Overall I was pleased with the whole trip.

Rotterdam Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 19

Overall rating:

4.1 out of 5
Verified Review
Rotterdam

12 Night Eastern Caribbean Wayfarer (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 17, 2024

Ship: Rotterdam

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 6109

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 7 months ago

Review summary

Over all I enjoyed my cruise on Rotterdam . And I did rebook the same ship for next March 2o25 on deck 6 again. I just love and enjoy the views .

Embarkation

5 out of 5
The embarkment was easy, and we got on easily .

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5
Main dining room was nice . We used lido , Dutch cafe and dive in mostly. I would make note about servers in lido that they need to have more training for handling coffee cups, glasses to prevent them touching top . They bus dirty plates glasses then move to next table and hand people their clean cups, glasses w dirty hands . We watched this many times . The purel dispensers often went empty too

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5
Pools and seating were good in my opinion. They do need to enforce the chair hoggers that are not present . Attendants need to use chair stickers maybe on towels . We heard from other cruisers that the pool attendants refused to remove towels and such off lounges that had been not used for 2 hrs

Entertainment

3 out of 5
BB kings good, the island magic group were really good , I enjoyed the guitar player too. I was not overly impressed with the comedians . Maybe a singer that impersonates older time singers would be nice

Children's Programs

I don’t have children that age

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Our two room stewards Gus and Aries on deck 6 were wonderful , I was impressed with how clean our room was , they remembered our names and always smiled and said good day . They were happy to please and help with anything that I might need help with . The people that work the drink service and brought us our drink were helpful and nice . Mae , she was such a dream and you could tell she loved her job. The lido waiters were for the most part all very happy and pleasant considering how busy they are . I think only one waitress in lido was a bit not social and not smiling much like she had a concern on her mind . I tried to always be pleasant . Guest services were nice . The cruise director was very pleasant . The waiters inthes dutch cafe I thought did a great job . The workers that served the food in the lido did a good job. Some were so so pleasant too. My one concern to address is in the lido seating area . I watched staffbus tables of dirty dishes, flat ware and glasses ,and then drop them off in tubs then turn and grab the beverage pitchers with dirty hands and go to tables w passengers freshly seated , grab glasses and pour . Then turn and retrieve filled coffee cups and lift them from the top of the cup w dirty hands and lower in front of people . A flaw in sanitary etiquette which meals they are transferring potential noro / covid / or flu viruses to healthy people . This grosses myself out and I know of other cruisers on the ship made note of this same concern . One couple in particular emailed me today to inform me the wife is ill with Covid . I did often wipe my table in lido and the outside pool table area w chlorox wipes just to do the extra effort myself . I think extra training of waitress staff is a good suggestion to prevent this problem . A disinfectant dipping hand tub at the bussing station or special hand wipes for them to clean thier hands better . I would love to hear your thoughts on this

Ship Quality

1 out of 5
I loved the overall look of the ship , its design and color themes . The balcony was nicely painted and chairs comfortable . The thought the seating you have around the ship common areas were comfortable . I would like to see maybe more small back pillows for comfort of backs . I’m short and the deeper seats are not suitable for me to seat in due to my lower back. I think there might be more need to monitor the purel gel dispensers more as many were empty. The glass on our balcony’s were pretty clean too. Bathrooms were always beet and tidy .

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
The cabin ver was a bit smaller I think than the nueiw statendam . But as a positive I think very well laid out . You had so much closet storage loved it for hanging clothes. Plenty of drawers this time . We loved the desk and the big mirror . And the chair at the desk was so appreciated for back support and putting on shoes . The couch was very comfortable and I adored the 4 decorpillows . My bed was a nice size and easy to walk around how ever the mattress was lacking in comfort in the middle because the joiner was not very adequate making it leval. But we made due . I loved your showers and the setup in the sink area is adequate too . I also was so thrilled about the free on demand tv . A+

Ship tip

Please be mindful and wash hands often and use common sense and use the purely fell dispensers before and after meals . To many people came home with norovirus and Covid still. Hygiene is important

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida Did not visit port

We stayed at hotel in town prior to the cruise and avoided crowds as we wanted to stay healthy

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

4 out of 5
No excursion but we did rent a clam shell Ate at the lunch buffet . Clam shells need to be leveled some where they are set up as it is difficult to sit in the lounges at the incline angles . Pretty island and sand

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
We did well with the disembarkment
Was this review helpful? 19

8 Comments

HeavySeas     7 months ago

Thanks for sharing and glad you enjoyed your cruise

karlgrgurich     7 months ago

Sounds like a nice cruise!

javawoody     7 months ago

Appreciate the write up

ZATHROS     7 months ago

Good ship tip. Better safe than sorry. Thanks for sharing.

Lounray     7 months ago

Thanks for sharing

Gwbigdog     7 months ago

Thanks for sharing

cruising2004     7 months ago

Thank you for your detailed review. Glad you had a great time!

Ladyjunecliff     7 months ago

Thanks for your detailed review. Totally agree about the methods in Lido servers needing improvement. Definitely let HAL know when they send your survey as this does not reach them. I got Norovirus on Rotterdam in February. Glad you enjoyed the cruise. The crew is otherwise wonderful!

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