Rotterdam

My wife and I are looking to sail on the Rotterdam, 7 night to include Key West. She is negative because ship is 20 years old. Does anyone have any recent experience on her to share?

My wife and I are looking to sail on the Rotterdam, 7 night to include Key West. She is negative because ship is 20 years old. Does anyone have any recent experience on her to share?

Over a month on her in Aug/Sept 2017 on the wonderful Voyage of the Vikings - no problems. We like this ship. She has taken us to so many places all around the world - and we have spent almost 100 days on her alone.

What are the concerns due to age of a ship? Electronic media connections available in the cabin may be a problem, but there are workarounds for a 7 day cruise. Systems worked. Layout is fine. Cabins are generous. Decor is a bit fusty and more traditional which one comes to expect on HAL, but overall ship's appeal is very welcoming. Lovely decorative art items and even a bit more color and whimsy that other ship's don't have.

There are several detailled threads on the Rotterdam right here on the HAL board. You have much to read here. Just check the other threads and you will see them.

We were on the Rotterdam last week. This was my 16th cruise, but first with HAL. We chose this cruise based on the itinerary, not the ship or cruise line. We don't usually cruise on the newest or largest ships, so the age was not a big concern to us. We enjoyed the ports, but will probably not cruise HAL again, at least in the Caribbean.

The ship is not falling apart as some would have you believe. The decor seemed fine to us and we did not see any buckets for leaks as others have reported. There were a few issues, but nothing major. The public areas seemed to be too warm to me. Our room temperature varied from too hot to too cold without moving the thermostat. We had very low water pressure one day.

Our OV room was a little larger and had more storage than on other lines. The room steward was good, but not any better than what I experienced on other lines. They did have 2 USB ports for charging electronics. The downsides were only one electrical outlet in the cabin and one in the bathroom, very little storage in the bathroom, an older flat screen tv with a poor picture and limited tv channels compared to other lines.

The quality and variety of the food in the dining room and buffet were below what I have experienced on Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and Carnival. The service was also below my experience on other lines. Nothing was horrible, but I had always heard HAL was a step above the mainstream lines and I did not find this to be the case.

Entertainment was the weakest point for us. I am 56 and this was the first cruise where I actually felt bored. We are not big drinkers or partiers, but would like something a little more upbeat in the way of music and entertainment. There was only 1940s type music piped in at the pools. We saw no live band for sail away parties with Caribbean music, etc.

Some of the most popular daytime activities seemed to be Bridge, spending time in the library and working jigsaw puzzles. The America's Test Kitchen seemed popular, although really didn't interest us. There were the usual art, shopping, shore excursion and future cruise shows and promotions.

The evening theater shows consisted of a comedian, a magician, a "variety" show with the same comedian and magician, a BBC: Earth movie, a BBC: Earth Game Show, the Rotterdam Singers and Dancers and a Vegas singer performing Elvis, Neil Diamond and Tom Jones songs. None of these were horrible, but certainly were not very exciting or up to the quality of my experience with other lines.

The only other evening entertainment most nights was a piano player and a group in the Ocean bar playing 1940s and jazz type music. They listed a group Adagio playing in the Explorer's Lounge each night, but there was no one there until the final night and it was just a piano player and one string player. I have no idea if this was Adagio or not.

We noticed that the average age on this ship was far above any other cruise we have been on. I would guess the average age was 70+. Most of them seemed very satisfied and many of the issues I mentioned may be HAL giving their main clients what they want.

If you are primarily interested in the ports and don't have to have the best food, service and entertainment, then it will probably work for you. If you have cruised other cruise lines, you will probably be disappointed in the options and quality of offerings on this ship.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thanks for replies. I did read some of the other posts but was looking for any additional points of view. Greg

One other thing I failed to mention is that any real food options after 8:00 PM are limited to Room Service. The last seating in the dining room is 8:00 PM, the buffet closed at 8:00 PM, Dive-In (burgers, hot dogs, taco bar by the pool) closed at 5:00, New York Pizza closed at 8:00 PM. Explorations Cafe was open until 9:00, but is limited to mainly coffee, pastries and a few sandwiches.

This may not be an issue for you, but it was the earliest closing of all food options on any cruise I have taken. Most buffets are open late and many pizza options are open 24 hours.

Of course when most activities end at 9:00, I guess there is not much demand for the food venues to be open later.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

My wife and I are looking to sail on the Rotterdam, 7 night to include Key West. She is negative because ship is 20 years old. Does anyone have any recent experience on her to share?

Your wife has a good insight. We spent 2 boring weeks on the Rotterdam last month. Although it had been in drydock in November, air conditioning problems were not fixed. Our cabin was only 62 degrees for the first 2 days of our cruise. Some venues were sweltering and others were frigid. Apparently, they concentrated on cosmetic fixes like new carpeting and furniture and overlooked what you couldn't see. We had no plumbing problems but I heard others complaining about the lack of hot water and toilets that wouldn't flush. I did see out of order signs on some urinals and stalls in the public restrooms. One of the ice machines on the Lido was out of order for the whole 2nd week of our cruise. We had no complains about the food and service was consistent with HAL's high standards. Listen to your wife and book a different ship.

Thanks, will do. Greg