LIVE from Eurodam Dec '15-Caribbean Collector Cruise

[cat shepard]

I am so sorry, Sue. Make sure to protect the injured area from the hot/strong sun!

[Vict0riann]

Oh, no! So sorry to hear about your accident. I recently had about 30 stitches in my nose, and I must say, when they were taken out, the appearance was not too bad, little red dots for a few days where the stitches were, but the swelling and bruising (black eye) disappeared quickly. Hope the same for you.

 

Hope you have a great cruise, regardless!

[cruz chic]

Ouch, sorry to hear that. I hope it heals quickly and you get a nice upgrade to make you feel better.

[ger_77]

Yikes - that sounds like a terrible bite! I hope you bit back!!

 

Your suitcases need a little tweaking - place the shoes and sandals in shower caps from the dollar store(keeps the rest of your stuff clean), then set them around the perimeter of the suitcase. Fill the shoes with things like underclothes, etc, to maximize the space, and then start fitting your clothes in. If there are any breakables, make sure to put them in the middle of your clothing. Taking a second look at your pics, you've actually got lots of space, it just isn't utilized well at the moment the pics were taken. Many of the flat things can go in the lids with the mesh holding them in place.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[sue117]

Y

 

Your suitcases need a little tweakingTaking a second look at your pics, you've actually got lots of space, it just isn't utilized well at the moment the pics were taken.

 

 

VERY true. I haven't really tried to pack yet...just throwing stuff in for now so I don't forget them (passports are now thrown in as well. lol). But great tips for the packing (And I've already got shower caps thrown in for the way home with our "wet" shoes.

 

:)

[sue117]

Make sure to protect the injured area from the hot/strong sun!

 

Good point! I'll be sure to throw in a few hats a well.

We haven't reassessed our excursions, want to wait and see how my lip looks once the swelling goes down and stitches come out. But we had a few snorkling excursions planned, which should be ok..salt water should be good for it...but not sure about the "river rafting". Hummmmm.

 

Maybe I'll just have to sit and put my feet up. lol. win-win :)

 

I AM glad that I'll have the stitches taken out before we go through so I don't have to rely on the ship doctors. I'm sure they're good, but still. Here's to hoping the stitches are ready to come out in a week.

[Lizzie68]

Oh Sue, I am so sorry to hear about the bite and the stitches. I sure hope it wasn't your dog that did it.:( If it is any consolation I had lots of stitches in my face and nose when I lost a lot of my nose to skin cancer, and it is amazing how quickly it heals. Once those stitches come out you can do wonders with makeup.;)

[sue117]

YAY! Got our room today. We went from a VF guarantee to a VA on the 8th floor. About 20 min later we got an email about upgrading to a Neptune. Called our rep. There was ONE room left, and we'd save about 2K from the "original" Neptune price, so we took it.

Now we are in a SB Neptune Suite...it's not on the same floor as the lounge, but whatever. DH really likes the special breakfasts and not having to go to the Lido each morning.

 

So yay! Free laundry! Breakfasts in the special room! Big Balcony! More room!

 

Is it time yet? :)

[ger_77]

Congrats on the upsell - you'll love all the real estate!

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[cruz chic]

Congratulations on the upsell.

[Lizzie68]

YAY! Got our room today. We went from a VF guarantee to a VA on the 8th floor. About 20 min later we got an email about upgrading to a Neptune. Called our rep. There was ONE room left, and we'd save about 2K from the "original" Neptune price, so we took it.

Now we are in a SB Neptune Suite...it's not on the same floor as the lounge, but whatever. DH really likes the special breakfasts and not having to go to the Lido each morning.

 

So yay! Free laundry! Breakfasts in the special room! Big Balcony! More room!

 

Is it time yet? :)

 

Merry Christmas to you!:D That's excellent news and will make your cruise that much more enjoyable.

[sunsetbeachgal]

We took an upsell in June on the Eurodam from VF guarantee to Neptune. We chose an aft wrap suite and absolutely loved every minute of it on our 12 day cruise. It was a bit of a hike to the Neptune Lounge, but we did it several times a day. When coming back from port we usually went right to the lounge for a cappuccino and snack before going to our cabin.

 

Enjoy!

