Live from the Rotterdam New Years Eve Caribbean Cruise 2022

[Crew News]

This begins the latest live thread for my 7-Day New Years cruise aboard the Ms Rotterdam.  Feel free to post questions and I will do my best to locate answers that will help with future-cruise planning.  

Embarkation Day began under blue skies, warm sun that erased a recent Florida chill, and temps in the high 70's.  I arrived at the port at my appointed Group B time of 11:20 and was on board the ship with the first boarding group of Neptune Suites and 5* Mariners.  The first glitch was using my printed boarding pass with barcode not being recognized by the Security scanner.  My cellphone barcode was recognized and off I went to my stateroom.   Glitch 2, I discovered that my HAL PCC transposed the number of my requested stateroom and I did not have my normal aft stateroom.  My fault for not checking and it will never happen again.  
Photographs of my verandah stateroom will show two US and two European outlets above the desk, and both an A/C and USB outlet on each side of the bed.  My minibar was cleaned before I returned from my Reuben, double meat, sandwich from the NY Pizza and Deli.  The latter was a secret from all of the new cruisers with only a handful of other passengers seated nearby.  
Avoiding the Deck 2 Reservations Desk, I opted for the Remote HAL Reservation Desk at the Spa Entrance to make my PG Lunch reservations for the next sea day.  When the crew member at the podium asked if I remembered her, I was puzzled because her name tag was tilted away from me.  When she adjusted her name tag and removed her glasses, a surge of happiness flowed through my Cruise Critic menu-collecting veins.  She was my very productive source for obscure menus just one year ago.  I shall not want for any menu, I was promised.

With great enthusiasm, I then proceeded to the Grand Dutch Cafe for my daily infusion of almond and large chocolate cookies.  The almond cookies were a few notches softer than concrete and the chocolate chip cookies much reduced in circumference.  The latter were still both moist and chewy and will remain on my daily infusion regimen.  The almond cookies will not remain.  Glitch 3 happened when I noticed my statement showed that my four Diet Cokes were billed at full price in spite of my HIA package.  
Glitch 4, connecting my laptop to the internet was not successful using instructions from my last four cruises.  The Club Orange Front Desk rep solved both glitches in about 45 minutes while a steady stream of internet questions were answered at two other podiums.  

 

More later.

 

[oakridger]

Happy day!  Enjoy your trip and I will, as always be following along.    I also had a heck of a time logging onto the internet on my laptop on Rotterdam.  I ended up at the guest services after the lines were gone and could log on there, but not in my cabin!  I ended up connecting intermittently through the 21-day cruise.  I don't understand why the laptop had problems, but my iPhone had no problems at all. (When the internet itself was working anyway)

Let the fun begin!

 

~Nancy

[ski ww]

Bon Voyage, fair winds & smooth seas. Glad you have all your problems sorted out.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Have a great time.

[TAW1963]

Happy Cruising an Happy New Year!

 

[LouChamp]

Aloha. Have a wonderful vacation and happiness for the new year

[Cruise Suzy]

5 hours ago, Crew News said:

Glitch 4, connecting my laptop to the internet was not successful using instructions from my last four cruises.  The Club Orange Front Desk rep solved both glitches in about 45 minutes while a steady stream of internet questions were answered at two other podiums.

 

What were the glitches and how were they solved? We too have laptops and I keep written instructions for DH as HAL only provides instructions for smartphones. Boarding Eurodam on 1/25.

 

Sorry you don't have an aft-facing stateroom.

[cat shepard]

Bon voyage, Roger!

[BetsyS.]

Crew News - Bon Voyage! 🥂  I'm sorry you didn't get the right cabin and the other glitches.   I wish you smooth sailing from now on. Thanks for all your great reporting! 😊

 

[jimbob22]

just our opinion, corroborated by a couple of random plates I saw that had hollowed out carcasses on them: the bossche bol at GDC is 'ok' but did not knock our socks off.  The chocolate layer is a dark, but not strongly flavored, chocolate frosting, then an average dough layer (hard to cut through, not really like eclair dough) and the cream was just whipped cream, not a custard.  So it was not bad by any means--but it had been built up like the holy grail.

