FlyingCruiser2

1. We did use the balcony hot tub. There are 2 controls - one turns water on/off and directs it to either the spigot or the hand-wand. The other is for temperature. We found that the temperature control has a detent. It has a button on the knob to push to go past the detent and get hotter water - similar to the inside bathroom shower. The button was a bit corroded, so I had to push real hard. Once we figured that out, we were good. We also used it in Curacao, but filled it with cold water. 2. We had the normal room service menu, except the breakfast one had some additional items. On that menu were limited items from Pinnacle, Tamarind, and Dive In - all at an upcharge. Didn't ask about DR item room delivery. 3. We did not have any guests - we are pretty low-key. My understanding is that all you asked can be arranged. Likely the food is complimentary, but would have to pay for alcohol etc. 4. Had no problem with the machine - but used the one in the Neptune Lounge mostly. 5. We just showed up in the DR for the two times we did lunch there. 6. I do like the layout of the Pinnacle Suite on Eurodam and Oosterdam better - wider balcony that can fit lounger chairs. Very minor issue and not a game changer at all. Everything else was great.

Even though we’re only 1.5 hours away, we stayed at Residence Inn Ft. Lauderdale Intracoastal. You’ll want to call about parking, it’s not an advertised thing. I called after we made our hotel reservation, and asked if they had something like that. They called back later and gave me a rate that was about the same as port parking.

My bad. I did mean Lido. OVC is the Lido equivalent on another line.

Let's start with we are non-typical cruisers. We cruise less often than we could - as we work hard to save up to make each trip very special - hence our staying in the Pinnacle Suite. We are very down to earth and non-pretentious (i.e. we avoid socializing in the Neptune Lounge's "mine's bigger than yours" vibe). When choosing a cruise, our priorities are 1) Ship Size - no "Monstrosity of the Seas" type ships, 2) Cabin, 3) Itinerary, 4) Cruise Line. We love days at sea, and prefer trips that start and end with at least 1. We would label ourselves "foodies without the attitude". Right now our favorite lines are Holland and Celebrity. On Celebrity we will only go on their older smallest ships (Summit, Constellation, etc), not any of the new ones. For this cruise we were even concerned about Rotterdam's larger capacity, but it really did not seem more crowded than our previous Oosterdam or Eurodam trips. I started cruising as a kid in the 60's and 70's because my parents owned a Travel Agency. One thing that always stuck with me was a sign in my Dad's agency that said "If you can afford to go First Class and don't, your heirs will - Make your trip Special". My DW started cruising after we got together around 2000. On to the review........ We live an hour or so from Port Everglades. Since it was the height of the season, I was concerned about parking at the Port, and decided to park at a hotel that had a parking package a few miles away and Uber/Taxi to and from the port to there. Turns out that was a lucky decision as the day we returned there were 5 ships at Port Everglades and it looked like getting out of the lots was a zoo. We like to maximize our time onboard so we arrived around 10:30am. When the first greeter saw our boarding pass, the spoiling began. We were taken to a separate security checkpoint, then escorted up the "magic escalator" to the upstairs waiting area. Shortly after that, they started boarding and we were met by one of the Concierges and taken up a separate gangway and directly to our room. Totally unnecessary, but cool nonetheless. Our room was ready when we arrived, and we met our stewards and the other Concierge. Luggage arrived by 1:30p. The room was over-the-top nice, as expected. One thing that was new to us was the ability to plug your own device into the sound system, which had speakers throughout the cabin and on the balcony. We took a small Bluetooth receiver that we were able to connect up to the system so we could easily pair with my or DW's devices. First stop was our traditional "Dive In" embarkation lunch and cocktail. It was as good as always, and not yet very crowded at 12p. First night's dinner was at Rudi's. Great meal and our waiter was hysterical and very entertaining. We had only eaten at Rudi pop-ups on other ships, so the full-time one was nice. Never saw it very full during the trip though. The next two days were at sea. We pretty much spent the time during the day on the balcony with a few trips to the smoking area (for DW). I have to say that the smoking area is a very entertaining microcosm of the ship. Many many characters. We did end up meeting a couple there that we really connected with and enjoyed lots of laughter and conversation with them. Instead of outlining each day, I'll just talk about different aspects of the ship and our experiences... Pinnacle Grill: We ate there one night. Food was wonderful and service was great. Our waiter had recognized us from 18 months earlier on the Eurodam, and even remembered a conversation when I told him that DW's Creme Brulee is as good or better than theirs. This always amazes me as I usually can't remember someone's name 10 minutes after I meet them. Canaletto: Normally Canaletto is our least favorite of the Specialty Dining venues. However, this trip it ended up being our hands-down favorite by a large margin. The fresh pasta made a huge difference, and we enjoyed the new menu. The chef came out and introduced himself to all the tables. Turns out he had started as a dishwasher on HAL, befriended chefs who taught him some skills, then eventually got promoted to head chef for this venue - cool story. Tamarind: Usually Tamarind has been our favorite, but we were disappointed this time. Our first night there, service was great, but the food was not as good as our previous experiences. The second time we were there the service was way below par. We were at our table for 25 minutes before anyone came to greet or take order. The assistant waiter was busting her butt making up for the main waiter, but couldn't keep up with the number of tables. Nami Sushi: We had the same waitress that we had in Tamarind on our first night there - so service was wonderful. We sat at the Sushi bar and got to talk a bit with the Sushi Chef and his assistant. I was really surprised at the freshness of the sushi considering they stock up once for the trip. Club Orange: We went mostly for breakfast, but also went 2 nights for dinner. One evening I tried one of the Morimoto extra-add-on dishes (Halibut XO) and wasn't really impressed as it was overcooked. It wasn't bad enough for me to send back, which I've only done maybe twice in my life, but I think many people would have. Everything else there was spot-on and the service was great. Dining Room: Ate there for lunch twice and were pleasantly surprised. The only complaints we had heard around the ship were about the Dining Room, and we never had any issues like we heard about. Do miss the cold soups though. Ocean View Cafe: Let's just say "not impressed". Food seemed like leftovers and many times we had to get our own drinks as there were never enough servers around doing that and clearing tables. There was only one time we had trouble finding a table though. HMC: We splurged on a Villa and Butler. We were the only ones who reserved a Villa (out of 5), and only 3 of the Cabanas were occupied. My guess this is because of the steep increase of price of these - we would not have done it if we didn't have a bunch of OBC to go through. If we hadn't had the credit to burn, there's no way we would have done it at current prices. That being said, it was AWESOME. The butler met us at our room in the morning, took us a back way to get on the tender skipping the line that started two decks above. Food is provided by Pinnacle for lunch - but way too much for the two of us to eat. It was a pretty day, not too too hot. Spent an hour sailing on a Hobie Cat which was a blast - Hobies are one of our "happy places". Aruba: Originally this cruise was to stop at Bonaire. That port was cancelled several month's out, and we did an overnight in Aruba. We did a private 2 hour sunset cruise with an outfit called Strea Charters. It's about a 5 minute cab ride from the port at Aruba Beach. Also there was a restaurant called "Pinchos" that is out at the end of a dock on the water. We tried to get a reservation there post-sail, but could not. When we walked by the food looked fabulous - we will try to get there next time in Aruba. Curacao: In Curacao we arranged a 3 hour walking food tour through Viator. I don't remember the name of the company that did the tour, but it's the only food tour listed on Expedia/Viator. Along with lots of education about the culture and history, we ate at 4 different locations - the first of which was one of the best meals we've ever had. Lots of local seafood and veggies inventively prepared. The only downside of our time in Curacao was the heat - felt like the sun was only 10 feet over our heads. Rotterdam Pub Crawl: Funnest night we had. When we first showed up at Explorations, I was hesistant as there were like 60 people signed up. Our last ones we've done on Oosterdam and Eurodam were much smaller groups. However, I was totally wrong. The bartenders who hosted were lively and made the evening very fun. It's about 2 hours, starting in Explorations, then going to Lido Bar, Rock and Roll room, and ending in BB Kings. Debarkation: So simple. We waited until 9am, so probably most had left already. At customs, the line appeared long, but moved so fast that it wasn't a problem. They use facial recognition so it's smile..beep..you're out of there. There were a couple of CBP agents who were checking people out visually but we only saw them pull one couple aside. That's pretty much it. Great trip!! It was actually so good we cancelled an Oceana cruise we had booked for November 2024, and booked a trip on Eurodam instead while onboard. Happy to answer any questions. Larry

Seeing your pic - I’m ordering this tonight on our last night on Rotterdam

I remember seeing a post about the “outrage” over the removal of the AC units in the Cabanas and Villas. I think it was even removed from the descriptions on the shorex pages. Just got back to the ship from there and saw that there were still AC units present and working. Still trying to figure out why since they have 3 open sides, but that’s just me.

That’s what I thought was weird because they were the same price. After making the first one where I thought I had chosen 7036, and when the email came I saw “guarantee”. Of course I was doing it quickly because I didn’t want to lose the room plus it was well after happy hour started so who knows what I clicked!

It was for the Pinnacle suite - only 2 are on the ship.