Edited December 15, 2015 by sunsetbeachgal

[sue117]

So far so good! Traffic wasn't too bad on the way through Fort Worth to the airport. We thought it might be awful because it's the last Sat before Christmas. It looks like the traffic for my mom on the way home was worse than on the way. Poor mama.

 

We had lunch and are happily waiting to leave. Told hubby about the first class seats. He was happy. Got everything we needed in the 2 suitcases with no issues. Weather is good here at DFW and in FL.

 

We are supposed to be able to call for the shuttle to the Crown Plaza Hotel when we get to the airport. Here's to hoping that goes smoothly because I'll be tired and cranky and it'll be dark by the time we land.

 

Hopefully at check-in there won't be any cranky employees who take one look at us and assume we shouldn't be in the suite line like last time. Ha! See ya'll in FL!! :)

 

[sue117]

Is there anything anyone specifically wants to see a picture of since the ship has been through dry dock?

 

We are on board and the smell of new carpet makes it seem very "clean" if that makes sense! Lol

 

Below is a pic of our room...a Neptune Suite on the 6th floor. :)

 

And the "interactive tv"...which is not touchscreen. Lol. That's the first thing I tried. But it's HUGE!! :)

 

[sue117]

It looks like the cushions in the crow's nest are new. Carpet is new too. No unlimited internet. :( Librarian said that another ship was "testing" it, but they recently stopped testing it...she wasn't sure what that meant...

 

 

 

Here is a view from deck 11 of the cabanas above the pool on deck 9.

 

 

I'm not sure if these big lighted maps next to the elevators are new or not...but they are neat.

 

[expectGREATthings]

Hello,

Are you in an aft wrap suite? If so could you send a picture of the balcony and does it seem like they did any work on it? We'll be in one this February for two weeks and can't wait. I'm wondering how the mimosas from room service will be as well. I hope you have a wonderful time and enjoy the Christmas Holiday festivities and the cruise itself. I really appreciate your review. I'll try to watch your ship leave this afternoon.

Thanks and Bon Voyage,

Michael

[sue117]

No aft wrap unfortunately. Just a random Neptune suite on floor 6 in the middle! I'll try out a mimosa or two for ya though! Lol

[expectGREATthings]

Cheers!!! I did have a chance to see you leave, and I sure hope you have a great time.

Michael

[RetiredNow]

We hope you have a great trip. We were on the last cruise on the Eurodam before it went to dry dock. We have only ever been on a first cruise AFTER dry dock once....and never again. It is just like any other large corporation...too much work is scheduled in too short of time. We now check the HAL schedule to see if there are "missing" dates. This means either the ship is booked as a charter or it is in dry dock. We felt very sorry for the staff and crew who just kept apologizing and worked their butts off every day to get things put to right. It sure seemed the HAL staff made faster / more progress than the contractors from dry dock! Best of luck to you.

[sue117]

Day 0-Sunday Dec 20

Today was good. We got into FL last night around 9pm and after getting the bags (the airport was CRAZY busy!) and waiting for the hotel shuttle, we got to the hotel around 10:15 or so. We got up in the morning, putzed around, and went downstairs to get the shuttle to the ship. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza and the transfer was only $8 a person.

We arrived at the ship around 11am, got checked in (Hubby got frisked at the security. Something was setting off the metal detector and he couldn’t get through it without it going off. Too funny. There was only one line (no separate suite line), but since there weren’t that many people, it didn’t really matter. We got our card (no ship map since the ship just got out of drydock) and went upstairs where the suite waiting area was. Right around 11:30 we were allowed to go onboard. Our room was ready (on the 6th floor, midship).

It’s spacious and looks good. The tan couch, blue leather chairs, and the new furniture on the deck looks great. We toured the ship, went upstairs and talked to the librarian, hubby watched a cargo ship leave and another come in and dock next to us.

The emergency drill seemed to take forever. It probably wasn’t THAT long (maybe around 40 minutes), but I swear the others we’ve done recently were over quicker. I’m sure we were waiting on passengers who didn’t understand that mandatory really did mean MANDATORY.

Eventually we went up to the pool on the back deck and waited to leave. And waited and waited. I got an overpriced, watered down drink, and still we waited. Finally around 5pm they started throwing off the tethers.

