Just returned, HAL's ms Rotterdam in the Baltics

Yes, this was the most port intensive cruise we've taken and that
concerned us going in. We really wanted to take the Star Princess in
the Baltics as we had tried HAL before but the Rotterdam won out for 2
reasons. The Star Princess is rumoured to have over 500 children
booked on July dates and had NO sea days! That's why there wasn't a
big concern that we couldn't find a lot of interesting things to do on
the ship during sea days. A cocktail, some blackjack and lounging
around were just fine so that we could be ready for the next port.
Yes, both Jane and Jay were on the ship. I met Jane on the elevator
and complimented her on the Phantom Of The Opera song she sang. She
seemed genuinely thrilled to be complimented. I watched Jay's lectures
on the tv every night. He knows his Russian history! I really liked
the port lecturer. I can't remember her name, dark hair, east coast
accent...she seemed well informed though my wife found her accent and
pronunciation annoying. I only played blackjack on this trip..it
seemed to be the place where all the interesting passengers were
sitting. I guess we were spoiled with the laundry on the other ships.
I just got tired of heading down to the front desk all the time to get
a roll of quarters!.I have a diary but it's so long..I have to trim it
down before I post it..It's so important to do these trip reports so
that we don't forget a thing.

We felt too rushed on this itinerary...I really would have liked to
spend some more time in Germany and Sweden. This cruise basically gave
us a taste of each country but we didn't really have a good visit in
any of them. 7 hours is just not enough for Sweden and you can't do
Berlin in a day. I'd really like to do the Greek Islands but likely
we'll be doing a family thing next on Carnival, Royal Caribbean or
Disney. Whatever cruise it is, it won't be one where we have to worry
every minute whether or not we are maximizing our time. But I have to
go into withdrawal for now..I have no more holidays available til next
January!

Look forward to reading your port reports!

andrew


On Wed, 10 Aug 2005 21:49:03 -0500, "D Ball"
wrote:

Hi, Andrew,

Nice to hear from you. I had been wondering what your take on the cruise
was...glad to know it wasn't just me! Of course, we had a great trip in any
event, and like you said, I didn't mean we were up for an all out party
boat. That was one exhausting trip. I thought it was more tiring than the
Med, because at least there, we had a nice sprinkling of beach and other "no
brainer" days. Here, there was something we felt compelled to "sightsee" in
almost every port. I really do need to prepare our port reports. That
wouldn't take too long...and I like to preserve those memories/data. As I
asked Val Kraut, who sailed after us, were Dr. Jay Wolff (lecturer) and/or
Jane Webster (vocalist) on your cruise? We thought they were extremely
gifted people in their respective fields, were terrific at working with a
crowd and overall added a lot to the cruise.

Did you try that 3 card poker game? Never seen it before. We definitely
spent more time (and money!) in the casino than usual because there wasn't
much else to do.

Well, I didn't know to be bothered by the laundry charge--I've never been on
a ship where it was free! I loved the heck out of that laundry facility.
I've never seen one so large and with so many machines (of decent quality,
to boot).

No, our steward was Ricardo. Definitely the best ever.

So what's up next for you?

Diana

Hi Diana,

We were on the July 2nd sailing of the Rotterdam from Copenhagen to
Rotterdam. Your comments are right on the money!

We found the cruise to be lacking in energy. The blackjack dealers
told me that the Rotterdam's Mediterranean sailings in June were
hopping til 4AM and that the atmosphere was more festive in general.
In the Baltics, the Rotterdam was like a cemetery at midnight. This
wasn't a problem for us though really because the ports were the focus
for this cruise. Interesting thing is that we found our Noordam Med
cruise last October had a much older demographic but the people were
in general more lively. I'm not so sure that age is the issue.

