Rotterdam Pt.1 - Embarkation, Cabin Tour, Grand Dutch Café, Blues Club, Rock Room, Dutch High Tea

[@imzdo]

Nice meeting you on this cruise. We also love the pinnacle class ships.

[@parodeejay]

We do too! Hope you had as fantastic a cruise as we did!! :D

[@eggy4152]

That block of yum in the tea party is a lamington,an Aussie tradition sponge cake coated in chocolate icing and covered in desiccant coconut.

[@parodeejay]

Aha, good to know! It was delicious!! :D

[@rowenabellingham3179]

Lamingtons are cool....the more gooey the better

[@user-oo3uj5ku9r]

omgosh! I LOVE the Rotterdam! You guys have gone on quite the Journey! Scarlet Lady Margaritaville at Sea then Holland America!

[@parodeejay]

This trip actually started with Icon Of The Seas, so Rotterdam is cruise number nine out of ten for this mega-adventure!! :D

[@user-oo3uj5ku9r]

Woohoo! That means one more series after the Rotterdam!

[@AnglimK1]

Love your enthusiasm and high energy. Well done!

[@Mrs.jones754]

I did the same sailing on the Rotterdam last month. I love this ship! Thanks for sharing your adventures!

[@laurelelder3000]

I just got off Rotterdam this past Sunday! Was on for 2 cruises, a total of 21 days. Really enjoyed it.

[@parodeejay]

Oh nice, the 9-day and the 12-day? That's awesome!! :D

[@lerouxly67]

Love how the captain or other pronounced "RRRoterrrrdam".

[@mike44b]

Wow, beautiful ship!

[@mercyrodriguez5780]

Liked this ship, we have been talking about with a few friends to go on Holland America!

[@debby6235]

Dee I love those pants you were wearing and the color was fabulous. They look so comfy.

[@parodeejay]

Thankee thankee!! :D

[@LaePitt]

Nice ship. Bathroom looked great.

[@travelingwithmikeandpam9074]

We just did that same cruise & ship! loved it!

[@mikeyinthecity]

Overnights are always fun!

[@mikeyinthecity]

That fire skillet looks delicious!

[@jenniferneil2710]

The Rotterdam was my first of 9 cruises on Holland America I've only gone on Holland I love ❤️ it

[@oddits]

It was so nice to meet you on this cruise.

[@grannyoffive1313]

Great video… Thanks so much… Watched very very closely as we will be on the Konningsdam in January 2025 ... thinking that both ships are pretty similar… You have gotten us even more excited🚢

[@parodeejay]

Yes, Koningsdam should be nearly identical to this ship, as well as Nieuw Statendam which we vlogged last year. Hope you have an awesome cruise!! :D

[@grannyoffive1313]

@@parodeejay thanks for responding… our konningsdam Cruz is not until January 1925… We will be heading to Hawaii… 18 day cruise and will be our longest... thanks for all you do❤️🚢❤️ heading to Celebrity beyond today… First time on an edge class ship for us… Looking very forward to that sailing… 10 nights!!

[@phatcat_slimcat]

(Greg) loving watching your videos, since i'm not able to cruise this year, i'll have to sail vicariously through y'all

[@sl4193]

Sea days look fun. I know you were doing other work, really appreciate your taking time to show us some of what's available on the Rotterdam. Holland America Line looks a good choice.

[@kikky811]

Ooh we are looking at the 9 night Christmas cruise on the Rotterdam this year. We can’t decide though between this ship and Sun Princess, 7 night Western. Definitely prefer the Southern itinerary but have not cruised with either line. We usually cruise Disney and Royal. We have a young teen who loves the kid/teen clubs and we totally get these lines are not geared towards families/kids & teens, but I hear the holiday sailings should have plenty for them to do. We don’t need the rock climbing or zip lining, as long as there are other kids on board and the teen club is open, that’s great! Our kid is a bit of a foodie so I think he’d enjoy it. Looking forward to the rest of the series!

[@heathern9394]

Love your channel! Dee can you do a packing video for us. Also the backpack your carry is it a suitcase style?

