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Just back from the Eurodam yesterday.....

terigo

By terigo,
in Holland America Line

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terigo

terigo

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tcook052,

 

Thank you for the link to urbandictionary.

 

It's good to learn something new everyday.:)

 

and thanks to tcook052 for providing the link.

 

I may be a senior citizen, but I am a DJ for an underground metal station, which puts my fan base at between 20 and 35 years old, and keeps me in the pop culture loop.

Sometimes I forget that a lot of people (especially most HAL cruisers!) are not in that same loop... :D

 

And you will never grow old, my friend.... thirst for knowledge keeps people forever young, no matter what the numbers say!

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CleoT

CleoT

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Teri, I'm glad you, and others who posted here, had such a great cruise and that you shared with us your experience. We'll be sailing on her in just three weeks, so I appreciate all the info.

 

By chance, do you know if they had the pub crawl or Wines Around the World? I understand that they don't do these on every ship and on the ones that do they sometimes take a break from these activities.

 

Thanks, and welcome home!

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terigo

terigo

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Teri, I'm glad you, and others who posted here, had such a great cruise and that you shared with us your experience. We'll be sailing on her in just three weeks, so I appreciate all the info.

 

By chance, do you know if they had the pub crawl or Wines Around the World? I understand that they don't do these on every ship and on the ones that do they sometimes take a break from these activities.

 

Thanks, and welcome home!

 

Thanks for the welcome home....the dash of reality of doing housework and cooking is almost more than I can stand... :D

 

Anyway, they did have the pub crawl, which was the night we were in San Juan, and conflicted with our Tamarind reservations, because it was at 8:30, or we might have done it.... then I probably would have been sorry, because it is 5 bars in one hour....

I cannot drink 5 drinks in an hour... I can barely do one drink in an hour!

Yes, I'm a wuss...For those who are not, it would have no doubt been a lot of fun.... my DH could have handled it, but he didn't want to cancel the Tamarind for it, especially since it would have been too much for me.

 

They may have it at a different time when you cruise, but just go to the Lido or Sea View bar when you go up there to eat on embarkation day, and ask about it... They will already have sign-up lists.

 

Have fun!!

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WarmWaters

WarmWaters

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This is how we experienced the cruise and what we have seen. Its not for anyone to judge or question our experiences. Our expectations were high being promised the "signature of excellence" guest experience, just to be disappointed once we spend some time onboard. I believe in : " Actions speak louder than words" and I go by what we saw and how we were treated. Sadly Holland America over promised and under delivered.

 

You might have gotten one of the few bad waiters in the bunch. That would be sad.

 

We had many waiters. We booked 3 weeks prior to departure and had the Anytime / As you wish dining and encountered every evening different waiters as we had seating all over the dining room. Always had a big table and it worked out wonderful as the longest wait we ever had to get a table assigned was 5 minutes. This dining option is great as you show up when it suits you. Way to go HAL !

 

We never found the Lido buffet to be too crowded, but I confess we only had breakfast there, and that was wonderful... never saw a table sit for longer than a couple of seconds without being cleaned off.

We must have just missed the times you were there.

 

We ate most of our meals in the Lido. I saw enough to know that the crew and guests in there, experience with every meal some form of stress, discomfort and irritation. Terrible lay out and not enough wait staff.

 

What we did to make the Lido somewhat work for us: Show up and 1st go and find a table. Then one of us will sit down to secure the table, many a time not cleaned yet. Then one of us will go and look for food, which took forever. When the 1st one comes back, he/she will guard the table and I will go and try and find some food looking far and wide. We saw many couples doing the same thing. Sad indeed ! We very seldom ate our food together with one being out and about looking all over for something to eat. Line ups, because you wait till they serve you, made for cold food many a time.

 

Apparently we never ran into the few rude people at the Lido, too.

 

I wrote : " On the very 1st day our 1st meal in the Lido, we encountered a very rude employee. "

 

I'm surprised that you didn't read my comments correctly. Were you reading it in a hurry ? My understanding of the English language is that "a very rude employee" actually means 1 employee and not a " few".

 

And they must have ripped off the dessert name tags when you were there, because every one of them had a display plate and title on them when we were there.

 

No need to be sarcastic here. Please do not make an assumption as to what I was refering to (the ones in the tall glass cabinet at the end of the buffet line where you can pick up cookies). If you do a Google Image search and put this in : " Eurodam Lido buffet dessert" you will see what I meant by the desserts not having any names. What I saw every day at the dessert station in the Lido looks exactly the same as in the 1st picture if you do a Google Image search. No names as to what is behind the glass and as I said before, the guy who served me did not know the names or what type it was, when I politely asked him. We ate almost every lunch in the Lido and the only other dessert I can remember seeing was bread pudding and vanilla custard ( somewhere else in the Lido).

