Eurodam 12/8 - 12/15 Review

[winste]

DW and I just got off the Eurodam. Here is my review. I won't be touching on everything here just the highlights, lowlights and my random thoughts.

 

This was our fourth HA cruise but first since 2003. Have not cruised since 2003 so I expected to notice a lot of the cutbacks that have been documented in these boards. Our first three were on the Veendam and Maasdam (x2) and I was looking forward to the larger ship. DW is now 39 and I am 42. We have had one regular verandah and 3 deluxe suites including this trip.

 

Now for the details.

 

Embarkation was very smooth but delayed a little. We arrived at the pier at 11:00 and was checked in 5 minutes later. But had to wait until about 11:30 till we were able to board. No big deal. Rooms weren't ready until about noon so we hung out in the Neptune lounge.

 

We had SC 4181, aft wraparound. Wonderful room. Stunning balcony. The verandah seems to have about 12-18 inches of extra width vs the ones on deck 5 and 6. The only downside I see is that this room and it's counterpart on the other side of the ship have a small "carriage" hanging on the side. It has a small trolley connected to it to access the deck below. I believe these would be used primarily for painting. It obscurred the balcony a little bit. It really didn't bother us at all but would probably go up one deck next time (if their is one) to avoid. Davis and Erna were fantastic room stewards. Absolutely loved everything about the room except that small detail.

 

Food: We had one dinner in the Lido, three in the MDR, one in the Pinnacle and two in the Tamarind. By far the Tamarind had the best meals in our experience. The Spicy Shrimp dinner is wonderful. Lido dinner was less than average. The two formal dinners in the MDR were decent but the non-formal one was pretty bad. DW had vegetable lasagna which she described as "Lean Cuisine" and I had a chicken breast with mango salsa. Both dinners were exceedingly bland. Our dinner at Pinnacle was also less than stellar. We had a 7:30 reservation. Service was very slow. At about 9PM, with our dinner plates having been untouched for at least 15 minutes but still sitting in front of us, we left. We went and had some ice cream from the Lido. I got the New York Strip and it was a little overcooked and very chewy, something I would expect from an Outback. Breakfast at the Pinnacle was pretty good but most of the food lukewarm at best. The day after we had dinner at the Pinnacle we got a call to make sure everything was okay. We made the comment that we were done eating and didn't want to wait for desert. No big deal. I know some people like the 90-120 minute formal dinner but we don't. To each his own.

 

We never did room service. The pizza at slice was bland but good for a quick bite.

 

I had expected the quality and the selection of food to be much less than it was in 2003. So honestly it wasn't much of a surprise. We did as you wish with no reservations and only the first formal night had to wait for a table for two. And that was just about 15 minutes. That worked out well. I did notice them ask all the couples in front of us if they would like to sit with other people. Most ended up saying yes as I think they were under the impression they had no two tops. One night, the couple in front us wanted to wait and were given a pager. We were seated immediately. I suspect because of being a Deluxe Suite?

 

Service was pretty slow on two of the MDR nights. Food on both formal nights was very good. I love the onion soup. With the comments above, I would still give the MDR a 6 or 7 out of 10.

 

The Tamarind was fantastic and worth every penny. Service was great and food fresh, hot and tasted great.

 

Enough about the food.

 

We signed up for the "International" Beer Tasting for $15 per person. Honestly this was a low point. We got to the Silk Den and sat down at a table for two. They had Miller Lt, Grolsch, Blue Moon and Molson. All of these are products of MillerCoors and Molson Coors Canada. I guess they have an exclusive. I would hardly call them international though. They had 4 glasees with each beers names on them. They are 6 oz glasses. So if you do the math, that is $7.50 per 12 oz beer. I have no problem paying cruise ship prices at all. And I realize they do not want to stock a bunch of beer that won't sell. But to call it international and charge premium over the normal prices is ridiculous. Especially since I would imagine HAL is getting some incentive to host since they are all beers of one large brewer.

 

So after seeing this, the couple next to us, from Denver, asked to cancel. The bartender gruffly marked their name off the list. We decided to do the same. He then rudely told the entire group that if a total of 5 people cancelled, or one more, he would cancel the entire thing for everybody. Their were about 15 people to start with. In my opinion, this was one of the worst things he could say. Bascially he was guilting people into staying. They should have been willing to do the tasting if one person stayed. I thought this was very very poor customer service.

 

I had signed up for the behind the scenes ship tour but was informed that night before that since I was the only person to sign up, they were cancelling. I guess their weren't enough people willing to pay the $150. I have absolutely no problem with them cancelling that as it is a large intrusion on the officers time I am sure. To some that may seem hypocritical but I think their is a big difference, especially getting a call in your stateroom vs. threatening to cancel to a group of people.

 

Anyway, moving on to the ports.

 

I decided to rent a golf cart from Nathans in Grand Turk. One of those things I am glad we did it but wouldn't do it again. We went out to the lightouse for a few minutes and a few pictures. We went through the old town section with the museum. But then returned the cart early. So we picked it up about 8:30 and returned it by 11. Honestly we were very afraid of it breaking down and us gettng stranded. To start, we were warned that you had to press the gas pedal down only about half way till it caught and then you could press it all the way down. It backfired about 75% of the time. The breaks were non existent. The parking break wouldn't engage. So we returned it and went to the Local Bar for jerk chicken and beer. That was by far the highlight of the island. The chicken was great. Beer was decent and a good price.

 

San Juan- we had to skip due to high winds going across the entrance to the port. The Captain handled it well and I am they stuck around till about 5PM to see if the winds would change. Finally it was decided to sail on to St. Thomas and anchor near the island out of the winds and the waves. I am sure some were upset but it didn't bother us.

 

St. Thomas - We walked around downtown going in and out of the shops. I was looking for a watch but found no better price than they had on the ship. They had five or six ships in port that day so we weren't really interested in going to the beaches due to the potential crowds. Had a nice relaxing day. That afternoon back on ship there was smoke detected in on deck 8. The Captain made a few announcements and the first responders were called. Just a short. The Captain did a good job of keeping the ship informed. I commend him on that.

 

Half Moon Cay - wonderful. Couldn't have been better. We had clamshell which was just about the best $15 spent the entire cruise. We got their early and were one of the last ones to leave. Absolutely wonderful. Enough about that.

 

A few random thoughts. I was very dismayed to see how rude so many of the passengers treated the staff. We saw countless examples of people being downright nasty to the Philipino staff. Consdiering how little they make (I know by our standard it is not much, but more by their standards) I would think people would be willing to treat them with respect at least. I realize that for every one time I saw somebody being rude their were probably ten occurences of people being nice but that doesn't make that one okay. I think many people have forgotten to treat others the way you want to be treated. Maybe it's my Midwest way of doing things but some of the things we witnessed made me ashamed to be from the same country as those being rude.

 

The other complaint was the rudeness of the wine stewards and some errors on our final bill because of them. My wife drinks beer with dinner and I drink wine. When they found out we weren't ordering a bottle, they dismissed us immediately. Thyen when we got our final bill, there two charges that I disputed. One was for about $53 in the MDR on one night and the other was an $18 corkage fee at the Pinnacle. The one at the MDR had two other charges the same night right before it, one for a beer and a glass of wine and the other for just a beer. My wife had two beers with dinner and I had one glass. We were charged for what we drank plus a full bottle of the glass I ordered. We did in fact bring wine on board but never, not once, took any of it out of the room. The night we were charged the corkage fee, I had bought a glass of wine at another ship bar before dinner. The wine steward, without ever asking, charged our room the corkage fee.

 

When we went to the front desk, Mei, was less than pleasant and implied we weren't being truthful. The cellar master was going through customs and apparently the only one that can take off wine charges. So we had to go our room to wait. We were at the front desk at 6:30AM. She told us to come back in 30 minutes and I told her we would be in our stateroom and they should call us. At 7:15, still without a call, we called the front desk and was told that he was still going through customs and had to wait some more. We both had expedited disembarkation mind you. Finally about 7:45 they called back and said the charges would be taken off. No apologies or explanation. I felt a little insulted. We had about $700 in bar charges we that were most certainly ours. I wouldn't nickel and dime them. At the MDR we were charged for both a glass and a bottle within minutes of each other. At the Pinnacle, their was a charge at the ocean bar 20 minutes before we were seated for a glass of wine. It really seems like in both circumstances the wine steward was being dishonest. But in the end after some frustration they said they would take care of it. It could have been handled better though.

 

OVerall this may seem like a negative review. We had a really great time and 95% of the cruise was terrific. We would certainly recommend this crise and HA to anyone. The ship is great and the staff for the most part wonderful. But our lives have changed and I no longer think cruises are for us. I was surprised by the rudeness of the other passengers. I feel sorry for the crew as I think they work their tails off. And yes, we tipped well above and beyond the standard added charges.

 

One last side note. Friday night on the ship was pretty dreadful. This was the night of the shooting at Sandy Hook and it certainly had an effect on the night. Very horrible tragedy and it was fealt on the ship.

 

I will be happy to answer any questions.

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your review. Glad that 95% of your cruise was great, acually I think that is pretty good, I don't think any vacation can be 100% great.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome Home

Thank you for your review.

The wine stewards serving only bottles of wine in the dining room started on a few ships several months ago. Your waiter is in charge of glasses of wine, cocktails, beer, sodas, etc.

Glad you got your bill straightened out and in spite of a few glitches, had a good cruise.

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts with the rest of us.

[yogisan]

Thanks for the review.. we leave on the Eurodam next Saturday. Have a quick question.. need clarification.They charged you for a bottle of wine because you ordered a glass? In the MDR? or if you walk in with a glass you were charged? Not getting it... Just really don't want hassles with the bill:-) Thanks and are their receipts?Is it a hassle to keep track of? Thanks

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[JamesEM]

Thanks for sharing.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review, unfortunately your experience in the MDR is becoming more the norm then the exception.

[DaveOKC]

Thanks for the review - I found it very interesting since we were on the sailing before yours plus we were in the other aft wrap (4176) on deck 4!

 

We also liked the cabin but where a bit "put off" by the gear on the port side of the balcony, but in the end it really did not affect us much. The balcony was great and I am glad we had the extra 12 inches of width, as it was only about 5 feet deep and anything less would have felt very tight.

 

Our room stewards were also very good. I was afraid that being so far from the Neptune Lounge and most of the other suites, that we would not get the "perks" and notices that we should, but everything worked out fine.

 

We had fixed eary dining and our wine steward did a great job, dispite me trying to confuse things! We ordered the Navigator wine package, and quite frankly were a bit disappointed in the quality of the wines (even though I am not a wine expert by any means). Next time I would go for the Admiral package. As pointed out already, wine by the glass is now handled by your table stewart - thus perhaps the confusion on your MDR billing (plus being on open dining) - it is not an excuse though for sloppy record keeping.

 

As to the Pinnacle, we always try to dine their (and the Tamarind) on late port nights, as the MDR menu is usually the "weakest" then. Our meals (a filet and lobster tail) were both excellant and the service was outstanding. We did dine a bit earlier, at 6 PM, so perhaps that helped. As to your wine charge their, obviously the wine stewart thought you brought your own wine in, so she/he billed you the corkage fee. She should have asked you first of course, but often they do not want to embarass/confront the customer.

 

Sorry to hear that you missed San Juan - we enjoyed a trip to the forts there and visited the shops as well.

 

At St Thomas, we docked at a pier several miles from the main shopping area, did you as well? It was explained to us that this pier area was purchased by Carnival Corp and they rent out the shopping area. The main shopping area (with much better prices I assume) is a taxi ride away - three other ships (including a Carnival one) were docked in that area. We were able to see this since we took a boat over to St John that day.

 

We also missed ports - both Half Moon Cay and Grand Turk. Bad deal, but with our aft wrap and the Termal SPa package we bought, we really were OK with it.

 

Great ship and crew, IMO.

 

DaveOKC

[winste]

Yogisan..

 

To clarify, I ordered a glass and was charged for both a glass and the bottle in the mdr. We were presented a receipt for the glass but not the bottle.

 

In the Pinnacle, we were never presented a receipt for the corkage fee. We brought glasses of wine into the dining venue a few times but only once did they assume it was from the cabin.

 

I suggest that the night before you disembark, ask the front desk for a copy of your bill. We wouldn't have been so agitated if we had been able to take care of the night before rather than when trying to get off the ship to catch a plane.

 

We held on to most receipts but don't know if it was necessary. They only make you sign the ones that are hand wrote.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[0bnxshs]

Thanks for taking the time to review your experience. Very glad you had a great time. Unfortunately, there seems to always be the little things that can lightly dampen an otherwise wonderful time. It seems you took the little problems in stride and enjoyed nonetheless. I too have been appalled at the treatment some passengers subject the staff to. Thanks again. :)

[DaveOKC]

Yogisan..

 

I suggest that the night before you disembark, ask the front desk for a copy of your bill. We wouldn't have been so agitated if we had been able to take care of the night before rather than when trying to get off the ship to catch a plane.