We also loved the Signature Of Excellence enhancements and our steward
was the best we'd ever had. Yours wasn't Hermanto by chance was it?
But we have quibbles here and there...such as why did we have to pay
$4 for a load of laundry when it was complimentary on the NCL Dawn and
Noordam?

andrew.
Rotterdam 2005



Carnival Tropicale 1982
NCL Dawn 2004
HAL Noordam 2004
Rotterdam 2005

Buddy Romaine wrote:
snip
We felt too rushed on this itinerary...I really would have liked to
spend some more time in Germany and Sweden. This cruise basically gave
us a taste of each country but we didn't really have a good visit in
any of them. 7 hours is just not enough for Sweden and you can't do
Berlin in a day.snip

The 'taste but not a good visit' problem is one that I feel I might
have with the majority of cruises.

How much time is required to not feel rushed? I've heard people who
say that they took the ship's excursions because they were afraid they
wouldn't get back in time

If one always feels rushed, wouldn't a land vacation be better?

Doesn't it depend on what the port is and whether you have been there
before? Because I've also heard lots of people who say - I've been
there so many times that I didn't bother to get off the ship. .

If that is the case, why not just go on a cruise to nowhere, or a
transatlantic cruise of something?




grandma Rosalie

Actually, as a result of my experience in the Baltics, I really have
no desire to take cruises to intensive ports. In retrospect I wish we
had done a Norwegian Fjords cruise and saved the Baltic countries for
a land trip. On my Caribbean cruise, I never felt guilty getting back
on the ship to go to the cruise ship dining room. In Helsinki and
Stockholm, I wanted to stay on land and enjoy some local cuisine and
maybe some nightlife. It was jarring to experience a new culture each
day only to be taken back to my own culture in the cruise ship dining
room. I will reserve cruises for places like the Caribbean where the
focus is fun and 1 day/island is fine or on smaller exploration ships
where water is the only means of transport to my destination.
Otherwise for me, it's only land vacations for places comparable to
the Baltics hereon.

andrew


On Fri, 12 Aug 2005 12:44:59 GMT, Rosalie B.
wrote:

Buddy Romaine wrote:
snip
We felt too rushed on this itinerary...I really would have liked to
spend some more time in Germany and Sweden. This cruise basically gave
us a taste of each country but we didn't really have a good visit in
any of them. 7 hours is just not enough for Sweden and you can't do
Berlin in a day.snip

The 'taste but not a good visit' problem is one that I feel I might
have with the majority of cruises.

How much time is required to not feel rushed? I've heard people who
say that they took the ship's excursions because they were afraid they
wouldn't get back in time

If one always feels rushed, wouldn't a land vacation be better?

Doesn't it depend on what the port is and whether you have been there
before? Because I've also heard lots of people who say - I've been
there so many times that I didn't bother to get off the ship. .

If that is the case, why not just go on a cruise to nowhere, or a
transatlantic cruise of something?




grandma Rosalie


Carnival Tropicale 1982
NCL Dawn 2004
HAL Noordam 2004
Rotterdam 2005

In article , Buddy Romaine
wrote:

Actually, as a result of my experience in the Baltics, I really have
no desire to take cruises to intensive ports. In retrospect I wish we
had done a Norwegian Fjords cruise and saved the Baltic countries for
a land trip.

That is food for thought. I was thinking of doing a Baltic cruise next
year. You make some good points about port intensive cruises that do
multiple major cities like the Baltic itin. as opposed to the Norwegian
Fjords or Greek Isles.

--
Charles

Buddy Romaine wrote:

Actually, as a result of my experience in the Baltics, I really have
no desire to take cruises to intensive ports. In retrospect I wish we
had done a Norwegian Fjords cruise and saved the Baltic countries for
a land trip. On my Caribbean cruise, I never felt guilty getting back
on the ship to go to the cruise ship dining room. In Helsinki and
Stockholm, I wanted to stay on land and enjoy some local cuisine and
maybe some nightlife. It was jarring to experience a new culture each
day only to be taken back to my own culture in the cruise ship dining
room.

