The Mother of all cruises
Rotterdam Cruise Review to Europe - Northern Europe
Contributor Level:
Third Mate
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 3
Helpful Votes: 56
Review summary
Overall, It will be hard to top this cruise! Everything was truly unforgettable and awesome, except for losing Lincoln Center Stage. I'm still heartbroken about that. They will have to rename many of their decks!! Remove the names of classical composers like they removed their music!! Oooops, sorry, that's a real sore spot. I highly recommend this cruise though.Embarkation
Very quick, easy and smooth.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The food was actually better than expected. There was the usual language difficulties between guests and servers but the staff was great.
Onboard Activities
I did coloring for adults twice but that's about it. It was ok. My wife did a number of other things that she enjoyed.
Entertainment
The only entertainment that I enjoy on Holland America cruises is the Lincohn Center Stage performances. Unfortunately. They are discontinuing that and transitioning to classical stage shows. Therefore, I will only be able to enjoy my favorite entertainment 1-2 times per cruise instead of every day! This will definitely affect my continuing with Holland America! Now, they are like every other cruise line to me so why should I choose them?
Children's Programs
No kids.
Service and Staff
Most all of the staff we encountered were great! We really appreciate the caliber of staff they employ. We 'adopted' several of our servers and always brought all of them chocolate to thank them for their service. Our room stewards were great! We asked if they did the towel animals and we had a new one on our bed every night.
Ship Quality
It's a newer ship so everything was very good. Staff was constantly cleaning and sanitizing so we felt good about that.
Cabin / Stateroom
Ours was an accessible cabin so it was bigger with grab bars all around the bathroom. The room was bigger and the balcony was a bit longer than regular ones. We loved it. The only problem was we must have been directly above a main drain or something because when they sanitized the whole ship once we got this horrible, caustic smell coming from our bathroom drains! It burned my eyes and throat and we had to leave. They corrected it but we still smelled it several times during the cruise.
Ship tip
I would highly recommend staying at the Movenpick hotel before or after your cruise. It is about 100 feet from the hotel to the ship terminal! I couldn't believe how convenient it was.
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
Disembarkation
Very quick, easy and smooth.