My Best Cabin Yet? Here’s My Interior Stateroom onboard Rotterdam, the cruise ship from Holland America Line.
Welcome to my review of my Interior Stateroom onboard Rotterdam, the cruise ship from Holland America Line. I spent 21 nights cruising in one of the cheapest rooms on the whole ship, and - spoiler alert - I loved it!
If you’d like to see this room tour in video from, then come over to my YouTube channel via the below video. This is one of the best ways to support me - come and subscribe on YouTube - just search ‘Fraser at Sea’!
This was my first time cruising with Holland America Line, and so I wasn’t too sure what to expect from my Interior stateroom. All I knew what that I really hoped I’d like it, largely due to the fact that I was booked to cruise in here for 21 nights - I’d booked a 12 night Panama Canal cruise, and then booked a 9 night Caribbean cruise to go straight after.
The room I’m going to show you today is down on Deck 1 of the ship. You’ll find lots of Interior and also Oceanview staterooms down there. To be honest, I was really nervous that these cabins would be loud during the day, and well into the evenings, due to the fact that lots of the entertainment venues are found on Deck 2 of the ship.
I’m delighted to report that I had absolutely no issues with sound in here at all - I slept soundly every night, and the cabin never seemed to have any issues during the day, either. One point I should make is that, during the peak entertainment hours of the venues above (about 8pm - midnight), you’ll probably be able to hear the bass from the music above coming through into your cabin, but this didn’t affect me as I’d still be out and about around the ship during these times. That said, perhaps something to consider if you’re a light sleeper, or if you enjoy spending an evening in your cabin.
Let’s get started by looking at the room - here’s the view from the door…
Looking into my stateroom onboard Rotterdam.
The first thing I noticed in this room was the colour scheme - the bright cream shades really brighten this room, and they make it feel MUCH bigger than it actually is. The over-sized headboard helps to absorb any noise or echo in the room, helping to make it feel cosy and homely. Other features to mention at this stage are the plug points - you’ve got US outlets by the bed, in addition to USB outlets, the lamps - you’ve got a reading light and a wider ambient light on each side of the bed, and the phone - you can use this to call other passengers, the various services on the ship, or ashore.
Looking towards the foot of the bed, to the large television mounted onto the wall.
Looking towards the bottom of the bed, there isn’t too much to report - there’s a large flat-screen television mounted to the wall, and a nice magazine rack below. There’s also a magazine supplied in the cabin - I’m not sure if anyone would actually read this, but I guess it’s nice to have the option. I really liked the wooden surround that all of this was built into - it felt really high quality for the cheapest room type on the ship!
Looking across the bed towards the vanity unit and workstation.
Looking over to the other side of the room, there’s another feature that I loved - the large desk, with huge mirror on the wall. An element of this that I really liked was the lighting - the lights built into the mirror here gave off a great light, and I’d imagine they’d be perfect for anyone needing to use the mirror by the desk to get ready to head out for the night. These could easily be turned on or off, so didn’t affect the ambience of the rest of the room.
I must mention the chair. I believe most staterooms on this ship would have a much nicer chair at the desk here, but my cabin attendant explained that this one was a temporary addition to my room. I can only assume that the original chair had been damaged somehow? Not to worry - this was comfortable enough for getting some work done at the desk!
This room had a fantastic amount of storage!
In the above picture, you can see most of the storage that this stateroom boasts. You’ve got the usual hanging space that you’d expect to find in most cruise ship cabins, but then you also have this lovely angled display area. The top section housed different types of glassware, with the open lit area then presenting a bottle of wine and a bottle of water (both chargeable).
As these were both chargeable, I asked my cabin attendant to empty this area, which then allowed me to use this space to store my own items - brilliant!
The wardrobes heading towards the door contained hanging space, drawers and shelving, and there’s also a safe and a mini fridge in there, too. I really appreciated all of this being ‘built in’, and therefore hiding it from view. Big thumbs up, Holland America Line!
Next, let’s move in and take a look at the bathroom…
Looking into the bathroom, you have a toilet directly infront of you, the sink on the left, and the shower enclosure on the right.
The glass shower enclosure includes a flexible shower head, and Elemis toiletries are included.
The mirror above the sink in this bathroom was HUGE! Also, it was SUCH a flattering light - can I have this sort of light follow me around all day, please?!
I know what you’re thinking - beautiful bathroom for a cruise ship, right?! This bathroom reminded me of some luxury hotels I’ve stayed in - it was one of the best I’ve had seen on a cruise ship (especially in an Interior staterooom!).
Points to note in here:
There’s no shower curtain - the enclosure in here was glass, and it was kept spotless throughout my cruise thanks to my cabin attendant.
Elemis toiletries - the complimentary toiletries in here had the most wonderful smell. I tried to buy some of it while onboard to bring home with me, but it wasn’t available. Taking a shower in here was like enjoying a spa treatment!
Towels - I had access to large bath towels, small face cloths, a hand towel and a towel for the floor coming out of the shower. This cabin was really well provisioned from a towel point of view!
Power - there was a shaver power outlet in here, so don’t worry about needing this - you can see it in the final image above!
Okay, I’m sure you’re able to tell that I really enjoyed cruising in this room. I’ve cruised in lots of Interior (or Inside) staterooms from all different cruise lines, and I’d genuinely say that this is among the best that I’ve ever seen.
If you’d like to see more from my time onboard this ship, then come over to my YouTube channel. You can find episode 1 of my Rotterdam video series below.
To check out more of my posts from my time onboard Holland America ships, click here. Lots more to come - stay tuned!