Holland America Rotterdam 12-Day Eastern Caribbean Cruise Review – Day 5: November 20, 2025

Day 5 on Rotterdam and today we’re finally off the ship and docked in St. Maarten — our second stop on this 12-day Eastern Caribbean cruise. After Half Moon Cay back on Day 2 and then two full sea days, I was ready to touch land again. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good sea day… but after two in a row, you start looking at the gangway like it’s the entrance to Disney World.

If you’ve never been here, St. Maarten is one of the unique ports in the Caribbean because the island is literally split in half — Dutch on one side, French on the other — and you can just bounce back and forth like it’s no big deal. No border control, no checkpoints, no “passport please,” you just cross a line in the road.

Rotterdam docked at the A.C. Wathey Pier, the main cruise terminal. From there you can walk into Philipsburg which takes about 10-15 minutes, but most people grab the water taxi over to the boardwalk. Once you’re there, Great Bay Beach lines the entire waterfront, the boardwalk is full of bars and restaurants offering “2 beers and 2 shots” deals that should need to come with disclaimers, and Front Street behind it is where all the duty-free shopping lives.

And of course… you can’t talk about St. Maarten without mentioning Maho Beach, the famous “airplane beach.” This is the one you’ve seen in every YouTube video where jumbo jets soar right over the beach as they land at Princess Juliana Airport. People literally stand there gripping the fence while the jet blast from takeoffs sends sand flying everywhere. It’s chaotic, loud, totally unsafe looking, and one of the most iconic things you can do on the island. Even if you don’t go, chances are someone from your ship will come back telling stories about almost being blown into the ocean.

If you want to explore beyond Philipsburg, head to the French side and you’ll hit Marigot with open-air markets, little cafés, and Fort St. Louis up on the hill if you’re into climbing for a good view. Keep going, and you’ll reach Grand Case, which is supposed to be the foodie capital of the island.

If you’re looking for a beach day, the obvious choice is to just walk or water taxi over to the boardwalk.  While the beach is free to use, there are vendors renting chairs and umbrellas.  The farther down the boardwalk you go, the cheaper the prices get.  Most also include drinks, and Wi Fi.  If Great Bay and Maho Beach aren’t your thing, you can go over to the French side’s famous Orient Beach, which is stunning and has (surprise!) a clothing-optional section. There are also smaller beaches scattered all around if you want something quieter.

While I was sitting at the bar before dinner, a couple struck up a conversation with me and started telling me about their day at Orient Beach — specifically the clothing-optional section. And the wife did not hold back. According to her, the entire area was filled with, in her words, “old men whose nether bits have completely surrendered to gravity,” and she admitted it was nearly impossible not to stare.

I mean… how do you even follow up a story like that? You can’t. You just nod, sip your drink, and mentally add “yep, that sounds about right for the French side” to the list of reasons to stick on the Dutch side.

If you’re looking for excursions, St. Maarten has about a thousand different options — snorkeling, sailing, kayaking, and even Segway tours. According to the port guide, the island has more marinas per square mile than anywhere else in the world, so if getting on the water is your thing, this is the place to do it. As always, my standard disclaimer stands, always book your excursions thru the cruise line.

Now, a quick side tangent because it fits perfectly with the whole “Caribbean excursion roulette” theme. Jason published his Day 7 report from the Disney Magic today, and in it, he talked about an excursion they did in St. Kitts. Even though they booked it directly through Disney — which is supposed to be the safer, more reliable option — the whole thing fell apart the moment they were handed off to the third-party tour operator on the island. And honestly, that doesn’t surprise me one bit.

Here’s the thing about Caribbean shore excursions: they’re always a crapshoot.  Sometimes you get a fantastic operator… and sometimes you get “Oh dear lord, what have I gotten myself into?”

You never really know what you’re going to get until you’re already 15 minutes into the tour and it’s too late to bail.

A few truths about Caribbean excursions that people don’t always talk about:

• The quality of the operator varies wildly. One tour might be polished, professional, and worth every penny; the next might feel like someone grabbed a cousin, a van, and a clipboard and said, “Congrats, you’re a tour guide now.”
• Vehicles are hit or miss — and that’s putting it nicely. Air-conditioning that doesn’t work, seatbelts that mysteriously don’t exist, windows that don’t open, and brakes that make noises no brake system should ever make.
• Safety standards aren’t exactly… consistent. Let’s just say OSHA is nowhere in sight. If a tour requires a helmet, harness, flotation device, or anything involving physics, you are taking that leap on faith alone.

Because of all that, I honestly prefer to explore on my own in a lot of ports, especially ones like St. Maarten where everything is walkable or a quick taxi ride away. When you go off on your own:

• You move at your own pace
• You aren’t trapped in a van with 14 strangers who may or may not understand “be back by 2:00 pm”
• You can turn around the second something feels off
• You get way more freedom to eat, shop, beach, or wander wherever you want
• And if the beach is full of “gravity-challenged old men,” you can quietly exit stage left

The Caribbean is beautiful, but excursions here can be a mixed bag even when booked through a big cruise line. That’s why exploring on foot is usually my go-to unless there’s something genuinely unique I want to see.

