Lois : 𝙽𝚘 𝙲𝚛𝚞𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚕

Do you have a cruise booked on Holland America Line’s newest Ship. MS Rotterdam ( the VII ) If you don’t, you really should!

MS Rotterdam is the third Pinnacle Class cruise ship in the Holland America Line Fleet. Built by Fincanteri in Italy, she was launched in October 2020, then undertook her Maiden Voyage a year later in October 2021, following the pause in cruises during the Worldwide Covid Pandemic. Christened in May 2022, her Godmother is Princess Margriet of the Netherlands. MS Rotterdam has 99,935 GT, is 299.79cm in length and has 12 passenger decks. Dotted over these 12 passenger decks are 14 different places to eat!

Lets start with places to eat included in your Cruise fare. I am going to introduce you to the Speciality Dining venues, which cost a little extra in future Vlog posts.

1. The Dining Room The main eating venue on board the Ship. A beautifully designed venue split over deck 2 and 3. I’m told the White ceiling it designed to resemble a harp, fitting with the music theme which runs through the Ship.

You can eat breakfast, lunch and Dinner here in the Dining room, deck 2 invited any time dining guests, those who want more freedom about when to eat. Deck 3 invites more traditional cruisers to eat their dinner at a set time.

The Food served in The Dining room is fantastic, the service is great too, an at seat service from a very attentive team of serving staff. Above I have included examples of food served. Far left, Scallops and Lobster with apple jelly, horseradish, cucumber and citrus cocktail sauce. Centre, Slow roasted Beef Tenderloin and Morels, with white asparagus, truffle custard and Warres Warrior Port Essence. Finally, far right, Chocolate Mousse with praline biscuit and Caramel Creme Brulee.

I promise, you will be more than impressed with the creations from Holland America’s Culinary Council. They are an elite team of seven World renowned Chefs and the expert on board Executive Chefs, who together have created scrumptious dishes, from classics, to regional specialities including a wide variety of Vegetarian dishes.

2. The Lido Market

The buffet venue on board Rotterdam has a huge variety of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. There are nine difference options to help yourself from in the Lido Market

• Breadboard – freshly baked breads and pastries.
• Wild Harvest – A wide variety of Salads
• Homestead – Home comfort classics
• Distant Lands – A selection of Global Cuisine
• Sweet spot – Ice cream and delicious desserts
• Roasting Pan – Hand carved meats and fish
• Perk – freshly brewed drinks and juices
• Quench – Premiun coffee, beer, wine and soft drinks
• Rise – Quiches, croissants and huge open sandwiches.

3. Dive-in

You will find the laid back America style dinner counter up on Lido Deck close to the Lido pool. You can chose from a delicious array of gourmet fast food. Burgers served in a brioche bun, a Nathan’s famous gourmet Hot Dog, a grilled Chicken breast sandwich or a Portabello mushroom stack. You must try the fries here, they are just like the fries on Seabourn, which have quite the cult following! They are so crispy and delicious. You can order food from the Dive in on the Holland America Line Navigator app, be alerted when it is ready and go and collect it. The time frames for preparing orders changed depending on how busy the venue was, the longer I waited was around 10 mins. The food is worth a very short wait!

Check out the menu below to see what you would have for Lunch at Dive-in.

4. New York Deli and Pizza

In an elevated corner overlooking the Lido Pool down on Lido deck is the New York Deli and Pizza. A fabulous spot for a light breakfast bagel, a delicious Deli sandwich lunch or a Pizza dinner. You can also personalise your order ( remove the pickle! Does anyone actually eat pickles?) on the Navigator app, receiving a notification when your food is ready. Here you will find a selection of iced tea, cold water and delicious real lemonade to drink whilst awaiting your food.

There is also a Movie night snacks offering , served during the evening for you to snack on whilst watching movies on the Lido deck.

5. 24 hour Room Service

The room service menu on board HAL Rotterdam had an extensive offering. There are many included in the price options and a few more for an extra fee. I treated myself to a room service breakfast on a day before a long shore excursion and was very impressed. I booked it in the usual cruise way, by leaving a completed order form on my door handle before retiring to bed. It then arrived hot and exactly at the time , I was very impressed.

I have never seen a Cruise Line offer their speciality dining restaurant food on the food service menu. I don’t doubt other cruise lines would arrange this if directly requested to, however to have the option on a room service menu for all, is a great option! Check out the menu below.

6. Grand Dutch Cafe

A fabulous venue on Rotterdam! Evidently very very popular on board judging by the queues and lack of available seats. However very well designed with a selection of larger tables for sharing and bars for standing by.

A Selection of Dutch specialities cooked to order, I particularly liked their pancakes and bitteballen! This is a fantastic spot for a light breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack if you’re having a later Dinner. The Grand Dutch cafe has everything, a bar for all your usual drinks and a selection of speciality beers, a wide selection of coffees and teas and a display cabinet full of delicious cakes and pastries as well as the menu of cook to order treats!

That’s it for the wide variety of ‘included in your cruise fare’ eating venues on board Holland America Lines newest Ship, Rotterdam.

Coming soon – A guide about the wide variety of speciality dining venues available on board HAL Rotterdam.

I’m also currently editing a Vlog Series about the 150th Anniversary and my recent HAL Rotterdam Cruise. Head over to my YouTube channel to subscribe so you don’t miss it. My vlogs will publish after my current Seabourn series concludes.

Any questions, as always feel free to email me on lois@nocruisecontrol.com

Thanks for reading!

( The #Ad at the top of this blog post is because Holland America Line invited me and hosted me on a Cruise)