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Place the cursor over the photos to read the
descriptions; if you click on any of the thumbnail pictures,
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Page 2 of 7 |
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Page 2 of 7 |
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We join the
Rotterdam
one day after the official
start of her much-heralded North Sea Jazz Cruise. Chartered
by Jazz Cruises
LLC to coincide with the city of Rotterdam's
annual North Sea Jazz Festival, this is a cruise with a
twist. For once, there are no formal evenings. And there is
none of the regular entertainment. Instead, it's jazz around
the clock!
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Hosted by personable jazz legend Marcus Miller, the lineup
for this cruise reads like a who's who in jazz land with
name entertainers like Herbie Hancock, Kirk Whalum and
James Carter. There's jazz at breakfast,
gospel concerts mid-morning, lunchtime Q&A sessions with
the stars, evening performances and late night 'disco'
(jazzy, naturally!) around the pool.
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The classic, whimsically decorated Rotterdam seems an odd
choice for a casual jazz cruise at first, but it soon
turns out the organizers couldn't have chosen a better
ship. Large, but not too large, Rotterdam carries 1,318
passengers in spacious surroundings. Our stateroom (2635)
is a pleasant 'home away from home' with Holland America's
new
excellent
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bedding, huge storage space and a large bathroom with a
tub (or actually, three-quarters of a tub). One
slight irritation is the condensation in the double glazing
that blocks part of the view from our stateroom.
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The
heart of Rotterdam is the three-deck high Atrium,
dominated by a replica of a 17th century Flemish clock tower, a
gigantic gilded object that houses 14
clocks and is topped by a statue of Hercules carrying a globe. At the base of the
clock tower, the Front Office handles
all your questions 24/7. The friendly Philippine staff have
the not so enviable task of handling all personal callers and
deal
with all phone calls, which sometimes results that they pick up the
phone and start talking to another guest while they were actually helping
you out.
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