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Decline in Quality and Choice of food on Eurodam

DeirdreTours

By DeirdreTours,
in Holland America Line

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DeirdreTours

DeirdreTours

Posted
Posted

We sailed on the Eurodam November 22-28. This was our 4th time onboard the Eurodam (2009 Transatlantic, 2011 Carribean, 2013 Thanksgiving). We have also sailed on several other HAL ships-- The Nieuw Amsterdam and Eurodam have been our favorites.

 

However, this cruise we were quite surprised by major changes in the food choice and quality. The MDR steak, for example, used to be a thick, flavorful cut of moderate quality-- on this cruise the cut was much different; thin and tough with a grainy texture. Choices in the Lido at dinner were much fewer than in the past (we recall the full dinner menu being available in the lido, now just a couple of main courses). And, much to my disappointment, there was no bread pudding during the entire cruise! Though they did still have the tasty raisen buns.

 

The other thing we noticed was that the staff wasn't very happy -- for the first time I heard crew members openly complaining about management onboard the ship.

 

Are these food changes system wide? If so, when were they implemented?

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LHT28 Holiday Sharing Rare

LHT28

Posted
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We cruised in Nov also

found the desserts in the lido had no flavour

last yr the mousse tasted like it was suppose to if it was lemon it tasted like lemon

strawberry this yr it had no taste it was pink & had a piece of strawberry on it

even the ice cream was very weak in flavour

We ate in Caneletto because we enjoyed the meal last year but the short ribs this year were fatty & over salted

The ravioli was more sauce than filling ..we cancelled the main entree

A lot of pasta dishes in the MDR ..maybe that is normal we did not eat there last year

Pinnacle was good except for the volcano cake ...it missed the oven

Burgers at the dive in were good

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cruz chic

cruz chic

Posted
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While I thought the food was decent except for the second lobster night (I was on for 2 weeks) there seemed to be a lot of issues on the ship. My cabin stewards left a lot to be desired. I was on in October. I think it comes down to poor management on a ship. I'm speaking of the unhappy crew. I saw the same thing on the NA in 2013. My cruise was great on that ship in 2014.

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cruz chic

cruz chic

Posted
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Bread pudding was available everyday on the Nieuw Amsterdam a couple of weeks ago, from the ice cream station. Don't know why the Eurodam wouldn't have it also.

 

They did have it on the eurodam but it's behind the ice cream station. You have to ask for it. At least that's was the case in October.

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LHT28 Holiday Sharing Rare

LHT28

Posted
Posted (edited)

Also the rooms were never made up before mid afternoon 2-3pm

one day it was done when we returned from breakfast to get our bag to go ashore

I only saw my room steward in the hall twice have no idea what his name was as he never introduced himself

Last yr there was a card on the desk with the room stewards name on it & he came by the 1st night to meet

seemed like there was a cut back in the stewards this yr

Edited by LHT28
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cruz chic

cruz chic

Posted
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Also the rooms were never made up before mid afternoon 2-3pm

one day it was done when we returned from breakfast to get our bag to go ashore

I only saw my room steward in the hall twice have no idea what his name was as he never introduced himself

Last yr there was a card on the desk with the room stewards name on it & he came by the 1st night to meet

seemed like there was a cut back in the stewards this yr

 

I found the same thing. I'm out early in the morning and I requested that they do my room earlier rather than later. That fell on deaf ears. When I was on the eurodam in 2013 I swear the stewards were under my bed:D. Every time I came back from breakfast my room was done. Others I hung around with said the same about that cruise. Totally different on this one.

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ithaca gal

ithaca gal

Posted
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We sailed on the EurodM from November 22 to December 7th. I thought the food in the MDR, Pinnacle and Tamarind was very, very good! We saw our room stewards in the hall often and they Always called us by name.

 

We never heard a Disparaging word from any crew member. The attitudes were always upbeat and positive.

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jtl513

jtl513

Posted
Posted (edited)
We sailed on the Eurodam November 22-28. This was our 4th time onboard the Eurodam (2009 Transatlantic, 2011 Carribean, 2013 Thanksgiving). We have also sailed on several other HAL ships-- The Nieuw Amsterdam and Eurodam have been our favorites.

 

However, this cruise we were quite surprised by major changes in the food choice and quality. The MDR steak, for example, used to be a thick, flavorful cut of moderate quality-- on this cruise the cut was much different; thin and tough with a grainy texture.

We were on the same cruise ... our third time on the E'dam including a T-A.

 

Because there was no usual first-night prime rib I had the steak and agree it was thin and tough ... but since I had never had steak in the MDR before (on any ship) I thought that was the usual case. The filet mignon I had with the surf & turf on the second Gala night was excellent, as was the wasabi tenderloin that I had in the Tamarind.

