Cruises, Cruise Deals & Cruise Holidays

We sailed on the rotterdam, 16 days, santiago to rio, cabin 1080, dolphin deck. I am really quite amazed by this review, our experiences were all positive and we would rate the rotterdam as excellent. Lovely ship, perfect service, outstanding food, clean, overall and a most enjoyable experience. We have since sailed transatlantic to the mediterreanen, 26 days. on the noordam. Same experience , but longer, and we do prefer the intimacy of the rotterdam, but of course that is personal preference. We would never sail on any other cruise line, unless we go on one of the luxury cruises, smaller ships, and I am afraid that is out of our reach financially.

We have just returned from the day visit on the HAL Rotterdam in Dover ( Saturday 30th may 09). Can I just say that it was absolutely superb. The meal was well presented and the food delicious. The Ship was "elegantly old fashioned". There is a lot of wood panelling giving it a slighly dark feeling, however it was absolutely spotless and one reviewer suggested it smelled of smoke, but it did not appear so to us. Yes there are areas on the ship that smoking is obviously allowed, however we moved all over the ship and did not encounter any areas we would avoid!. Thomas Cook Cruise Club did the tour extremely well allowing plenty of time to see what you wanted. Unfortunately the ship is just finishing a 21 day trip and was full, so we could not see any cabins ( however we did take a peek as one was being cleaned) In answer to the comments,we suggest you contact the Thomas Cook Cruise Club who are offering trips around ships FOC. All in all, based on what we saw and the people we met, who were a tremendous mix of people but all extremely friendly, I would book a HAL ship at the drop of a hat!

I agree with the reviewer. If you find that the ship is a tip,after 3 hours, then a week on it will not improve things. You normally find fault after a few days sailing , but if you find it before you sail , then it doesn't say much for the ship. Its all well and good to say its a fine ship if you have sailed on the actual ship. If you are only impressed with the company, it has no value here. This guy found it to be dirty and smelling of fags. I would avoid it, on that alone.

I have not set foot on this ship but over the last 25 years I have sailed on at least 6 different Holland America ships. I haven't sailed on any Berlitz guide 5*ships but neither have I sailed on any less than 4*. I do expect a degree of style, comfort and value for money and that is what we have always had. I DO feel you are being unfair. This is a site for reviews of cruises. You have not taken a cruise on this ship. If, as you request, we should not take this review seriously then I'm afraid you should not have posted it!

Don't mean to sound rude but how did you manage to board the ship for the day? How did you get offered?