There were something like 7 ships in port, it was crazy how BIG those other ships are too! Lol

With dinner at 5:30 we finally got bored and went back down to our room and watched us leave the port from there. We headed to dinner (6 seater table…which we’ve learned are always on the back against the windows). That’s a good size for us because hubby can’t hear all that great and it’s not huge or too small. Our tablemates joined us. A husband and wife from Canada and his mom. The 6th seat was empty. Hubby and the other man had a lot in common (both prior military), so we had a nice chat.

As others have said, dinner took a while. Not sure if it was a lack of staff, or just them getting back into the swing of things after the drydock and not having passengers for a while. My lip is still healing from where I had stitches from the dog bite, so I gladly ordered off the kids menu. I had mac and cheese and hubby had steak.

There was a comedian tonight, but he didn’t come on until 930pm. We went back to the room and settled in to watch some episodes of Criminal Minds on the HUGE TV. I guess when I heard “interactive”, I thought it would bring up your bill and you could pay it and things like that. But it’s really just where you can pick from TV shows, music, live TV, movies and things like that. Maybe I haven’t played with it enough, but I didn’t see anywhere that you could see a review of your bill. I’ll keep checking it out though.

The TV is really big. It’s clearly seen from the bed. And THE BED! OMG! New mattresses!!!!!! Now, of course it’s 2 twin beds stuck together, so if you’re a couple that likes to sleep in the middle all wrapped up in each other…you’ll be very uncomfortable in that crack, BUT the mattresses are NEW! I have always hated HAL’s mattresses. It’s obvious that 1.245 million people have slept in the exact same spot before I got there. But this mattress is firm and there is NO DIP! Hallelujah!

Our room steward was confused and didn’t realize we had the early meal, so he popped in about 9pm. I waved at him from the bed! Lol I’m sure he’ll come while we’re at dinner tomorrow night.

Overall a good start to the cruise. Everything wasn’t perfect, but we’re on vacation and it was good enough. Tomorrow is Half Moon Cay where we have nothing planned but walking around and getting into the ocean.

If you have specific questions about the dry dock just let me know.

 

 

 

BIG TV from the bed. My view.

 

[cruz chic]

If you have a mobile device you should be able to check your bill, make reservations etc. Iirc if you type in login.com it should come up. If not the front desk should be able to help. There were a couple of kiosks opposite the front desk where you could print your bill. Hope that helps.

 

Thx for the update.

[InTheWASide]

Is there anything anyone specifically wants to see a picture of since the ship has been through dry dock?

 

The billboard onboard area near the casino where there was formerly the sports bar and piano bar

 

The gallery bar which was formerly the northern lights

 

Any other changes you happen to notice

 

Perhaps a picture of a superior suite to see those changes if you happen to know someone in one or ask a neighbor to let you snap a quick shot? :)

[CHOPPERTESTER]

Hope you have fun on your cruise!

 

We've been on the Eurodam and NAdam before as we love Tamarind. Also really like the NSEWdams

 

Unfortunate they are getting rid of the Northern Lights. Queen's lounge BB King is good a night or two when they turn down the volume.

 

Can you find out what venue they now have for 70"s and 80's and more recent dance music since Northern Lights is gone?

 

Thanx in advance.

Edited December 21, 2015 by CHOPPERTESTER

[InTheWASide]

Hope you have fun on your cruise!

 

We've been on the Eurodam and NAdam before as we love Tamarind. Also really like the NSEWdams

 

Unfortunate they are getting rid of the Northern Lights. Queen's lounge BB King is good a night or two when they turn down the volume.

 

Can you find out what venue they now have for 70"s and 80's and more recent dance music since Northern Lights is gone?

 

Thanx in advance.

 

I have HEARD that they are moving all of that back up to the Crow's Nest but I bet the OP could clarify

[sue117]

Let's see...the casino opens right up to the Gallery Bar. It's very open and very nice, IMHO. There is no smoking anywhere "inside" now, including the Casino, so it doesn't smell horrible like it used to (Although I can still smell whiffs of smoke, I assume it's in the machinery and floats out now and then still).

The gallary bar is very nice in yellow and greys and there is a big TV that had sports on it the last few times I walked by.

 

the BB King's Blues Club on 2 has been scheduled heavily in the daily program, so they are pushing that for sure. No mention of 70s and 80s music in the latest programs, but "the party continues" in the queen's lounge on floor 2. lol. Nothing mentioned in the Crows nest after 9pm on the schedule.

 

pics aren't uploading right now, but I'll get them loaded when internet is faster. :)