 

 

Other guest failures we encountered on this cruise :

 

The water in our bathroom had a very bad weird taste .... I drink a lot of water every day and I could not drink it. We had to fill up our big water bottle several times in the Lido per day and bring it back to our room. Just an inconvenience.

 

We use the gym onboard almost every day on all our cruises.. on this one, the gym was unbearably hot. I saw several people on the treadmill or ellipse waving their hands trying to cool themselves down. We only went once and never again, simply just too hot in there. Also finding the gym ended up being difficult, its not showing up on the ship's map at the elevators and we asked an employee and he told us its on Deck 11. We eventually found the gym on Deck 9 after a bit of a run around. Just little irritations like this one, adds up to make the cruise experience not that great and pretty mediocre.

 

And what is up with crew members eating in Lido at the busiest time of the day ? Like someone said here before a crew member hijacked their table. I don't understand why with such a tight seating arrangement, crew members have to eat there at the busiest times and then even hijacking paying guests tables? We have seen many crew taking up a table while other guests are aimlessly wandering around trying to find a place to sit while their food is getting cold in the process.

 

I disagree that its a beautiful ship, we actually think its kind of ugly on the outside with all the black. Inside I got the impression its dated with uninspiring decor. The ship is only 2 years old and already looking dated and tired. A lot of red chairs around the ship (very odd) More red chairs in the main entertainment stage area - narrow small not that comfy chairs (we are not overweight), very high arm rests (really uncomfortable and the tray for our glass was too small to hold most cocktail glasses)

 

The Lido swimming pool area is way too small, I understand the Lido cabanas is there to bring in extra money for the cruise line, but they do take up way too much space in that area with not enough sun chairs left for the general public.

 

 

We thought the ship had major design flaws compared to other ships we were on recently. The lay out of the Lido buffet is very wrong. You don't have to walk so far and wide to gather food. There were times that I had to go all over the Lido area to find something to eat and then I almost could not find our table again. Very weird and uncomfortable indeed.

 

 

There is not enough seating in the Queens lounge, its way too small for events like the " Love and marriage game show". At the 1st show I was counting about 30 people standing the whole show. Many public areas should have been bigger like the Lido buffet, the Lido pool area and the Queens lounge in particular.

 

Another thing that I found disappointing was the BBQ at Half Moon Cay. Food were just not tasteful at all.

 

On the plus side the most beautiful area on the ship was our balcony stateroom. Although we don't spend much time in the stateroom and does not care for the room a lot, if I had to vote for the most beautiful area on the ship, it will be our room.

 

We used the bath robes a lot and ordered movies from the front desk, that was a nice touch. Also I enjoyed the daily newspaper we got and as Canadians also got a Canadian newspaper several times during the week.

 

Disappointing of the room was the lack of shelf space and drawers, we ended up using the shelves under our bed to put some of our clothes in and we both travel with only one medium size bag. And as many has said the lack of good lighting in front for the main clauset.

 

A nice touch as well was the very informative female travel specialist onboard who had running commentary as we sailed into San Juan and deck 5 in the front was opened so that everyone , could get there and see the old city as we entered the harbour. Very good info about the ports in general, was provided.

 

We ordered one morning room service. It was great, arrived on time, the food was very well presented and hot. I loved that.

 

We had great experiences with the front desk. On day 2 when I was almost crying of being so disappointed with this cruise, I went to the front desk and a very understanding female employee took notes of all the issues. She was very sympathetic to our situation, but I am afraid by then we have seen enough to convince us that the guest experience on the Eurodam is just not what we expect from a cruiseline that promised us a "signature of excellence" type of guest experience. HAL did not make me feel special and that is what I remember from this cruise.

 

I now get it that HAL offers interesting itineraries at a fair price, we booked less than 3 weeks prior to departure. We could only depart on Saturday the 4th so out of all the options this was the most interesting itinerary. Before departing we talked to many past HAL cruisers and I did a fair amount of research and all I can think of now, is that the ship did not meet our expectations as it was clearly a case of over promising and under delivering.

 

Here are some of my exact sentiments which I copied and pasted from a very recent thread about HAL written by different past guests :

 

"( HAL ) ... slowly moving downmarket while advertising an upmarket experience..."

 

"I couldn't believe that HAL could be four stars (Marriot) for that price. I was thinking maybe three stars (Holiday Inn). Lo and behold, I was right. There's nothing wrong with three stars. The problem is that they are unable to consistently deliver even that standard. The most irritating aspect of HAL today is that they over-promise and under-deliver. "

 

"There is a lot of stress for staff on the ship. Marketing sets the grand charade. Then, the pitiful workers have to deliver the best they can with what resources they are given. This is not a signature of excellence."

 

"I'm just tired of scrounging for eatable food, while observing the signs of stress on the passengers and the service staff."

 

"When I have cruised HAL in recent years, I'm just not feeling that "signature of excellence" and just maybe I'm not alone. "

 

"Is it an "improvement" to make numerous trips back & forth to the buffet, while risking loosing your table & having your hot food become cold in the process?:confused:"

 

"Many customers do not feel that HAL has delivered on the promises of excellence. "

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terigo

terigo

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Since this is turning into a "community review", I'd like to ask if anyone noticed the very strong sewage smell? It happened twice during my week but it lasted for only 15 seconds or so. And then was gone.

 

Hopefully I will get my review up soon.

 

Yeah... got that once.... I just figured someone had some stomach issues, cos the door had just opened for that cabin... :eek:

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IRL_Joanie

IRL_Joanie

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This is how we experienced the cruise and what we have seen. Its not for anyone to judge or question our experiences. Our expectations were high being promised the "signature of excellence" guest experience, just to be disappointed once we spend some time onboard. I believe in : " Actions speak louder than words" and I go by what we saw and how we were treated. Sadly Holland America over promised and under delivered.

 

 

 

Other guest failures we encountered on this cruise :

 

The water in our bathroom had a very bad weird taste .... I drink a lot of water every day and I could not drink it. We had to fill up our big water bottle several times in the Lido per day and bring it back to our room. Just an inconvenience.

 

We use the gym onboard almost every day on all our cruises.. on this one, the gym was unbearably hot. I saw several people on the treadmill or ellipse waving their hands trying to cool themselves down. We only went once and never again, simply just too hot in there. Also finding the gym ended up being difficult, its not showing up on the ship's map at the elevators and we asked an employee and he told us its on Deck 11. We eventually found the gym on Deck 9 after a bit of a run around. Just little irritations like this one, adds up to make the cruise experience not that great and pretty mediocre.

 

And what is up with crew members eating in Lido at the busiest time of the day ? Like someone said here before a crew member hijacked their table. I don't understand why with such a tight seating arrangement, crew members have to eat there at the busiest times and then even hijacking paying guests tables? We have seen many crew taking up a table while other guests are aimlessly wandering around trying to find a place to sit while their food is getting cold in the process.

 

I disagree that its a beautiful ship, we actually think its kind of ugly on the outside with all the black. Inside I got the impression its dated with uninspiring decor. The ship is only 2 years old and already looking dated and tired. A lot of red chairs around the ship (very odd) More red chairs in the main entertainment stage area - narrow small not that comfy chairs (we are not overweight), very high arm rests (really uncomfortable and the tray for our glass was too small to hold most cocktail glasses)

 

The Lido swimming pool area is way too small, I understand the Lido cabanas is there to bring in extra money for the cruise line, but they do take up way too much space in that area with not enough sun chairs left for the general public.

 

 

We thought the ship had major design flaws compared to other ships we were on recently. The lay out of the Lido buffet is very wrong. You don't have to walk so far and wide to gather food. There were times that I had to go all over the Lido area to find something to eat and then I almost could not find our table again. Very weird and uncomfortable indeed.

 

 

There is not enough seating in the Queens lounge, its way too small for events like the " Love and marriage game show". At the 1st show I was counting about 30 people standing the whole show. Many public areas should have been bigger like the Lido buffet, the Lido pool area and the Queens lounge in particular.

 

Another thing that I found disappointing was the BBQ at Half Moon Cay. Food were just not tasteful at all.

 

On the plus side the most beautiful area on the ship was our balcony stateroom. Although we don't spend much time in the stateroom and does not care for the room a lot, if I had to vote for the most beautiful area on the ship, it will be our room.

 

We used the bath robes a lot and ordered movies from the front desk, that was a nice touch. Also I enjoyed the daily newspaper we got and as Canadians also got a Canadian newspaper several times during the week.

 

Disappointing of the room was the lack of shelf space and drawers, we ended up using the shelves under our bed to put some of our clothes in and we both travel with only one medium size bag. And as many has said the lack of good lighting in front for the main clauset.

 

A nice touch as well was the very informative female travel specialist onboard who had running commentary as we sailed into San Juan and deck 5 in the front was opened so that everyone , could get there and see the old city as we entered the harbour. Very good info about the ports in general, was provided.

 

We ordered one morning room service. It was great, arrived on time, the food was very well presented and hot. I loved that.

 

We had great experiences with the front desk. On day 2 when I was almost crying of being so disappointed with this cruise, I went to the front desk and a very understanding female employee took notes of all the issues. She was very sympathetic to our situation, but I am afraid by then we have seen enough to convince us that the guest experience on the Eurodam is just not what we expect from a cruiseline that promised us a "signature of excellence" type of guest experience. HAL did not make me feel special and that is what I remember from this cruise.

 

I now get it that HAL offers interesting itineraries at a fair price, we booked less than 3 weeks prior to departure. We could only depart on Saturday the 4th so out of all the options this was the most interesting itinerary. Before departing we talked to many past HAL cruisers and I did a fair amount of research and all I can think of now, is that the ship did not meet our expectations as it was clearly a case of over promising and under delivering.

 

Here are some of my exact sentiments which I copied and pasted from a very recent thread about HAL written by different past guests :

 

"( HAL ) ... slowly moving downmarket while advertising an upmarket experience..."

 

"I couldn't believe that HAL could be four stars (Marriot) for that price. I was thinking maybe three stars (Holiday Inn). Lo and behold, I was right. There's nothing wrong with three stars. The problem is that they are unable to consistently deliver even that standard. The most irritating aspect of HAL today is that they over-promise and under-deliver. "

 

"There is a lot of stress for staff on the ship. Marketing sets the grand charade. Then, the pitiful workers have to deliver the best they can with what resources they are given. This is not a signature of excellence."

 

"I'm just tired of scrounging for eatable food, while observing the signs of stress on the passengers and the service staff."

 

"When I have cruised HAL in recent years, I'm just not feeling that "signature of excellence" and just maybe I'm not alone. "

 

"Is it an "improvement" to make numerous trips back & forth to the buffet, while risking loosing your table & having your hot food become cold in the process?:confused:"

 

"Many customers do not feel that HAL has delivered on the promises of excellence. "

First off let me say that I am very sorry that you found HAL and the Eurodam such a bad experience. I truly am as I know HAL is a good line annd far superior to quite a few others out there.

 

Second, the water you filled your bottles up with in the Lido Is the exact same water that comes out of the tap in your bathroom:rolleyes:

 

Third, have fun on another cruise line. Means someone else who truly enjoys and knows Excellence can enjoy the space you will not be in.

 

Seems you may be the only person who did not enjoy the ship, its wonderful, SMILING crew and knowing that the Crew also has to eat and they are allowed to eat with us when they get their breaks. They are *Gasp* even allowed to breath the same air:eek::rolleyes:

 

You sound to me just like the one and only person I heard on my cruise that really complained, and quite loudly, that his cruise was ruined because the Captain was not as visible as on other lines. Berated any crew member who'd stop long enough to see if they could assist him. Give me a break.... Of course I told him as he was berating the Entertainment Director that if he joined Cruise Critic he MIGHT se the Captain... But to have your cruise ruined....

 

Have fun on another line.:)

 

Joanie

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terigo

terigo

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:confused:

I went to my Feb 12 booking and cannot figure out how to purchase a cabana??? Can someone help me figure this out please??:confused:

You have to call ship services. For some reason they have no way of booking them online.

1-800-541-1576

enjoy!!

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terigo

terigo

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if you don't mind my asking what do they run cost wise, I am doing the whole enchilada myself so hubby doesn't get a clue? thanks

For 2 people, the Lido cabanas are $199.00 per week, and the Retreat cabanas are $299.00 per week.

I don't know what the family rate is for the larger family cabanas at the Retreat, but the figure $499.00 is coming to mind. I could be wrong on that one, and if I am I am sure someone will correct me.

You can rent any of the above by the day but if you do, you have to wait to get onboard and hope that they haven't already been taken.

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chloes nana

chloes nana

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For 2 people, the Lido cabanas are $199.00 per week, and the Retreat cabanas are $299.00 per week.

I don't know what the family rate is for the larger family cabanas at the Retreat, but the figure $499.00 is coming to mind. I could be wrong on that one, and if I am I am sure someone will correct me.

