Black Sea cruise

Item: Rotterdam Retired
Rating: 4.4
Author: DianeH8

Rotterdam Retired Cruise Review to Europe - Eastern Mediterranean

DianeH8

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 33

Overall rating:

4.4 out of 5

Verified Review

12 Night Black Sea & Egypt & Holy Lands (Athens Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 02, 2008

Ship: Rotterdam Retired

Cabin type: Oceanview

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 14 years ago

Review summary

The ship is clean and classic. Decorated beautifully and very pleasant public spaces everywhere. Just the right size (1600, plus or minus passengers mostly Americans and Canadians with a sprinkling of Europeans of all nationalities). Staff is graceful, friendly but not obtrusive, and overall management seemed excellent.

Ports of call

Alexandria (Cairo), Egypt

5 out of 5

See Haifa. Pyramids, Sphinx, and more Pyramids. Camels and dirt. Traffic, traffic, traffic! The three hour plus bus ride (each way!) gives you no time to catch up on sleep as the sights and sounds going on outside the bus are definitely one of the "must see's".

Thumbs Up 0

Limassol, Cyprus

5 out of 5

We visited the city of Pafos and saw the tombs of the kings site. I loved Cyprus and would like to come back for a week or so sometime in the future.

Thumbs Up 1

Constanta, Romania

3 out of 5

A little depressing as there is not much sign that Constanta is seeing any benefit from joining the EU. I noticed a huge contrast between this city and the two above.

Thumbs Up 0

Don't Miss: Have a sandwich from a street or sidewalk vendor (kebob) if you dare. It makes one wonder why on earth anyone would patronize the ever-present McDonalds

Haifa, Israel

3 out of 5

My first and prehaps only visit to Israel so I did the "must" visits to Jerusalem and Bethleham. A long, hot, hard and tiring day....but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. If you don't visit it, be sure to look back at the lighted Bahai Palace and Gardens as your ship sails out of the Haifa port.

Thumbs Up 1

Varna, Bulgaria

5 out of 5

Gorgeous to walk about, visit all the grand buildings listed in your tour booklet, take a break in a smaller cafe, if you like have lunch...there were a number of restaurants and cafes that had excellent menus....the food was very good.

Thumbs Up 0

Don't Miss: Notice the dress and style of the locals....Very cosmopolitan

Odessa, Ukraine

5 out of 5

The steps and the promanade at the top makes for a delightful introduction to Odessa. The architecture is outstanding throughout the main streets with important buildings, but also in the side streets and houses and apartment buildings. Don't forget to look up.

Thumbs Up 0

Istanbul, Turkey

5 out of 5

Do the important sights if visiting for the first time, otherwise just take a stroll through a neighborhood, explore the waterfront, shop a bit in both bazaars and shops and enjoy Turkish life.

Thumbs Up 0

Don't Miss: I especially enjoyed visiting the smaller Egyptian Bazaar (also called Spice Market)

Pros: Itinerary!

Cons: Hard work to tour three full days in a row (but worth it!)

Recommends Rotterdam Retired? Yes!

2 Comments

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

glomarrone 7 years ago

I, too, enjoyed my visit to Haifa on my last cruise with HAL.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag