Eurodam : Fjords , Highlands and Ireland A Review

[RuthC]

RuthC...

 

Thanks , trying to cover everything!

 

It was a woman named Diane I believe. Her husband was also on board , I believe perhaps he was a musician.

Ooo! Thanks for the answer! I know who she is, and think she runs a great Piano Bar. Glad to know she's still around, since that means I might run into her again.

[CruiserBruce]

RuthC...

 

Thanks , trying to cover everything!

 

It was a woman named Diane I believe. Her husband was also on board , I believe perhaps he was a musician.

 

The BB King Band was very professional , the singer has an incredible voice.

 

I agree the Memphis Sound group was excellent. Good signers and very tight band. A great addition to the HAL entertainment schedule. We also liked the Australian Pat and his high energy performance. Didn't see the gymnast. The comedian was pretty funny.

 

This was our 7th HAL cruise. I have been saying for a couple of years, to the disagreement of several others on this board, that the HAL singers and dancers know more than 3 shows. On this 22 day cruise, the dancers and signers performed 6 different shows. Plus the welcome aboard show, which was repeated on the first night of each of the two segments of this Collector's Cruise. The welcome aboard performance was the only show repeated on the cruise.

 

We felt the shows, while of the basic genre offered on HAL for many years, were improved, both in quality and style. The male lead singer was great. The female backup, in our opinion, was better than the female lead.

 

The HalCats are now called on for more work. Didn't enjoy them in the bars and lounges. But they truly seemed to enjoy backing the singers and dancers, as well as Pat (the Australian Neil Diamond), and really got into those performances.

 

One note. In one show, a female dancer missed her partner on a leap move, landing hard. She was seen with a sling on her arm after that on the cruise.

Edited August 6, 2013 by CruiserBruce

[brazilgirl]

Other cruise comments:

 

Spa services:

 

I had a massage called " Top to Toe" . The massage therapist was an English girl named Victoria . Good massage. The facilities , including a great relaxation room , were lovely. I wrote on my chart that I did not want a " sale " at the end of the massage ( something that really bugs me ) and she was pretty respectful . I did miss the fantastic T Pool on the Celebrity M Class ships. It is such a nice treat and free.

 

Tea Time:

 

One of my few real disappointments. We went to High Tea . It was very crowded and poorly served. They barely served us any treats. Not that we needed more food! Ha!

 

Television:

 

Don't really watch TV on cruises , but there was a fairly good selection of channels. I loved the " Ship Flicks" ...you can order DVDs to watch in your room. Excellent!!

 

Medical Services:

 

Sadly , I had to use them! First time ever! I have chronic ear infection issues and my ear flared up. Ouch. I was seen first by and RN and then by the MD. My hubby is a doctor , but I needed eardrops . The facilities were well run and quite busy! Looked like the set up is good.

[brazilgirl]

Our next stop was the Shetland Islands. This was the moment I was waiting for , the place I most wanted to visit. I have a passion for windswept , isolated landscapes!

 

We had a major glitch which caused a lot of trouble.

The Captain ( love that man!) announced the night before our arrival that unexpectedly Shetland immigration authorities would board the ship the following morning and that all 2,000 plus guests would personally have to present their passports to the officials before tendering. Detail : this port was NOT listed as a tender port.

 

I had a private tour for our group of 10 scheduled at 10:00 am. After stancing in an enormous , gigantic line to get our passports looked at for one second , we were able to get our tender tickets. We were called to immigration by Deck number. It was chaotic.

 

Conclusion we got off the ship at 11:30 , missing an hour and a half of our 600 Euro excursion. It was raining and there was heavy fog.

 

BUT... After this crazy beginning , it turned out to be one of our best days!

 

Our guide and I had discussed our plans extensively via email months before the cruise. Her name is Sarah McBurnie from SeeShetland Tours. My heart was set on seeing the Eshaness Cliffs on the Northern part of the islands.... This is not the "common" choice and it turned ourt to be a blessing.

