LIVE from Eurodam Dec '15-Caribbean Collector Cruise

[sue117]

I'm Baaaaack!

 

I admit, I don't post a lot, but I lurk a LOT...especially right before we cruise. Our first HAL cruise was in 2000 and we're still going strong (see signature for cruises). This is our first time cruising together in the Caribbean. We tend to like Hawaii and Alaska (obviously. lol)

 

DH and I are in our 40's and we LOVE HAL. We aren't party animals (DH is 20 years sober) and don't dance...we DO like to eat, relax, and hang out...so cruising on HAL is perfect for us.

 

Last year we went on a river cruise in Europe for Christmas. It was great...although after about 15 Christmas markets we were done. lol. River cruises are VERY different from ocean cruises...you can see land at all times, security getting on and off the ship was lax, and entertainment was lacking.

 

Oh...and the rooms....yeah....twin beds (the sofas folded out into beds) and they were TINY. You can see how small they really were.

 

 

Also...it was Germany and France...in December...so it was COLD. Here is DH trying not to freeze to death at one of the stops. Brrrr

 

 

I'm gonna do my best to show you some interesting stuff around the ship as this will be the first cruise after the Eurodam comes out of dry dock. I'll answer questions ya'll might have as well. We are in a guarentee room with a balcony. No Neptune or super suite for us this cruise. Just an normal every-day balcony room.

We have some excursions planned...although not at every port. Snorkling, the Everglades, American Cup Rigatta, River rafting, Sting Rays...the usual stuff. :)

 

I am a full-time romance author, so I'm not known for my brevity, but I'll see what I can do. lol My goal is to write my next book on the cruise and I'm hoping there will be unlimited Internet so I can keep in touch with my readers (and post pictures to this thread).

 

We are leaving our "kids" home with Grand-dog-ma, but most of the time all they do is sleep, so I don't even think they'll notice we'll be gone. ha!

 

 

We have a table for 6 in the early dining (those tables are usually along the back, by the back windows...which we like.). The bigger tables are too big because DH has some hearing loss from the Army, and 6 seems to be a good size for us..small enough to get to know people, but not too small if someone decides to eat in one of the specialty restaurants.

 

I know there are a lot of these "Live" posts, so I'll try to do this one justice. If you have any questions, just post them here and I'll see what I can do.

 

We tend to be very laid back...so if the food's not exactly right, or if something happens that's not perfect...we aren't really effected... we are Anti-drama at all costs...I'll try to share any info that's pertinent that we might hear.

 

Less than 2 weeks and I'm MORE than ready! Christmas decorations and presents packed, swimsuits ready to go...is it the 20th yet?

 

:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Looking forward for your "Live" reports.

We were on the Eurodam in October and were told that she is suppose to get the new Internet during her dry dock. It was awful when we were on her.

[cruz chic]

Looking forward for your "Live" reports.

We were on the Eurodam in October and were told that she is suppose to get the new Internet during her dry dock. It was awful when we were on her.

 

Yup, the Internet was bad so it has to be better after the dry dock. That was the first time I've had such bad internet. Looking forward to hearing all about tge changes on the eurodam. Thx for taking this on, op.

[ger_77]

Welcome back! I'm looking forward to your posts from the Eurodam; we're sailing near the end of January for 2 weeks, and I will be interested in your thoughts on the changes. I know they are replacing the regular piano bar with a larger area (taking some of the casino space) for a "dueling pianos" theme, and there's another area to be changed to a Lincoln Centre theme with larger stringed groups than the Adagio groups we are familiar with. Another improvement that was mentioned was the installation of interactive TV's in the cabins - that would be nice.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[cat shepard]

I am ready to follow you - vicariously!

[OVgirl]

We are also sailing on Eurodam at the end of January. Thank you for offering to post all about the updates on the ship.

Pictures would be nice :) , but otherwise a thousand words should do the job as well.

 

Enjoy your cruise and look forward to your "Live from Eurodam" posts.

[kftw]

Looking forward to your posts.

[sue117]

One thing I did was SPLURGE on first class tickets to get to Ft. Lauderdale.

I wasn't going to as the flight isn't that long, but I had just gotten done spending $800 EACH for us to fly over Thanksgiving...and was irritated...so when I saw that the FC tickets to get to FL were "only" $800 I said WTH and went for it.

 

BUT, I haven't told DH that we're flying First Class. Hee hee. So it'll be a Christmas present for him. I can see it now.

