Rotterdam

[crazy canuck]

Has anyone been on the Rotterdam since the panama cruise in Dec? Would love to hear if they have fixed all the problems they had on the first cruise after drydock. Thanks Harry

[kakalina]

Here is a recent thread regarding the Rotterdam
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1139254

[PCruzer]

Has anyone been on the Rotterdam since the panama cruise in Dec? Would love to hear if they have fixed all the problems they had on the first cruise after drydock. Thanks Harry
We were on the Rotterdam 33-day Hawaii/French Polynesia cruise, disembarking on Feb. 6th. As far as after-drydock problems, they certainly were still there! There were a tremendous number of people having AC problems in their cabins. We were among them. Our cabin on Dolphin deck was fine for the first 3 days. After that, it got extremely warm in the room. So warm that during the day it was unusable. We made calls to the Front Desk and were told that it would be fixed by that night. Of course, it was not. We finally spoke to someone in Guest Relations. They had a technician come into our room over several days taking the temperature, which at night was 78 degrees. Much too warm for us. They did provide us with a fan, which helped somewhat. Guest Relations finally told us that the temperature was not going to get any better in our cabin. They said that people were going to be getting off in Tahiti and another room might become available that they could move us to. We went 19 days without AC. After that we were moved to a different room and at the end of the cruise were given some monetary compensation. Other people had even more problems with their cabins. From what we heard, some people had floods in their rooms, especially those new cabins under the Retreat area. We also saw rooms on Dolphin deck in the process of being dried out. We heard there were burst pipes that flooded those cabins. We spoke to numerous people who had no hot water in their cabins. One man we spoke to had problems with his shower. It would go from freezing cold to scalding hot and back again. It seemed that there were so many problems for a ship that just came out of drydock!

This was the longest cruise we have ever been on. Previously, the longest had been a 14-day Panama Canal cruise. With this in mind, we embarked this 33-day cruise with certain expectations that turned out to be unrealistic. You see, for us, this was a very special, out-of-the-ordinary, trip. But for most of the other passengers, this was their usual length trip - maybe for some it was actually considered short. Anyway, we came on this cruise thinking that there would be more activities available than a shorter cruise, not less activities. Any scheduled shipboard activities were simply recycled and repeated during the entire 33 days. Same exact things over and over again.

As far as the "enhancements" made to the ship after drydock - I still can't see the purpose of "The Retreat." I think that taking out the aft pool was a big mistake. On any given day, there were no passengers sitting on the lounge chairs in the "wading pool." First of all, the loungers look very uncomfortable. Second - there is only about 2" of water in this "pool," so if you are sitting on one of the loungers, your body is not touching any water. Third - with only 2" of water in the "pool," you feel kind of silly sitting down in it. Fourth - since this "wading pool" takes up more space than the aft pool did, the lounge chairs on the deck surrounding it are really crammed in. There is barely room to walk around, and getting to a lounge chair is a real challenge! Fifth - The large screen TV is an annoyance. I don't want to watch or hear a concert, a movie, a documentary, or anything else out there during the day. In my opinion, they took a perfect area for reading, taking a dip in a quiet pool, and catching some sun and ruined it.

Reserved Seating for Lanai Cabins - I really didn't think this would be such a big deal, but after seeing it for myself, I found that it was. The public deck chairs on the wrap-around teak deck (lower promenade deck, I believe) are now placed at either end of the ship. If you sit in these chairs, you look at a white steel wall. This is because the area of that deck where you can look out and see the ocean is now the reserved seating for the Lanai cabins. I have to say that sitting there looking at a steel wall made me feel like a 2nd class citizen.

Not everything on this trip was a negative. I have to say that for all the problems going on, the attitude of the ship's staff helped to make up for it. I have never encountered a dining room/Lido staff who so consistently bent over backwards to please their passengers as much as on this cruise. The staff was so pleasant that they seemed like old friends by the end of the cruise. The food in the dining room was some of the best we have had on a HAL cruise. Also, the entertainment onboard was excellent.

Will we cruise on the Rotterdam again. No, definitely not. Nor will we cruise on the Veendam - or any other HAL ship, present or future, that does not have an aft pool. We really missed having that pool. We don't like the Lido pool. It's too confining and sometimes too warm in there. For us, we found that not having the aft pool was a huge deal. In the future, no aft pool is a dealbreaker for us.

[Ya Ya Cruiser]

Thanks for posting your thoughts PCruzer - very much appreciated. Just had a question for you - is the Lido pool covered or is it open air - I too am disappointed there won't be an aft pool - we are sailing on the next FP itinerary departing march 7 and like you - for us this is a big deal - our longest cruise to date and a bucket list destination. We are pool people and I would hope that with the aft pool gone, the Lido would at least be open to sunshine - if it's closed it becomes too hot and muggy around the pool.

Also, if you have any info on the status of the deck 6 aft cabins vis a vis leaks etc., it would be very much appreciated.

Regards,
yaya

[PCruzer]

Thanks for posting your thoughts PCruzer - very much appreciated. Just had a question for you - is the Lido pool covered or is it open air - I too am disappointed there won't be an aft pool - we are sailing on the next FP itinerary departing march 7 and like you - for us this is a big deal - our longest cruise to date and a bucket list destination. We are pool people and I would hope that with the aft pool gone, the Lido would at least be open to sunshine - if it's closed it becomes too hot and muggy around the pool.

Also, if you have any info on the status of the deck 6 aft cabins vis a vis leaks etc., it would be very much appreciated.

Regards,
yaya
There were days that the Lido pool magrodome was open all the way but also days that I remember it was only open a little bit. We did use the Lido pool a few times, but certainly not as much as we would have used the aft pool. We also found that there are only a limited number of chairs in the Lido pool area that have sun because of the deck above encircling it. I know I sound like I'm whining, but I really do miss that aft pool!

I'm sorry, but I don't have any more info on the aft cabins under the Retreat. I don't know if they all were affected by the flooding or if only some were affected. I do know that one woman said she got out of bed one morning and stepped into 2" of water!!

There were many problems with the ship. I hope they address them before you board the Rotterdam in March!

[Ya Ya Cruiser]

Thanks PCruzer for you quick reply! I don't think you're whining at all - I agree completely. As a matter of fact we really debated continuing with the cruise because of this issue. However, we have such a great CC Roll Call going and we do want to see the destinations so much that we continued with it - and I'm glad we did because we are looking forward to it.

Cheers,
YaYa

[Parrot57]

I was on the Eurodam in December and this ship has an aft pool. It was considered an adult only pool and was much needed and appreciated. I could not have enjoyed the Lido pool as there were just too many kids. So, I do not think you are whining.

We will be going on the Veendam in July and will get to see this retreat. I hope the Bermuda beaches make up for no adult pool.

Regarding the problems with the Rotterdam, is there a way to determine when a particular ship is going into drydock? Since HAL seems to have major drydock problems, I want to be sure not to book a ship until at least 6 months to a year after drydock.

[bulgargirl]

I'm sorry, but I don't have any more info on the aft cabins under the Retreat. I don't know if they all were affected by the flooding or if only some were affected. I do know that one woman said she got out of bed one morning and stepped into 2" of water!!

If I was on a cruise ship and woke up to step into 2" of water I would freak! I think I've seen Titanic 1 too many times!

[PathfinderEss]

Will we cruise on the Rotterdam again. No, definitely not. Nor will we cruise on the Veendam - or any other HAL ship, present or future, that does not have an aft pool. We really missed having that pool. We don't like the Lido pool. It's too confining and sometimes too warm in there. For us, we found that not having the aft pool was a huge deal. In the future, no aft pool is a dealbreaker for us.
I probably shouldn't stir the pot here, but I will anyway. After being on the Veendam some 6 months after her major retrofit, "retreat wadding pool" and all, seeing everything that was still going wrong, we canceled our 33 day cruise on the Rotterdam. I'm sorry but if I am going to take a major cruise and that would be for us, I want things to go a little soother then we found on the Veendam. I realize nothing is perfect and I expect something's will not be up to snuff, but wow, the Veendam was still having major problems with their new cabin floors, the "retreat pool", etc.. More then I would want to deal with for 33 days. I am with PCruzer, I think we will not be cruising on any of the ships with the new "retreat pool" and that is really sad as those ships were some of our favorites.

[jjb415]

Thanks PCruzer for your report. I appreciate your posting the information on the Rotterdam. :)