We found interesting and somewhat entertaining that the different smoking areas acquired different vibes and personalities during the trip. Deck 10 (we were on Connie) had the folks that parked there for the entire day. One especially obnoxious man (complete with loud inappropriate and misogynistic comments) had us avoiding that area. The one on deck 4 had a very laid back vibe and that’s where we went. The one on deck 11 everyone pretty much kept to themselves.

I saw a way yesterday this could happen. Booked a Nov 24 Eurodam trip for 11 days. Not paying attention, apparently I clicked the “let us choose your room”. The confirmation email showed as “guaranteed”. There are only 2 rooms in the category we chose that exist on the ship. Tried to call in to change the reservation but waits were too long (we are currently on Rotterdam and I didn’t want to wait). I figured I’d just make another reservation ($50 deposits) and cancel the guarantee one. Made the new booking with the room we wanted, and got the correct confirmation - so at this point we supposedly had both rooms booked for a short amount of time. Out of curiosity, I started a dummy booking and it showed a room still available when there should not have been. Onboard concierge was able to cancel the guarantee reservation we had, so we weren’t impacting someone who desired the other cabin, but I wonder what would have happened if we had just kept the original reservation and other people snagged the two “available” cabins.

This is while inside the cabin. Deck 7, outside, just aft of forward elevators. Better than most hotels I’ve stayed at while working.

We are on Rotterdam right now, and I had the same thing for first two days. Then all of a sudden I started getting notifications from my email client and it has worked fine since then. So maybe they’re tweaking starlink still. Have to say though that with the enhanced internet upgrade speeds are surprisingly fast.

They likely were blocking the IP port your email client uses (smtp). Web mail uses regular http/https port that are always open.

Can Pinnacle and Neptune suite folk go anytime? Our HAL advisor told us we can show up when we want, but our pass says 12pm.

I would also suggest looking at Antigua Day Charters - Private Motor Yacht Charter, Sunset Cruise We went with these guys earlier in the year and it was wonderful. They have a lobster option on the 6 or 8 hour tour. It's a private boat, and they can arrange pickup at the cruise pier. If there's more than 4 of you, it might even be cheaper than the ship's tour, and you have the boat all to yourself. Captain is an ex-accountant from the UK who a few years ago decided to "ditch it all" and move to Antigua to open this outfit.

We are on the trip right after yours - looking forward to your experience and observations.

My father owned a travel agency when I was growing up. He had a sign above his desk that read "If you can afford to travel first class and don't - your heirs will". We cruise less often than we could, but like to save up for something special when we do, and get the nicest cabin we can afford at the time. There were several trips we've taken where reading reviews afterwards we wondered how we could possibly have been on the same ship as the people reporting. The suite experience really makes the trip different - not just a bigger room.

Surprised I haven't seen any posts about people cancelling their next x-number of cruises over this!!!!

It might have just been a matter that they were in an upper suite, not necessarily based on tipping practices. The time we were fortunate enough to stay in a PH on Connie, we were asked to let them know what times we wanted to come in and now that you mention it, it was always the same table.

Are they still charging for the cookies?

Called Shore Services - they informed me it won't be an option on our Nov 24 Rotterdam trip.

Having read Introducing Holland America Line’s Global Fresh Fish Program - it states that there will be Morimoto Pop-Up venues starting in November. Has anyone been able to actually book one of these?

If it is splurge time, I'd suggest the Beach Villas at HMC. These are the two-story ones that have a hot tub, private bathroom, etc. The butler service is a great add-on. They meet you at your cabin to carry your stuff and escort you the "back way" to the tender boat, and avoid all lines. You also get to pick from a menu provided by Pinnacle Grill to pick lunch entree. With the butler package, it includes drinks on the island too. The butler stays at your villa for the day (except for a lunch break) and will get drinks and food etc. At leaving time, they'll also get you around the lines for security leaving the island. Not a cheap day - plan on around $1400 for the day (but you can have up to 8 people total).

Just a funny story…..my glider Flight Instructor was an old, grumpy(just for show), ex-Eastern Airlines pilot. He flew in the days when it was a nice experience. Back then the Pilot, Copilot, and Purser would be at the door as people deplaned. He told us once that after arrival in MIA, this “tiny older lady my gramma’s age” thanks him on leaving and shakes his hand. By the time he realized she had slipped him a $2 tip, she was gone.

Now there's conflicting information on Holland's site about smoking. From site FAQ's (link: Frequently Asked Questions (hollandamerica.com) on page 10: E-cigarettes are permitted in staterooms, otherwise only in designated smoking areas. Yet if you go here (link: Know Before You Go (hollandamerica.com) it says: Electronic cigarettes are not permitted in staterooms or in other public areas of the ship other than designated smoking areas. Calling HAL's customer service I also got two different answers.