Need Info--Eurodam--May 23 Baltic Cruise

[PatriciaF]

I haven't cruised on Holland America since 1997.

 

We are looking at a Baltic Cruise. The 3 contenders are:

Royal Princess--Copenhagen Roundtrip--Plus--we are most frequent Princess cruisers/best itinerary; Minus--Expensive and ship is too big IMHO

X Constellation--Amsterdam Roundtrip--Plus--Aqua Class & Blu; Minus--Four sea days instead of 2

Holland America--Almost same itinerary as Princess (doesn't go to Oslo) and least expensive (looking at cabin similar to mini-suite); Minus--I really can't find one--other than no current experience on HAL.

 

Right now HAL is our #1 choice for a balance on itinerary and cost; X is #2 because we really love BLU; Princess is #3 as I really don't want to sail on the Royal.

 

Give me some reasons why you think the Eurodam is the best choice for my husband and I.

 

Thank you!

[puppycanducruise]

We did the Baltic Cruise on the Rotterdam 7 years ago.

We did an Eastern Med Cruise on the Eurodam last spring.

HAL is the only cruise line we've sailed with, so I cannot offer you comparisons to the other lines.

I loved the Baltic cruise - St Petersburg is my favourite port.

The Eurodam is a lovely ship. We had no complaints about it.

We have picked cruises based on itinerary. On the Baltic, we enjoyed each of the ports, and cruising the Stockholm Archipelago was beautiful. In some ports, we were able to pick up a 'walking guide' to the city, in others, we took an organized excursion.

Enjoy your cruise.

 

[CruiserBruce]

Sounds like you have given yourself plenty of good reasons.

 

We were on the Eurodam for 22 days last summer (Baltic/Norway). Excellent cruise.

[paganwoman]

I was on this same cruise last May 2013. We had a balcony cabin and loved it. I liked the art and decorations better on the Eurodam than some of the other HAL ships we had been on and of course you could not find fault with any of her crew. We enjoyed all the ports especially St Petersburg and Stockholm. By all means go on her, you will have a lovely time. Just be sure to bring layers to wear. Some days I was in a short sleeve shirt. Other days I needed my rain jacket.

[BSinPNS]

Hard to pass up AQ and Blu. We found AMS much more interesting than Copenhagen and those two sea days sure made it more relaxing.

[KirkNC]

Remember you also have Tamarind on the Eurodam which is quite nice. I agree on your assessment of the RP's size, 3,600 passengers is too big for me. Remember some of the ports in the Baltic are smaller so all those people can over run a port.

[brazilgirl]

We did a Northern European cruise on the Eurodam in July ( Fjords , Ireland anf the Highlands) and loved it. Lovely ship , nice service , good food..... Loved the Tamarind!

We did the Baltic cruise on Celebrity and also enjoyed it greatly. Wonderful region.

I would choose based on itinerary and price. Both are excellent. Can't comment on Princess , not familiar with them.

[brazilgirl]

BTW , Colenhagen is my favorite city in the world ...so much to do and see. Love Amsterdam too...would be happy to sail from either.

[Cindy]

We're on the May 21st Constellation out of Amsterdam. We haven't sailed Celebrity yet, but I am excited to try Aqua class and BLU. The 1, 2, 3, Go! Promotion didn't hurt!:)

 

We're happy about the sea days...I think we're going to need some R&R time!:eek:

[PatriciaF]

Thank you all for the thoughtful comments.

 

If we do HAL (which looks like 95%), we do plan to fly in early to Amsterdam and then fly to Copenhagen--do you think the morning of the cruise is too chancy? We would be flying SAS.

 

Also--room service breakfast menu--does it offer a full breakfast or just a continental one?

 

Pat

[RuthC]

--do you think the morning of the cruise is too chancy?

Yes. I'm a Nervous Nellie when it comes to getting to the port on time. I want to be there at least one day ahead.

 

The only exception is when I sail out of Boston, which is a 1-hour drive up the street.

