Rotterdam Review

4.0 / 5.0
0 reviews

Great cruise, our cabin not so much!

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Rotterdam
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JaneRichard
10+ Cruises • Age 70s

Rating by category

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Additional details

Sail Date: Dec 2016
Cabin: Large Ocean-View Stateroom

For the most part, we loved the Rotterdam. Its size and amenities were perfect for this traveling couple. The staff was very warm and welcoming. Our embarkation went smoothly. However, the lifeboat drill is always problematic for us on Holland America. They insist that you stand on the deck for the entire lifeboat drill, which is not possible for us due to back ailments. We told them this on numerous occasions when booking, at embarkation and again at the main desk. We were advised to go to deck 3 and sit in the lobby. Other cruisers were there as well. No one ever came to check our name or cabin number. The drill was taking forever, so I decided to investigate. Even though I showed our cruise cards to the person in charge (which he scanned), we received a letter stating that the drill is mandatory, as if we hadn't bothered to attend.

The food was quite good and served at the appropriate temperature. We were able to book the same table-for-two every night (121) and the waiters were excellent. We also enjoyed dining at the specialty restaurants for dinner and lunch. Lunch at the Pinnacle was an excellent value.

The ports of Antigua and Tortola were new for us and quite beautiful. Tortola was our favorite with its hilly environment and stunning views. The beaches in Antigua were lovely and numerous.

Cabin Review

Large Ocean-View Stateroom

Cabin G

Our cabin and the hallway leading to it were the reason that we didn't rate this cruise higher. Cabin 2504 was awful. It is supposed to be an ocean-view cabin; however, the only way to see out was to kneel on the bed and look through the ever so tiny and deep port holes. The cabin is listed as a large cabin, but the bed took up the entire width with hardly any room to walk. It is a bow cabin, second one from the front of the ship. We tried prior to sailing to be reassigned as I get seasick and knew that this location would not be ideal, no luck. The noise at night was unbearable. We spent the first three nights with barely any sleep. It sounded as if bowling balls were hitting the ship. We tried again to have our cabin changed, but was told the ship was full. Also, there was a leak in the hallway, vacuuming and fans were a constant for the duration of the cruise. Another, issue was our toilet did not flush at all the last night/morning of the cruise. I called the front desk and was told they would send a plumber. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, I decided to use the restroom near the theater. That was not working properly either. I advised the front desk of that issue as well. Not sure if this was a ship-wide problem or not, but our cabin steward said that our entire area was not working.

Port Reviews

St. Kitts (Port Zante)

Just walked around a little as we had toured the port on a previous cruise.

Tortola

Booked an open-air tour at the pier. Nice way to see the island

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