[@parodeejay]

Thankee! We keep talking about packing videos, but never get around to making them, ha ha... our backpacks are in our Amazon shop, and they're super big! They even work as underseat bags on most airplanes if you don't jam them full, ha ha... :P www.parodeejay.com/amazon

[@jackiespain1052]

Hi Jay and Dee...I was wondering if you knew by chance if holland matches the status levels from Princess Cruises...Keep up the awesome vlogs!! Jackie

[@parodeejay]

There's no match between any of the Carnival Corp brands at the moment, no!!

[@jlizardi5013]

Hope they have that band show in the Oosterdam! It wasn't in the Nieuw Statendam last year. Ps. Probably you know but if not, you could ask your room steward to bring you ice every day.

[@wandaethen5215]

Holland looks nice, we have never been on that line. I hope our ABC cruise in nov isn't booted out of Bonaire too. It is on the ascent.

[@parodeejay]

We love some Bonaire! HAL gave us about 6 months notice when it was being pulled from our itinerary. Fingers crossed!! :D

[@adamf3120]

No dinner summary?! 😭 haha... Island Magic is only on Rotterdam btw - They're onboard Rotterdam for the whole Caribbean season (saw them in November and agree they were amazing)!

[@johnnolan5579]

I was just on this ship in January on the same itinerary but Bonaire was part of the itinerary. The food was excellent all around and the ship is beautiful. Especially enjoyed the Crows Nest. And guess what? I was in room 7037!! By any chance did you find a gray sock? lol.

[@parodeejay]

Oh funny! No random socks to be found around the cabin, other than my crazy ones!! :P ~Jay

[@ontariocanada]

Dee, where did you buy your blue and white top. I've seen it on you before and loved it!

[@Dee-of-ParoDeeJay]

I've had it for a few years. It was from an outlet store Burke's I think it was called.

[@ontariocanada]

@@Dee-of-ParoDeeJay thanks. I don't think we have that in Canada 🇨🇦. If yr Cruising, hope yr having a blast.

[@Dee-of-ParoDeeJay]

@@ontariocanada Thanks we're home for a few more weeks.

[@debbief2882]

The little "bonus" casino room is the no smoking casino. Breakfast at the NY Deli IS a great secret! The Dive In does have the best fries at sea. Have you tried their sauce? 😋

[@melaniesimmons4122]

D&J - do they do tea time every day or just sea days? Love me some HAL but it's been 5 years since I've been aboard. Princess casino offers are just too awesome!

[@parodeejay]

We only saw the tea time on a couple of our sea days, never on a port day that we could tell!! :D

[@tonypowell]

Hello Jay & Dee ! Jay I was wondering why they have 220 plugs in the room ?

[@parodeejay]

Most ships are built "across the pond" and do itineraries in places where 220v is the norm, so I suppose it's helpful to have multiple outlet options!! :D

[@tonypowell]

@@parodeejay that makes sense ! Thanks Jay

[@debbiemackey6659]

Question: is it cheaper to book your next cruise while on a cruise or wait until you get home

[@parodeejay]

Most cruise lines offer reduced deposit and extra onboard credit if you book while onboard, but the cruise rates are usually the same.

[@larrys2554]

Hi, We've always been curious of the Rotterdam. Was there a buffet available to you when you boarded and as well as breakfast? Looking forward to this series. We've heard comments that the Blues club & Rolling stone club didn't have enough seating. Did you see that? Thank you

[@parodeejay]

Yes, the buffet was available for all three daily meals, including boarding day lunch. The seating in all the music venues fills up FAST, especially the rock room... get there early, ha ha... :P

[@larrys2554]

Thanks for the quick reply, very much appreciated. You went from the Blues to Rolling stone, were you able to sit?

[@parodeejay]

Yes, but we got some of the last remaining seats, probably because folks had drifted over to the Billboard Onboard set. We had strange sideways seats, perched on a bench, facing 90 degrees away from the stage, hah...

[@React2This]

There’s always room service, y’all. 24/7 and no extra charge on HAL ships.

[@parodeejay]

This is true! We normally remember it for breakfast, but forget about it sometimes for other meals, ha ha... :P

[@SharonR1105]

So, funny story, the ice and water machines were broken on our cruise in November. Good grief. We were not fans of this ship, as we felt the food and service were both subpar. (we are Celebrity snobs, I guess). Also, the casino and shops around were filled with smoke when Casino was open.