 

We started driving and as we went further north , the fog and rain started to disappear and the glorious colors of Shetland were revealed. We visited the Hillswick Wildlife Sanctuary and saw an otter and seal which were healing , had lunch at a café near the cliffs , visited a Crofter's Museum , feed the ponies , had a geology and history lesson. Wonderful!!!!!

 

We had some time to explore Lerwick on the way back ( where the fog was awaiting us! )

 

That evening the Captain apologized for the long delays and immigration issues and repeated that they had no control over it... He was miffed!

[lovely_serenity]

Lovely Serenity!

Hi ! So glad to see you following along , you lknow how much I loved your review . :)

You have to talk your parents into taking uou on this cruise , it is amazing!! :)

 

 

Thanks to all the others for the nice comments as well , I really appreciate them! Will continue soon with our further adventures!

 

Haha, yes, yes I do ^^~ and I'm just as sure that I will love yours just as much (:

 

Definitely! I'm going to make my dad take me on a European cruise at some point. I am not even kidding you when I say that is my number one travel goal presently is to go on a European cruise. Mom & Dad went without me before and made me super jealous :(. I know what I'm asking for Christmas! ;)

[brazilgirl]

Haha, yes, yes I do ^^~ and I'm just as sure that I will love yours just as much (:

 

Definitely! I'm going to make my dad take me on a European cruise at some point. I am not even kidding you when I say that is my number one travel goal presently is to go on a European cruise. Mom & Dad went without me before and made me super jealous :(. I know what I'm asking for Christmas! ;)

 

I will be rooting for your European dream to come true!!

[CruiserBruce]

Ah yes, Lerwick was a cluster. We were aware Lerwick was a tender port...perhaps from researching??? Eurodam was there in 2012, HAL's first ever stop there. Yes, love Capt Keijer (spelling?), his honesty and sense of humor.

 

Our little snafu here involved not being advised of a time change from 1100 departure (1045 meet) for our Moussa tour. The new time was 1000 (meet at 0945). We arrived at the show lounge at 1010, to be informed we missed the excursion. We were told they did two notifications, written and cabin voice mail. We received neither. A certain shore excursion staff member in a very forceful and dictatorial manner informed us we could either go ashore and stand in the rain and hope someone would miss the sold out, or hope for a refund. No other choices. Not well presented.

 

I will say that by 8pm that night, there was a voice mail, informing us of our full refund.

[PSR]

Is anyone else having a problem seeing the pictures? :( My computer is not connecting to the tapatalk site at this time. I have not had this problem in the past.

 

Thanks for any info,

Penny

 

P.S. Love the review, even if am just getting the text!

[rkacruiser]

Is anyone else having a problem seeing the pictures? :( My computer is not connecting to the tapatalk site at this time. I have not had this problem in the past.

 

Thanks for any info,

Penny

 

P.S. Love the review, even if am just getting the text!

 

Yes, the pictures are not opening for me.

[brazilgirl]

CruiserBruce...

 

Actually , we knew it was a tender port . However , Lerwick was not listed as a tender port. We called HAL before leaving and the insisted it was NOT a tender port. A fellow cruiser from the UK called Lerwick ( true story!) and they said that it was absolutely a tender port! So we knew .... But no matter what the info given prior to the cruise by HAL was erroneous.

 

Re Tapatalk.... This afternoon I have been unable to load further photos ( Shetland) due to problem on site. Maybe that is why photos are not opening?

[brazilgirl]

Is anyone else having a problem seeing the pictures? :( My computer is not connecting to the tapatalk site at this time. I have not had this problem in the past.

 

Thanks for any info,

Penny

 

P.S. Love the review, even if am just getting the text!

 

Thanks for the kind words , hope photos work soon!

[brazilgirl]

Trying different photo method ( tinypic)

 

 

Eshaness Cliffs , dream come true!

[AlohaPride]

Is anyone else having a problem seeing the pictures? :( My computer is not connecting to the tapatalk site at this time. I have not had this problem in the past.