 

We held on to most receipts but don't know if it was necessary. They only make you sign the ones that are hand wrote.

 

HD

 

Good suggestion! I normally get a copy of my bill about 1/2 way through the cruise and then another the afternoon before departure. Much easier to deal with problems that way.

 

DaveOKC

[KevP]

We were also on this cruise. Interesting to see a cruisemate post their experiences :)

 

I plan to post a review as well, but we ate at the Pinnacle 3 times for dinner. The first night we had a pretty inexperienced server and that really extended the meal. Maybe you had the same one? The next two meals we had much more experienced staff and dinner was paced at a much more expected level. In all we loved the Pinnacle.

 

We never ate at the MDR, but will save that story for an extended review.

 

Saw a little bit of the customer attitude towards staff that you mentioned. In all maybe only a couple instances. But I also hate to see it. We much rather engage the staff in conversations and ask them about their lives. Working on a cruise ship has to be extremely challenging, we hope we can at least make that moment a bit of fun for them. They seem to really appreciate it.

[cruiseapril]

Thanks for your review and for talking about the ports.

 

Interesting to read about the beer tasting- guess we better stay with the wine tasting!

[George C]

Thanks for the review, need to try a SC one of these cruises

[yogisan]

Winste, Thanks for the clarification!

[torringtonwyo]

we spent 14 days on the statedam last year never had a problem with fees for our own wine has the policy changed??? our group took 20 bottles on board and carried our own glass to casino, and mdr our understanding corkage fees applied to bottles

[DaveOKC]

we spent 14 days on the statedam last year never had a problem with fees for our own wine has the policy changed??? our group took 20 bottles on board and carried our own glass to casino, and mdr our understanding corkage fees applied to bottles

 

I can see why HAL woud charge you a corkage fee for bringing your own wine, even in a glass, to dinner. However, charging a full bottle fee is a bit to high IMO. Then again, how else do they charge you - by the glass corkage fee?

 

HAL has the most liberal wine policy of any line I know, and I sure hope they do not change it. If too many people take their own wine to dinner, I afraid they will eventually crack down on it (since they are losing revenue) and everyone will be impacted.

 

DaveOKC

[OVgirl]

we spent 14 days on the statedam last year never had a problem with fees for our own wine has the policy changed??? our group took 20 bottles on board and carried our own glass to casino, and mdr our understanding corkage fees applied to bottles

Generally, any wine or other beverages that you carry onboard is meant for in cabin consumption only.

If you want to drink the wine outside your cabin in a dining venue or any lounge area, HAL states that a corkage fee will be charged to your account.

This might or might not happen to you when you bring a glass of wine from your cabin. But, it also possible that you will be charged the corkage fee later in your cruise.

 

You can probably find this information on the HAL website, possibly in the "Before you go" section.

[Barrheadlass]

The OP says they brought wine on board but never took it out of their cabin...

[DaveOKC]

The OP says they brought wine on board but never took it out of their cabin...

 

OVgirl was not responding to the OP, but rather another poster's comments.

[winste]

To add insult to injury, just checked my credit card and it's still not correct. It looks like they took off the corkage fee and the bottle charge in the MDR but added another MDR charge for $15.81.

 

We should have had our bill lowered by $71.76 but it is only lowered by $55.95. The difference of $15.81 happens to be the exact amount of one glass of Bill Blass Australian Cab ($9.00) and one bottle of beer ($4.75) plus service charge. We had similiar charges throughout the cruise. So now for second formal night I have been charged for 3 beers and two glasses of wine. That is only way I can come to the difference between the original bill and what was charged.

 

It's not the $16 that bothers me. It really isn't. It's the principal of it.

[DaveOKC]

To add insult to injury, just checked my credit card and it's still not correct. It looks like they took off the corkage fee and the bottle charge in the MDR but added another MDR charge for $15.81.

 

We should have had our bill lowered by $71.76 but it is only lowered by $55.95. The difference of $15.81 happens to be the exact amount of one glass of Bill Blass Australian Cab ($9.00) and one bottle of beer ($4.75) plus service charge. We had similiar charges throughout the cruise. So now for second formal night I have been charged for 3 beers and two glasses of wine. That is only way I can come to the difference between the original bill and what was charged.

 

It's not the $16 that bothers me. It really isn't. It's the principal of it.

 

I agree with you - its the principal of the thing. Email them back ASAP.