Holland America Rotterdam 9-Day Southern Caribbean Cruise Review – Day 2: November 29, 2025

Here we go again! Day 2 of this cruise — and Day 14 of my full 21-day Rotterdam voyage — was spent at sea as we make our way toward our first port of call on this segment, Willemstad, Curaçao, where we’re scheduled to arrive Monday right at noon. If you’re just joining in on this half of the adventure, remember: this is the second leg of my back-to-back cruise, and a LOT of ship info, reviews, tours, and food commentary has already been covered during the first 12-day voyage. You can start from Day 1 of that report by clicking here if you want the full Rotterdam rundown. I’ll do my best not to repeat too much — but hey, I’ve been on this ship for two weeks now… there may be a little overlap!

Holland America Rotterdam 12-Day Eastern Caribbean Cruise Review – Day 1: November 16, 2025

Now, as I mentioned yesterday, this 9-day segment is a casino tournament cruise, which means there are a lot of slot players, some giveaways, and a $25,000 prize pool that everyone who’s part of the tournament suddenly thinks they have a good shot at winning, including myself. Yesterday all tournament players had to check in, sign a waiver, grab their randomly assigned machine number and play time for Round One, and, of course, pick up the always-anticipated swag bag. This time around, the swag included a really nice beach tote and a stainless-steel water bottle.

The tournament is held in the Ocean Bar, where a row of slot machines was added last week specifically for this event. 14 machines, each assigned to a player for Round One. When your group is called, you sit down, wait for the countdown, and then for three straight minutes you slap the spin button like your life depends on it while simultaneously tapping diamonds on the screen to rack up bonus points. There’s no thinking, no strategy, no timing — just speed, stamina, and the hope that your arm doesn’t fall off by the final 20 seconds.

Each player gets one chance in Round One. The top 140 scores across all players move on to Round Two.

Everyone else?

Thanks for playing — enjoy the consolation beach bag.

My assigned time was 9:10 AM — and if you’re late, tough luck, you don’t play. No exceptions. So I showed up at 9:00, checked in, and waited for the previous group to finish up. Then our group was led in, assigned to our machines, and the countdown began.

Three. Solid. Minutes.

If you’ve never done one of these tournaments, imagine furiously drumming your fingers on a desk while tapping your phone screen nonstop, all while a stranger shouts “C’MON BABY, LET’S GO!” behind you. That’s it in a nutshell.

When the time was up, my score was just under 6,150,000 points.

But here’s the thing… Only the top 140 players advance to Round Two.

And with a ship full of slot enthusiasts, competition is fierce.

The leaderboard gets posted at 8 PM, so… keep reading to find out if I made it to Round Two or not.

Yeah, I know. I’m a tease.

Holland America’s Loyalty Program: Mariner Society

In yesterday’s report, I mentioned that I was going to talk a bit about Holland America’s loyalty program, because I just earned another star!

With all the uproar lately about loyalty-program changes over at sister-brand Carnival Cruise Line, it’s worth taking a moment to give some praise to Holland America for having one of the easiest, most generous, and most straightforward programs out there. Their program, called the Mariner Society, has no hoops to jump through, no confusing math, no “earn 900 points per dollar unless it’s a Tuesday with a full moon” stuff — you sail, you spend, you earn, and the perks add up.

How You Earn Credits & Star Levels

Once you complete your first HAL cruise, you’re automatically enrolled. From there, the system is simple:

• You earn 1 Cruise Day credit for every night you sail.
• If you book and pay the published fare for a suite, you earn double credits for those nights.
• For every $300 you spend onboard (dining, spa, shops, excursions, etc.), you earn 1 extra Cruise Day credit.
  • Things like casino charges, cash advances, and future cruise deposits don’t count, but the stuff most people regularly spend on does.

Your accumulated credits determine your “Star” level:

• 1-Star: Complete your first cruise (no minimum).
• 2-Star: 30–74 credits
• 3-Star: 75–199 credits
• 4-Star: 200–499 credits
• 5-Star: 500+ credits
• Presidents Club: 1,400+ actual days sailed — the holy grail of HAL loyalty.

