Seeking Rotterdam Info

We are booked for a 21 day cruise in February aboard the Rotterdam, but have never been on this particular ship before. Since we don't see many posts about this ship, how about some opinions from past passengers? What can we expect in regard to balcony rooms, meals and entertainment and staff?

We are booked for a 21 day cruise in February aboard the Rotterdam, but have never been on this particular ship before. Since we don't see many posts about this ship, how about some opinions from past passengers? What can we expect in regard to balcony rooms, meals and entertainment and staff?

It has been 6 years since we have been on the Rotterdam but I think you will find it to be as good as the Prinsendam just more people. At one time (not sure it still is) it was the "Flagship" of Holland America. The only down side for us is that it does not have the sea view pool on the aft deck (just the wading pool).:( We have a roll call started for this cruise so please come on over and join in. We have a group of 8 friends traveling with us so looking forward to a great time.:D

We love this ship. Enjoyed the 12day Baltic cruise onboard, and hope to have another Panama Canal cruise this January, on this vessel. All HAL ships are blessed with a remarkable crew, and so far I have cruised on the Volendam ( Alaska), Eurodam, (Caribbean and New England,/Canada), Statendam (Alaska/Alaska/Yukon land tour). I enjoy any, and all of these ships, but so far my personal favourite is the Rotterdam.

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If you're on the Feb 12/17 cruise, here is a link to the roll call: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2254829

I hope you will join us.

I'll be on her in 3 weeks. Let me know if there is something specific you are interested in knowing and I'll see what I can do.

It has been 6 years since we have been on the Rotterdam but I think you will find it to be as good as the Prinsendam just more people. At one time (not sure it still is) it was the "Flagship" of Holland America. The only down side for us is that it does not have the sea view pool on the aft deck (just the wading pool).:( We have a roll call started for this cruise so please come on over and join in. We have a group of 8 friends traveling with us so looking forward to a great time.:D

Rotterdam and Amsterdam are still the flagships of the fleet.

Rotterdam, since sailing out of Rotterdam for its homeport, sometimes has a different atmosphere than all of the other ships, because of its larg(er) amount of Dutch guests on board.

Dutch guests are also not so much present on this forum.

We were on the Rotterdam from April 23-May14 of this year. This was our 2nd time sailing on her. The ship is beautiful and well maintained, and the staff, wonderful! We were in Verandah Suite # 6213 and for the first time ever the stateroom was perfect: The toilet flushed, the A/C was cold and the water was hot!:) Great stewards, Kadek and Taufik.

Captain Mateboer is the master, and has been for awhile. He is very personable (and an author) and we sailed with him on the Noordam.

We had open seating, and kept the same table the whole cruise. The dining staff seemed very upbeat and service was very good. We enjoyed a dinner at the Pinnacle Grill and but did not dine in the Canaletto this time. The showroom was comfortable.

The only sad part about the Rotterdam is what they did to the stern of the ship with the "Retreat."for our cruise, the water area was empty and it was an eyesore IMO.

You will enjoy the Rotterdam!

Karen

If you're on the Feb 12/17 cruise, here is a link to the roll call: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2254829

 

 

 

I hope you will join us.

Actually, planning on January 13/17. Many thanks for,the invite, tho!

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Thanks so much to everyone for the updates on the Rotterdam. My DH and I have been on the Noordam, Maasdam, Veendam and Prinsendam; but each ship has attractions of her own, and the Rotterdam seems to fit our needs very well!

Does anyone remember the fixed seating dining room times on the Rotterdam?

Hubby & I will be on the Rotterdam for a Canada/New England cruise departing Montreal on 1 October, it is part of a land tour prior to cruise. Have never sailed with HAL before, but chose this ship due to the size(Princess were too big) Could also have gone on the Veendam, but what reviews I could find, the Rotterdam came out better. Haven't had any response to my rollcall, was hoping others may have liked to join in some private tours. Will be interested to see any comments from sammygoose on their return.

well it is 2 weeks tomorrow that we leave to make our way to Rotterdam. It seems like we have been planning this cruise FOREVER and I am actually starting to believe it is going to happen!

