'Twas the Week Before Christmas - Live from the Eurodam

[ksmaxey]

We are just about to Uber to Terminal 26. Here is hoping we have a cruise as great as yours and we have the same success upgrading from Explore 4 to the Elite Beverage Package.

[MisterBill99]

If you are sailing from Fort Lauderdale, try Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza on Federal Hwy (US 1.)

They have a few places in NY as well. Their wings (baked, not fried) are excellent (they will bring you a free sample if you ask about them). I also recall their cauliflower pizza being excellent.

[POA1]

Thanks to an excellent suggestion from MaxeyMom, we now have one link that will allow you to access the entire notebook stack from our Eurodam trip.

 

Eurodam 2016 Trip Report - All Notes in a Notebook

 

https://www.evernote.com/pub/skypadfll/eurodam2016-trip-dailies

 

 

You don't need to be an Evernote customer or load any software to view the notes and notebook. Just click the "View Notebook" button like you see in the diagram above, and you'll be in business.

[POA1]

We are just about to Uber to Terminal 26. Here is hoping we have a cruise as great as yours and we have the same success upgrading from Explore 4 to the Elite Beverage Package.

 

Good luck! If at first you don't succeed, keep trying. If you run into trouble, try Gin in the Crow's Nest. (She's one of the servers, so you can order Gin from Gin if you want.)

[POA1]

The Gallery Bar is the replacement for the mostly underused Northern Lights disco. Ironically, the disco probably would have been heavily used on this particular sailing given the younger passenger compliment.

 

 

 

It's a cool space with paintings, prints, and a fair number of TV monitors on the walls. It makes for some surprisingly living room like sports viewing.

 

 

 

The Gallery Bar opens into the casino as you can see from the photo below.

 

I was going to take some pix of the casino, but it was open when I stopped by and they frown on taking photos of the dealers and players while the casino is in operation. (Blame the short 7 day cruise for this.)

 

 

Edited January 2, 2017 by POA1

[fishbabe]

Help! Trying to download Mobile Passport App (Android phone) and found the CBP authorized app, but get message "your device isn't compatible with this version." Can't find any other version of this app (made by Airside Mobile Inc.) in the Play Store. Does anyone know the name of another maker of this app, or another version I might try?

 

Thanks!

[POA1]

Help! Trying to download Mobile Passport App (Android phone) and found the CBP authorized app, but get message "your device isn't compatible with this version." Can't find any other version of this app (made by Airside Mobile Inc.) in the Play Store. Does anyone know the name of another maker of this app, or another version I might try?

 

Thanks!

Airside Mobile is the correct one. You need Android 4.4 (KitKat) or higher. That version came out in late 2013.

[onedaysevening]

Thank you so much for this amazing review, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I especially loved when you called the Koningsdam bar "Kevin", it would be fitting with my family, because saying "Kevin" means our wine glass is empty and needs refilling!

 

I do have a question about the Hydropool area, in some pictures I've seen the "walls" seem to be windows looking at the lido pool area, on your pictures they seem to have a design on them. I was wondering are the walls always more private like that now or are they sometimes see-through and sometimes tinted?

 

Thank you!!

[POA1]

Thank you so much for this amazing review, I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I especially loved when you called the Koningsdam bar "Kevin", it would be fitting with my family, because saying "Kevin" means our wine glass is empty and needs refilling!

 

I do have a question about the Hydropool area, in some pictures I've seen the "walls" seem to be windows looking at the lido pool area, on your pictures they seem to have a design on them. I was wondering are the walls always more private like that now or are they sometimes see-through and sometimes tinted?

 

Thank you!!

 

The windows are frosted and you can't see in. Light gets through, though. The door is key card locked.

[POA1]

Billboard Onboard replaced the old piano bar and takes up the space that would have included the piano bar, the sports/casino bar, and a part of the casino. The casino is still roughly the same size. Things have just been moved around into a new configuration.

 

 

 

 

 

[onedaysevening]

The windows are frosted and you can't see in. Light gets through, though. The door is key card locked.

 

Awesome! Thanks!

