'Twas the Week Before Christmas - Live from the Eurodam

[cruisingxpert]

Wonderful review and great writing.

I noticed the family retreat cabana seems to have plexiglass at the side. I had the Costa Del Sol on Nieuw Amsterdam and it was open on the side. Think your pic is the Capri so might one side have plexiglass and the other side be open? I liked the 2 sides open for air flow.

 

 

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[POA1]

Wonderful review and great writing.

I noticed the family retreat cabana seems to have plexiglass at the side. I had the Costa Del Sol on Nieuw Amsterdam and it was open on the side. Think your pic is the Capri so might one side have plexiglass and the other side be open? I liked the 2 sides open for air flow.

 

 

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The aft facing side was open. The side that faced the side of the ship had plexiglass.

[RetesGirl3]

Thoroughly enjoyed your review! Quite entertaining! It looks like DH and I will be going on the Eurodam this March. You gave us many useful tips! Thanks again...love your style of writing! 🍾

[easyboy]

Thanks again for the wonderful review. I had fun and enjoyed reading it.

[sailandcruise]

Thanks. I've checked Trip Adviser and there are lots of options.

If you and Huskerchick ever head a few miles west to Plantation, FL., lunch at The Mustard Seed is unbelievable. It's always busy but worth the wait. Evenings, the white table linens come out for fine dining. That too is great stuff. St. Jean and I discovered the husband and wife team that owns it a few years ago. He's the chef and she's the pastry chef. Her cupcakes are legendary.

 

Try La Casita Blanca. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g147320-d842942-Reviews-La_Casita_Blanca-San_Juan_Puerto_Rico.html local food, great value. lunch only I think. I make a point of going there every time I'm in San Juan. off the beaten track and well worth it. also see http://gopuertorico.about.com/od/purepuertorican/gr/LaCasitaBlanca.htm for a more detailed description

[Tiggipaws]

Hello POA1

 

Could you tell me how you found the temperature in the public rooms?

 

TThank you

[xznwfd]

POA1,

 

This has been, without a doubt, the best review I've ever read. Your sense of humor, detail provided, and excellent attitude have made this a daily read for me, and I've even gone back to find your other reviews (equally enjoyable). Very well done sir! Thank you!

 

:D

 

Cathy

[WeLoveCruising]

Thank you again for taking the time to do this, a real treat to read.

 

We're sailing on the Eurodam this Saturday, and have our retreat cabana booked. Your post couldn't have been more timely to amp up our excitement.

 

I'll be sure to keep an eye out for many of the staff you mention here.

 

Cheers to you, too!

[POA1]

Hello POA1

 

Could you tell me how you found the temperature in the public rooms?

 

TThank you

I thought it was fine most of the time. Bear in mind that I like to it cool. I was warm once in the Lincoln Center Stage overflow seating area, but I was wearing my tuxedo which has many layers.

[WeLoveCruising]

I'm wondering if your cruise had the Set "A" of menus, or "B"? You did the Eastern itinerary, correct? We are leaving Saturday on the Western itinerary and I'm curious if we'll have Set A or B.

 

....and I laugh at myself a little, for even asking.....because I'd be happy with either. Just daydreaming and where I'll be and what I'll be enjoying this time next week :)

[POA1]

I'm wondering if your cruise had the Set "A" of menus, or "B"? You did the Eastern itinerary, correct? We are leaving Saturday on the Western itinerary and I'm curious if we'll have Set A or B.

 

....and I laugh at myself a little, for even asking.....because I'd be happy with either. Just daydreaming and where I'll be and what I'll be enjoying this time next week :)

We had Set A and we did an Eastern Caribbean itinerary. My understanding is that they alternate between A & B. That makes sense because all of these one week sailings are also sold as 14 day back-to-back or Collector's cruises.

[WeLoveCruising]

We had Set A and we did an Eastern Caribbean itinerary. My understanding is that they alternate between A & B. That makes sense because all of these one week sailings are also sold as 14 day back-to-back or Collector's cruises.

 

Great, that is what I would guess as well.

 

I plan to write a review as well, so I'll report back.

 

Thanks!

[POA1]

Thanks to everyone who read along. It's always a pleasure to write for such a good-looking group of people.

 

Writing one of these reviews helps to make the cruise better. You get to try things you wouldn't normally, and you get to look at things from a fresh perspective. An event or activity might not be our cup of tea, but we always appreciate things more when we can see how other people might like it.

[RocketMan275]

Very useful information.

Would it be safe to say that in the future, you'll bring your wine on board and forgo the E4? BTW, for a seven day caribbean, how many bottles do you bring.

[POA1]

Very useful information.

Would it be safe to say that in the future, you'll bring your wine on board and forgo the E4? BTW, for a seven day caribbean, how many bottles do you bring.

If we don't have the SBP as part of our fare, we'll definitely bring our own wine and pay corkage.

 

Assuming a regular 7 day itinerary, we plan on Champagne for the first night, the last night, and two gala evenings. (That's 4 bottles so far.) I usually plan on a red and white each evening, but red-red or white-white are also possible. If you plan on one bottle of red and one if white per person, you're pretty safe.

 

Extrapolated out, it's 7 red, 7 white, and 4 sparkling per couple per week.

[RocketMan275]

Thanks. We don't normally drink a whole bottle in one evening especially if we have a cocktail first. We have the SBP for the cocktails. We generally prefer reds so I'm thinking three reds and one chardonnay. We have a long drive home so I doubt we'll drink much if any on the last night.

[POA1]

Thanks. We don't normally drink a whole bottle in one evening especially if we have a cocktail first. We have the SBP for the cocktails. We generally prefer reds so I'm thinking three reds and one chardonnay. We have a long drive home so I doubt we'll drink much if any on the last night.

That's fine. You have to adjust based on your consumption habits. We tend to be over achievers.

Edited January 11, 2017 by POA1

[RocketMan275]

That's fine. You have to adjust based on your consumption habits. We tend to be over achievers.

 

Enjoy your achievements while you're young. After you get a bit older, you'll find achievements are smaller and occur less frequently. We just don't drink as much now as when we were young.

 

BTW, just watched a somewhat interesting interview on the Wall Street Journal about cruise ship wines.

 

- Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc are the two most popular wines on a cruise ship. (looking at the wine list, they also tend to be some of the cheapest.)

 

- The markup on wines is 3 to 5 times wholesale.

Edited January 12, 2017 by RocketMan275

[expectGREATthings]

This was an excellent review. I really enjoyed reading each and every post. I appreciate all the time it must have taken to bring us along for the ride. So thanks a lot, and thanks for your many and varied posts to these boards. I have a question I hope you can answer. We leave next week on the Niew Amsterdam and was wondering about the room service breakfast option for Neptune suites. I saw some posts saying that things have changed. Is there still the door hanger you put out the night before and are they varied between cabin categories? I know last year we had the option of getting a Mimosa if desired.

 

Thanks again,

Michael

[Dogstar]

Thanks to everyone who read along. It's always a pleasure to write for such a good-looking group of people.

 

 

Awe shucks. [emoji4]

 

Echoing everybody's sentiments that it was a fantastic review. Thank you for the informative, balanced & humourous review, especially your following up on specific inquiries.

 

Cheers. Dogstar.

[POA1]

This was an excellent review. I really enjoyed reading each and every post. I appreciate all the time it must have taken to bring us along for the ride. So thanks a lot, and thanks for your many and varied posts to these boards. I have a question I hope you can answer. We leave next week on the Niew Amsterdam and was wondering about the room service breakfast option for Neptune suites. I saw some posts saying that things have changed. Is there still the door hanger you put out the night before and are they varied between cabin categories? I know last year we had the option of getting a Mimosa if desired.

 

Thanks again,

Michael

 

Michael - There's still a door hang card for ordering breakfast. The NS "menu" has more in the way of no charge choices. However, based on what my wife and I order, we were covered either way. I meant to scan our card and DFIL's card, but time got away from me.

[MisterBill99]

I'm wondering if your cruise had the Set "A" of menus, or "B"? You did the Eastern itinerary, correct? We are leaving Saturday on the Western itinerary and I'm curious if we'll have Set A or B.

 

....and I laugh at myself a little, for even asking.....because I'd be happy with either. Just daydreaming and where I'll be and what I'll be enjoying this time next week :)

Would you please post what set you get? Does your cruise have Le Cirque or De Librije? Based on the A/B alternating, you should have A again. And I'm wondering if LC/DL is based on the A/B rotation or if they move separately.

 

I'm on the 3/4 cruise and based on the every other week rotation I should have B. But I have De Librije, same as POA1 had on this cruise with the A set. But I'm on the Tropical itinerary, which is either purchased separately or part of a 21 night itinerary (I guess it can be booked on a 14 as well).

 

If anyone has data points they can post of what menu they had and whether it was DL or LC, that would help to figure this out.

Edited January 12, 2017 by MisterBill99

[WeLoveCruising]

Would you please post what set you get? Does your cruise have Le Cirque or De Librije? Based on the A/B alternating, you should have A again. And I'm wondering if LC/DL is based on the A/B rotation or if they move separately.

 

I'm on the 3/4 cruise and based on the every other week rotation I should have B. But I have De Librije, same as POA1 had on this cruise with the A set. But I'm on the Tropical itinerary, which is either purchased separately or part of a 21 night itinerary (I guess it can be booked on a 14 as well).

 

If anyone has data points they can post of what menu they had and whether it was DL or LC, that would help to figure this out.

 

We definitely have Le Cirque, I'm booked in advance.

 

I'll report back which set of menus we have. I hope to start a live post for our trip.

[POA1]

I'm not sure if the De Librije / Le Cirque follows the menu Set A/B exactly. There are a few 21 day itineraries that might throw things off. They're being sold as Tropical Caribbean, I think.

 

The special meals on your itinerary will be visible months in advance when you login to the HAL site and look under specialty dining.

 

We liked both meals and would do them again. My wife prefers Le Cirque. I like De Librije better. But we'd be happy with either one.

[bluesplayer]

The bill.. what charges were counted as shipboard "spending" for mariner status? Thank you!! working on my next star..