[Chase's Dad]

We had the same dilemma but booked the HAL cruise in large part because the Eurodam will spend a night docked in Stockholm. I believe the Princess ship docks at Nynashamn, which requires an hour or so of transport into Stockholm. Also, for us, this trip is about the ports, and we were happy with just two sea days!

[CruiserBruce]

 

Also--room service breakfast menu--does it offer a full breakfast or just a continental one?

 

Pat

 

A little reading on the board here would reveal HAL has about the best room service menu in the business.

[Mary Ellen]

Also--room service breakfast menu--does it offer a full breakfast or just a continental one?

You'll be able to order a full, hot breakfast from room service on HAL.

[RuthC]

Also--room service breakfast menu--does it offer a full breakfast or just a continental one?

 

You'll be able to order a full, hot breakfast from room service on HAL.

Including the final morning! What a delight to be able to have that final breakfast in your cabin as you pack those last odds and ends.

[puppycanducruise]

We flew to Copenhagen the day before the cruise. So much to see in Copenhagen! It's a wonderful city. I wouldn't want to get there the day of the cruise, too scary for me.

[Big Al B.]

If you decide on the HAL cruise, be sure to drop by our roll call. We chose HAL for just about the same reasons you mentioned. We were on the Eurodam on her first TA from Copenhagen to NYC and liked her very much. I think you could be OK going from Amsterdam to Copenhagen day of cruise if the flight times worked out. One thing we liked about the itinerary is that we will have a day in Copenhagen and be able to sleep on the ship at the end of the cruise. We are flying in the day before also.

[PatriciaF]

We're on the May 21st Constellation out of Amsterdam. We haven't sailed Celebrity yet, but I am excited to try Aqua class and BLU. The 1, 2, 3, Go! Promotion didn't hurt!:)

 

We're happy about the sea days...I think we're going to need some R&R time!:eek:

 

Yes--the 1, 2, 3 Go! Promotion is what enticed to look at a Baltic itinerary at the beginning. BLU was just wonderful and the enhanced room service breakfast menu really worked for us on our one and only X cruise, Eastern Med in Nov 2012.

[PatriciaF]

We have an overnight in Copenhagen. We can use miles to fly back home, but only if we can get to the airport by 6 AM.

 

Will we be let off the ship that early? Will we have to go through customs and immigration or will that happen the day before?

 

Will be posting this question as a separate post too.

 

Pat

[rajkr74]

I haven't cruised on Holland America since 1997.

 

We are looking at a Baltic Cruise. The 3 contenders are:

Royal Princess--Copenhagen Roundtrip--Plus--we are most frequent Princess cruisers/best itinerary; Minus--Expensive and ship is too big IMHO

X Constellation--Amsterdam Roundtrip--Plus--Aqua Class & Blu; Minus--Four sea days instead of 2

Holland America--Almost same itinerary as Princess (doesn't go to Oslo) and least expensive (looking at cabin similar to mini-suite); Minus--I really can't find one--other than no current experience on HAL.

 

Right now HAL is our #1 choice for a balance on itinerary and cost; X is #2 because we really love BLU; Princess is #3 as I really don't want to sail on the Royal.

 

Give me some reasons why you think the Eurodam is the best choice for my husband and I.

 

Thank you!

 

We did the Baltic Cruise with HAL on the Eurodam in May last year, 2013 and we loved it. We flew into Copenhagen 4 days early and defiantly would want to fly in at least ONE day early. I would not want to risk flying in the same day the cruise starts.

 

We looked at the days of the week for ports. We made sure that St. Petersburg port days were not a Monday since that is the day some buildings are not open. We also went into Berlin and wanted to make sure that day was not on a Sunday.

 

Here are some pictures of the Eurodam from our cruise last year. We enjoyed the ship, the staff and the crew. One of our best cruises.

 

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=07afc87cdf2f6dca&sc=photos#cid=07AFC87CDF2F6DCA&id=7AFC87CDF2F6DCA%216011&sc=photos

Edited January 12, 2014 by RAJKR74

[PatriciaF]

Thanks for the feedback! We are booked on the Eurodam--just too many pluses.

 

Any other Eurodam info would be appreciated. I haven't been on a HAL ship since 1997!