I know the feeling, but I am glad we did the Baltics. Its a little like "'tis
better to have loved and lost....".... well, you know the drill. At our age,
I just don't think we will ever be going to those places for a land vacation,
so I'm happy that we got a wee taste of those cities.
The same kind of feeling prevailed on our Med cruises, although we had been on
land vacations to several of the ports. Still, the Med cruises were very port
intensive, and the tours offered by the cruiss line totaled almost as much
expense as the cruise.
If I had my choice between a Med and the Baltic cruises, I would choose the
Baltics in a heartbeat. Cruising around the British Isles created another
memorable experience.


I will reserve cruises for places like the Caribbean where the
focus is fun and 1 day/island is fine or on smaller exploration ships
where water is the only means of transport to my destination.
Otherwise for me, it's only land vacations for places comparable to
the Baltics hereon.

I think when you've cruised the Caribbean over and over again, and if you're a
cruise addict :-), one of those port intensive cruises fills a certain need.
At least for us it has seemed that way.

Ermalee


andrew


On Fri, 12 Aug 2005 12:44:59 GMT, Rosalie B.
wrote:


Buddy Romaine wrote:
snip

We felt too rushed on this itinerary...I really would have liked to
spend some more time in Germany and Sweden. This cruise basically gave
us a taste of each country but we didn't really have a good visit in
any of them. 7 hours is just not enough for Sweden and you can't do
Berlin in a day.snip

The 'taste but not a good visit' problem is one that I feel I might
have with the majority of cruises.

How much time is required to not feel rushed? I've heard people who
say that they took the ship's excursions because they were afraid they
wouldn't get back in time

If one always feels rushed, wouldn't a land vacation be better?

Doesn't it depend on what the port is and whether you have been there
before? Because I've also heard lots of people who say - I've been
there so many times that I didn't bother to get off the ship. .

If that is the case, why not just go on a cruise to nowhere, or a
transatlantic cruise of something?




grandma Rosalie



Carnival Tropicale 1982
NCL Dawn 2004
HAL Noordam 2004
Rotterdam 2005

You can do a good bit of the baltics (eastern end at least) via ferry
boats, including overnights. That way you can book hotel rooms in these
countries and still have a nice "water portion" to your trip. That is
what we did in 1995. Very easy to get from Stockholm to Helsinki via
overnight ferry; there is at least one ferry line that does a 3 day to
St. Petersburg; you can take the fast boat to Tallinn from Helsinki in
about 1.5 hours, etc. So you can easily make up a nice 10 day vacation
and really see these places better! I keep thinking of doing this again
one of these days!

Jeff



Charles wrote:

In article , Buddy Romaine
wrote:


Actually, as a result of my experience in the Baltics, I really have
no desire to take cruises to intensive ports. In retrospect I wish we
had done a Norwegian Fjords cruise and saved the Baltic countries for
a land trip.


That is food for thought. I was thinking of doing a Baltic cruise next
year. You make some good points about port intensive cruises that do
multiple major cities like the Baltic itin. as opposed to the Norwegian
Fjords or Greek Isles.

In article VImLe.1879$1b5.889@trnddc05, Jeff
wrote:

You can do a good bit of the baltics (eastern end at least) via ferry
boats, including overnights. That way you can book hotel rooms in these
countries and still have a nice "water portion" to your trip.

I didn't know about that (taking ferries in the Baltics). Making a ten
day vacation like you did and seeing those places better is more my
style for major cultural cities than a cruise. I am saving your post
for future reference. When I saw Andrews post it reminded me of why I
had never booked a European cruise. I'd rather do most places in Europe
by land. And a major part of all my European trips was sampling the
local cuisines. The only exceptions would be the Norwegian Fjords and
Greek Isles, which make sense to do as cruises, and a transatlantic
combined with a land vacation.

--
Charles

Charles wrote:

When I saw Andrews post it reminded me of why I
had never booked a European cruise.

Our feelings exactly. We look at the European catalogs that come in the
mail, salivate about the destinations, and, then, ignore the catalogs.

We just came back from a trip to Italy: one week in Florence and one
week in Assisi with day trips throughout Umbria. Our visit to Florence
represented days 7-14 in visits there, yet the list of things we still
want to see in Florence is long and appealing. The destinations may be
second tier only by the ordinary tourist standards, but the destinations
are hardly second-rate.

