A pleasant South American voyage on the Amsterdam recently drew us back to Holland America. This time we boarded the Rotterdam in Valparaiso, Chile for a 47-day trip across 3 continents South America, Africa and Europe. Places that were new to us like Tripoli, Libya and Santorini, Greece were included in their route. The ship later bypassed Tripoli and Morocco as unsafe ports. She sailed instead to Gibraltar and Messina, Italy.
Rotterdam like the Amsterdam has managed to preserve the traditional privileges that are no longer free of charge on other cruise lines. Hot chocolate, fruit juices and ice cream at the Lido, espresso and cappuccino in the dining room and the daily newspaper in the cabin.
We admire the way Rotterdam handled arrival and departure. As soon as we cleared customs at the Santiago, Chile airport we found our luggage already loaded on a cart. A waiting van (where my wife and I were the only passengers) then took us to our hotel for a pre-cruise stay.