Holland America Rotterdam 9-Day Southern Caribbean Cruise Review – Day 3: November 30, 2025

Day three of this 9-day Southern Caribbean adventure was spent at sea as we make our way toward our first port of call, Willemstad, Curaçao. If you’ve been following along since the Day 1 of this 21-day Rotterdam marathon, you already know the previous 12-day segment was filled with warm temps, sometimes unbearable humidity, plenty of sunshine and seas flat as a Dutch Stroopwafel (see what I did there?). Then we sailed back into Fort Lauderdale and—bam—Mother Nature hit us with a Florida cold front that dropped temps into the low 50s.

Yikes.

Ever since sail-away on Friday, Mother Nature has been a you know what. Clouds, passing showers, and winds that can best be described as “annoying” have been the norm the past three days, and honestly… it’s getting old. Thankfully, the ship’s Lido Pool has a giant retractable roof, which has been the saving grace for anyone hoping to squeeze in some pool time. I’ve learned the “it’s gonna rain” warning sign: when you hear “beep, beep, beep, beep, beep” overhead, that’s the roof sliding shut — and, without fail, it rains about ten minutes later. When the “beep, beep, beep, beep, beep” happens again, the roof opens, and the sun makes a somewhat brief appearance.

When that roof is closed, the Lido Pool turns into a full-blown greenhouse where people melt into their deck chairs but refuse to leave because football is on the big screen. Sea View Pool on the aft? No roof, no chance. When it rains back there, you’re just… wet.

Of course, with all this weird weather comes choppy seas. Walking around has been a little “hold onto your drink and hope it doesn’t spill” for the last couple of days. Up at the aft where my cabin is (deck 8), the movement is even more noticeable. Picture trying to walk to the bathroom at 3am in the dark while the ship bounces up and down — that’s been my nightly adventure.

The captain has been reminding everyone to hold handrails, watch their step, and avoid the outer promenade when it’s closed due to wind gusts or slippery decks. Meanwhile, the upper decks have stayed open.

Let’s Talk Stabilizers

Since today has been a whole lot of rocking and rolling (and not the fun Rolling Stone Rock Room kind), this is the perfect time to talk about something cruise ships have to make the journey a little more comfortable when the seas get a little choppy: stabilizers.

On Rotterdam and pretty much every modern cruise ship, stabilizers are enormous, wing-like fins hidden below the waterline about midship.  You can see where they are located underwater by looking for this symbol on the side of the ship.  The symbol indicates that below the waterline, in this exact position, is one of the ship’s stabilizers.

Think of them as underwater airplane wings. When the seas get choppy, these fins extend out from the hull and make tiny, constant adjustments to counteract the rolling motion of the ship. They’re powered by computer systems that sense wave patterns and automatically adjust the angle of the fins to keep things as smooth as possible.

They’re not used all the time — typically only when the ship is underway and the sea conditions call for it. In calm waters, they stay tucked inside. But when things get bumpy, the stabilizers kick in, and they can make a huge difference. Without them? On a rough day, you’re gonna be stuck in the bathroom.

But even with stabilizers working hard behind the scenes, motion is still motion, and people do get seasick. Which brings me to…

Seasickness: Why It Happens & How to Make Sure It Happens to Someone Else (Not You)

I don’t get seasick — thankfully — but even some seasoned sailors get hit with a touch of green. And when it happens, it can ruin your day real quick. While the seas haven’t been rough enough for HAL to break out the strategically-placed stairwell barf bags (yes, that’s a thing), I’ve definitely noticed fewer faces at dinner, and fewer bodies in the bars.  In fact, one woman was excited that she could enjoy a few cocktails as her husband (a Navy vet, by the way) is stuck in the room feeling seasick!

Whether you’re a first-time cruiser or a Five-Star Mariner, seasickness can strike when you least expect it. So here are some tried-and-true tips:

• Sea-Bands – Those elastic wristbands with the little pressure bead? People swear by them, but whether they work or not is a different story, but they are totally drug-free.
• Ginger everything – Ginger ale, ginger candies, ginger tablets — ginger is a natural nausea fighter. Tip: Ask the dining room or Lido to give you some fresh ginger, that works even better.
• Green apples – This is an old sailor’s trick. Most buffets have a stash handy for this exact reason.
• Dramamine / Bonine – Over-the-counter meds work wonders, especially the non-drowsy formulas. Start taking them before you feel sick, because they do nothing once you start worshiping the porcelain god.
• Prescription patches (Scopolamine) – If you’re prone to seasickness, ask your doctor for the behind-the-ear patch. It lasts three days and works like magic.
• Fresh air & looking at the horizon – Your brain gets confused when your eyes and inner ear don’t match — so give it a stable point to focus on.
• Stay midship, low deck – Scientifically speaking, the lower you go on the ship, sticking to the middle will put you in a spot with the least motion.  First time cruisers who don’t know whether they will get seasick or not, should book something low and mid as a trial.
• Watch the booze – Alcohol and queasiness are not friends. The more you drink, thinking you’re going to out drink seasickness, the more that’s gonna come back up when you least expect it.

Seasickness isn’t fun, but it’s manageable. And with stabilizers doing their thing and everyone armed with green apples and ginger ale, most people bounce back pretty quickly — unless they’re in the casino, losing money. That nausea has nothing to do with the ocean.

Speaking of the casino… well, my friend from Half Moon Bar who did make it into Round Two of the slot tournament didn’t end up advancing any further. But hey — she still made it one round further than I did, so she gets bragging rights for at least the next 24 hours. After that, we pretend Round Two never existed.

Before dinner, I swung by the casino to play a little with some of yesterday’s winnings — and once again, the exact same machines that treated me like the red-headed stepchild for twelve full days suddenly decided they were in a giving mood. This casino cruise… coincidence? Absolutely not. Conspiracy theorists, gather ’round. Something definitely changed between last cruise and this one — and it wasn’t just my cabin number.

I sat down, started playing, and almost immediately the machine was handing out little wins, free games, another bonus, more free games, and then out of absolutely nowhere… BAM — a bonus round hit for $1,160. Just like that. My running total since boarding this 9-day segment is now creeping up toward $2,000, which for gamblers might be an “eh, nice” moment — but for me, the guy who donates money to the casino and never sees anything in return, this is huge. As I’ve said before: I can’t get lucky with a prostitute, let alone a slot machine. Yet somehow… here we are.

Once the machine went cold, I cashed out with $1,600 and left before the casino could change my mind and reclaim it all.

Dinner at Tamarind on Rotterdam

Dinner tonight was in one of my all-time Holland America favorites: Tamarind. If you’ve sailed on a HAL ship that has a Tamarind, you already know this place has a bit of a cult following. It’s tucked all the way aft on Deck 10, looking down on the Sea View Pool, and because we were rocking and rolling tonight, my window seat gave me a front-row view of the pool water sloshing around while one lonely swimmer was getting tossed around. Entertainment included, I guess.

Tamarind itself is split into three areas:

• The main dining room, where the full $35 + 18% prix-fixe menu is served.
• The Tamarind Bar, which offers cocktails, sushi, and a bar-bites menu.
• Morimoto Sushi, where you can sit at the sushi counter and watch the chefs do their magic.

I ate at the bar earlier in the cruise (you can read that in the day 9 report from the previous segment), but tonight was a “proper dinner” night.

Main Dining Room Dinner Menu

Lido Market Dinner Menu

Tamarind Menu

As soon as I sat down, the crispy shrimp crackers arrived along with a lineup of sauces ranging from mild to hot.  Before I even looked at the main menu, I asked for a shrimp tempura roll from Morimoto.

For my starter I went with the Taste of Tamarind, which is basically the “give me everything” sampler. Shrimp tempura, a Korean beef bulgogi taco, Lumpiang Shanghai, and a satay trio with lamb, chicken, and pork.

For the main course, I chose the Thai Basil Szechuan Shrimp — jumbo shrimp tossed in a “medium” chili pepper glaze loaded with basil, mushrooms, scallions, and enough heat to make me question what it would have been like if I asked for the “hot” chili pepper glaze.  I mixed in some fried rice and the sautéed mushrooms I ordered on the side, to try to cut down on the heat.  It was very good, but spicy for sure.

Dessert? I skipped it, even though some ice cream would have cooled down my mouth.

Service was spot-on, timing was perfect, and nothing felt rushed. Tamarind continues to be one of HAL’s best-value specialty restaurants, and remains a consistent favorite of mine.

After dinner it was off to bed.  Tomorrow we are expected to arrive in Curaçao at 8am, so more from there tomorrow.  As always, thanks for folllowing along.

Daily Schedule

Personal Day-By-Day Rotterdam Cruise Review: