Back from HAL Eurodam Christmas week cruise

[smgapp]

We went on the Dec. 19 Eurodam to celebrate my parent's 50th Anniversary. There were 9 of us on the cruise and we had four adjoining balcony rooms. We were able to have the steward open the connecting door between two of the balconies. The other dividing balcony doors could not be opened (they would block the door to the deck) but since we also had connecting doors between those rooms, we were able to go between all 4 rooms without going in the hallway. That was convenient for our group.

 

We have never spent Christmas on a ship and were pleasantly surprised with the holiday festivities on board. There were beautiful gingerbread houses, holiday lights, Christmas trees & tree lighting ceremonies, caroling, holiday movies and even two snow storms using paper snow dropped from above. The Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas mariners brunch and Christmas night dinner were all very elegant with the complimentary champagne and parade of the yule tide cake (instead of the baked Alaska). We attended a Christmas eve mass in the theater room and a show where the ship staff walked in from all directions holding lighted candles. It was all very beautiful. The Eurodam had wreaths on every cabin door and we also brought snowflakes to hang from our four doors (we had many compiments on the snow flakes!)

 

I ordered a Christmas tree for in my parent's room that was from HAL'S web site and was a disappointment (small 18" tree for $55- it was supposed to be a larger tree but they said their vendor only provided one tree size so they ended up crediting the cost of the tree to my account which was very apprecitated) The night before the cruise we bought small Christmas trees at Publix grocery store to put in each of the other three cabins.

 

We missed our stop at Half moon Cay since the ship said 50' of the beach had been destroyed in the East coast storm that brought the blizzard to the NE. We were disappointed since we heard how beautiful the ship's island is and we had signed up for a bike ride around the island.

 

We did a private tour on Aruba with Marc at Wix tours- www.limousinearuba.com. It was $405 for 9 people for a 4-5 hour private tour.It was a lot of fun. Marc was a great guide and very personable. He had a mini bus for our group and took us around the island to casibari rock formation,natural bridge, ruins of Bushiribana ,Alto Vista Chapel, the lighthouse and the Aloe factory. We also did a brief stop at the beach.It was interesting to see how much of Aruba is open undeveloped dry dessert with cactus and rocks. The tour ended around 3 and since we did not leave until 10 that night, we also did an atv tour with Kini Kini Transfer and tours- www.kinikinitours.com . Wix tours told Kini kini where we had already been that day so they set up our atv tour to go to places we had not yet seen - the Natural pool, a cave and the National park. We had 4 atvs for the 8 of us. Note- my 71 year old mom decided not to do the atv tour which was a smart decision. It was a bit scary- the atvs ride full speed on the main roads with the cars and then they go off road onto very rocky bumpy trails. We got stuck on a rock once and almost tipped twice. You will also go down very steep hills and the guide tells you to use both brakes. It was an exciting tour but also very nerve wracking at times (and we all love adventure tours!) One note- the shops in Aruba close at 6 so when we got back from ATVs, we could not do any shopping which was a disappointment since the ship did not leave until 10 pm. We did go to Senior frogs and had a margarita!

 

We also had a great private tour in Curacao with Curacao actief- www.curacao-actief.com. Our guide Sanders was wonderful and very concerned with keeping our group happy. We were in an open air safari vehicle and since my mom was a bit uncomfortable, Sanders let her sit up front with him. We went to the desert, a cave, the blow hole ("geyser") and snokeled at the tug boat. Once again, it was interesting to see how much of Curacao is undeveloped and is coral desert and rocks/caves. It was a very fun tour and the guide made it all the better. We had planned to stop at the Blue Curacao factory but skipped it so we would have time to shop. The ship left Curacao at 5 and we really wished we had more time in Curacao to run around the town. The all day private tour with guide in the safari vehicle was $550- it was wonderful day!

 

On our last night we tried to get a reservation in the steak house on board but all reservations were taken. We wanted to celebrate my parent's 50th Anniversary. We ordered Anniversary balloons from the front desk and then went to our regular dinner table early. Our waiter Ferdinando was kind enough to decorate our table with a framed photo from my parent's wedding, a small Christmas tree and flowers. They also served us champagne (our travel agent had sent us 4 bottles and they poured it without a corkage fee) , a beautiful Anniversary cake and the waiters all sang an Anniversary song in Phillipino. It was all very special and appreciated. This is our third cruise on Holland America and we all plan to continue cruising on HAL!!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Glad you had a wonderul cruise.

 

The Pinnacle does sell out completely on some days -- need to make reservations early.

 

You don't pay a corckage fee on any bottles of wine or champagne that you get as gifts from either TA's or friends since those are ship stock items and not something you brought on board yourself.

 

Glad you will be looking foreward to sailing on HAL in the future.

[IRL_Joanie]

Quote: "We missed our stop at Half moon Cay since the ship said 50' of the beach had been destroyed in the East coast storm that brought the blizzard to the NE. We were disappointed since we heard how beautiful the ship's island is and we had signed up for a bike ride around the island." Unquote

 

WHAT???????????????????????

 

This is the first I've heard that Half Moon Cay has had 1/2 the beach or 50 feet (unsure if you meant feet or 1/2 (or any of it destroyed??????

 

Please, can anyone confirm this?? We leave in 30 days for our cruise and Half Moon Cay is the reason for our doing a B2B!!!

 

Please say it ain't so???/

 

Joanie

[cccole]

Thank you for this review. It sounds like a great way to celebrate your parent's special anniversary and the holidays. Can you tell me what the age range was for the 9 in your group? Did you have one table in the dining room for 9 of you? And...that itinerary has more sea days than most, how did that work out if you had young adults in the group? It looks like you did a lot of research before the cruise and planned some fantastic shore excursions. Thank you for sharing!!! Cherie

[smgapp]

Our group was my parents in their 70's, three adults in late 40's-50 and four teens- 15,18,19 and 20. We had one large table at dinner which worked well for us and the 8pm seating. We skipped dinner the night in Aruba since we wanted to walk around the town and the ship did not leave until 10 pm. It was a lot of days at sea (especially since we got on board at noon on Saturday, missed the Sunday stop at half Moon Cay) and then did not get off the ship until Tuesday in Aruba. We have all cruised together many times so we knew how to keep busy. We went to two of the cooking demos ( free and fun and plenty of good samples) , a few of our adult group took the martini/margarita drink class on two different days ($15); two of the teen girls went to the gym, went to the spa etc..We had our own spot on the roof deck in front of the smoke stacks where it never seemed crowded.

 

We tried to get into one of the hands on cooking classes but they were full. As the other writer mentioned, Pinnacle Grill fills up fast so try to get a reservation ahead of time- we waited too long for our group of 9.

 

The Spa ran a $69 or $79 special for a 50 hour massage on one of the last days at sea which was a great deal (I think the massage is normally over $100)

 

One of the return days at sea was very hot with no wind. We followed a tip from another cc member and went to the covered 2nd or 3rd floor outside deck of the ship where there were comfortable cushioned chase lounges under the covered deck and it was nice and cool.

 

Note: even though the drinking age at the islands is 18 or lower, the ship strictly enforced its 21 and over drinking age. The teen's ship cards all had an extra "M" on them for minor. It is a good policy since the ship was not over run with under age drinking kids.

 

We had two of our blackberrys with Verizon service changed to the global web plan for the 7 days that we were on the cruise. The kids were able to check facebook and their e-mail accounts on our phones which also kept them busy. I just checked my Verizon bill and I was only charged the prorated extra $24 for the 7 days of global coverage. You do not need to pay for a whole month of global web plan but must remember to call Verizon when you return to drop the global plan.

 

As for the cancellation of Half Moon Cay- they started mentioning the possibility that we would not make the stop the night before (so I do think the 50 feet of beach erosion was a big issue). On the day that we were to tender there, the ship announced that due to high waves and the beach erosion, we would make the stop at Half Moon cay. We were all very disappointed and the waves did not look very high...I am not sure if the cruise after ours stopped at Half Moon Cay- hopefully they were able to repair the beach and now it is a stop again.

[cccole]

Thank you for answering my questions. I think I would rather have an itinerary with more ports, just in case one gets cancelled, but it sounds like you had a great time. The ages in our group would be about the same as yours, with the addition of a 5 year old. The ship sounds beautiful, with plenty to do or not to do. Thank you again for posting your review. Cherie

[DutchByAssociation]

Quote: "We missed our stop at Half moon Cay since the ship said 50' of the beach had been destroyed in the East coast storm that brought the blizzard to the NE. We were disappointed since we heard how beautiful the ship's island is and we had signed up for a bike ride around the island." Unquote

 

WHAT???????????????????????

 

This is the first I've heard that Half Moon Cay has had 1/2 the beach or 50 feet (unsure if you meant feet or 1/2 (or any of it destroyed??????

 

Please, can anyone confirm this?? We leave in 30 days for our cruise and Half Moon Cay is the reason for our doing a B2B!!!

 

Please say it ain't so???/

 

Joanie

 

I can confirm it... I've seen the photos (they are for internal use though so unfortunately no photos that I can post) however I know they had a plan in place to restore the beac very quickly as this CAN happen from time to time.

 

Let's just say, that it was a VERY good call for Captain Mercer to not call at HMC on the OP's cruise.

[English_in_Spain]

Our group was my parents in their 70's, three adults in late 40's-50 and four teens- 15,18,19 and 20. We had one large table at dinner which worked well for us and the 8pm seating. We skipped dinner the night in Aruba since we wanted to walk around the town and the ship did not leave until 10 pm. It was a lot of days at sea (especially since we got on board at noon on Saturday, missed the Sunday stop at half Moon Cay) and then did not get off the ship until Tuesday in Aruba. We have all cruised together many times so we knew how to keep busy. We went to two of the cooking demos ( free and fun and plenty of good samples) , a few of our adult group took the martini/margarita drink class on two different days ($15); two of the teen girls went to the gym, went to the spa etc..We had our own spot on the roof deck in front of the smoke stacks where it never seemed crowded.

 

We tried to get into one of the hands on cooking classes but they were full. As the other writer mentioned, Pinnacle Grill fills up fast so try to get a reservation ahead of time- we waited too long for our group of 9.

 

The Spa ran a $69 or $79 special for a 50 hour massage on one of the last days at seawhich was a great deal (I think the massage is normally over $100)

 

One of the return days at sea was very hot with no wind. We followed a tip from another cc member and went to the covered 2nd or 3rd floor outside deck of the ship where there were comfortable cushioned chase lounges under the covered deck and it was nice and cool.

 

Note: even though the drinking age at the islands is 18 or lower, the ship strictly enforced its 21 and over drinking age. The teen's ship cards all had an extra "M" on them for minor. It is a good policy since the ship was not over run with under age drinking kids.

 

We had two of our blackberrys with Verizon service changed to the global web plan for the 7 days that we were on the cruise. The kids were able to check facebook and their e-mail accounts on our phones which also kept them busy. I just checked my Verizon bill and I was only charged the prorated extra $24 for the 7 days of global coverage. You do not need to pay for a whole month of global web plan but must remember to call Verizon when you return to drop the global plan.

 

As for the cancellation of Half Moon Cay- they started mentioning the possibility that we would not make the stop the night before (so I do think the 50 feet of beach erosion was a big issue). On the day that we were to tender there, the ship announced that due to high waves and the beach erosion, we would make the stop at Half Moon cay. We were all very disappointed and the waves did not look very high...I am not sure if the cruise after ours stopped at Half Moon Cay- hopefully they were able to repair the beach and now it is a stop again.

 

I bet the masseuse's arms ached by the end of that :eek:.

 

Thanks for the review. Sorry you missed HMC. I hope they get everything back to normal there soon.

[portofrome]

Thank you for posting your review.

[IRL_Joanie]

I can confirm it... I've seen the photos (they are for internal use though so unfortunately no photos that I can post) however I know they had a plan in place to restore the beac very quickly as this CAN happen from time to time.

 

Let's just say, that it was a VERY good call for Captain Mercer to not call at HMC on the OP's cruise.

 

 

Thanks DBA for the answer, and to English in Spain for posting it also in another thread.

 

Just one more question re: Half Moon Cay...

 

How long is the fixing of HMC expected to take?

 

Joanie