[MisterBill99]

Airside Mobile is the correct one. You need Android 4.4 (KitKat) or higher. That version came out in late 2013.

Time for a new phone!

[MisterBill99]

I'm finally looking at the daily programs and noticed that on the second night the show was something called "On Tour In Concert". If you attended, what exactly was it?

Edited January 3, 2017 by MisterBill99

[POA1]

I'm finally checking the daily programs and noticed that on the second night there was something called "On Tour In Concert". If you attended, what exactly was it?

We did not attend, but it was a cast show. Musical with the Eurodam singers and dancers.

[bluesplayer]

Waiting patiently for your overall review. Will be on the Eurodam this fall from Seattle WA to Vancouver., BC And wouldn't you know it? in a "Signature Suite"! I will pay much more attention to "Signature" word usage. I believe they use the word as both a noun and an adjective and look forward to identify the distinctions as it appears there will be many. Great reviews and lived vicariously ordering from your menus.. i did step up my cooking game for compensation. Question about the the hydropool.. do you have to have spa access?

Edited January 3, 2017 by bluesplayer

[POA1]

Waiting patiently for your overall review. Will be on the Eurodam this fall from Seattle WA to Vancouver., BC And wouldn't you know it? in a "Signature Suite"! I will pay much more attention to "Signature" word usage. I believe they use the word as both a noun and an adjective and look forward to identify the distinctions as it appears there will be many. Great reviews and lived vicariously ordering from your menus.. i did step up my cooking game for compensation. Question about the the hydropool.. do you have to have spa access?

 

You do have to have spa access, either because you have a treatment or by purchasing a standalone thermal suite pass. They usually sell a limited number of passes early in the cruise. If you are on one of the short cruises, which it sounds like you may be, it might be handled differently.

[POA1]

Eurodam Art Tour

 

If you go to the the Onboard section of the Holland America site, you can find download links of art tour podcasts for most HAL ships. (They don't have an easy way of direct linking to the podcast files unfortunately.) I usually download the file to my computer and then transfer it to either an audio player or my phone. The files are in m4b audio book format, so you'll need a player. Apple users are automatically covered since iTunes plays audio books out of the box. PC users can play the files in Windows Media Player. Android users will either need software, or they can change the file extension to m4a and the built in audio player will work. (I use Podcast Addict because I already use it for podcasts.)

 

The tour starts in the Explorations Cafe on deck 11. It takes less than an hour to complete. When you are finished, you can regale your travel companions with stories about the art, including the tiny chef in the theatre under glass outside the Queens Lounge and the headless guys outside the Crow's Nest.

 

 

 

[POA1]

That concluded the photo tour part of the thread. I did not get pictures of Club HAL or the Loft because they were in full swing on this sailing. I also - inexplicably - failed to take any room photos. Normally we try to get our room pix before we "move in," giving the impression that we are super neat and tidy. (Which we are, for the most part.) Our luggage made it to the room so fast that we were already unpacking before the thought of photography occurred to me. That's not a bad thing though. We're always happy when our suitcases beat us to the room.

 

I've got one last important photo set to post before I get into the actual review and impressions of the ship. So here we go with Poohby Joe and the dress code.

 

 

 

 

 

[POA1]

As I mentioned before, other than when he's working on his Guide to Cabana Living, Poohby stays in the room. (We're weird, not strange.) He does dress for dinner most evenings, and like me, he'll don a tuxedo on formal nights.

 

 

 

He's got a set of bow ties from the infants department on Amazon. They were $12 for a set of 6 and they're really nice quality - in case you want to inflict them on your small dog.

Edited January 3, 2017 by POA1

[BruhnSisters]

Such a well dressed bear!

[POA1]

As you can see from the second formal night's photo (tux & red tie) you can get a double on the SBP. Be nice to your bar friends and they'll be nice to you.

[qsuzi]

Were there any under $8 or upgraded package red wines you would recommend?

[POA1]

Were there any under $8 or upgraded package red wines you would recommend?

To be honest, they're all at least good (80-85 points.) If I look at what we drank most, I'd say it was the Light Horse Pinot Noir, the Copolla Claret (Cab Sauvignon), and the Lehmann Portrait Series Shiraz.

