Today kicked off the second segment of this 21-day cruise on Holland America’s flagship, the Rotterdam. The next nine days are a Southern Caribbean Seafarer Cruise which will find us cruising to Bonaire, Curacao, Aruba, and Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas – a cruise referred to as an “ABC Cruise” from the first letters of the countries visited.
We arrived in Fort Lauderdale around 6:00 am and got clearance to begin disembarkation around 7:15 am with those who chose to carry off their own luggage being the first to get off. The process came to a stop a few times as things got backed up in the terminal thanks to the folks from Customs and Border Protection.
As one of 250+ guests who were continuing on and not disembarking today, we had to go through a bit of a different process and once I explain how it went you will see what a complete waste of time and effort this is. The “in transit” guests were told to meet in the ship’s World Stage at 9:15 am where we would wait for all passengers to be off the ship so we could proceed through for a passport check.
Now keep in mind, to sail, everyone on this cruise was required to have a passport because of the visit to Costa Rica. Birth certificates alone were not accepted and neither were passport cards. If you did not have a passport, you could not sail, and that was clear on the booking information:
Passport numbers are entered days in advance when you check in for your cruise are checked and scanned at the port before the ship leaves, which makes the next part of the process even more of a waste of time.
As we waited and waited for that zero count that made sure all guests were off the ship, calls went out for two passengers who still did not exit the ship. It was now 10:00 am and the port agent who kept us “entertained” in the theatre kept telling us, “It should only be another 10 minutes, they’re trying to contact the two guests who haven’t disembarked yet.”
Finally, at around 10:15 am we were escorted off the ship as a group and led down into the luggage hall where a SINGLE customs officer was ready to “view” our passports. We lined up, flashed our passports, and went back in line to get back on the ship. She made absolutely NO attempt to look at the passport in detail. I could have had a picture of Mickey Mouse on mine and she would have waved me right on through.
Once everyone had their passport “verified” (if that’s what you call it), we had to wait once again in line for Customs to give the ship the OK to begin boarding guests. It wasn’t until 11:10 am that I was back onboard. To say this was a waste of time would be an understatement.
This is nothing unique to Holland America, when I did a few back-to-back cruises on MSC out of Port Canaveral, you had to do the same nonsense, although it was done via facial recognition kiosks rather than a human doing a half-ass job.
Back on board passengers for the next cruise were already starting to board and it was immediately noticeable that the average age of this cruise would be a little lower. There were a few families with kids, a good number of people in their 30s and 40s, and the older folks. But there is definitely a different vibe.
For this segment, I did not need to change staterooms. I am still in stateroom, 8114, midship on Deck 8.
The stateroom itself is luxurious and well appointed with plenty of closet and drawer space for a long journey like this one. The room consists of two twin beds that can be combined into one full-size bed, a sofa bed that can convert to a twin, and an upper berth – so this room can sleep four. It also has a fully stocked mini-bar with premade cocktails, beer, wine, water, and soda (not included in any beverage package), as well as a selection of proper glassware to enjoy them in. A large flat-screen TV is directly across from the bed as is a desk/makeup area.
The bathroom is just as luxurious with marble tile, a glass shower, and a fantastic shower head that has three settings – the most powerful is close to the kind of pressure you’ll find at a car wash which is just fantastic. Elemis body wash, hand soap, shampoo, and conditioner are supplied in wall-mounted pumps.
USB ports and electric outlets, both 110v and 220v, can be found bedside and at the writing desk. The number of USB ports should be sufficient for most.
Since I completed the electronic muster drill on Day 1 of the first segment, I did not have to complete it again. If I did, I would simply watch the safety video on the in-room television and then head to my muster station to have my room key scanned to complete the process.
Sail-away was scheduled for 3:00 pm and we left exactly on time. We had some high winds and surf so there was a tug standing by in case we needed a little push. Coming into Fort Lauderdale last night we did have rough seas with plenty of rocking and banging around the ship and it definitely was one of those “hang on to the handrail” nights. Deck 3, the Promendade Deck, was closed most of the day on Thursday due to the wind and waves.
As we pulled out of Port Everglades, the surf was rough and there was noticeable movement for several hours with things smoothing out around 7 pm.
Entertainment this evening only consisted of B.B. King’s Blues Club and Billboard Onboard on the ship’s Music Walk Venue and both of those were busy right up until I went to bed around 11:00 pm. On the previous segment, the ship was a ghost town after 10 pm, so it will be interesting to see if this trend continues.
For dinner, I made my way over to the Pinnacle Grill. I didn’t have a reservation but that was not a problem as most people aren’t booking specialty dining for their first night onboard.
Pinnacle Grill is the ship’s steakhouse and is one of five specialty restaurants onboard. At $46 pp it’s one of the most expensive. The other specialty dining restaurants include Tamarind for Asian fusion at $35 pp, Nami Sushi which is all ala carte, Canaletto for Italian at $20 pp, and Rudi’s Sel de Mer a French and seafood restaurant at $55 pp. All prices do not include an 18% surcharge.
I started with the Steak Tartare which has been a must each time I’ve dined here and it did not disappoint.
Next up was an Iceberg Wedge salad, which was pretty typical with nothing special about it.
The main event was the ribeye paired with a lobster tail. Prepared medium rare, the steak was well marbled, full of flavor, and not too fatty. A fantastic dinner overall and I enjoyed it paired with wine for each course.
After all that, there wasn’t much room for dessert, so I passed and stopped for an after-dinner drink before the bars closed at 11 pm then called it a night.
The next two days are being spent at sea as we cruise to our first port of call, Bonaire.
Thanks for following along!
Links to Rotterdam Restaurant Menus
Restaurant menus for November 3, 2023, on Holland America Rotterdam:
- Lido Market – Breakfast Menu
- Lido Market – Lunch Menu
- Lido Market – Dinner Menu (Steak Dinner Night)
- Main Dining Room – Breakfast Menu
- Main Dining Room – Lunch Menu
- Main Dining Room – Dinner Menu
- 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 1:
