My review of Eurodam to Alaska May 6th sailing from Seattle

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the review.

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Hi Deb (Styles) - I'm so glad you had a great cruise:D Thanks so much for relaying your experience so promptly! I loved your description of Glacier Bay being like a "far away realm" whose beauty seems not quite real.

 

A Cruise Critic member who was on the April 29th cruise posted the "When and Where" daily program here, and looking at it I saw that "The Band" played in the Ocean Bar a few evenings during the week. Did you happen to notice if that was the case on your cruise? Thanks in advance:D

[Herfnerd]

How accurate were the port dock times? I booked a 1:30 Mendenhall/Whale Watch excursion in Juneau and was told we should be fine with us coming into port at 1pm........

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Sea Belle]

Thanks for posting your review with excellent information. I thought some of it sounded familiar and then saw the pictures. Wow! That's Deb and John sharing their cruise with everyone!

We sail on the Amsterdam on the 22nd for 14 days and can't wait. I wish we were going to have a balcony but couldn't justify the cost on this ship. Having sailed on it 2 times before we know we will be ok with an ocean view, just missing the luxury of our own outside space which we have become accustomed to.

Since the A doesn't go into the shipyard until 2018 we will still have music for dancing in the Ocean Lounge. We missed it terribly on the K and the O. Like you, we have been very disappointed in the entertainment changes. We enjoy BB for a set after dinner, catch the show, and them mostly wander around looking for something to do or head back to the room early. I truly think HAL has "missed the boat" in eliminating the ballroom dance music.

Thanks again for sharing your trip with us. It has especially helped me get a picture of what to expect in the ports. Safe trip home!

Ann

[Beach4me]

Excellent review! Thank you for sharing.

[JimAOk1945]

Thanks for sharing your experience. We have cruised Alaska 3 different times on 3 different cruise lines but enjoyed our 14 day Maasdam last August the most. We never get tired of the breathtaking beauty Alaska offers.

[styles27]

Hi Deb (Styles) - I'm so glad you had a great cruise:D Thanks so much for relaying your experience so promptly! I loved your description of Glacier Bay being like a "far away realm" whose beauty seems not quite real.

 

A Cruise Critic member who was on the April 29th cruise posted the "When and Where" daily program here, and looking at it I saw that "The Band" played in the Ocean Bar a few evenings during the week. Did you happen to notice if that was the case on your cruise? Thanks in advance:D

 

 

 

That would have been great but we didn't see anything about that on our sailing.

I have a few of the "When and Where" programs and the only thing listed in the Ocean bar is tea at 3pm and happy hours a couple of times.

 

Thank you again for all of your help before we cruised!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[styles27]

Thanks for posting your review with excellent information. I thought some of it sounded familiar and then saw the pictures. Wow! That's Deb and John sharing their cruise with everyone!

We sail on the Amsterdam on the 22nd for 14 days and can't wait. I wish we were going to have a balcony but couldn't justify the cost on this ship. Having sailed on it 2 times before we know we will be ok with an ocean view, just missing the luxury of our own outside space which we have become accustomed to.

Since the A doesn't go into the shipyard until 2018 we will still have music for dancing in the Ocean Lounge. We missed it terribly on the K and the O. Like you, we have been very disappointed in the entertainment changes. We enjoy BB for a set after dinner, catch the show, and them mostly wander around looking for something to do or head back to the room early. I truly think HAL has "missed the boat" in eliminating the ballroom dance music.

Thanks again for sharing your trip with us. It has especially helped me get a picture of what to expect in the ports. Safe trip home!

Ann

 

 

Hi Ann...I hope you're not too sick of hearing about our cruise since you're seeing it on FB too! [emoji6]

 

I would like to see the ballroom dancing brought back. Hopefully they read our surveys.

 

You may get a good upsell offer to a balcony before you sail but if not you will still be able to look out at the beauty while you're in your room.

 

Are you on the Nieuw Amsterdam?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[styles27]

How accurate were the port dock times? I booked a 1:30 Mendenhall/Whale Watch excursion in Juneau and was told we should be fine with us coming into port at 1pm........

