Day 3 of this 21-day cruise on Holland America’s Rotterdam and we’re sailing the first of two back-t0-back sea days as we make our way to Aruba, our second port-of-call and always a fun stop in the Caribbean. So far the weather has been cooperating, the sea has been flat calm, and the shipboard life kind of dull after say, 10:00 pm. But that’s not to say there isn’t anything going on, it’s just that the majority of the passengers are a bit older and tend to hit the hay a lot earlier than the younger ones.
Holland America attracts an older crowd, as I mentioned in the Day 1 review, and the average age on this cruise is definitely 55+. We also have a good number of people from overseas on board who boarded the ship in Europe for the crossing here to the United States for the start of Rotterdam’s Caribbean season. Unlike Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian, Disney Cruise Line, and MSC which all have a presence in Florida year-round, Holland America does not. They offer cruises only during the winter months.
While Holland America may not be the line for families or those looking to party, it doesn’t mean the experience suffers. In fact, there is a good amount of refined elegance to a Holland America cruise where you’re not bouncing from event to event, bar to bar, dance floor to dance floor, all while trying not to miss the bellyflop contest and the beer pong championship. Days are spent leisurely, by the pool, reading a book in the library, taking in a lecture or a film, or just finding a quiet spot on the outside decks to relax.
If you look at the daily programs, you’ll see that many of the events are geared toward the age group on board such as kitting classes. No, I left my knitting needles at home and I didn’t partake in the adult coloring session.
Since this is going to be such a long cruise, my daily posts will be brief and will just cover the highlights of the day and night and any interesting things that come up during the course of the day. One such interesting thing is my stateroom.
As I mentioned in the Day 1 report, I’m in a verandah stateroom which, with all its bedding options, can comfortably sleep four people. The room next to me also can sleep 4 people as it has the same layout. These two staterooms also have a connecting door between them so families or friends traveling together can pop into each room without exiting to the hallway and can open the balcony divider to create an ever larger outdoor space.
That connecting door is today’s topic.
I have a few fears in life, snakes, being murdered in a foreign country, having to eventually succumb to a colonoscopy, and connecting doors in hotels and ships. So when I got my room assignment, I groaned a bit when I discovered it was indeed a connecting stateroom.
Ok, I know the door locks, but there is something that just freaks me out about rooms of this type. Besides the fear of someone from next door rushing through the connecting door and bludgeoning me to death as I sleep, they also allow you to pretty much hear your next-door neighbor breathing.
I checked to see if I could be moved to a non-connecting room and unfortunately, the ship is full so that wasn’t possible, and I’d also be giving up my extra large balcony, so I’m sticking it out. But, the older couple in the room next door are more than likely card-carrying AARP members who both left their Miracle Ear at home. I can hear every conversation, every fart, every sneeze, every phone call, in addition to the television.
On the other hand, if they didn’t forget to bring along the Miracle Ear, they too can hear me talking to myself, farting, crunching on pretzels, and cursing when those certain websites that are blocked, won’t load.
I always travel with a Bluetooth speaker and crank up the white noise app on my phone when I sleep, so that goes a long way into blocking out external noises, but like most of those “up in age,” they’re out of bed at what seems like 3:00 am so I still get bits and pieces of chatter coming from next door early in the morning when they should be sleeping.
I spoke with my stateroom steward to see if they had noise-dampening blankets that other cruise lines have that hang between the two connecting doors to blanket the sound, but they don’t have them here. However, he would see if he could come up with a solution.
Now cruise ship cabins aren’t soundproof. You’re inside what is basically a metal box, with metal walls, with little to no insulation between cabins. Cutting a hole and putting two doors with no soundproofing between them can be, well… noisy.
When I came back to my room later in the day, I discovered exactly what the solution to my dilemma was:
Yep, he used duct tape to seal around the door.
On to other things…
The evening’s entertainment was a production show called Humanity. Put on in the ship’s theatre, the World Stage, the show took advantage of the theatre’s 180-degree LED walls to combine visuals with dancing/ballet. I went to the 7:30 pm show and upon my arrival at 7:15 pm there wasn’t a single open seat, so I stood along a back wall. I’m glad I did because ten minutes into the show I bailed.
I have often complained about the entertainment offered on Carnival, but this had the production value of a very (very) bad grade school junior ballet performance. Dancers, performing either solo, with a partner, or as a group, did a few numbers choreographed with the video screen, but even lights and magic couldn’t resurrect this from the dead.
For dinner, I went back to the main dining room as tonight was the special Holland America 150th Anniversary Gala Dinner and also one of the cruise’s formal nights. When it comes to formal attire, I didn’t see a single person wearing a tux, it was sportcoats and the occasional tie for men and women dressed in what would be considered equal attire. The seasoned Holland America travelers don’t fall for that formal night crap – they dress well every night.
I started off with the Chaudfroid of Duckling Bigarade, which was a few pieces of cold, smoked duck which was absolutely delicious.
Next up was the Shrimp Cocktail, which I should have red the description, as this version included chopped hard-boiled eggs. Next to snakes, a fear of being murdered in a foreign country, and connecting doors in hotels and ships, eggs are something that I find disgusting. The whole concept along with the smell is enough to well… the shrimp were good, but eggs? Really?
For the main course, I went with the Rack of Lamb Ambassadeur which consisted of two single-cut lamb chops, well seasoned and served medium. They were good, however if they were double-cut they would have been fantastic. ‘
I also asked for a side of the Raviole de Fromage, which was a cheese and mushroom ravioli that was also very good.
When it came time for dessert, when on a Dutch ship, who can pass up Dutch Apple Pie? Well, I’m sure they don’t mass produce apple pie over in Deutchland, but this was an acceptable slice, but not something that is worthy about writing any more about.
Before heading to bed, I stopped at the ship’s tiny casino and there weren’t any available slot machines, so I got an after dinner drink and called it a night.
As I turned on the white noise, plopped my head on the pillow, I had one look at the duct tape around the connecting door and laughed.
Next stop Aruba. Thanks for following along.
Links to Rotterdam Restaurant Menus
Restaurant menus for October 24, 2023, on Holland America Rotterdam:
- Lido Market – Breakfast Menu
- Lido Market – Lunch Menu
- Lido Market – Dinner Menu
- Main Dining Room – Breakfast Menu
- Main Dining Room – Lunch Menu
- Main Dining Room – Dinner Menu (150th Anniversary Gala)
- Club Orange – Breakfast Menu
- Club Orange – Dinner Menu
- Pinnacle Grill – Lunch Menu
- Pinnacle Grill – Dinner Menu
- Canaletto – Dinner Menu
- Nami Sushi – Dinner Menu
- Tamarind – Dinner Menu
- Tamarind Bar – Lite Bites Menu
- Rudi’s Sel de Mer – Dinner Menu
- Rotterdam Room Service Menu – All Day Menu
- New York Deli & Pizza – All Day Menu
- Dive In Burgers & Hot Dogs – All Day Menu
Daily Planner for Day 3:
Not Available.