LIVE from the MAIDEN VOYAGE OF THE ROTTERDAM VII - TRANSATLANTIC

[sansterre]

Finally, some photos of the embarkation process yesterday:

First we presented our boarding pass and passport.

Second station was to fill out health forms and get a group number.  We were #6.  Each group has 50.

Then we were directed to the area in first photo below - 10 individual curtained areas for a nasal swab.

We sat within our group (second photo) while Covid test results were determined. (30 minutes).

Then moved to a larger area where facial recognition was created (something knew for cruising and HAL is first to have this system).

 

Edited October 21, 2021 by sansterre

[sansterre]

Those photos are smaller than I expected so I'll try for larger size next time.  At least they loaded quickly tonight.  I've took lots of photos of the ship today.  Can't wait to share them with you tomorrow night.

Tomorrow we are docking in Le Havre, France.  DH and I are on a HAL excursion to:

Land of Impressionism:  A Day with Claud Monet.

It will take about 9 hours, leaving at 8:15 so early to bed now.

[dfish]

8 minutes ago, sansterre said:

Those photos are smaller than I expected so I'll try for larger size next time.  At least they loaded quickly tonight.  I've took lots of photos of the ship today.  Can't wait to share them with you tomorrow night.

Tomorrow we are docking in Le Havre, France.  DH and I are on a HAL excursion to:

Land of Impressionism:  A Day with Claud Monet.

It will take about 9 hours, leaving at 8:15 so early to bed now.

 

I loved my visit to Giverny years ago.   I still make recipes from the Monet cookbook I bought .

[NCTribeFan]

Giverny is lovely.

 

Looking forward to seeing photos of the ship!

[luvn2cruzzz]

Attended a talk with Seth and Cruise and travel director Rebecca this afternoon. They shared their stories about their lives in the midst of COVID  which were very heartfelt and real. Seth spoke of his time on Zaandam grand South America when the pandemic hit and instead of a 14 day cruise it turned into 37 as they were turned away from port after port. We are sailing at 47% so no lines and no rush for seats anywhere. Seth is feeling the ships will not be sailing full for a very long time if forever. Last night was a reception for 4* and 5* mariners in the world stage. Plenty of room. The new library is located where the Microsoft classes were  held and it is lovely. Live music in the Ocean Bar has returned and the singer and five piece band are excellent. I think what I am most struck with is that everyone says hello and is truly happy to see us and we as passengers who jumped through way too many hoops to get here, are grateful that we persevered. So very sorry to have missed Bruges but for those of us who arrived and went directly to the ship,  it was a great morning to rest and catch up on sleep. Beautiful new ship! 

[Sir PMP]

3 minutes ago, luvn2cruzzz said:

Attended a talk with Seth and Cruise and travel director Rebecca this afternoon. They shared their stories about their lives in the midst of COVID  which were very heartfelt and real. Seth spoke of his time on Zaandam grand South America when the pandemic hit and instead of a 14 day cruise it turned into 37 as they were turned away from port after port. We are sailing at 47% so no lines and no rush for seats anywhere. Seth is feeling the ships will not be sailing full for a very long time if forever. Last night was a reception for 4* and 5* mariners in the world stage. Plenty of room. The new library is located where the Microsoft classes were  held and it is lovely. Live music in the Ocean Bar has returned and the singer and five piece band are excellent. I think what I am most struck with is that everyone says hello and is truly happy to see us and we as passengers who jumped through way too many hoops to get here, are grateful that we persevered. So very sorry to have missed Bruges but for those of us who arrived and went directly to the ship,  it was a great morning to rest and catch up on sleep. Beautiful new ship! 

Where do they play in the ocean bar?

[canadianbear]

Oh it makes me really happy they have live music (and dancing I assume) again in the Ocean Bar!  We really missed that.  

 

Glad they had the 4* & 5* Mariner reception and what a treat having the ship under 50% full.

 

Enjoy the cruise!  I’m pretending I’m with you, lol.  Will be following along. 

[VMax1700]

13 hours ago, sailingdutchy said:

Hope you hada good voyage home Colin , until we meet again . 
 

👍  Hope both you and Martha enjoy the rest of your cruise.  Great to meet you!

[Boatdrill]

Any mention of those who missed the ship due to not being able to get on their flights because of the COVID test time limit ? Heard 20 rooms were cancelled, and some are trying to join the ship in Le Havre.  I hope they made it.

[jimdee3636]

A question to those on board:

 

When you get off the ship in Le Havre, Portland, and Ponta Delgada, will you have to take a "bubble tour" or will you be able to walk around on your own? 

[fusion927]

5 hours ago, jimdee3636 said:

A question to those on board:

 

When you get off the ship in Le Havre, Portland, and Ponta Delgada, will you have to take a "bubble tour" or will you be able to walk around on your own? 

We are private tour right now.   No restrictions that I have heard of.

 

[Ipeeinthepools]

I'm hearing reports that several Canadians were denied boarding because HAL couldn't transport them to the US, can anyone confirm this information?  Are there only US passengers on-board?

[Pia1913]

1 hour ago, fusion927 said:

We are private tour right now.   No restrictions that I have heard of.

 

In LeHavre now sitting in a cafe in town.  No restrictions.  Took Uber and stopped at a hotel to use restroom.  Had to show QR code there just to get inside, but so far nowhere else. 

