam to the Baltic (Rotterdam-Copenhagen) last August and it quickly became one of our all-time favorite cruises. The Rotterdam is also our favorite HAL ship (been on her five times now and everything on her "seems to fit".) Her captain (Jan Smit), hotel manager (Hans Dernison), cruise director (Susan Wood) and rest of her crew were outstanding. The itinerary of the Baltic cruises is worth the cruise alone although (as has been mentioned) it's pretty port-intensive with long excursions so be ready for that. Having said that, the history of the different ports is very interesting and the time ashore is well spent (highlights for us were St. Petersburg, Berlin, Talinn and Stockholm). The plusses are too many to mention and totally overshadow any minusses. Yes, there was some interruption in internet service (no real big deal to us), the weather in August was great and the seas were calm. Read Doug's review if you have a chance; there's a lot of really good info in it. I highly recommend this ship and any Northern Europe itinerary!

[Scottish Cruiser]

We were on the Rotterdam last October. Venice - Venice. We were in - I think - 7014. A great Suite. Midships on port side. Deluxe suites are huge and the Neptune lounge staff fall over themselves to help. My wife says I am overly critical, but I felt there were a few things needing spruced up. The temperature restrictor on the shower was not working. The sink stopper was illfitting - they ask you to conserve water! Some knurls on the sun umbrellas were missing. They had run out of some of their wines. I did not think the dining room service was as sharp as we had experienced on the Zaandam the year before. These are all minor points and did nothing to spoil our cruise. The cabin steward was wonderful and we had a great trip. The chef, though Dutch, lives in Southern Alberta, Canada where our daughter went to university.

 

In spite of my criticisms, we had a wonderful time and would recommend it. Have a great trip.