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

We got to Juneau just after noon and were able to disembark before 1 so you should be fine. The cruise before ours also got into Juneau early.

 

The only port we were late getting into was Victoria...we were almost an hour behind schedule.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[kftw]

Thank you for sharing your cruise with us.

[Appalachian Mountain Mama]

Oh my! That first picture of the ship with the sunset is beautiful! I like your reflection selfie too and the rainbow disappearing into the water one. Sailing on Nieuw Amsterdam in Sept, first time to Alaska so thanks for the port reviews.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[davidpw97]

Great review. I'm on the Noordam starting May 28th but leave on Sunday for a week on land prior to the cruise. Getting excited

[TheCalicoCat]

Thanks for sharing, we can't wait for our return trip in July.

[Sequim88]

very lucky to have a nice sunny Seattle sail away!

 

Very lucky indeed this year in particular. It's been very wet and cool in Seattle. In the first 14 days only four have been dry.

 

Thanks for the detailed review with ll the types of info I look for. Even if not for Oosterdam the itinerary is very similar - same except for Glacier Bay instead of Hubbard. Very nice it was clear in Sitka, of any port that's the one I would most want to be clear and see Mt. Edgecumbe. I imagine it still had a goodly amount of snow.

 

Agree Victoria is a wasted stop and we are considering not even getting off the ship at all. Of course it does help that we are close enough to make a weekend trip later in the summer when we can get out to Butchart Gardens and give it the time it deserves in addition to time at the Royal BC Museum.

[styles27]

Very lucky indeed this year in particular. It's been very wet and cool in Seattle. In the first 14 days only four have been dry.

 

 

 

Thanks for the detailed review with ll the types of info I look for. Even if not for Oosterdam the itinerary is very similar - same except for Glacier Bay instead of Hubbard. Very nice it was clear in Sitka, of any port that's the one I would most want to be clear and see Mt. Edgecumbe. I imagine it still had a goodly amount of snow.

 

 

 

Agree Victoria is a wasted stop and we are considering not even getting off the ship at all. Of course it does help that we are close enough to make a weekend trip later in the summer when we can get out to Butchart Gardens and give it the time it deserves in addition to time at the Royal BC Museum.

 

 

We have had the same weather here on the East coast and landed in Boston today to more rain [emoji57]but at least the grass is green! lol

 

I took a pretty good pic of Mt Edgecumbe, the shuttle driver told us it was the first time in two weeks it was visible. So we were lucky!

 

 

 

Thank you everyone for your nice comments!

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[styles27]

Oh my! That first picture of the ship with the sunset is beautiful! I like your reflection selfie too and the rainbow disappearing into the water one. Sailing on Nieuw Amsterdam in Sept, first time to Alaska so thanks for the port reviews.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

 

Thank you so much! We were in port with NA in Juneau and Ketchikan, she's a beauty too!

 

There's something about HAL ships that really appeal to us and that was confirmed when we were in port with some of the other ships. While they're all beautiful and impressive in their own way, HAL's ships still look like ships...sounds silly but some of the "mega" ships have lost that look and look more like floating buildings.

 

 

I'm excited for all of you first time Alaska cruisers! I was so excited to finally be going and it exceeded my expectations! I hope it's the same for you!

[styles27]

This was our room it was a V category (we paid for a VH so we were very happy with the free upgrade) #5126. It was a great location as we were in between two elevator lobbies so an easy commute to MDR and Lido. Also very quiet. We did have the lifeboats right under our veranda but it didn't bother us at all.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[styles27]

Captain John Scott...real nice guy, very approachable. He held the elevator for us one evening as we were leaving Tamarind and we had a nice conversation with him.