I'd rather do most places in Europe by land. And a major part of all my European trips
was sampling the local cuisines.

Yes!

The only exceptions would be the Norwegian Fjords and
Greek Isles, which make sense to do as cruises, and a transatlantic
combined with a land vacation.

We did the Fjords area as a land trip, and we don't think we lost
anything from taking this approach. We stayed in Voss and took day trips
through the region. These day trips included several ferry trips along
the same fjords as those visited by the cruise ships. I'll confess that
Norwegian food isn't as sublime as Italian or French food, but we still
enjoyed eating the local cuisine.

We were also able to have the sort of unexpected experience that a
land-based vacation offers when there's no pressure from embarkation
time at the end of the port call. The National Hardanger Fiddle and Folk
Dance Competition was taking place in Voss during our visit. One night,
we went to the competition which turned out to be the men's fiddle
finals. Each contestant both played musical selections and gave an
introductory speech on any topic. All the speeches were in Norwegian,
but friendly folks sitting to our right and left amicably translated for
us. The contestants in native dress, their skill on the hardanger
fiddles, and the good will of our neighbors combined to create a special
memory.

Some readers may recognize the name Voss as the name of a sparkling
water in an elegantly designed bottle that has become quite popular. I'm
here to tell you that never once while we were in Voss were we offered
this sparkling water.

What I can report is that Voss is the extreme sports capital of Norway,
and we went white water rafting on a nearby river. Great fun!

Bottom line: Even the regions that might seem to be ideal for a cruise
experience can be seen as part of a land vacation if local cuisine,
interacting with the people, and a more in-depth approach are important
to you.

Karen Selwyn

On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 13:33:03 -0400, Karen Selwyn wrote
(in article 38qLe.165$TR.92@lakeread08):

We did the Fjords area as a land trip, and we don't think we lost
anything from taking this approach. We stayed in Voss and took day trips
through the region. These day trips included several ferry trips along
the same fjords as those visited by the cruise ships. I'll confess that
Norwegian food isn't as sublime as Italian or French food, but we still
enjoyed eating the local cuisine.

Great info. Again I learn something new.

We were also able to have the sort of unexpected experience that a
land-based vacation offers when there's no pressure from embarkation
time at the end of the port call. The National Hardanger Fiddle and Folk
Dance Competition was taking place in Voss during our visit. One night,

That sound great!

--
Charles

Charles -- to some extent it might be worth finding a TA that books
Silja line. Might even be able to get a deal booking all sea parts with
them, who knows, but they operate ferries overnight Helsinki/Stockholm
nightly in both directions, they operate the ferries to Tallinn (as do
several other companies) and during the summer at least this year seem
to offer 3 day trips to St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg is also very
easy to get to via train from Helsinki...no overarching reason to go by
ship if you don't want. In fact, this part of the world is completely
tied to the sea for the past many centuries...and you can still see it
that way. We did about 20 days when we did this as we spent a
significant part of time on land in the Baltic states, but you could
easily fly into Copenhagen, stay there a while, take the X2000 train to
Stockholm, etc., and keep working your way east, and fly back from
Helsinki. Oh, there are also overnight ferries from Copenhagen to Oslo
if you want to go that way too.

Jeff


Charles wrote:

In article VImLe.1879$1b5.889@trnddc05, Jeff
wrote:


You can do a good bit of the baltics (eastern end at least) via ferry
boats, including overnights. That way you can book hotel rooms in these
countries and still have a nice "water portion" to your trip.


I didn't know about that (taking ferries in the Baltics). Making a ten
day vacation like you did and seeing those places better is more my
style for major cultural cities than a cruise. I am saving your post
for future reference. When I saw Andrews post it reminded me of why I
had never booked a European cruise. I'd rather do most places in Europe
by land. And a major part of all my European trips was sampling the
local cuisines. The only exceptions would be the Norwegian Fjords and
Greek Isles, which make sense to do as cruises, and a transatlantic
combined with a land vacation.