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Good cruise but boring at times

Rotterdam Cruise Review

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 3
Helpful Votes: 39

Overall rating:

3.6 out of 5
Rotterdam

10 Night Southern Caribbean Seafarer (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 25, 2023

Ship: Rotterdam

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 7121

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Beautiful ship, excellent service from staff, but boring. If you want to just relax and read- it's perfect. Food was good in Lido Market.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5
Almost none existent- they did have Explorations Central/Game Room/Cafe though that was very nice hangout area. It was like a crows nest viewing area with lounge chairs(indoor),couches, gaming room and tables with large selection of games, puzzles, cards, etc). But for activities in other areas were rare. One was called Adult Coloring! The main pool had nice curtained lounge areas.

Entertainment

2 out of 5
This ship is known for it's great music and it was! The entertainment is different though for entertainment when comparing to other cruise lines. They did not have Broadway style shows of dancing/singing. It was more educational/classical style. We went to a couple and enjoyed them but definitely for an older generation.

Service and Staff

4 out of 5
Excellent for the overall nice touches like having a cold wash cloth and lemonade at ship entry points after returning from ports. Our cabin steward left towel animals, chocolates at night, and provided ice everyday and service 2 times a day(a lot of cruise lines are trying to go to just once a day- and increase our tips). Now for our bad experience- dining room reservations. I tried for 3 days to get dining reservations and was unsuccessful. Their app is horrible and did not work like it was supposed to for that. I was on hold for 20 minutes to try to get reservations then they hung up on me before anyone answered. When we did get in one night- it took forever to have waiter take our orders, bring food, and got 3 peoples orders wrong at our table. My husband's salmon was raw and overall the food was not as good as Lido Market.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5
Beautiful ship with decorations and art but layout was too compartmentalized which made it harder to get where you wanted to go. Staff was good with cleaning. The only thing I didn't like was the piped in(seemed like) fragrance to cover up a fishy smell near stairwells. I think the elevators should have been bigger.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
This is a newer ship so everything was in great shape. Lots of storage- even big drawers under the end of each bed that still gave plenty of room for 4 pieces of luggage to fit under bed. Bed was very hard though (we always bring a mattress pad from home so we slept great).

Ship tip

If you want something different than what is presented or if you don't see it-Ask. We found that the staff in Lido Market was always trying to please us- for example I like my beef well done- they always accommodated.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Oranjestad, Aruba

5 out of 5
Love this island every time we go there! Great snorkeling and awesome Butterfly Farm. We took the public bus ($3 each) to Butterfly Farm (bus driver was very helpful letting us know our stop). It cost $16 each to get inside. This is by far the best Butterfly Conservatory that I have been in- so many iridescent colorful butterflies. If we had done this tour from cruiseline it would have cost $65 per person. We felt safe on the bus. Totally recommend!
Thumbs Up

Amber Cove (Puerto Plata), Dominican Republic

4 out of 5
People were friendly, nice shopping area, beautiful port.
Thumbs Up

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

1 out of 5
We been to this port many times and do not like how aggressive the people are to sell you something. Beautiful island- especially Dunns River falls but do not like the gauntlet you have to go thru to get in/out and at shopping port area.
Thumbs Up

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

3 out of 5
They tender people to their private area and really don't have much there when compared to RCCL. It was raining off and on so not a great port day.
Thumbs Up

Willemstad, Curacao

4 out of 5
Been here before and love the beautiful island and history.
Thumbs Up

Grand Turk Island

3 out of 5
It was beautiful.
Thumbs Up

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Nice and smooth
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5 Comments

Ladyjunecliff    1 year ago

Thanks for your review. Looking forward to cruising on HAL.
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esrescuer    1 year ago

HAL offers old-style cruising not the bells and whistles of Carnival. However, for many people, cruising is about the destinations and the ship is about relaxing. Our first HAL was on the Rotterdam transatlantic with 7 days in a row at sea. It was the first cruise that I actually came home relaxed and not overworked from doing too much. They are known for nighttime live music which was always very good. The shows are different but we enjoyed them very much. During the day they do offer educational seminars in the theater that are very good. We never had an issue in our 18 days on the ship. When it came to reservations, we did all that as soon as we got on at the reservation kiosk. We did Club Orange and the dining was top-notch there. The menu is similar to the dining room, however, the service is personalized, fast, and friendly with no reservations necessary for dinner. We loved that the Lido Market food was available all day long, always had a nice salad, sushi, and sandwiches just about every day on off hours from lunch.
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Gwbigdog    1 year ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise
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javawoody    1 year ago

Thanks for sharing
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CruzeFan    1 year ago

Holland America is not known for their entertainment or onboard activities. It offers a more traditional experience.
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