- 2022 Tropical Caribbean: Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US
- 2022 Tropical Caribbean: Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos
- 2022 Tropical Caribbean: Amber Cove, Dominican Republic
- 2022 Tropical Caribbean: Half Moon Cay, Bahamas
- 2022 Tropical Caribbean: Holland America Rotterdam Dining Review
- 2022 Tropical Caribbean: Holland America Rotterdam Ship Review
This is more of a food slide show than a review of the food. I have to say that I did not have a single complaint about the food on Holland America. They offered a lot of variety and everything was fresh and delicious. About 10 years ago my Mother-In-Law cruised Holland America and in a rare complaint from her, she said that the food was too heavily sauced. Since that time, Holland America has introduced a new and improved culinary program. They partner with a list of top chef’s in the world to create menu and lido cafe offerings. Those chefs include Rudi Sodamin, Top Chef winner Kristen Kish, David Burke, Jacques Torres, Ethan Stowell, Jonnie Boer, and Andy Matsuda. According to the Holland America website “With the collective experience, passion and creativity of seven world-class celebrity chefs, the Holland America Line Culinary Council® brings global influence and expertise to dining venues across our fleet. Onboard our ships, each of our executive chefs is a member of the prestigious Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, an international food and wine society”. We have been on 7 cruises since August and I can say that this food it right there at the top and comparable even to the two luxury lines we have sailed this year.
Lido Marketplace
The lido market place is the quick service food station casual dining experience offered on Holland America. This is a particularly exciting area on the Pinnacle Class ships like the Rotterdam. There are variety of stations and food is often prepared “a la minute” and handed to you by a gracious server.
Club Orange
With the upgrade we made to Club Orange, our main dining was open seating in the smaller club orange venue. The food through out the week was fantastic. The menu was the same as the main dining room but with a couple of additional Club Orange special as a choice each night. The food, plating, and ambiance was fantastic. Everything fresh and at the right temperature.
Dive-in and New York Pizza
Great pool side spot for burgers, dogs, pizza and deli sandwiches! Great food, made to order. They give you a buzzer so you can sit down and the buzzer goes off when your food is ready. Guests can custom create your own pizzas can be ordered with a variety of vegetables and meats, or guests can just walk up and get a slice of ready made.
Specialty Dining at the Pinnacle Grille
This was probably my favorite dining experience of the cruise. Every thing from the crab cakes to the curtain of bacon, to the shrimp bisque and steaks were delicious. Some of the best food I have ever had.
Wine Tasting Experience
Our on board cellar-master hosted an amazing wine tasting experience for us. He was very knowledgeable about wine and wanted to make the tasting experience meaningful and enjoyable. The selections were interesting and the interactive tasting with different foods made experimenting fun. The sommelier also made a quick change on one of the wine when he tasted the chardonnay that he had originally selected. He wasn’t happy with it, and quickly had his staff bring a different selection to the guests. I would give this tasting experience a 5 out of 5 rating in terms of price, selections and overall experience.
Suzanne Klasen is the Owner / Travel Advisor of CruiseOne Suzanne Klasen. We have combined our love of cruising with computer skills to bring you a very informative and entertaining site that follows my cruising travels and thoughts. I hope that you will let me help plan your next vacation.