[@parodeejay]

Yes, the smoke smell was pretty bad up around the Rolling Stone and Billboard Onboard areas most sea days... we even smelled it wafting back toward to BB King area sometimes too!!

[@kelleyoneal2578]

Are there bigger inside cabins with a sofa? I need a sofa or love seat in room.

[@alk61695]

Sweet Caroline, LA LA LA!!!! Also at 17:13 you think they would have accepted Like a Surgeon?

[@billsnyder1021]

Sorry to hear BB King contract not renewed. Best show on Holland ships.

[@parodeejay]

Looks like they're only keeping the BB King concept on the Pinnacle class, possibly. The other ships seem to be going for the "Rolling Stone Lounge" combined concept like we saw on Nieuw Amsterdam.

[@lizdyson3627]

Hi Dee Marie. Do you like Moana? I watched it on KZbin for the first time the other day. It's definately my new favourite. "How far i'll go" was definately written for me. Would love it if you could sing it next time you film a Karaoke.

[@Dee-of-ParoDeeJay]

I do like Moana and know the song. I'd have to see if they have it available for Karaoke. Thanks!

[@lizdyson3627]

@@Dee-of-ParoDeeJay Thank you Dee, I have finally found a travel company with carers that can take me to Curacoa fo 11 nghts. We might be able to meet one day.

[@vitaminsea2475]

No dish on dinner? 😢

[@margueritag.1993]

Those are good looking pizzas. How do they taste?

[@parodeejay]

The made-to-order pizzas are MUCH better than the pool deck pizza, we've found!! :D

[@mrsbebebo]

Did you dye your hair Jay? It looks good!

[@rowenabellingham3179]

The Dutch love mayonnaise on their chips...my best friend is Dutch...she takes a bottle of mayo with her when we go out for dinner...😐

[@wonderfullight3892]

Do you guys get free cruise?

[@parodeejay]

No, this cruise was paid out of pocket!! :D

[@wonderfullight3892]

@@parodeejay I thought all the cruise you go will be free since you are KZbin star

[@wonderfullight3892]

@@parodeejay or get paid to ride a cruise.

[@loishaffner9483]

Why buffet not dining room

[@parodeejay]

We had just eaten in the dining room every night onboard Nieuw Amsterdam, and the menus are the same, so we figured why not mix it up a bit and experience something different!! :P

[@heideleskun1163]

I love seeing turkey sausage and turkey bacon more and more. Much prefer over pork because it's so greasy

[@Bibiznatch]

Supplemental food

[@barbarashuster9029]

September 22 Rotterdam the entertainment was very lacking

[@parodeejay]

Most days, we struggled to find activities that we wanted to do that weren't an upcharge. Fortunately, we got a lot of work catch-up done over the course of the cruise due to the lack of interesting activities!! :P

[@darin2]

We are going on the Rotterdam to Norway in 5 months. My problem with this video is you give little to no description of the food. Since you covered several days in this video, and there is no nightly wrap up, all we get are 2 second still photos of the food with nothing else. I know HAL is know for their good food, and it looked good, but who knows....we have no follow up on it. I think if your going to do your videos like this over several days, maybe you should try and show a little more at dinner so people understand if you like the food.

[@parodeejay]

Most of the menus we’ve eaten several times over on different ships, so we figured it’s okay to skip a single day’s MDR dinner recap in this video, but we do understand that not everyone may have watched our previous HAL vlogs. We included the nightly food wrap-up in every other part of this series, for the curious!! :P

[@deartori]

Don’t understand why you can’t record shows, seems like an antiquated rule.

[@nordisk1874]

No, she is not the Rotterdam that was pawned off thanks to politics. The only two S class ships are the only ones worth sailing on.

[@deborahbolton3417]

Thank you for your video. It was very informative and you never said how you like the taste of the pizza? We really wanna know your thoughts thanks again.🤔😊🛳️🦩⚓️

[@parodeejay]

The made-to-order pizzas are MUCH better than the pool deck pizza, we've found!! :D