[nimiq]

14 hours ago, luvn2cruzzz said:

Attended a talk with Seth and Cruise and travel director Rebecca this afternoon. They shared their stories about their lives in the midst of COVID  which were very heartfelt and real. Seth spoke of his time on Zaandam grand South America when the pandemic hit and instead of a 14 day cruise it turned into 37 as they were turned away from port after port. We are sailing at 47% so no lines and no rush for seats anywhere. Seth is feeling the ships will not be sailing full for a very long time if forever. Last night was a reception for 4* and 5* mariners in the world stage. Plenty of room. The new library is located where the Microsoft classes were  held and it is lovely. Live music in the Ocean Bar has returned and the singer and five piece band are excellent. I think what I am most struck with is that everyone says hello and is truly happy to see us and we as passengers who jumped through way too many hoops to get here, are grateful that we persevered. So very sorry to have missed Bruges but for those of us who arrived and went directly to the ship,  it was a great morning to rest and catch up on sleep. Beautiful new ship! 

Wow more music on this ship. That’s lots of venues to choose from with different genre of music.  
Question 1 :Can you actually confirm all venues (Bar) are open as I’ve heard they had trouble finding bands ?

 

Question 2 : How Is the mask policy being respected ? What are the real rules on this ship with those mask ? 
 

Thanks again 

Sea Ya 

Eric

 

[kazu]

4 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

I'm hearing reports that several Canadians were denied boarding because HAL couldn't transport them to the US, can anyone confirm this information?  Are there only US passengers on-board?

 

Can’t confirm for you but I can tell you that HAL cancelled all Canadians & non U.S. citizens on our Eurodam crossing.  At the time, the U.S. wouldn’t let non U.S. citizens / permanent residents in.  That was a few weeks ago.

[Cocktail613]

5 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

I'm hearing reports that several Canadians were denied boarding because HAL couldn't transport them to the US, can anyone confirm this information?  Are there only US passengers on-board?

I believe only US citizens and permanent residents (or their spouses)  are on board. My wife and I (Canadians) were booked on this cruise but in mid September HAL cancelled our booking because we are not US citizens or permanent residents. In part the email from HAL stated: "We had hoped that the restrictions on travel to the United States from within the Schengen Area that were first enacted in January 2021 would be relaxed in time for our transatlantic voyages from Europe to the United States. The United States does not currently allow entry to the U.S. for travelers who have been in a Schengen Country within fourteen days of their arrival to the U.S. This does not apply to U.S. citizens and permanent residents or their spouses."  This restriction is still in place and will be for a couple more weeks.

 

My understanding is that they did this for everyone in that situation but I suppose it is possible that a few people either didn't get the message though I'm not sure how they got through on line check-in or get boarding passes.  

Edited October 22, 2021 by Cocktail613

[sfocruiser]

22 hours ago, jimdee3636 said:

I'm just wondering: if there are only 900 passengers onboard, how many crew members are there? If the ship was fully staffed, there would be about 1000 crew members. My guess is there are less than that now but that they'll be boarding more crew when the ship reaches Fort Lauderdale. But if it's at a 1:1 ratio now, you'd think the service on this voyage would be exceptional.

looks like guests=909

crew=898

 

not sure how many crew are in mandatory quarantine.

 

 

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by sfocruiser

[CruiserBruce]

5 hours ago, nimiq said:

Wow more music on this ship. That’s lots of venues to choose from with different genre of music.  
Question 1 :Can you actually confirm all venues (Bar) are open as I’ve heard they had trouble finding bands ?

 

Question 2 : How Is the mask policy being respected ? What are the real rules on this ship with those mask ? 
 

Thanks again 

Sea Ya 

Eric

 

Rotterdam is the third ship (and newest) in this group of sisters. All have the same entertainment options.

[sansterre]

Here is the warm welcome we received as we boarded.  The phrase of the day was "Welcome Home".

 

[mcrcruiser]

13 minutes ago, sansterre said:

Here is the warm welcome we received as we boarded.  The phrase of the day was "Welcome Home".

 

Bon Voyage & have a fabulous cruise & journey   with calm seas ahead 😄

 

A very nice & fitting reception  to all of you 

 

[kazu]

18 minutes ago, sansterre said:

Here is the warm welcome we received as we boarded.  The phrase of the day was "Welcome Home".

 

 

Nice welcome and nice to see some familiar faces there.  You should have some good service if the rest of the crew has been chosen as carefully as those I recognize 👍 

[sansterre]

Yesterday we learned we needed to fill out Passenger Locator Forms to go ashore in Portland, England.  Customer Service (photo below) helped us get our forms done.  And tomorrow morning ALL guests need to present themselves for a mandatory "face-to-face" immigration inspection.  We are to bring:  passport, keycard, and copy or screenshot of the UK locator form with QR code.

 

On the other hand, in Le Havre, there seemed to be no problem to get off the ship and tour.  I imagine experiences varied.  For us in Giverny,  we did have to present what our guide referred to as "sanitary cards" aka Covid vaccination cards.  One person did not have theirs but they were permitted to enter after the guide helped (possibly explained everyone on the ship has been vaccinated).

 

Edited October 22, 2021 by sansterre

[sansterre]

Fresh flowers are on board!

[puppycanducruise]

Sounds like a friendly, helpful crew and beautiful flowers.  What's not to love?

[sansterre]

Dutch Cafe!