Why

This is the 2^nd part of the June 2011 trip onboard Holland Americas MS Rotterdam. Part of a larger collection of stories originating from a cruise from Holland, up to the Baltic sea, and through the Gulf of Finland.

Port of Rostock

The Port of Rostock is less than an overnight cruise around the coast of the capital region of Denmark. Even though we were aware that there was plenty to see, the sight of the port did not inspire us to get off the boat.

Rostock and Copenhagen are just over 100 miles apart, as the crow flies, and we needed a break from walking concrete. We made the choice to stay on board to take advantage of the MS Rotterdam’s gym, pool, and buffets.

Health

A giant cruise ship is an enclosed environment, so catching a cold or flu is going to be easy if you do not keep your hands clean. The ship has plenty of sanitation hand-gel dispensers dotted around the ship, so there is really no excuse for not keeping your hands clean.

The other temptation is to eat high-calorie content food 6-times a day and leave the salad for the fishes. Poor eating habits in combination with drinking too much is going to lower the bodies immunity.

We all caught a bad cold for 5 days of the 10-day cruise, it could have been avoided, or greatly reduced by treating my body better.

There are various exercise classes, this is not a justification to binge, but it does at least make you feel less guilty for binging.

The classes are good, ranging from full-heart-attack style cardio workouts to less extreme stretching. If you are the kind of person that prefers to go at their own pace, they have a gym, or you can take a 1/9 Mile walk around the 3^rd deck of the ship.

Entertainment

The swimming pool has a retractable roof, which is often open unless there happens to be a might rainstorm, and it makes a pleasant place to meet or stare out to sea.

There is a massage room that must be booked in advance because it is so popular. Personally, I do not like to be touched by a stranger, plenty of people out there find it relaxing, so good luck to them.

On the last couple of days, we found that the Ship had a play area for kids older than ours, so the playroom was closed to us. The itinerary that we were on, meant we were the only family with a small baby, other than the captain.

A majority of the passengers were beyond 60, even though many were genuinely nice, meant we had some passengers complaining that we were onboard with young children ruining the cruise.

The theatre is big, huge in fact, and the venue is used to introduce all the new passenger to the facilities and itinerary of the journey.

Our favourite place was one of the main decks that had a coffee shop bar, board games and a few shops. The coffee shop as an Internet lounge, so if you are desperate, you can connect to social media and keep friends updated for a price.

Rooms

We were lucky and had a room with a double be and a sofa, however, this was still tight considering we needed to fit a baby cot in it.

The room felt claustrophobic with the three of us in it, even though it was a decent sized room with a shower and wardrobe.

It is also worth mentioning that even though this ship has wheelchair access and various lifts, getting an electric wheelchair through the tight corridors and manoeuvring through a bedroom was tricky.

The entire cruise had to wait for the tide to change so that the chair could be taken onboard.

Another thing about the room was that, even though it was a few decks up from the sea with a window, we had no way to open it, and that meant to replace air-conditioning with fresh air we needed to keep going out on the deck.

Staff

There was not one member of staff that was rude, or unhelpful. All the crew seemed to love children, they entertained them and went beyond the call of duty in terms of being accommodating to my son’s dietary needs.

The room was always clean, made up, and we would always come back into the room with the towels made into some sort of animal.

We paid for the week-long laundry service, it was worth it, we put the dirties in a bag at the end of each day and the next day it would be clean and folded.

Food

There seemed to be no shortage of food, mostly inclusive, and we had all increased our body weight by 10% by the end of the cruise.

Nearly every day for lunch and breakfast, the cruise laid on giant buffets to cater to the health conscious and the sweet-toothed.

We often gathered around the pool area for a mid-afternoon snack, personal favourite, the Mexican styled nachos bar , or occasionally a BBQ was laid on.

In addition to the buffets the main dining hall provided a full civilised seat service, offering set 4-5 course meals.

This two-storey restaurant serves up to 2 seatings to cover all the passengers, depending on time slot the chosen. The restaurant has a panoramic view out to sea, or on this day, the port of Rostock.

At least 1 of the 6 restaurants were open at any one time, mostly free. Some restaurants that were a’la carte, and there were not cheap, personally, the inclusive venues were of such a high quality, there did not seem to be any reason to eat anywhere else.

Shops

Every destination essentially lands in a tourist trap, so there is no shortage of tat that can be picked up. They must have known that people get bored, need to find a way to spend their money. The ship provides the opportunities to buy crap onboard the shop from destinations that you didn’t visit.

To state the obvious, if you need lots of bottled water or a specific food, then buy it on shore leave. The shop is fine for emergencies, and the price is ok, but it is still a lot cheaper off the boat.

In terms of medical, we needed to bring a load of medicated baby milk, other than that the onboard clinic is extremely good for emergencies.

So, if you wake up feeling seasick, slipped in the shower and bruised your bum, or just nursing the worst hangover ever, then the Medical bay is more than happy to help.

Views

Simply fantastic, whether the weather is good or bad, the sea seems to never replicate itself. Every dimension of objects on land comes across differently viewed from the sea.

Whether it be going under a giant bridge, weaving through the small islands on the Fjords of Sweden, or just watching the swell trail the boat. It is simply fascinating to watch.

A few Cruises that I have been on in the past have ended up in a storm, you come out of your environmentally controlled room in the morning into torrential rain.

Unless it is such a massive storm that the ship must birth, you can barely sense the movement, and it just adds more character to the trip.

Conclusions

Do it again? Certainly, without young children. Everything is done for you, there is no pressure to stay on or get off the ship. If you want to visit countries that are usually a pain to get a visa in, then this is the way to do it.

Food is good, drinks too easy to drink, and it is the ultimate in getting away from the mobile phone.

A cruise cabin is a hotel room that floats to different destinations, there is no packing and unpacking required. As a tourist it is great, you can see 7 locations in 10 days with little or no hassle.

It is tiring, maybe something to do with the motion of the boat, the amount of walking required around the locations, or the copious amounts of food.

Even though this cruise had everything, the sheer size of the boat made it feel a bit enclosed.

Cruise ships I have been on in the past where perhaps a third the size, they had a lot less to offer in terms of quantity or quality but were more enjoyable because they felt more like a boat.

Any cruise is good for someone that is happy on water, so really the only choice to make is whether you want the classic or luxury experience.