Holland America Rotterdam 12-Day Eastern Caribbean Cruise Review – Day 8: November 23, 2025

Today is Day 8 of this 12-day Caribbean cruise on Rotterdam, and we’re spending it in Bridgetown, Barbados.  We’re docked at the Port of Bridgetown Cruise Terminal, which is both a major cruise hub and a working freight yard. This is one of the larger cruise ports in the Caribbean — it can accommodate up to six cruise ships at a time, and that doesn’t include freighters. Thankfully, today it was just us the tiny, yacht-style SeaDream II, which looked like one of Rotterdam’s lifeboats, and Marella Explorer.

Rotterdam pulled in just before 8am, got tied up, and we were cleared to go ashore a few minutes later. Where we were docked required about an eight-minute walk down the long breakwater to reach the actual terminal building. Now, when I say “eight-minute walk,” I mean eight minutes in Barbados heat and humidity, which was a bit brutal. Thankfully, Holland America arranged for complimentary shuttle buses back and forth all day for anyone who didn’t want to make the trek — or melt.

Once you get into the terminal, it’s actually pretty decent. Not huge, but organized in that classic Caribbean cruise-port way: rows of vendor stalls selling everything from shirts to magnets to bottles of rum, a bunch of benches, and even free Wi-Fi, which was being enjoyed by crew members from both ships chatting and calling their families back home. What it didn’t seem to have was air-conditioning, which meant it was a bit stifling inside — but hey, it’s all part of the experience.

Outside the terminal, there’s a bar serving drinks and snacks, plus a taxi stand with dozens of drivers ready to take you into town or to any of the island’s beaches.

Bridgetown, Barbados Beaches

The taxi stand outside the Bridgetown Cruise Terminal has a sign board with fixed prices to all the local beaches as well as the downtown, so you don’t get the usual “let me make up a number” routine when you ask to go somewhere.  The pic below reflects taxi rates as of my visit on, November 23, 2025.

If you’re looking for a beach day in Barbados, just know you’re not walking to any of them — every option is a taxi ride. The closest one is at the Hilton and it’s called Pebbles Beach, about five minutes from the port. You’ve got chair rentals, bars and restaurants close enough that you won’t starve or dehydrate in the sun.

A few minutes farther brings you to Carlisle Bay Beach, roughly an eight-minute taxi ride and one of the most popular spots on the island. It’s has a long crescent shaped beach and is known as one of the best places for snorkeling thanks to several shallow wrecks just offshore. Some people take a quick boat out there; others just swim straight from the beach.

Then there’s Boatyard Beach, right in front of The Boatyard — a popular beach club that can get very busy with multiple ships in port. This one runs eight to ten minutes by taxi and you buy a day pass that usually includes a drink and your lounger setup, plus access to all the beach-club amenities. If you’re a crew member, ask about the crew discount.

If you want a livelier atmosphere, Accra Beach (Rockley Beach) is one of the island’s party beaches. It’s about 10–12 minutes away and loaded with food stalls, beach bars, and chair rentals. You can spend the day bouncing between the bars and the ocean all the while hoping you’re not too drunk to forget what time it is and miss the all aboard time.

A bit farther is Miami Beach, about 20 minutes by taxi and more of beach for locals.

For something even more removed from the crowds, Mullins Beach is about 30 minutes away. It’s the furthest on the list, which is exactly why a lot of people love it — especially on days when five or six ships are in port. If you’re looking for fewer people, it’s worth the ride.

Finally, Paynes Bay Beach sits about 20 minutes from the port and is popular with anyone who wants to snorkel with turtles without getting on a boat. It’s got food, drinks, restrooms, and easy access to the water. If snorkeling is something you want to do, Paynes Bay is probably where you want to head.

Bridgetown Shore Excursions

One thing I figured out very quickly as I started wandering around Bridgetown — more on that little adventure in a minute — is that this place is absolutely an “excursion port.” Meaning: unless you’re totally fine doing a whole lot of walking or grabbing a taxi straight to a beach, pretty much everything else that’s worth doing requires an actual tour. This isn’t like St. Maarten where you can just wander into town and stumble into bars and shops for hours. Bridgetown? You step outside the port and it’s basically: “So… where is ______?”

