Did Rotterdam July 2024. Yeah, the train stop at AMS takes some studying, and even some Dutch people asked me if they were on the right platform to Rotterdam Centralal Station. The trins run every hour or so, so it's easy enough to get onto a train, but the train was packed and I had to stand the entire ride. After that, I didn't want to take another trian or tram or subway to the port, so I just walked with my wheeled luggage the mile or so to the port. The ship itself was perfect. I did like the BBQ American Blues band. I thought that the world stage shows were second rate, and I'm not a fan of the big LED screens, I think they should have been left turned off.
We sailed on both the Nieuw Statendam and the Rotterdam. Loved them. Food, entertainment, port talks and entertainment were wonderful. We especially liked Music Walk. The band in the Blues Club was amazing. We old folks were dancing late into the night every night!
Holland America’s Pinnacle-class is such a weird one for me. I both love this new class of ship for the tasteful elements you mentioned and find certain parts very undersized. The wrap around promenade walking deck, library, and enclosed pool area are huge pluses. But the main atrium is pathetically small, and the BB kings blue’s club lacks sufficient seating and is too close to the other music venues. The main stage shows have continued to be a let down. The food on Holland America continues to be consistently the best among the premium lines in my experience.
The main atrium should be large? I'm not sure why. The Statendam class is the sort of blueprint for HAL's modern ships and none of them had large atria. I dislike loud atria with a lot of activities and that's what both Princess and Celebrity are doing now (Celebrity's are called foyers or plazas). The Edge class is designed to have a noisy Martini Bar and space and Celebrity went and put 3 specialty restaurants above it. I prefer a quiet atrium. The venues on the Pinnacle ship placement isn't optimum. I agree with that. The shows have never been a standout on HAL but that's something that they can change. HAL doesn't seem to need to keep building newbuilds like Celebrity and Princess. I dislike the direction of both Celebrity and Princess newbuilds.
I sailed on an older Pinnacle class ship last fall - the Koningsdam - and loved it. Although I have Elite status on Princess, Holland America is wooing me away. LOVE the B.B. King's Blues Club.
Yes - I’m a big fan of BB Kings! I was sad to see it’s not on the program for the second night in a row! 😨 totally agree - I could definitely see myself on HAL much more than Princess. Let’s just hope they have decent casino offers 🤞😆
I was on Koningsdam to Alaska in May 2022. I thought is was a very nice ship and the music walk was first rate. The MDR was very nice but the food was not always first rate and the buffet was hit and miss.
It's a good evolution of HAL's values and styles from the previous class ships. Unlike Celebrity and Princess, HAL isn't trying to redefine their cruise ships but more update their HAL style. That's something I think is important and something that irks me about Celebrity and Princess. I'm not even sure why people like the Celebrity product now, especially the Edge ships. But at least for now, HAL still seems to be HAL and not combining NCL/Royal Caribbean elements to their cruise style. And, to clarify, I'm talking about the Sphere class Princess ships and the Celebrity Edge class ships, not their earlier ships though some aspects of the product affect the earlier class ships.
I agree - HAL is sticking to their winning formula for the most part. I do really like how they evolved their evening programming to appeal to a wider variety of people.
Were you in a single oceanview? I see those are located under the theatre. Any noise issues? I’m getting ready to book a cabin on Rotterdam, but the location of those single cabins concerns me. Thanks for posting this vlog. Liked and subscribed.
Thank you! I was in a large ocean view room on deck 1. There weren’t any noise issues that I could tell. I’ve been in a cabin on Princess ABOVE the theater and didn’t hear anything.
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Did Rotterdam July 2024. Yeah, the train stop at AMS takes some studying, and even some Dutch people asked me if they were on the right platform to Rotterdam Centralal Station. The trins run every hour or so, so it's easy enough to get onto a train, but the train was packed and I had to stand the entire ride. After that, I didn't want to take another trian or tram or subway to the port, so I just walked with my wheeled luggage the mile or so to the port. The ship itself was perfect. I did like the BBQ American Blues band. I thought that the world stage shows were second rate, and I'm not a fan of the big LED screens, I think they should have been left turned off.
Thank you for sharing your experience! I agree the quality of the shows didn’t match the rest of the ship experience.
We sailed on both the Nieuw Statendam and the Rotterdam. Loved them. Food, entertainment, port talks and entertainment were wonderful. We especially liked Music Walk. The band in the Blues Club was amazing. We old folks were dancing late into the night every night!
It’s hard not to dance at BB Kings! People were dancing on both levels on Sunday night!
Holland America’s Pinnacle-class is such a weird one for me. I both love this new class of ship for the tasteful elements you mentioned and find certain parts very undersized. The wrap around promenade walking deck, library, and enclosed pool area are huge pluses. But the main atrium is pathetically small, and the BB kings blue’s club lacks sufficient seating and is too close to the other music venues. The main stage shows have continued to be a let down. The food on Holland America continues to be consistently the best among the premium lines in my experience.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the class! Definitely not perfect but it rates up there in my books overall.
The main atrium should be large? I'm not sure why. The Statendam class is the sort of blueprint for HAL's modern ships and none of them had large atria. I dislike loud atria with a lot of activities and that's what both Princess and Celebrity are doing now (Celebrity's are called foyers or plazas). The Edge class is designed to have a noisy Martini Bar and space and Celebrity went and put 3 specialty restaurants above it. I prefer a quiet atrium. The venues on the Pinnacle ship placement isn't optimum. I agree with that. The shows have never been a standout on HAL but that's something that they can change.
HAL doesn't seem to need to keep building newbuilds like Celebrity and Princess. I dislike the direction of both Celebrity and Princess newbuilds.
I sailed on an older Pinnacle class ship last fall - the Koningsdam - and loved it. Although I have Elite status on Princess, Holland America is wooing me away. LOVE the B.B. King's Blues Club.
Yes - I’m a big fan of BB Kings! I was sad to see it’s not on the program for the second night in a row! 😨 totally agree - I could definitely see myself on HAL much more than Princess. Let’s just hope they have decent casino offers 🤞😆
@@TheChillCruiser Andrew, hope the casino is being kind to you. I'll be at the blackjack table on the Eurodam on 9/28, hoping for lots of Aces.
I was on Koningsdam to Alaska in May 2022. I thought is was a very nice ship and the music walk was first rate. The MDR was very nice but the food was not always first rate and the buffet was hit and miss.
Thanks as always for sharing your experience! I agree with you about the food.
It's a good evolution of HAL's values and styles from the previous class ships. Unlike Celebrity and Princess, HAL isn't trying to redefine their cruise ships but more update their HAL style. That's something I think is important and something that irks me about Celebrity and Princess. I'm not even sure why people like the Celebrity product now, especially the Edge ships. But at least for now, HAL still seems to be HAL and not combining NCL/Royal Caribbean elements to their cruise style. And, to clarify, I'm talking about the Sphere class Princess ships and the Celebrity Edge class ships, not their earlier ships though some aspects of the product affect the earlier class ships.
I agree - HAL is sticking to their winning formula for the most part. I do really like how they evolved their evening programming to appeal to a wider variety of people.
Are you sailing the entire 77 days on the Rotterdam? She's a beautiful ship.
I wish! No I’m on a few different ships from Princess and MSC. I agree - Rotterdam is a great ship. Definitely one of my favs.
Were you in a single oceanview? I see those are located under the theatre. Any noise issues? I’m getting ready to book a cabin on Rotterdam, but the location of those single cabins concerns me. Thanks for posting this vlog. Liked and subscribed.
Thank you! I was in a large ocean view room on deck 1. There weren’t any noise issues that I could tell. I’ve been in a cabin on Princess ABOVE the theater and didn’t hear anything.