Rotterdam 11 days in the Med trip review w/photos

[Lisah101]

I asked Paulo for a place to have pizza for lunch. Since we were in the region, we had to have pizza!

 

He took us here:

 

walking down to the outside dining area, we peeked in a backdoor and saw this:

 

 

which turned out to be the guy who would make our pizza. Paulo gave him the basil we brought which he used on our pizza!

 

 

 

 

[aliaschief]

You have spent a lot of time at the old computer producing this wonderful travelogue of your MS Rotterdam cruise. As foodies we love your food and market place photos and all your other great photos.

 

Thank you very much for sharing your cruise experience. Fantastic job and very appreciated.

[Lisah101]

We then had free time to walk around and shop before leaving. I wish Paulo had driven us around and explained the sites like Francesco did in Florence. I kinda felt like we got dumped. We missed a beautiful ocean overlook someone told us about later. We went to Sorrento and never saw the ocean views from there.

 

Roasted chestnuts for sale on the street. I wish I had tried some.

 

Gelato!

 

yes, we did try some of this!

 

A small store selling produce.

 

 

 

I bought a Christmas ornament here:

[Lisah101]

After some free time, we met up and headed back to Naples. The ship left at 4:30 so we didn't have enough time for Positano. Instead we asked for a tour of Naples and we did get a driving tour with a photo op.

 

 

 

 

and back to the ship........

 

Paulo said he was going to drop us off in a different place and it wasn't a bad walk back to the ship but parking was an issue. DH asked him how far as he was worn out and not feeling great. Paulo relented and said he would pay the Euro to pass through the parking area and drop us off closer. I was thinking to myself - is he seriously trying to save 1 euro?????

 

He did ask just the women to come over and he gave us all a bottle of Limoncello.

 

 

We got back on the ship and I detoured to the dining room to see the dinner menu.

 

[Lisah101]

You have spent a lot of time at the old computer producing this wonderful travelogue of your MS Rotterdam cruise. As foodies we love your food and market place photos and all your other great photos.

 

Thank you very much for sharing your cruise experience. Fantastic job and very appreciated.

 

Yes, Sunday is the "me" day and i usually run errands, do laundry, cook a big dinner, etc. However today I've only managed to do laundry and this review.

 

But that is what a "me" day is all about - doing something you want to do. Just means DH is eating leftover chili for dinner tonight which is OK, I'll make him a big dinner tomorrow!

[Typhoon1]

Nice review, outstanding pictures.

[Lisah101]

Last night on the ship!

 

Full moon, how appropriate

 

We had drinks in the Mix bar until the gong guy came signaling dinner. This time Nancy caught him so I could get a photo!

 

Flags on the table for the international dinner. The waiters were actually trying to swap flags with other waiters so they had their table's nationalities represented. They apologized the US flag was in such high demand, our table mates were from Canada and Iran (now living in the US).

 

Lots of singing going on, but they were moving so fast and I had worked hard at finishing that bottle of wine I opened so I was a bit slow and all the photos are blurry.

 

[Lisah101]

By now, EVERYONE at the table wanted their meal photographed before they could eat so I did my best (and loved it!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lisah101]

Deserts and table mates

 

 

 

 

 

The after dinner guy

 

Which takes us to our last day

[Lisah101]

We finished packing up the cabin and went to Lido - I took an insane number of photos of breakfast.

 

I had never seen these before - but thought they were good. I ended up putting them in my Muesli which is another food I had never had before. I really miss it!

 

 

More

 

And.. tons of random breakfast photos from Lido

 

 

fixings from the omelet station

 

[Lisah101]

 

 

 

 

 

[Lisah101]

Lido menu

 

and more food....

 

 

 

 

[Lisah101]

 

 

One thing about the ship.......

 

When we boarded there was an unlimited laundry flyer in the closet but it was for a 14 day cruise and we were there for 11 days. I went to guest services (embarkation day) and they told me it was $77 for 11 days. I jumped for joy and signed up!

 

Everything came back ironed on hangars and undies were neatly folded in tissue - So worth the money!

 

 

[Lisah101]

We shared a van to Rome with a few other couples and were quickly dropped off at our hotel, Donna Camilla Sevilla.

 

 

 

The hotel held our bags, we took a few photos before walking into town. The hotel is a converted convent and still has a church onsite with mass everyday. Several nuns still live onsite and were often about the hotel.

 

 

 

The church

 

[Love the beach]

I have gained 10 lbs just looking at these pictures!

The "gong'-"after dinner" guy is known as the "yum yum man" :)

Absolutely loved reading this review! Thanks again.

[Lisah101]

well, I thought i would take a break for dinner and to finish laundry before the last little bit on Rome, but i'm tired so will finish this tomorrow evening.

[rajkr74]

well, I thought i would take a break for dinner and to finish laundry before the last little bit on Rome, but i'm tired so will finish this tomorrow evening.

 

Very nicely done review and photos! I have been reading all day your review as you posted it. Would finish a page go do something around the house come back to the computer, refresh and find more photos and review. Nice to know others take pictures of the food...lol. Doesn't bother us either since many people always wanted to know about the food. This is a cruise we are interested in taking, thanks for posting this to read.

[Barrheadlass]

I really enjoyed reading your thread! Loved the food porn and all your pics of your ports. I was in Sorrento, Naples, Florence, and Pompeii in March and loved your pics there too...thank you for all the time you put into this!

[BlueLadyBlue]

Thank you for posting. Really enjoyed your review and photos. We are on the Rotterdam in January so pleased to know you enjoyed yourself. Some of the other reviews are so negative.

Looking forward to more.:)

[innlady1]

Loved your review...looking forward to more on Rome. The photos are out of this world!

[estebofarr]

Loved your review and gorgeous pictures. You have a real flair for writing. Thank you for taking the time to do this for all of us. The Rotterdam is my favorite ship.

[cant51]

 

This is typical Dutch, a lot off Dutch people eat this in the morning on bread and butter, specially kids.

And this is the kroket, so good !!! whit musterd on a roll, but I only eat it on a special occasion ( lott of calories ):) when my friends from the USA are in Holland we Always have a lunch whit kroketten they love them.

[Lisah101]

I just got home from work and think I'm going to bed. Been a crazy long week so it it doesn't get better, I'll have to finish this review this weekend. Thank you for your patience.

[Divi]

Thank you for your wonderful review.

The Rotterdam was our first ship and it definitely got us hooked on cruising and HAL.

Loved all the food pictures. My blueberries and yogurt didn't really cut it this morning.:rolleyes:

[Augie's mom]

We(three women friends) are going on the Noordam next October, starting in Rome and ending in Barcelona. You have made us even more excited about what to see and EAT!!!! Your travelogue is wonderful thank you for taking the time to do it. I look forward to the Rome photos. We are planning a few days pre-cruise to sight see the sights. Again many thanks.