When it comes to shore excursions in Barbados, the ones that most cruisers sign up for are the catamaran and snorkel trips. Barbados is known for doing these type of trips really well.

Island tours are another one of those best-sellers. You’ll get taken to places llike Cherry Tree Hill with its overlook, Bathsheba with the great views of the  coastline, St. John’s Parish Church, and then a bunch of places where the van pulls over, everyone piles out for two minutes, takes the exact same photo, then hops back in. If you’re into rum, Barbados literally invented the stuff, so tastings at Mount Gay or St. Nicholas Abbey are always ones that sell out quickly.

Barbados is 100% a “book through the ship” port. Traffic here can be a major disaster, everything is farther away than you think, and if you book some random guy with a van who promises he can get you back by all-aboard… well, good luck. The ship will not wait for you if that third-party decides to operate on island time. But they will wait for their own excursions, and that peace of mind is worth the extra twenty bucks — especially when the alternative is standing on the pier watching Rotterdam sail away without you.

Wandering Around Bridgetown on Foot

I didn’t exactly have a well–thought-out plan of attack for today. My strategy — if you can even call it that — was basically, “Get off the ship and wander around for a bit.” Well, that “bit” turned into over 12 miles of wandering… which left me sweaty, tired, and semi-miserable by the time dinner rolled around.

As I mentioned earlier, where the ship docks is not exactly convenient to, well… anything. Remember that long, scenic (read: not scenic at all) walk from the ship to the cruise terminal? Great. Now add more walking from the terminal, past the taxi stand, past the vehicle security checkpoint, past more nothingness, and keep going until you start questioning your life choices. That’s the route into downtown. Yes, you can walk it if you’re stubborn — guilty — but don’t expect much along the way. The entire stretch between the port and town is lined with non-descript warehouses and commercial buildings.

There is a tiny waterfront park with a few benches and I spotted one little bar/restaurant across from the waterfront, but other than that it was me, the sun, and my rapidly dwindling enthusiasm. Every block I kept thinking, “Where is everything???” Finally — finally — downtown came into view, but it was still farther away than my legs wanted it to be.

Eventually, I reached The Boardwalk, which is an area along the water where catamarans dock. There are some benches here, and across the street you’ll find restaurants and bars — or at least the idea of restaurants and bars, but we’ll get to that. Continuing on, I crossed the Chamberlain Bridge, which used to be a swing bridge built in 1872 but was replaced in 2006 with a lifting bridge. Fun little fact: the bridge closes to pedestrian traffic at various times during the day, so pay attention to the posted hours.

Once you cross, you end up in Independence Square — a small park that, on this particular Sunday, had a lively crowd of… absolutely nobody except a few homeless guys. I did the world’s fastest walk-through and made my escape back across the bridge into the downtown.

Now here’s the surprising part: downtown Bridgetown actually has fantastic architecture. Lots of old stone buildings, colonial-era facades, and pops of color here and there. One structure that caught my eye was the skeletal remains of a building with a faded sign reading “EMPIRE.” Once upon a time, this was the Empire Cinema, built in the early 1900s before falling into disrepair decades later. Today it looks like the perfect filming location for a zombie movie.  It’s fenced off, but as I was walking by, I was suddenly surprised to find a homeless guy with his pants down between the fence and the small stone wall along the sidewalk.

Welcome to Barbados!

Here’s the kicker though… there are tons of shops, bars, restaurants, and storefronts downtown that would normally give this place some life. But today was Sunday — and apparently Barbados takes Sunday seriously. Almost everything — and I mean almost everything — was closed. Half the ship was complaining about it, but really… what can you do?

Where are the atheists when you need them?

Join Me for a Walk Around Bridgeport, Barbados

Please note, this video was originally presented as a Facebook Live and was shot from my Ray Ban Meta glasses, so video quality is not the best, but it will still give you a good idea of the area surrounding the port.  My commentary is unscripted, raw and in the moment.

