I love cruising and everything about it, but I especially love the food on a cruise ship. There is just so much of it and it’s all delicious! Not to mention the excellent staff that serves you said food. Even when we’re in port for dinner, the same servers are there working just as hard to provide us with good food. The way they work around you never standing still is very impressive.
I recently returned from a five-night sailing on Holland America Line‘s brand new Rotterdam cruise ship. There were countless dining experiences that were unforgettable and left me wanting more. I feel bad for my social media following for having to sit through Instagram story after story sharing everything I ate. In case you missed those social moments, I’ve shared all of what I ate below broken down by restaurant. I even took the liberty to rate each restaurant to showcase which were my favorites, though I didn’t have really one bad meal.
(Rating: 1 being lowest; 5 being highest)
Breakfast on Lido Market (3/5)
The views from the Lido Market are breathtaking. It’s hard to find a better-looking view at breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
The Main Dining Room (2.5/5)
There is a main dining room on practically every cruise ship, so it’s only natural for a writer to want to experience it at least once. The other restaurants require an additional charge to dine there, so you will notice many repeated guests in the main dining room. Depending on the cruise length, I could see myself in the dining room for dinner multiple evenings, but since this was just a five-night cruise, I only had dinner there once.
Rotterdam’s Dining Room serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I didn’t have the opportunity to have breakfast there, but I imagine it featured most of what the Lido Market offered. That being said, I had lunch and dinner there once, as featured below.
Lunch (2/5)
I had to be a bit of a stickler when it came to rating the restaurants onboard the Rotterdam. Unfortunately, The Dining Room at lunch was my least favorite, but still a decent meal. My friends and I decided to order a few things on the menu to get a feel for what they offered, hence the odd variety you see below.
Dinner (3/5)
We had our first dinner as a group in The Dining Room. It was a wonderful way to kick off the cruise. Not shown below, because I forgot to snap a photo (shame on me), was the Caesar salad I had before my French onion soup.
Pinnacle Grill (4/5)
This was by far one of my favorite steakhouse experiences on a cruise ship. Pinnacle Grill ticked all the boxes when it comes to serving you a perfect steak.
I didn’t get a good photo of my petit filet mignon, because I was too distracted by Doug’s (Cruise Radio) tomahawk. See below:
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Rudi’s Sel de Mer (4/5)
Rudi’s Sel de Mer is a brasserie that offers a modern twist on classic French dishes and seafood.
Tamarind (5/5)
Tamarind is by far my favorite restaurant on Rotterdam. Had I had more time, I would have dined there at least once more just to have their crispy duck again. The menu honors the elements of water, wood, fire, and earth. If you like sushi, I highly recommend you order some of their specialty sushi created in collaboration with Culinary Council member and Master Sushi Chef, Andy Matsuda. I had the lobster tempura and it was to-die-for.
Half Moon Cay Lobster Shack
You don’t go to Half Moon Cay and not grab food from the Lobster Shack.
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