"Come on, hon....we'll check in here."

"But that's the first class line."

(me, with a satisfied look on my face...) "I know."

 

:) OK, it's a little thing, but I'm looking forward to surprising hubby with it.

The weather over the next 10 days is amazing here in TX (seventies!!!) but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that a crazy ice storm doesn't descend on us after that! lol

 

I don't drink a lot, but it would be really nice to have a "Not your Father's Root Beer" while on board, but assuming they won't have it on board. lol

(have you guys tried it? It's a malt, but tastes almost exactly like root beer! Yummy!)

 

We probably won't pack until the morning we leave...but whatever...we're on vaca! We'll figure it out! lol

[Mtn2Sea]

Looking forward to hearing all about your cruise! First class air is certainly a nice way to begin a vacation.

[Vict0riann]

Hope you enjoy your cruise and tell us all about it - with photos.:)

[Lizzie68]

Looking forward to your Live review and reports on the dry dock improvements. Smooth seas!:)

[kazu]

It's always fun to surprise your DH. especially when you keep the secret and pull it off :)

 

Good for you on the FC!

 

Looking forward to following you and hearing all about your cruise.

 

Thanks in advance for taking the time and the $ to do this.

[jbhcw]

An early Bon Voyage:) Looking forward to you blog!!

[detroit70]

I'm boarding the Eurodam January 24th so I'm really looking forward to your posts! Especially interested in the Lincoln Center performances, WIFI effectiveness and costs (a year ago we had unlimited internet for $149 for 12 days on the Zuiderdam), and were they able to get all the new features working well after dry dock.

 

Thanks so much for your willingness to share!

[jimbri]

Looking forward to your review. Hope you are able to post photos too :)

[NRFBQN]

Looking forward to reading your post-dry dock review. We were on her in November and heard about the plans, so it will be great to hear what they do. The internet wasn't very good when we were on her, so an improvement, plus an all-you-can use plan would be great.

 

Wish we were on the ship with you! We had a wonderful time and can hardly wait to go again.

 

Priscilla

[erewhon]

Looking forward to your review.

The flight will be a super surprise for your DH.

 

Have a fabulous cruise.

[nikolz350]

We also sailing on Dec 20. This will be our second Christmas cruise with HAL.I see a that quite a few folks planing to do LIVE, so i decided to drop out of race:) Will just enjoy my first ever aft cabin.

[puppycanducruise]

Looking forward to reading all about your cruise.

[sue117]

We also sailing on Dec 20. This will be our second Christmas cruise with HAL.I see a that quite a few folks planing to do LIVE, so i decided to drop out of race:) Will just enjoy my first ever aft cabin.

 

You're gonna love it! We had one when we went to Alaska a few years ago. my dad had one on one side and we had one on the other side...we spent quite a bit of time running back and forth in front of those glaciers! lol

:)

[sue117]

Is it wrong that I am constantly refreshing my HA page to see if we've been assigned a room yet? lol Sigh.

10 days!

[momatibm]

Is it wrong that I am constantly refreshing my HA page to see if we've been assigned a room yet? lol Sigh.

10 days!

 

Don't forget -- it usually shows up on the luggage tags first.

[sue117]

Don't forget -- it usually shows up on the luggage tags first.

 

I didn't know that, thanks!

Of course once before we got our room, I put it on all the tags, showed up on the day we left and found out we had a last minute room change. I was irritated until I figured out that we were put into a suite. :)

As long as I get a room, I'm happy!

[sue117]

Still no room number....and I don't really care what room we're in....I just wanna know! Lol

 

Packing is gonna be a problem if the looks of the suitcases at the moment are any indication...

 

 

 

Let's see...I've got my shoes, presents for DH, my suit, and shampoo and conditioner...clothes are optional, right? And yes, the plan is for us to share these 2 suitcases! Sigh. I might have to have DH open some of those before we go (and they're all little things...socks, undies, candy....but still). Sigh. Oh well, ill worry about it in another week. Ha!!

[sue117]

So yesterday was not a good day for my family. :( Ended up in the ER with about 40 stitches to my lip/face because of a dog bite. I'll get the stitches out on Fri before we leave, but PLEASE if you see me don't point and laugh. (I know, no one would do that, but still. You probably won't see any full face selfies in my review...maybe some "half face" selfies.)

 

I'll probably have an appt with the plastic surgeon in a few months to try to further fix my lip. :(

 

But...it's not going to keep us from going or from having a good time.