Keeping Rotterdam Shiny

One thing about Holland America is how seriously they take ship maintenance. While Rotterdam was docked in Bridgetown, the crew was out in full force giving her a spa day.

On the pier, several cherry pickers were positioned alongside the ship, with teams working on the port-side lifeboat davits.

Elsewhere along the hull, you could see paint crews touching up spots — the little chips and scuffs a ship naturally collects when it’s docking every few days. They were working hard to make Rotterdam’s signature deep blue hull shine.

But the part that really caught my eye was the tiny work boat bobbing in the harbor next to the starboard side. Two crew members were literally drifting along the hull, repainting areas as they floated.

If you’ve sailed HAL for any amount of time, you know this isn’t unusual — the line is big on continuous maintenance. You’ll find crew constantly polishing railing, varnishing wood, swapping out tiles, tightening bolts, deep-cleaning, and giving the ship constant touchups so it always feels fresh and well-kept.  And she certainly does!

Entertainment On Rotterdam

Entertainment on Rotterdam has been a bit of a mixed bag on this sailing, and depending on who you ask, it’s either “fantastic as always” or “what on earth is HAL doing?” Let’s start with the biggest crowd pleaser: B.B. King’s Blues Club, which continues to be the ship’s MVP. Every single night — without fail — B.B. King’s delivered three full sets at 8:15pm, 9:15pm, and 10:15pm, and every one of those sets played to a packed house. You couldn’t find an empty seat unless you camped out early. The All-Stars were tight, energetic, and absolutely the strongest entertainment offering onboard. If you’re looking for guaranteed fun on Rotterdam, you go to B.B. King’s.

Then we get to the Rolling Stone Rock Room, which is where the controversy comes in. Normally you’d expect three nightly sets here too — the classic 7:15, 8:45, 10:15 pattern — but that didn’t happen on this cruise. In fact, nowhere close. Rolling Stone had multiple nights where the schedule said “Returns Tomorrow,” meaning they didn’t perform at all. Other nights they only played a single late-night set, usually at 10:15pm or 10:30pm. Only a couple of nights offered the full three-set lineup.

Guests have definitely noticed, both onboard and in the Facebook groups, and the tone ranges from confused to annoyed. One of the band members actually confirmed what guests suspected: HAL is pulling the Rolling Stone band into the World Stage production shows, which leaves them with fewer hours (or no hours) to perform in the Rock Room. She very kindly suggested that anyone unhappy with the reduced schedule should note it in their post-cruise survey. The irony is that when Rolling Stone actually gets to play, the room is absolutely jammed. Guests still love them. There’s just a whole lot less of their performances.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, you have the classical/strings performances, which HAL brought back because longtime loyal Mariners insisted they were essential to the brand. And while the musicians are incredibly talented, the reality is… attendance has been thin. They were scheduled almost daily, sometimes two or three times per day, yet the turnout never really matched the level of demand guests claimed they had for these performances. It’s one of those classic cases where people say “I want HAL to keep its traditions!” and then those same people are nowhere to be found when the traditions actually appear on the schedule.

Finally, we get to World Stage, which had something going on nearly every day — comedians, pianists, port talks, and the entire roster of Step One shows. Structurally, World Stage is busy. But quality-wise? This remains, in my opinion, the weakest link in HAL’s entertainment lineup. The Step One shows like “MOVE” and “SING!” are heavy on screens and light on substance.

The guest entertainers were far better received than the resident troupe, which seems to be a common theme across the fleet these days. And remember, it’s World Stage’s programming that is now siphoning off the Rolling Stone musicians, creating the gaps in the Rock Room schedule that everyone’s talking about.

So the overall entertainment picture on Rotterdam looks like this: B.B. King’s is packed nightly, Rolling Stone is fantastic but dramatically under-scheduled, classical is back but barely attended, and Step One continues to be the soft spot in HAL’s lineup. It all works — but some pieces work a whole lot better than others. And based on the passenger chatter, if HAL wants to know how people feel about the cutbacks in Rolling Stone performances… well, they’re about to find out when the surveys hit.