 

The ratings by actual professionals (as opposed to our "enthusiastic amateur" ratings are here:

 

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s88/sh/cee2cf73-8510-4812-a432-73df0c57d791/a2623dc291a487316832b45d292edbf0

 

On the regular SBP, I'd favor the Black Opal Shiraz, and both of the Santa Carolina reds.

 

Our normal process is to grab a cheese plate, some crusty bread, and order 4 to 6 glasses of red. We swap wines back and forth and do an impromptu tasting. If you are on the regular SBP, you can get the job done in one sitting. If you are on the upgraded package you'll need to devote extra time. Or, you could just not finish your glasses. (Not that we'd ever recommend that.)

[Dr. Cocktail]

What a great and comprehensive review!

 

Great pix, great attitude and a LOT of work.

 

Thanks!

[POA1]

We're nearly 500 posts into this bad boy. We've been home for a week. Christmas has come and gone. The year's rolled over and we're into a whole new calendar.

 

I suppose it's time to think about wrapping this up.

 

 

Embarkation:

 

When you wake up in the morning and you see "your" ship out the window, you have a tendency to want to beat a path to the port, post-haste. December 17th was no exception. We had breakfast; made a last minute check of our luggage; and took the elevator downstairs to meet my wife's father in the lobby. The time was around 10:30 AM.

 

In a slight departure from our usual routine, we did not pre-order a Yellow Cab. The last time we requested an SUV sized vehicle, they sent us a Prius. This was for a 14 day cruise with a couple of cases of wine, snorkel gear, and Huskerchick's ever-so-minuscule travel collection of shoes & purses. We also had her father and his two weeks of luggage. The taxi driver, to his credit, fit everything in. It was kind of a clown car situation.

 

With Uber, I could request UberXL which guarantees that we'll get something that fits us all with a modicum of space. (Just realized that I've burned through almost a thousand characters and over 160 words and we haven't left the house. Focus man, focus!)

 

So anyway....

 

The UberXL thing worked out well and we made it to the port for less than $15, or about $20 with tip.

 

We left our bags with the porters and proceeded to get in line for security. The time is now around 11:00 AM. We passed through the screening area and grabbed our health questionnaires. After filling our our health questionnaires, we got in the Neptune Suites / 4 & 5 Star Mariner check in line. My father in law was in a regular verandah room and is only 3 star, so he got in the much shorter odd numbered line.

 

Our particular sailing had a lot of family groups. The Neptune 4*/5* line normally moves quickly. Not so when there are large groups. (We estimate that the average NS held around 18 people. The entire population of Suffolk County, MA was in the Pinnacle Suite.**)

 

We caught up with DFIL in the boarding area. He had boarding number 8. At this point, Huskerchick decided to check all our room keys to make sure that we were seated together at the appropriate table and time. (I had a confirmation email from the ship's coordinator of Table #4 at late/main seating.) Thank goodness DW decided to check. We had Table #4 alright. At 5:30 PM. I'm not one to judge and I know a lot of people prefer early seating. We are not those people.

 

Sitting two seats away, I could feel DW's blood pressure beginning to rise. Our initial plan was to wait until my father in law's boarding number was called and board as a group. He has that problem where people around him don't speak clearly enough or loudly enough. Or, there's too much background noise. Bottom line: It's not his hearing.

 

The mis-assignment of the dining time threw us a curve ball. Fortunately, we train for these kinds of circumstances. Meetings were held. Contingency plans were crafted. I was to board using our priority boarding pass and DW would come aboard when her dad's #8 was called.

 

I boarded first and managed to get us moved to late/main fixed seating. DW and her dad met me at a table by the Lido bar shortly thereafter - where I had already began researching the SBP. (Dedication to science and all that.)

 

To Recap:

 

Embarkation was smooth and would have been painless had it not been for the dining time snafu. Our rooms were ready about 12:15 PM and our luggage beat us to the room.

 

** - I jest, but there were waaaay more people in line than I've ever seen.