 

We didn't notice any decline crew happiness.

.

Edited by jtl513
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catl331

catl331

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One serving of Bread Pudding is always on my cruise have to haves. I have been disappointed on some of the cruises about the serve-yourself pudding. It was a mess from people thinking it was a toy. I didn't see it on our Eurodam cruise but I am sure if I asked for it in the Lido, I would have been directed to the ice cream man. I tried to not have much dessert on this cruise but was disappointed about the lack of choices of ice cream. Didn't refuse though!!:)

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ger_77

ger_77

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I hope those who received less than optimum service relayed their feelings on their end of cruise survey. I hope everything picks up after dry dock. We're sailing on the Eurodam in a little over a month, so time will tell . . .

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

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HELENPSL

HELENPSL

Posted
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We were also on the Eurodam from 11/22 - 11/29. This was the second time this year on this ship. We actually found the food to be better than it was on the cruise in the spring. For the first time we ate dinner in the Lido one night and were pleasantly surprised. The food was excellent.

 

I agree about seeing our cabin steward infrequently but we were only on the ship for 1 week. On the longer cruises the crew is very attentive. Our cabin was always made up early in the day.

 

As far as the rest of the crew we had no problems. Of course, we spent a lot of time in the casino and the crew there was very happy. They were taking my money so what could be better!!

 

Sailing on the Zuiderdam on Jan. 4 so I'll have to see if I notice any difference.

 

Helen

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cruz chic

cruz chic

Posted
Posted
I hope those who received less than optimum service relayed their feelings on their end of cruise survey. I hope everything picks up after dry dock. We're sailing on the Eurodam in a little over a month, so time will tell . . .

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

 

Absolutely. Usually it takes about 5 minutes to fill out my survey. This time it took about 30 minutes. I also wrote and received an answer back and I felt it was more of a commercial than acknowledgement of my issues. One of the problems I had was the fact that they had no record of me having a retreat cabana. I did have my confirmation. The second week they gave my cabana to someone else. They asked why there was stuff in their cabana. Luckily my friend came and got me to tell me what was going on. I asked someone on a subsequent cruise if they had issues and they didn't so it seems those issues have been resolved. Many people had cabana issues on that cruise.

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Krazy Kruizers

Krazy Kruizers

Posted
Posted
I hope those who received less than optimum service relayed their feelings on their end of cruise survey. I hope everything picks up after dry dock. We're sailing on the Eurodam in a little over a month, so time will tell . . .

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

 

 

I am usually the only one who fills out the online survey -- but this time my DH filled out his.

I spent out 10 minutes and he spent about 25 minutes filling out his.

Our cruises were in October and we have yet to get a call from HAL or an e-mail.

 

 

HAL does not have the time to read all the survey's that they get back.

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ellieanne

ellieanne

Posted
Posted (edited)
HAL does not have the time to read all the survey's that they get back.

 

Of course they do! That's why they have employees in the customer service department.

 

But beyond that, I know they do. My brother was part of the cruise staff for a while and he assured me, not only were the post-cruise surveys read by home office staff, they were read by the relevant department heads on the ships.

 

They may not respond to every survey, especially if there is nothing to say or nothing that can be done about the complaint, but they do read them all.

Edited by ellieanne
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oliver1821

oliver1821

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Posted
We were on the Eurodam in October.

You had to ask the ice cream for the bread pudding. It was kept behind him on a table --practically out of sight. But it was there (on both sides of the ship) every day.

Krazy Kruizers,

 

Thank you for your hysterical post!! Have not laughed that hard in a while:)

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Sir PMP

Sir PMP

Posted
Posted
We sailed on the Eurodam November 22-28. This was our 4th time onboard the Eurodam (2009 Transatlantic, 2011 Carribean, 2013 Thanksgiving). We have also sailed on several other HAL ships-- The Nieuw Amsterdam and Eurodam have been our favorites.

 

However, this cruise we were quite surprised by major changes in the food choice and quality. The MDR steak, for example, used to be a thick, flavorful cut of moderate quality-- on this cruise the cut was much different; thin and tough with a grainy texture. Choices in the Lido at dinner were much fewer than in the past (we recall the full dinner menu being available in the lido, now just a couple of main courses). And, much to my disappointment, there was no bread pudding during the entire cruise! Though they did still have the tasty raisen buns.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The other thing we noticed was that the staff wasn't very happy -- for the first time I heard crew members openly complaining about management onboard the ship.

 

Are these food changes system wide? If so, when were they implemented?

 

 

Did you complain to the executive chef?

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