 

We did find the apple pie in the GDC case to be excellent (would be even better warmed up, we didn't inquire about this).  And there was some marble cake in there that looked excellent, but we did not try it.  It would be nice if they had brown water (i.e. 'coffee') dispensers at GDC.  I did get the fruit pancake ( a rolled crepe with blueberry/raspberry type fruit in it).  It was good, but holy cow it was like a 30 minute wait...GDC seemed to be 'less noticed' on our k-dam cruise 5 years ago.

[quilty964]

Happy new year!  Enjoy!

[Crew News]

18 hours ago, oakridger said:

Happy day!  Enjoy your trip and I will, as always be following along.    I also had a heck of a time logging onto the internet on my laptop on Rotterdam.  I ended up at the guest services after the lines were gone and could log on there, but not in my cabin!  I ended up connecting intermittently through the 21-day cruise.  I don't understand why the laptop had problems, but my iPhone had no problems at all. (When the internet itself was working anyway)

Let the fun begin!

 

~Nancy

I bookmarked the URL to access the Navigator login page for the ship and probably all HAL ships:

 

Navigator.HollandAmerica.com/#/

 

It would be so easy to just add that line to the bottom of the smartphone instructions.

[Cruise Suzy]

5 minutes ago, Crew News said:

I bookmarked the URL to access the Navigator login page for the ship and probably all HAL ships:

 

Navigator.HollandAmerica.com/#/

 

That's the URL I bookmarked on my laptop and have put in my instructions for DH. It has worked on Rotterdam, Koningsdam, Nieuw Amsterdam and Westerdam. 

 

To access HAL's intranet the first time. I still have to use login.com and choose "Connect to Internet". I then use the bookmark to get back to Navigator.

[Crew News]

In conversation with my Room Steward, I learned that chocolates were now only available on Gala Nights and I earned a broad smile when I asked for my collapsible cooler to be filled with ice only every 2-3 days if it failed the rattle test. On a laundry note, my Day 1 evening turn in was delivered at 8:30 AM today.

 

My offered ship’s tour had no takers at the meeting location.  A couple from the Collingsworth Gospel group on board asked me a few questions so they experienced my full tour as we all viewed the Rotterdam for the first time.

 

Internet speed test:  9.96 Mbs download and 0.40 upload on the Premium plan.

 

My stateroom has a connecting door that allows/forces me to experience all of the joy, anger, music, fun, tears, etc.in the adjoining stateroom.  I love my white noise machine for sleeping.

 

Carrot cake is available as a special request and was baked for a birthday party onboard just two weeks ago. Speak to Renzo, Sel de Mer Manager, previously the PG Manager, to arrange.  FWIW Renzo was the best PG waiter in my cruising experience several years ago and it was good to see him move up to a management position with HAL. 

On a similar note, I was told that special food requests give the chefs a chance to display their skills and are almost always granted.

 

The waitstaff in the Lido Market were promoting the Canaletto menu and I commented that I would not be available for Osso Bucco night on Monday. I was told that there is no problem getting any special items on a different day with two days’ notice.  Nice to know for future cruises.  Ask and it shall be given.

 

The HIA Dinner at the Tamarind felt strange with the shrinking menu but it was up to the Tamarind’s high standards.

 

Of special note, with so many passengers (over 2800) this week and a compressed boarding schedule every elevator area on the stateroom levels flooded with luggage faster than the available Room Stewards could deliver it.  A real gauntlet condition existed for passengers wanting to change floors and not able/willing to use the stairs for about two hours.

 

For those interested, my hand will not reach behind the TV to attach any cables/devices.

My VPN did work but the speed reduction made the connection very very slow.

 

The first day at sea ended with a visit to the Late Snack buffet for menus and a peak at the food presentation.  

 

 

  

Edited December 29, 2022 by Crew News

[BetsyS.]

Crew News - Thanks for all your reporting and for letting everyone know that carrot cake is available by special request. Good to know.  Glad your laundry service is 

top notch. When I was on the NS in August, the turn around time was quick also.

[Charlene1985]

I’m so excited for carrot cake!   I was the one bummed I can’t ever find it anywhere.  I promise to ask for it next Wednesday night. 