 

 

Cruise Director Stone, apparently she just joined Eurodam on its first Alaska voyage so that could explain her shyness. Hopefully she will be more comfortable and outgoing as time goes on.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[styles27]

 

BB King All Star band. Loved these guys!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Tinknock50]

 

One of my favorites taken in Victoria last night...the sky was gorgeous

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Silly selfie reflection off the balcony door with Glacier in background

 

 

Margerie Glacier

 

Two of the many rainbows we saw

Leaving Glacier Bay taken from Aft deck it was almost 60 degree at this point

 

Wow....beautiful pictures! Love that light on the ships bow too!

[Maniacminn]

Thank you for your review. As my mom said, "we brought the sunshine with us" to almost every port.

 

We noticed the lack of people mainly on the rough sea night. I barely made it to dinner that night.

 

Glacier Bay was amazing. I'm so glad we had a balcony to experience that.

 

It seems like quite a few people took excursions in Victoria. The Main stage was pretty full. We were the last ones called for the City tour and Craigdarroch Castle. All those people came back around the same time and were ALL in line for the one open station at the Lido buffet. It was a disaster. I think they need to think about those kinds of things.

 

BUT, this was our first cruise on Holland and I think our last. We really enjoyed the care given by the employees in our room and the dinning room but that was about it. We felt very "looked over" on this cruise and my mom really missed having somewhere to dance.

 

Glad you enjoyed your time. Sorry I didn't make it to the meet up. Like I said, I lose track of time on sea days and I did. Realized I missed the meet up at 5pm.

[styles27]

Thank you for your review. As my mom said, "we brought the sunshine with us" to almost every port.

 

We noticed the lack of people mainly on the rough sea night. I barely made it to dinner that night.

 

Glacier Bay was amazing. I'm so glad we had a balcony to experience that.

 

It seems like quite a few people took excursions in Victoria. The Main stage was pretty full. We were the last ones called for the City tour and Craigdarroch Castle. All those people came back around the same time and were ALL in line for the one open station at the Lido buffet. It was a disaster. I think they need to think about those kinds of things.

 

BUT, this was our first cruise on Holland and I think our last. We really enjoyed the care given by the employees in our room and the dinning room but that was about it. We felt very "looked over" on this cruise and my mom really missed having somewhere to dance.

 

Glad you enjoyed your time. Sorry I didn't make it to the meet up. Like I said, I lose track of time on sea days and I did. Realized I missed the meet up at 5pm.

 

 

Sorry we missed you too! We did get to meet Ruth (NCecho) she started our roll call, and her husband Steve, but nobody else.

 

I agree with your mom about the lack of dancing. We really missed that as well. It's one thing we enjoy in the evenings on cruise ships and I think HAL is making a big mistake eliminating that.

 

Old as Dirt Mom pointed out that the Ocean Bar had the band play a couple of nights but it ended at 8. We were at dinner during those times I guess that's why we missed it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[mr.roboto]

Thanks for all the info on your Eurodam cruise to Alaska. We are going in less than a month and picked this itinerary just for Glacier Bay. Hopefully the CD and the entertainment will improve by then. I remain optimistic.

[DataDivaAtl]

Thank you for some very good information about your cruise. I've only booked on excursion - sled dogs in Juneau (can't resist dogs and puppies) It sounds like you were able to see the things I want to see without the excursion (Bears, Raptors). I will probably sit out Victoria too - I've been there in August when it's warm and beautiful. Mostly I want to experience the Glaciers and vast space. I also sprung for a Veranda - I thought about ocean view but I booked this recently and all that was left were behind the lifeboats. Just over a week to go - can't wait. Thanks again for your review - it was just the info I wanted.

[styles27]

Thanks for all the info on your Eurodam cruise to Alaska. We are going in less than a month and picked this itinerary just for Glacier Bay. Hopefully the CD and the entertainment will improve by then. I remain optimistic.

 

 

You're very welcome! We didn't let the CD lack of enthusiasm hinder our cruise at all...I think she will grow into her position by the time you get on board.

 

We really enjoyed BB King and the Piano players so the entertainment they do have is really good, just would have liked a place to slow dance each evening.

 

 

I'm confident you will have a great time...Alaska is beautiful and the Eurodam is a fantastic ship with wonderful service. Enjoy!

Edited May 17, 2017 by styles27