Thread: Newbie Seeking Help

We (unknown to my DH) are considering a 15-day Tastes of Europe cruise in October of 2008 on the Rotterdam and would love to hear advice/opinions of both the ship and the itinerary. This will be our fourth cruise and our second on HAL. Did the Volendam in Feb. 2006 and am completely sold on HAL although I am not that familiar with their fleet.
Would appreciate any thoughts you may have - need to convince DH it's a good idea

We've not done Europe - yet! Definitely on our places to go.

But we have done HAL many times and it's one of our favorites. We did the Rotterdam out of Baltimore for a 10-night cruise and absolutely LOVE that ship. It's smaller than some, but because it was HAL's flagship, it is very very nice. The crew was awesome, the food was exquisite, and we thoroughly enjoyed our cruise, especially the new European-style pillow-top mattresses, which in my opinion are the most comfortable in the industry. We are in our mid-50's and HAL is mostly for the older crowd, but we had clients on the same ship who were in their mid-30's and they said it was one of the best cruises they had ever taken.

I loved sitting on the old-style wooden lounge chairs on the Promendade Deck and reading a book. Reminded me of the what the glory-days of cruising must have been like.

If you get the chance, you have to do dinner in the Pinnacle Grill. It's $20 per person to eat there, but very well worth it. We highly recommend it! And sometimes they'll offer a special wine tasting dinner that is out of this world! I think the price was $45 per person, but it was a culinary masterpiece that took almost three hours to enjoy. It was the best dinner we've ever eaten anywhere!! Ask the Matre'd in the Pinnacle Grill if they'll be doing it during your cruise. If so, ask to be invited - as it's by invitation only. It's a 7-course meal with different wines provided for each course. The chef comes out and introduces each course, explaining what it is, how it was prepared, what wine he selected to compliment that course, where it came from, and why he selected it. After each they clean off the table and re-set it with new silver and dishware. Each course is treated as a unique experience in its own. And the desert was to die for!!

Bottom line; of all the 27 cruises we've been on (28th in July to Alaska), this ship is one of our all-time favorites! Just keep in mind that everything on this ship is more geared towards an older crowd.

Pete

Hello Barb!
Welcome to CLF!!
I have cruised on the Rotterdam. She is one of HAL's flag ships (the other is the Amsterdam) and is absolutely beautiful. My favorite art is her reproduction of the warriors of Zian. If you let us know your itinerary, possibly we can assist with excursions.

In my opinion, you have picked the best way to see Europe!! I've done 2 14+ day cruises in the Med as well as 2 cruises of the Baltic. Imagine going to sleep in Barcelona and waking up in Monte Carlo!!

If you'd like to read about my adventures in the Med on HAL's Noordam it's posted here : http://www.cruiselinefans.com/vbarticles.php?do=article&articleid=10

P.S. the prices have gone up in the Pinnacle, it's now $30 for dinner.

Pete - Thank you so much for the info. Since we are (almost) the older crowd (70 and 74), we should fit right in. Sailed last year on the Volendam and felt that we were right where we belonged, age-wise.
I just want to cruise next year and don't know for sure where or when, but it will absolutely be on one of the HAL ships.

Thank you, Localady. Read some of your Nordam trip and will read the rest after DH has his lunch. After all, it's 12:05!

Originally Posted by localady

the prices have gone up in the Pinnacle, it's now $30 for dinner.

You're right - I forgot the price went up. We were on the Maasdam last year and the price was still $20. They were also offering a first-night special of $10, so we did it on the first night and again later on. I knew they did away with the first-night special, but I forgot the price went up to $30. That sucks doesn't it? :-) But I still think it's worth it. Some people don't think any specialty restaurant is worth the extra money, but we've thoroughly enjoyed all of them, especially the Pinnacle Grill. I would have to say the Pinnacle Grill and the Crown Grill (on the Crown Princess) are two of my favorites, but then again I think they are all great.

I hope they're still offering the wine tasting dinner - that would be a shame if they did away with that.

We're doing the 14-day cruisetour #5 with HAL in July to Alaska. This includes only 3 nights on the Zaandam, one of which is a formal night. Needless to say, we're not taking any formal attire since we have 10 days inland to content with and don't want to lug around all those extra clothes. So we were planning to do the Pinnacle Grill on formal night.

Next year we're tentatively planning a Med cruise with our good friends and would love to do HAL again. Problem is the one I want to do is 24-days!!

Pete


Pete

Originally Posted by BarbR

We (unknown to my DH) are considering a 15-day Tastes of Europe cruise in October of 2008 on the Rotterdam and would love to hear advice/opinions of both the ship and the itinerary. This will be our fourth cruise and our second on HAL. Did the Volendam in Feb. 2006 and am completely sold on HAL although I am not that familiar with their fleet.
Would appreciate any thoughts you may have - need to convince DH it's a good idea

We have been on several HAL ships. The first one we went on was the Rotterdam (A Panama Canal Western Caribbean trip in 2004).

This is my husband's favorite ship of the 4 we have been on, and I must admit i like the Rotterdam as well. It is a fine ship, and the staff and service are outstanding.

I think you'll love the Rotterdam.

We just came back from cruising on the Rotterdam around South America... This was our 10th trip with HAL... althoough the ROtterdam is a smaller ship... we really enjoyed all the anamenties on board... Highly recommend HAL..