 

Thanks for any info,

Penny

 

P.S. Love the review, even if am just getting the text!

 

I am, too. :( I'm on a laptop with wifi in my home.

[brazilgirl]

My son walking towards Eshaness Lighthouse

 

Feeding Shetland ponies

 

 

 

Puffin

 

 

Countryside

 

Love , love the shetland Islands!!

[brazilgirl]

I am, too. :( I'm on a laptop with wifi in my home.

 

And the pics I just posted with Tinypic?

[AlohaPride]

And the pics I just posted with Tinypic?

 

Those worked! Thanks!!

[brazilgirl]

Good , will continue with this method ( a bit more work but better!)

[PSR]

The new ones are working for me, too:). We had to skip Lerwick on our last Eurodam TA from Amsterdam to NYC. A hurricane was coming and we needed to get further north quickly. Really wanted to stop in the Shetland Islands; maybe another time...

 

Penny

[brazilgirl]

The new ones are working for me, too:). We had to skip Lerwick on our last Eurodam TA from Amsterdam to NYC. A hurricane was coming and we needed to get further north quickly. Really wanted to stop in the Shetland Islands; maybe another time...

 

Penny

 

Oh , so sad. Next time , it is really lovely.

 

We missed the Falklands and it is still on my list ( on our Antarctica cruise).

[Typhoon1]

Great pics, looking forward to the rest.

[brazilgirl]

 

Shetland sheep

 

 

Our next stop was Greenock , Scotland . I had booked a tour through DiscoverScotland Tours. We had a 16 seat van , 6 other cruisers joined us after we "advertised" on our roll call.

 

It was our only really rainy day. The driver picked us up and we headed towards Luss on Loch Lomond. In the rain , it was not terribly exciting. Then the bad news.... We had a flat tire!!!! Happily , we were at the beginning of our day ( imagine if we were heading back to the ship!) . We were walked to a local hotel and were served coffee and waited, looked like the tour would be cancelled.

 

Good news! After some time , the tire was fixed and we were on our way. We visited Inverary Castle ( Downtown Abbey fans- it was featured in final episode of Season 3). Gorgeous!

 

 

 

 

Inverary Castle

[brazilgirl]

The Minis in the Highlands ( my hubby has one!)

 

 

Kilchurn Castle

 

 

There was a dramatic ( and comic) episode leaving from Greenock involving 8 late passengers... Will have to get to that tomorrow ...late here in Brazil!

[RuthC]

Ah yes, Lerwick was a cluster. We were aware Lerwick was a tender port...perhaps from researching??? Eurodam was there in 2012, HAL's first ever stop there.

Are you saying that HAL had never been to Lerwick until the E-dam stopped there in 2012? Hardly. My first visit there was in '94, and I have been there several times since, last time being in '07 or '09 (I forget).

That time was on the Prinsendam, that I do remember, and we docked. First time ever I docked there.

 

Now, 2012 might have been the first time the E-dam went to Lerwick. That's a possibility.

[cruz chic]

I'm enjoying today's instalment. Thx

[brazilgirl]

Are you saying that HAL had never been to Lerwick until the E-dam stopped there in 2012? Hardly. My first visit there was in '94, and I have been there several times since, last time being in '07 or '09 (I forget).

That time was on the Prinsendam, that I do remember, and we docked. First time ever I docked there.

 

Now, 2012 might have been the first time the E-dam went to Lerwick. That's a possibility.

 

Actually , I am fairly certain this was Eurodam's first visit to the Shetland Islands. I read on other threads while researching that she missed her inaugural visit due to weather ( maybe the hurricane mentioned by previous poster)

 

Pretty sure the other HAL ships would have docked as the Eurodam just exceeded the size allowed to dock. As I said , I got this info while researching , may be wrong.

 

It was funny how adamant the HAL phone reps were about the Eurodam NOT needing tenders as the Lerwick port website clearly states docking size limits.

 

Did the previous HAL ships have these immigration issues? Sounded like the Captain was very surprised and irritated?