[canadianbear]

Glad I’ve caught up now on your thread.  So sorry we had to cancel our cruise with you.  Have a great time and will be following along.  

[Crew News]

9 hours ago, Charlene1985 said:

I’m so excited for carrot cake!   I was the one bummed I can’t ever find it anywhere.  I promise to ask for it next Wednesday night. 

For carrot cake, you must give advanced notice.  If my efforts to satisfy your craving come to pass, please post on this thread so I know my pioneering was successful.

[Charlene1985]

25 minutes ago, Crew News said:

For carrot cake, you must give advanced notice.  If my efforts to satisfy your craving come to pass, please post on this thread so I know my pioneering was successful.

I will.  I’ll ask on Wednesday and will hopefully have a photo for you by the weekend.  🥕 

[albingirl]

Really enjoy your postings.  Bon Voyage!  Have a fabulous cruise!

[spkack]

Thank you, Crew News, for your post - looking forward to re-visiting the Rotterdam VII again this year.  And very glad to hear you had a good experience in PG.  Ours was not so good in February 2022 (steak tartare was very good but service was rushed and 3 tries at getting steak right resulted in medium rare becoming well done) but we will be trying again in 2023.  I also find it interesting that the Lido is promoting Canaletto since it was not available for us to book under HIA for our upcoming 2023 cruise..  With so many good options Canaletto often falls off our dining schedule. Would think they would make it available in the HIA package if they were hoping to increase participation.

[SilvertoGold]

Agree about Renzo. Really one of the best restaurant managers on HAL! Will you be posting the Tamarind menu?  Changes?

Thanks for this info-dense thread.  A very enjoyable read, as well as being informative.

[Crew News]

9 hours ago, SilvertoGold said:

Agree about Renzo. Really one of the best restaurant managers on HAL! Will you be posting the Tamarind menu?  Changes?

Thanks for this info-dense thread.  A very enjoyable read, as well as being informative.

Tamarind menu on my website is current:  Tamarind Menu

[EatonDoolittle]

6 hours ago, spkack said:

 With so many good options Canaletto often falls off our dining schedule. Would think they would make it available in the HIA package if they were hoping to increase participation.

 

My HIA booking for February included 1 Tamarind, 1 Pinnacle Grill and 1 Canaletto.

21 days, perhaps that makes a difference. 

[Crew News]

The second day aboard the Rotterdam began with cloudy skies and warm temps that included a significant rise in the humidity index after a night of rolling seas.

My first visit to the Lido Market was revealing as tongs have reappeared for self service at every work station  Seeing this major change prompted me to ask about crackers and behold, I was given the five remaining sesame crackers from a box.  Efforts to locate any more were unsuccessful. I have a photograph of the box to show on future cruises to help the Lido folks locate crackers on my May cruises.

Much to my surprise, the bread pudding is located at the bread and pastries station. I am happy to say that bread pudding is now available for both lunch and dinner.

FWIW it seems to me that the Lido Market chocolate chip cookies are not baked with the Grand Dutch Cafe recipe.....chewy and delicious.

The Lido Market Manager confirmed that Vista-class ships were losing their Taco Bars.  

Glitch #4 was being trapped in an elevator for a few minutes.  Trying every button on the panel finally opened the door and I made a mental note to avoid that elevator in the future.

For movie buffs, I counted 180 On-Demand movies available.

The Tamarind was only half-filled as was the reports from both the Canaletto and PG.  Many of the reservations were via the HIA promotion.  Another possibility is with too many families aboard during the holiday season, the cost might seem excessive to them and they are not aware that kids eat free.  I have heard that the PG has more than 70 guests wait-listed.

Everything onboard is affected by the more than 2900 reported passengers including a large religious group on board.  I have noticed groups of teens seated on the floors at the elevator banks. Every seat in the Crow's Nest is occupied and Lido Market tables are scarce.  

The Lido Market Late buffet remains well attended while on the other side of the room, 20 gloved waiters were rapidly wrapping eating utensils for the next meal.

The second day at sea ended with the ship still rolling a bit.

 

More later.

 

Edited December 30, 2022 by Crew News