Holland America Line Dress Code

Tonight was another casual night on Rotterdam, which is the perfect excuse to talk about dress code — something longtime HAL loyalists love to debate almost as much as chair hogging and the lack of a Catholic priest onboard for every sailing.  Yes, that was a social media firestorm!

If you sailed HAL back in the day, you probably remember when evenings onboard meant ladies in cocktail dresses and men sweating through their suit coats whether it was “dressy” night or not. Well… the HAL of 2025 is not that HAL anymore. The older demographic still brings the suit jackets every night, but they’re absolutely the minority now, especially on Caribbean runs.

Casual nights are exactly that: casual. You’re not getting turned away from any dining venue if you show up in nice jeans and a polo. (Now, if you wander into Pinnacle Grill in flip-flops and a swimsuit cover-up, yeah, you’re getting sent back to your stateroom — and rightfully so.)

Even on “dressy” nights, the vibe is basically business casual across the board. A handful of people go all-in with dresses and jackets, but most guests keep it simple, comfortable, and appropriate. And note: dressy nights are not enforced. Wear what makes you feel good as long as it doesn’t dip below that business-casual baseline.

Dinner at Pinnacle Grill on Rotterdam

After enjoying a few cocktails and good conversation (until someone decided to start talking politics) at Half Moon Bar, it was time to figure out the most important question of the night: where am I eating? Nothing on the MDR menu jumped out at me, and the Lido Market options weren’t calling my name either, so I did what any reasonable, slightly buzzed cruiser would do — I headed straight for Pinnacle Grill.

Pinnacle is Holland America’s signature steakhouse and one of the most consistently good specialty restaurants across the entire fleet. Dinner will run you $52 per person plus 18%, and if you go at lunch on select sea days, it’s $25 plus 18%.

Before talking about what I had, here’s a look at what other’s were enjoying at the MDR and Lido Market.

Lido Market Dinner Menu

Main Dining Room Dinner Menu

Pinnacle Grill Menu

Tonight, I actually did something I’ve been saying I need to do:  I told my server to “hold the bread.” At Pinnacle, that’s a really hard decision to make because the bread basket is basically a carb lover’s dream — all the glutenous delights calling your name. But I held firm… mostly because I wanted to actually fit into my clothes tomorrow, which unfortunately are starting to get a little tight.

Ozempic?  You around?

I kicked things off with a tableside gin and tonic, made with Holland America’s own De Lijn gin and loaded up with botanicals.

For appetizers, I started with one of the Caribbean-season specials: the Jerked Chicken Bao and this thing was good. A warm bao stuffed with tender chicken that had just the right amount of kick. I’m not kidding when I say I briefly considered telling my server, “Cancel everything else and just keep these coming.” It was that good.

I also ordered the shrimp cocktail, which came with three shrimp. Three. For a steakhouse, that’s… skimpy.  Standard cocktail sauce, nothing over-the-top, perfectly fine, but the bao was the star of the starters.

For my main course, I decided to make the night feel a little special — just… because. And when you want to treat yourself at a steakhouse, there’s really only one answer: surf and turf.

I went with the 8oz filet, cooked Pittsburgh rare, which is charred on the outside, cool and rare on the inside — and something most steakhouses absolutely butcher (no pun intended). Pinnacle Grill nailed it. Perfect sear, perfect interior, exactly what I wanted.

To add the “surf,” I tacked on the $19 upcharge 12oz Caribbean lobster tail, and told my server to hold the melted butter. My logic was simple: if I passed on the bread basket, I might as well continue pretending I have self-control. The tail was deshelled tableside, sweet, tender, and honestly didn’t need the butter anyway.

It was the exact kind of classic steakhouse combo that is worth every extra calorie.

When it came time for dessert, I finished the night off with the Artisan Cheese Plate and a glass of port.

Once again, service was outstanding and the food was fantastic.

Rotterdam is currently heading to our next to last port of call, Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadalupe.  I need to brush up on my French for tomorrow’s visit, so that’s all for today.  As always, thanks for following along!

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