What a pleasant surprise

Rotterdam Cruise Review

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 9
Helpful Votes: 273

Overall rating:

4.9 out of 5
Rotterdam

7 Night Viking Sagas (Amsterdam Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 19, 2023

Ship: Rotterdam

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 8084

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

Our first cruise with HAL exceeded all our expectations, will definitely cruise with them again!!

Embarkation

5 out of 5
Smooth and quick, on the ship within 20 Minutes

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
Food was very tasty and of high quality with a nice presentation Lots of choices available Chefs were willing to go above and beyond for our daughters needs, since she has celiac disease and requires safely prepared gluten-free food

Lido Market

5 out of 5

Ask for Chef Ding if you have a food allergy, he took extra special care of our daughters needs and always prepared extremely tasty gluten free meals for herBest buffet food we have ever had on a cruise

Dive-In

5 out of 5

Super tasty, very convenient with mobile ordering, everything is completely customizable

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5
Pool was nice, there were a lot of towels around, so no need to run around looking for them, the towels were also really big, which we enjoyed Had a blast playing cornhole and shuffleboard

Entertainment

4 out of 5

B.B. King's Blues Club

5 out of 5

Excellent singers and musicians

Billboard Onboard

2 out of 5

Was not entertaining, other people also didn’t seem to enjoy this showCompared to similar concepts on other cruise lines, this was just not that good

World Stage Theater

5 out of 5

Outstanding show of the Step One Dance Company, really talented dancersWe also really enjoyed the different EXC talks offered throughout the cruise

Rolling Stone Rock Room

5 out of 5

Exceptional singers and musicians, fully packed room every time

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Everyone was really friendly, nice and helpful, except for two people (looking at you MDR receptionists!) Big shout out to our cabin stewards Ali and Bagus

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
Easy to navigate Beautiful artwork all around the ship Very clean everywhere

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Well thought out design Extremely clean Enough room for three people and lots of storage space Very well maintained

Ship tip

Don’t be discouraged by other people saying that this cruise is only for old people, it can be fun for all ages

Ports of call

Kristiansand, Norway

5 out of 5
Nice, quieter city With beautiful views

Flaam, Norway

5 out of 5
Went kajaking with Njord Sea Kayaking Booked directly with them, not trough the cruise line, for a third of the price We really enjoyed this tour Our guide Connor was really awesome and funny

Cruise Oslofjord

5 out of 5

Oslo, Norway

5 out of 5
Very nice and clean city Toured the city on our own, very easy to navigate Lots to do

Cruise Sognefjord

5 out of 5

Amsterdam, Netherlands

4 out of 5
Embarkation and Disembarkation only

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Also very smooth, off the ship in 15 minutes Very sad, that we had to leave
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9 Comments

Ladyjunecliff    1 year ago

Thanks for your review. We will be sailing on this ship for Panama Canal soon. Can’t wait. Glad you had a great time!

Buskat    1 year ago

Loved the Rotterdam., will cruise with her again April 13 on a trans Atlantic trip. Your itinerary sounds wonderful.

AuntPinkie    1 year ago

Nice itinerary. Appreciate your detailed feedback. Glad you enjoyed your first HAL cruise.

bubbles60    1 year ago

Wonderful itinerary. Glad you had a great time.

UglyShirtGuy    1 year ago

Thanks for the review! I, myself, will be taking my first HAL cruise on Rotterdam in a couple months, so your insights are of particular value to me. Glad you had a great time!

javawoody    1 year ago

Thanks for the review

RetiredRay    1 year ago

cruising2004    1 year ago

Great itinerary and review! Glad you had a wonderful cruise. Thank you for sharing your experience.

Mary0334    1 year ago

Amazing review ! Thank you.