Here’s the short version of why HAL gets this right:

• 1-Star Perks:
  • You get the Mariner luncheon, a cocktail voucher, and periodic promos like 50% off 3rd/4th guests or bonus onboard credit when new seasons open for booking.
• 2-Star Perks:
  • Everything above, plus discounts on HAL-logo merchandise and a commemorative photo and pin.
• 3-Star Perks:
  • This is where things start getting good — 25% off specialty restaurants, minibar items, wine packages, and specialty beverages. You also get discounts on spa treatments and invites to Mariner Society receptions.
• 4-Star Perks (the sweet spot):
  • Half-off specialty restaurants and wine packages, complimentary laundry (a huge perk on longer cruises), priority boarding/tendering/disembarkation, complimentary wine tastings, and earlier access for shore excursions.
• 5-Star Perks:
  • Two free specialty-dining nights each cruise, a complimentary thermal-suite day pass (where available), and a 100-minute internet package. It’s an elite tier for people who basically live on HAL ships.

The whole thing is simple and it works. Days sailed + suite nights + onboard spending = stars.

Where the Mariner Society Program Falls Short

Now… let me talk about the one sticking point I do have with Holland America’s Mariner Society — actually, two things — because as much as I love this program (and clearly, I do), it’s not perfect.

First issue: Mariner points don’t post to your account until 7 to 10 days after you disembark.  I’m sorry, but with the level of technology cruise lines have today, that’s just unacceptable. There’s absolutely no reason why we can’t have points posted within a day or two of leaving the ship. Other cruise lines manage to update loyalty status almost instantly… HAL should be right there with them.

Second issue — and this is the big one:  Unlike other cruise lines, Holland America will not move you up to the next loyalty tier during your current cruise unless you’re on a Grand Voyage.  For Grand Voyages, if you hit the magic number of days mid-sailing, your new tier kicks in immediately.  For every other sailing, including the one I’m on, your new status only applies to your next cruise — even if you hit the threshold halfway through your current one.

So in my case, I crossed into 4-Star Mariner partway through the previous 12-day segment. So, I started the conversation with Albert at Guest Services — he’s the Mariner Society rep onboard and an absolute saint — and he confirmed what I already knew:

✔️ My math added up
✔️ I would definitely cross the 4-Star threshold before this 9-day cruise
❌ But HAL doesn’t “pull ahead” status levels
❌ And the points still take those infamous 7–10 days to post

However… here’s where a little persistence pays off.

Albert offered to submit a request explaining the situation and showing the math — essentially asking Mariner HQ if they’d be willing to grant a “pull ahead” anyway. After several days of back-and-forth, including me being a professional pain in the rear, he came back and told me:

Approved!

They would push me to 4-Star now, and I’d get the benefits for this entire 9-day segment.

But let me tell you… going from 3-Star to 4-Star on a long voyage like this?  Huge.

Free laundry: I have 21 days of clothing that’s piling up.

50% off Pinnacle Grill, Tamarind, and Canaletto: Considering how often I eat in the specialty restaurants, this is enormous.

So yes, I may have had to nudge the process along, but it was absolutely worth it. And you can bet I submitted a comment via the Navigator App about Albert — the man worked magic to make those four stars appear for this segment, and I’m beyond grateful.

Giving Recognition Where Recognition is Due

Now let’s talk comments — because since we’re already on the topic of loyalty and recognition, this is the perfect place to bring it up. I can’t stress enough how important comments are for the crew. Every cruise line sends out a post-cruise survey asking for your overall thoughts, and they always include a section where you can call out specific crew members or departments who made your cruise better. Those mentions don’t just disappear — they’re actually passed along to the crew, and they matter a lot. We’re talking future assignments, time off, promotions, contract opportunities… it all adds up.

But Holland America takes it a step further.

Inside the Navigator App, there’s an option to submit comments in real time — good or bad — and even request a follow-up from Guest Services if you want one. Just scroll all the way down on the home screen, tap Contact Us, then Share Feedback, and type away. Be sure to mention the crew member by name and give a bit of detail. Two sentences is plenty. These comments are distributed daily to the crew you mention.

And here’s the part most guests don’t know:  For every positive comment a crew member receives, they earn a little “coupon” that gives them 15 minutes of time off. Fifteen minutes might not sound like much to us, but considering the long hours these guys and gals work, those 15 minnutes of downtime here and there make a huge difference in their day-to-day life on board.