Ship Spotting in St. Maarten

Rotterdam arrived right on schedule at 8:00am, with an all-aboard time of 5:30pm, giving us a nice long day ashore in St. Maarten. And today wasn’t just busy on land — it was a very interesting day for ship-spotting, because we were joined in port by a pretty eclectic mix of vessels.

First up was Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas, the second ship in the brand-new Icon Class and is one of the biggest cruise ships in the world.  She’s the complete opposite of a classic Holland America ship, but she’s impressive to look at and completely dominates the skyline when she’s in port. You can’t miss her — she’s basically a floating city that gives me anxiety even looking at her thinking of 7,000+ people and kids going wild.

Then there was Azamara Quest, which is a rare ship to run into because she’s one of the former Renaissance Cruises R-class ships. Holland America actually operates two of these ships today, the Volendam and Zaandam. The R-class ships are known for their smaller size, cozy lounges, and yacht-like feel and are beloved by HAL loyalists.

We also had Seven Seas Grandeur from Regent Seven Seas, one of the ultra-luxury lines. This ship is basically the exact opposite of the “2-for-1 drink specials on the boardwalk” vibe — all-suite accommodations, fine dining, and a guest-to-crew ratio that would make most hotels jealous.

And rounding things out, we had Windstar’s Star Pride, one of Windstar’s small yacht-style ships. She’s one of the former Seabourn ships that Windstar stretched a few years ago — literally cut in half and lengthened — adding more suites and amenities while still keeping that intimate, upscale yacht feel.

Not a bad collection of ships to share a pier with.

Surprisingly there were zero pier runners today, but then again on Holland America that would be rare. Everyone made it back on time, and Rotterdam actually pushed off a few minutes early, setting a course for our next port of call: Castries, St. Lucia, a little over 240 nautical miles away.

Dinner at Canaletto on Rotterdam

Dinner tonight was at Canaletto, the ship’s Italian restaurant, which comes in at $25 per person and is tucked into its own little corner of the Lido Market on Deck 9. It’s technically part of the Lido, but once you’re in the space — with the different décor and the dedicated servers — it feels separate enough to count as a real specialty restaurant.

Canaletto is always a must-do for me because the food is consistently good, the portions are generous, and for the price, it’s one of the better values on the ship. Is it the best Italian meal you’re ever going to have in your life? Obviously not. But if you enjoy a night out at Maggiano’s, think of this as the at-sea equivalent.

Canaletto New November 2025 Menu

Now, about that menu…

A new menu rolled out recently, and I mentioned this last week on Zuiderdam, but the beloved osso buco has officially been removed. This is why I grabbed a final farewell serving of it last cruise, because people are not taking the news well. HAL Facebook groups and forums have been wall-to-wall groaning about this.

In its place is a veal scaloppine, which I’ll try on a future visit — but it’s not osso buco. The good news? HAL really does listen to guest feedback, and enough people have voiced their disappointment that I wouldn’t be shocked to see it make a comeback. Until then… we grieve.

Lido Dinner Menu

Main Dining Room Dinner Menu

I didn’t bother making a reservation tonight — I figured I’d take my chances — and at about 8:15pm I walked right up and was seated immediately at a window table.

Dinner kicked off with the bread service, which is always one of my favorite parts of Canaletto. You get a roasted pepper spread, tapenade, olive oil and balsamic, plus olives. One of these nights I need to remember to save a piece of bread for the leftover sauce from the meatballs because that’s the move.

For appetizers, I went with my usual meatballs, which are always a solid choice and then the grilled shrimp, which came with three jumbo shrimp cooked perfectly.

For my main course, I went with the herb- and Parmesan-crusted chicken breast — which, let’s be honest, is basically Canaletto’s version of chicken Parm. It came with potatoes, green beans, and a a few pieces of fried zucchini that was on the bland side.

The chicken itself, though, was solid. You get two good-sized breasts, nicely tender, with more of that same sauce from the meatballs.   It’s a generous portion and a good choice if you’re hungry. That said, next time I might ask them to swap the potatoes and zucchini for a side of pasta instead — because if I’m having chicken Parm, I want pasta.

When it came time for dessert, I decided to pass. But dinner itself was paced perfectly. Courses came out with just the right amount of time between them, nothing felt rushed, and the service was spot-on. All in all, a really nice, relaxed evening at one of my favorite “can’t-miss” spots on Rotterdam.

After Dinner Shenanigans

After dinner I decided to try my luck in the casino, and once again it was absolutely jam-packed. They also activated those extra slot machines they rolled out on the first and second night — the ones sitting in what used to be the Ocean Bar lounge — and people were “warming them up” like their lives depended on it.

I played in the main casino for a bit but didn’t walk away a winner. Not even close. Once my nightly budget evaporated, I took the hint and wandered over to the Rolling Stone Rock Room, which was standing-room-only.

From there I made my way over to the B.B. King’s Blues Club, and that place was packed as well. The band was absolutely incredible. I stayed for a while before finally calling it a night.

We’re sailing toward our next port, Castries, St. Lucia, with Rotterdam scheduled to arrive around 10am. More tomorrow — and as always, thanks for following along!

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