Whenever my husband, Carl, and I arrived early for dinner in the main dining room on the Holland America Rotterdam, staff members in the reception area would enthusiastically smile and wave. It always made me feel like royalty. I could forget the world’s tragic problems, relax and have fun, and be served a delicious dinner.
We were on a 21-night back-to-back cruise starting in mid-April from Fort Lauderdale, crossing the Atlantic and stopping in several ports—Ponta Delgada in the Azores, France, England, the Netherlands, Norway and Scotland—before ending in Rotterdam. During the first two weeks (“14-Day Atlantic Sunsets and Exotic Isles”) 2,470 passengers and 972 crew were onboard, including 1,840 from the United States. For the last cruise week (“7-Day Taste of Norway and Scotland”), an extra 273 passengers boarded in Rotterdam—a total of 2,743 from around the world, including 999 from the United States and 961 crew members. We observed several passengers with mobility issues using canes, walkers or wheelchairs and admired them for continuing to travel. There were challenges getting on and off the occasional tender boats, but helpful crew members were always there to assist.
We enjoyed chatting with several staff members, who were thrilled to be back onboard post-COVID-19. Our head waiter, from Indonesia, told us that he had been out of work for two years. He had boarded the ship in March and, despite not seeing his wife and three children until December, he was upbeat, so grateful to have his job back. Hearing their stories, we were happy to tip the staff extra.
This was our 35th cruise (our second with Holland America, which celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2023) and our 10th transatlantic crossing—which was the smoothest ever. During the five weeks abroad, we didn’t experience even one day of rain.
On the hotel shuttle in Fort Lauderdale on the way to the cruise port, we chatted with Ellie and Harry Avila from Fremont, California, who have taken several cruises (this was their second with Holland America) and arranged to meet them for predinner drinks on the ship a few days later.
“We particularly like the transatlantic itinerary with the combination of new ports,” Ellie said, “plus several days at sea to enjoy the available ship activities”—which included line dancing, tai chi, lectures, painting, cooking demonstrations, religious services and a Q&A with the captain.
“It’s always such a pleasure to meet new people and learn about their lives and their stories,” she continued. “It’s one of the reasons we enjoy cruising. Another cruising favorite is the chance to learn something new. This time we took bridge lessons and loved doing it. And we especially liked the specialty restaurants. Canaletto was great!”
Since many of the popular shore excursions were waitlisted and Carl and I had visited several of the ports on earlier cruises, we opted to stroll by ourselves around the picturesque towns of Ponta Delgada, Azores; Weymouth, England; Eidfjord (population 960) and Stavanger, Norway; and Lerwick, Shetland Islands (Scotland).
“We thought the ports were outstanding,” Ellie added. “In every port we loved the chance to sample the great local food and learn some history.”
Since Carl and I happily discovered that we had a larger-than-usual cabin with a huge balcony, most lazy mornings we opted for the complimentary room service breakfast brought around 10 a.m. For the first six sea days crossing the Atlantic, we sat on the sunny balcony, enjoying the calm seas as we dug into our breakfast and sipped coffee.
And we were thrilled to see a fabulous library full of books, some of them left behind by earlier passengers.
We decided to pay extra to sample several dinners in the more intimate, elegant specialty restaurants: Rudi’s Sel De Mer (our favorite), Pinnacle Grill, Tamarind, Canaletto and the recent “popup,” Morimoto by Sea, which offers occasional signature dinners in Tamarind. It showcases Holland America’s Global Fresh Fish Program by award-winning Japanese Chef Masaharu Morimoto. Carl and I even sampled the “Morimotini”—one of several specialty cocktails offered.
We met Pattie and Brice Lenz from the Seattle area one evening at dinner and dined with them often during the cruise. This was their seventh cruise and Brice’s first trip to Europe. Most evenings after seeing the theater shows we loved sipping drinks with them and dancing to the amazing B.B. King’s Blues Club band.
“We enjoyed our days at sea and having no agenda,” Pattie said. “And choosing our own entertainment. Mine happens to be curling up with a good book. Many of our ports were small towns or villages and very walkable, giving us a sample of the cultures and architecture. The smaller port towns such as Brest, France, and Portland (Weymouth), England, are sweet and have a peaceful quaintness. The scenic Hardangerfjord in Norway was a beautiful sight that we hadn’t expected to be so thrilled by, and we were very excited to see Edinburgh and tour Holyrood Palace.