I'm not going to have internet access because I love being disconnected but I will happily do a review when we get back.

I have sailed on the Eurodam (3) the NA (1) the Westerdam (1) and the Maasdam (1). I am looking forward to trying the Rotterdam because there were a lot of things I really liked about the Maasdam that I see the Rotterdam has like the Mix and the library/Explorations Cafe being separate from the Crow's nest.

I am also interested to see the new Lido Marketplace.

I usually take about 3000 pictures so if there is anything in particular let me know and I'll try and pay attention. This is especially true for the piano bar and other entertainment acts- I don't attend but if there is an interest I will do some recon.

Cheers.

Does anyone know what time the Lido opens for lunch? I want to book an excursion and would prefer the 12.30, but would that give me time for a bite of lunch beforehand? (other than room service)

Does anyone remember the fixed seating dining room times on the Rotterdam?

5hr45 pm and 8 pm.

Does anyone know what time the Lido opens for lunch? I want to book an excursion and would prefer the 12.30, but would that give me time for a bite of lunch beforehand? (other than room service)

Lido opens for lunch at 12 pm.

The Rotterdam is one of our favorites of this class ship - love the color and decor and the whimsy of the many "faces" one finds around the ship in paintings, tile work, sculpture.

We even liked the interior Pinnacle dining room on these class ship for our breakfasts when we had a Neptune suite (not Neptune on the Rotterdam but on her identical sister ships).. Looking forward to being back on her again on the Voyage of the Vikings next year after 52 days on her Passage to Indonesia a few years back. Very special crew on that flagship Rotterdam cruise.

Zero complaints from us about the Rotterdam. Though on our long cruise we did get a stinky cabin carpet, which they tried to clean several times which helped a little bit. Then it just became part of the background buzz, and we carried on with a very fabulous trip.

We loved the Rotterdam! She is a little jewel! She has everything the big ships do. We also sailed out of Rotterdam which was a blast and there was predominantly a ditch clientele who were lovely. Only problem they would speak to me and I could only smile and nod politely.

We loved the Rotterdam! She is a little jewel! She has everything the big ships do. We also sailed out of Rotterdam which was a blast and there was predominantly a ditch clientele who were lovely. Only problem they would speak to me and I could only smile and nod politely.

Let me translate - a Dutch clientele? I know they refer to the US as over the pond so not sure who the "ditch" people were. :cool:

Oddly I'm of the opposite to everyone else it seems when it comes to the Rotterdam ... I didn't like her and found her to be badly maintained when I sailed on her 3 years ago ... Has she been renovated since ???

Let me translate - a Dutch clientele? I know they refer to the US as over the pond so not sure who the "ditch" people were. :cool:

Thank you for the translation. I hate autocorrect! You made my day, many giggles. :D Apologies to my Dutch friends, and before you ask, :eek:no I didn't confuse the canals with ditches! ;)

Does anyone know what time the Lido opens for lunch? I want to book an excursion and would prefer the 12.30, but would that give me time for a bite of lunch beforehand? (other than room service)

11:30 for lunch (just got off ship 9 days ago).

Oddly I'm of the opposite to everyone else it seems when it comes to the Rotterdam ... I didn't like her and found her to be badly maintained when I sailed on her 3 years ago ... Has she been renovated since ???

I just got off her 9 days ago after sailing on her 18 days. She's a lovely ship. The crew were great as was the food, entertainment. No complaints from me. Oh, and I'll be on her again in 7 weeks:)

Lido opens for lunch at 12 pm.

Thanks, Jakkojakko

11:30 for lunch (just got off ship 9 days ago).

Lido opening at 11:30 for lunch has been our experience as well on the HAL ships we have cruised on.;)

In case you are interested, I have PDFs of the OnLocation dailies of my recent Norse Legends cruise on Rotterdam. You may want to take a look at them for further information. You can download them from my wordpress blog.