You can rent any of the above by the day but if you do, you have to wait to get onboard and hope that they haven't already been taken.

perfect! thanks so much, guess I will be calling ships services in the morning;)

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Himself

Himself

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I have always loved the R Class ships and can take or leave the Vista Class ships. I went on the Eurodam beliving it was just a strech Vista that I would not like. In fact I loved the Eurodam and would sail on it again in a heartbeat. I hope I enjoy the Nieuw Amsterdam as much as I liked the Eurodam. Thank you for sharing your well organized review with us.

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Zippercat

Zippercat

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Since this is turning into a "community review", I'd like to ask if anyone noticed the very strong sewage smell? It happened twice during my week but it lasted for only 15 seconds or so. And then was gone.

 

Hopefully I will get my review up soon.

 

If you were home, your spouse could always blame the dog! :D

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canadarocks

canadarocks

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For 2 people, the Lido cabanas are $199.00 per week, and the Retreat cabanas are $299.00 per week.

I don't know what the family rate is for the larger family cabanas at the Retreat, but the figure $499.00 is coming to mind. I could be wrong on that one, and if I am I am sure someone will correct me.

You can rent any of the above by the day but if you do, you have to wait to get onboard and hope that they haven't already been taken.

 

Could you please tell me how much it costs to rent a Lido cabana for a day?

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topcop

topcop

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Warmwaters...May I suggest a more upscale line like Azamara, Seabourn, etc. Perhaps they will be more appealing. Either that or rent your own yacht and perhaps your higher expectations can be met.

 

We cruise quite often and find HAL ships to be a bit above anything RC or Princess has to offer. We did sail Azamara last March and it was fantastic. But is has become pricey.

 

I never met a crew member who wasn't friendly. There as a young man and the Lido desert area (port side) and he was always smiling and polite.

 

We feel we got a fantastic vacation for a bargain basement price.

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WarmWaters

WarmWaters

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Topcop -

 

Thanks for your suggestions, we had wow experiences with Royal Caribbean in the past, absolutely unforgetable times with them. Being a savvy consumer, I just dont see the value for money on the lines you are suggesting.

 

I am in Guest Relations and I deal with guest experiences (the good, the bad and the ugly ) all day long at work. So seeing all these guest failures was very disappointing as I know 1st hand how irritated and disappointed guests can be when they were promised something, just to find out later that what was promised, cannot be consistently delivered. Talk is cheap !

 

My advise to 1st time HAL cruisers will be : Please lower your expectations.

 

The ressession has hit HAL hard and they had to cut back on guest service big time. The cruise is value for money, just dont believe that "signature of excellence" will be coming your way consistently. I wish I knew that before leaving home. It was truly a shock for me once onboard.

 

The itinerary was great. When you are at the mercy of staff to serve you like its on HAL in the Lido, its very frustrating when things are happening slow and wait staff is not around often enough to clean and have cutlery ready. The staff is doing what they can with the resources they have.

 

I enjoyed the Choclate late evening event they had around the Lido Pool. The fruit kebabs drizzled with white choclate from the choclate fountain was jummy. A lot of work went into that event and I appreciated that.

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diamondgirl54

diamondgirl54

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Topcop -

 

Thanks for your suggestions, we had wow experiences with Royal Caribbean in the past, absolutely unforgetable times with them. Being a savvy consumer, I just dont see the value for money on the lines you are suggesting.

 

I am in Guest Relations and I deal with guest experiences (the good, the bad and the ugly ) all day long at work. So seeing all these guest failures was very disappointing as I know 1st hand how irritated and disappointed guests can be when they were promised something, just to find out later that what was promised, cannot be consistently delivered. Talk is cheap !

 

My advise to 1st time HAL cruisers will be : Please lower your expectations.

 

The ressession has hit HAL hard and they had to cut back on guest service big time. The cruise is value for money, just dont believe that "signature of excellence" will be coming your way consistently. I wish I knew that before leaving home. It was truly a shock for me once onboard.

 

The itinerary was great. When you are at the mercy of staff to serve you like its on HAL in the Lido, its very frustrating when things are happening slow and wait staff is not around often enough to clean and have cutlery ready. The staff is doing what they can with the resources they have.

 

I enjoyed the Choclate late evening event they had around the Lido Pool. The fruit kebabs drizzled with white choclate from the choclate fountain was jummy. A lot of work went into that event and I appreciated that.

HAL is a great cruise line.,...way above RCL or CARV. I had read dozens of reviews and they feel the same as I do. I was just on the Eurodam and it was by far the best cruise we have ever been on.....and we have been on over 20. I would recommend the Eurodam to everyone. I am taking another cruise on the Eurodam in 4 weeks and can't wait.

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