Rotterdam cruise ship on a transatlantic cruise ..bland, packed and seniors galore

 I am on a 14 day transatlantic cruise on Rotterdam a newer Holland America ship. It’s about four years old. I am not impressed and don’t know exactly why, but below are the good and bad impressions .  an update …  7 days  in. They kindly changed my cabin to the back of the ship. It has clean windows, and is quiet and no smells. Hallelujah!  I have added more below

Good

- newer ship, so no worn out carpeting, chairs etc

- food has been good in the dining room and buffet.. really good

- new cabin at the back of the ship lovely and clean and quiet. I am very comfortable 

- some staff pleasant and others just miserable .. still true particularly some of the staff in the lido buffet

- tai chi class is led by a real person, not a video 

- entertainment has been great in the theatre but they have the performers on twice

- cruise director speaking shows in the theatre also good

- easy to get off ship in port…probably because of so many old people

- Dutch cafe has good free limited food selection but again no seats available ever and I have been there all times of the day

Bad

- cabin 1039 smells like an old ship, as do the pillows on the bed  cabin 1039 is to be avoided at all costs

- they haven’t cleaned the outside windows in my ocean view cabin so it’s hard to see out cabin 1039

- the ship feels crowded especially in the elevator and dining areas still true

- full of really old people meaning 80 plus years

- some of the Americans on board are nice to Canadians but the trump supporters are rude to us.., yuck 

- all activities are packed so they turn passengers away, and no change or additions to the scheduled daily 

- very few activities so I guess it’s why they are packed

- my guaranteed cabin  1039 was below

the rock venue so 3 times a night until 11:30 the music is so loud my cabin seems to shake with the bass. While I saved enough money on a guaranteed cabin to pay for the internet, I suffered nightly until they changed my cabin

Music at night is packed in every venue so no place to sit to enjoy the music. I was told passengers camp out after dinner in seats and don’t leave even for the theater show

Only have one guest speaker in day time, talking about war ships. Your better off taking a nap in your cabin 

Hope this helps

Marcia