An Astounding Flagship!
Rotterdam Cruise Review to Panama Canal, Central America
Contributor Level:
Second Mate
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 3
Helpful Votes: 28
Review summary
A fantastic delayed (by 6 months) honeymoon! It exceeded my expectations after 23 HAL cruises, and wowed my bride (first time on a Dam ship)! In fact, she said it was “the cruise of a lifetime!” She will likely feel the same way about our next 2 HAL cruises(booked on board), and this will be the first of many “lifetime cruises!”Embarkation
Very organized and speedy
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The food was uniformly wonderful, whether in Club Orange, Main Dining Room, Pinnacle Grill, Tamarind, Rudi’s Sel de Mer, Lido Market, Dutch Cafe, Dive in, or NY Deli and Pizza!
Onboard Activities
Hydrotherapy pool and relaxation room in Spa, with a 12 day pass, was wonderful - included sauna and steam rooms, as well.
Entertainment
The two production shows were fantastic, as was the steel drum band performance. The EXC presentations on the Panama Canal and 150th anniversary of HAL’s founding were both educational and entertaining!
Service and Staff
Enough cannot be said about our servers in every dining venue, our room stewards, our bartenders and servers (fave was Half Moon Bar), our room stewards, and guest service personnel (especially Ruben)! Every HAL staff member had a beautiful smile on their face, and always greeted us when wewalking about the ship!
Ship Quality
The layout is very similar to the less new (some no longer in service, so I am dating myself!) “dam ships” that we’ve experienced, so we were very comfortable with the layout. The common areas were spotless and in excellent condition. The restrooms, including men’s room, had beautiful orchid plants (yes, live). Gorgeous floral arrangements abounding outside common venues, and bud vases with fresh flowers on every indoor dining venue.
Cabin / Stateroom
Our aft-facing Vista Suite was spacious - more than enough for a 12 day cruise. The decor was elegant, and the queen-size bed seemed larger than expected (we are used to a king-size at home) and was very comfortable. The room was spotless and we had two services a day by our room steward and his assistant.
Ports of call
Met friends in the Old Town. Great empanadas for lunch, and enjoyed the history and local flair.
Thumbs Up
0
Panama Canal (Cruise Into Canal)
The entering and departing the locks to enter Gatun Lake was a spectacular experience! Our aft-facing VS gave us a bird’s eye view of raising, and then lowering and lock operations. Rotterdam is neo-Panamax, so we had to use the new locks, so no “mules” (small diesel locomotives that kept ships in place in the old locks)! We were supposed to cruise Gatun Lake and disembark for a ferry excursion through the Pacific locks and back, but political unrest in Panama resulted in cancellation of tours and port call in Colon. The Canal Authority curtailed our Gatun Lake experience to entry, turn around, and exit due to traffic. The ship had no recourse, but the lock(s) experience was worth it!
Disembarkation
Positively seamless! The ship offered a baggage direct service for $25 per person: we received boarding passes for our flights (we had a connection), and luggage tags to put on our bags that were placed outside our stateroom by midnight. We didn’t see the bags until we got to our home airport at 6 PM the next day! We disembarked immediately following those who carried their bags. We arrived, by cab, at FLL Airport in 45 minutes - best disembarkation ever!
Traveler Photos