So here’s the bottom line:
✔ Fill out the post-cruise survey. Every. Single. Time.
✔ Use the in-app comment feature. It takes 30 seconds and directly benefits the people who make your vacation amazing.

If someone goes above and beyond — your room steward, a bartender, a server, The Retreat team, anyone who made even a tiny difference — recognize them. It’s truly one of the easiest ways to give back to the people who work unbelievably hard to make your cruise special.

Finally… a Win!

After a few cocktails at Half Moon Bar (because of course that’s where I was when 8pm rolled around), it was time for the big moment — the reveal of the leaderboard for the slot tournament. And… drumroll please… nope. I didn’t make it to Round Two. The cutoff for the top 140 players was 6,510,000 points and above, and I was sitting just under 6,150,000. Close, but close doesn’t get you another round of arm-numbing button-slapping glory.

However — silver lining — one of my fellow bar-regulars at Half Moon Bar did squeak into Round Two, so I’ll be following her progress.

Now… while we’re on the subject of casinos, let’s talk about that topic everyone has opinions on but pretends they don’t: the odds. Look — with modern casino tech, yes, cruise lines absolutely have the ability to tweak slot machine odds on the fly. Do they do it? Well, theories abound. But we all know one universal truth: this is definitely not Vegas.

Case in point — last cruise, I played the same bank of machines day after day. I like what I like. And those machines robbed me blind. Outside of a few pity free spins, some “all that for this?” bonus rounds, and the occasional under $50 win, I spent 12 days feeding those things with no return on investment.

Fast-forward to this cruise — same ship, same casino, same exact machines. I sit down, charge $100 to the room (as one does), start playing… and suddenly it’s like the slot gods flipped a switch. Free games popping up. Small wins keeping me alive. A sweet $150 hit. More bonus features. And then — during a free spin round — boom: a $550 win.

I watched my total climb to a little over $800 before I inevitably fed about $500 of it back (shocking, I know), and cashed out at $300 ahead.

So, conspiracy theories? Coincidence? Divine intervention? Who knows. But something is very, very different around here this week, and I’m not complaining. We’ll see how the rest of the cruise plays out — hopefully the machines stay in a generous mood.

Stay tuned.

Dinner at Canaletto

With a look of sadness on my face for not making it into round two of the tournament, I did what any rational adult does when they’re feeling a little deflated… I went and gorged on Italian food. When in doubt, carbs. Tonight I headed to the ship’s Italian restaurant, Canaletto, tucked into the corner of the Lido Market. It’s $25 a person +18%, but with that shiny new fifty percent off Four Star benefit!

Lido Market Dinner Menu

Main Dining Room Dinner Menu

Canaletto Dinner Menu

Ann, the host, grabbed me a window seat, and Jimmy, who served me last time, took over from there. Dinner always starts with warm bread and a trio of dips.

I went with the meatballs, which are always solid, and I made sure to remind myself to save a piece of bread for mopping up the sauce at the end because that’s the best part. I also grabbed a tomato and burrata salad. Fresh burrata made on the shio and sweet chilled tomatoes. Simple but so good.

For the main course, I was torn. I wanted to try the new veal marsala that replaced the fan favorite osso bucco fleetwide this week. The collective HAL fandom is still mourning that one. HAL, I know you’re reading this. Bring the osso bucco back! Anyway, when I asked Jimmy what he’d pick, he didn’t even pause. Short ribs. So short ribs it was. Three big pieces, fork tender, swimming in a rich brown sauce that was a great choice.

When dessert rolled around, I had every intention of skipping it, but Jimmy said he already prepared some gelato for me. Well, OK then. Who am I to crush a man’s dreams. Three flavors came out including pistachio which is the one nut I’m actually allergic to. But I rolled the dice because sometimes you just take chances in life. I didn’t break out in hives, so I’ll chalk that up as a win.

After dinner it was straight to bed because we moved the clocks ahead again. These time changes are getting ridiculous. Just stay on Florida time and call it a day. Enough with the forward an hour, back an hour nonsense. Tomorrow is another sea day, so I’ll have more to share in the next report. Thanks for following along.

Daily Schedule

Personal Day-By-Day Rotterdam Cruise Review: