Some Thoughts on My Eurodam Cruise Dec 10-17 2017

[Cruiser Bruiser]

I just returned from a 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruise on Eurodam (12/10-17/2017), and I wanted to offer a few impressions. Bottom line: this was one of my favorite cruises ever. Service was excellent across the board, HAL's ships give me all the amenities I care about, and my fellow passengers were very friendly. Weather was outstanding.

 

 

First me: I'm a 50-year-old single guy, a “confirmed bachelor” if you will. I work for a municipality, so I'm not the richest guy in the world, but I get crazy amounts of paid leave. As you can see from my signature, I used to be hot and heavy with NCL; more recently I've been sailing a mixture of HAL, P&O and Princess.

 

 

I booked 15 months in advance, and I paid a pretty substantial single supplement. I booked in an MM interior and sailed in a beautiful VE verandah stateroom on Deck 8 due to price drops. I loved my cabin; the only drawback was the occasional movement of furniture up on the Lido at odd hours that woke me up from time to time. Frankly, a verandah is lost on me as I never use the actual verandah. My sweet spot is definitely an ocean-view stateroom. But everything worked (no plumbing issues), the on-demand TV system was perfect, and there were more electrical/USB outlets than anyone could possibly use.

 

 

I had a Lido Cabana the whole week. E-Jay and Juvill were the two dedicated “cabana boys.” They were super friendly and made me feel like a minor royal for the week. I would have preferred a cabana a little closer to the center, but that's a minor complaint. I was also worried that the Lido Cabanas didn't provide breakfast and lunch options, but they did! The sparkling wine and chocolate dipped strawberries were appreciated every afternoon.

 

 

Spa/Gym: I also booked the thermal suite for the week. There was a discount offer of $149 for a single for the week ($249 for a couple), and I jumped on it. As the sales lady in the spa pointed out: “it's easier just to say yes.” Again, everything in the spa worked. I used the gym six of the seven days and always had easy access to the equipment.

 

 

Lido Pool: I used the pool and hot tubs every day. The pool was warm; the hot tub was hot. Folks were generally polite, as were their manyfold children. So many kids for the second week of December! Loungers were plentiful. HAL's marketing is paying off, and this was a very diverse, relatively young cruise.

 

 

Dining: I ate breakfast in the MDR every morning. I had lunch in the cabana every day (except for the very well attended Mariner Lunch.) Cabana options came from an abbreviated Lido Market menu, Dive In or NY Pizza. I ate dinner in the MDR every evening. The quality of the food and the service was very, very good. I never lacked for choice, and service pacing was generally very good. The last two days saw some substantial gaps in service; I cannot account for why. (Dinner the last night every table around us was empty and cleared; we still had a table full of empty dinner plates. I had to wave over our server and gesture to all the empty plates to get him to clear them and serve us dessert. WHY?) I'm finding I really enjoy dinner roulette, or sharing meals at a group table. I had open seating and never had to wait to be seated.

 

 

Quench Beverage Package: This is the perfect package for me. It does cost a little more than $20 per day ($144.48 for the week), but I think I got my money's worth. Double espressos in Explorations Cafe and after dinner; bottled water for the gym; bottles of San Pelegrino and cans of diet Coke and Sprite Zero by the pool and in the bars. HAL also offers a one-day Signature Beverage Package just for use at HMC. It was about $27 after gratuity, and that afforded me my one day of consumption of too-sweet cocktails, wine, and the aforementioned soda.

 

 

Entertainment: My body won't let me stay awake past 10 pm anymore. I don't know why, but that's the way it is. HAL's entertainment is perfect for me. BB King's Blues Club was very well attended and very enjoyable. There was much dancing, albeit not ballroom dancing. That ship has sailed, I think. I also enjoyed Billboard Onboard, and it also was very well attended. I walked by Lincoln Center Stage throughout the cruise and it was always crowded. Demand clearly exceeds capacity, and I don't know how HAL is going to resolve that issue. It does explain why HAL is moving LCS into the Queen's Lounge on Nieuw Statendam. Finally, I saw two excellent production shows: Billboard Hits Rewind: Off the Charts (on the 3rd night) and 1000 Steps (on the 6th night), which was a ballroom dance inspired show. It's the sexiest thing I've ever seen on HAL, and I highly recommend it. I missed BBC Earth Live, but folks told me it was excellent. I also chose not to see two of the three comedians.

 

 

Ports: This cruise visited Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Thomas and HMC. We had beautiful, warm weather at all the ports. Old San Juan is in remarkably good shape. I walked a lot and dropped a dime on a bracelet that may or may not be of good quality, but the point was to spend some money. I snorkeled in St.Thomas. And I spent a lot of time in the water at HMC, or at my clam shell. I also experienced an impromptu stretch class with the ship's trainer, Laru, and another passenger. The class was excellent, and Laru was so kind to make the offer.

 

 

HAL's Excellent Crew: Overall, everyoneI encountered was so lovely. From E-Jay and Juvill at the cabana, the bar servers around the pool (one of whom hugged me goodbye), my excellent cabin steward Andi, Jamie who greeted me every day in the spa, and trainer Laru, everyone was just fantastic. I don't know how everyone knew my name from day one? But the officers were another story. I think they need to be more engaged around the ship,enforcing standards, and making sure that crew aren't being asked to do too much. Case in point: I mentioned to an appropriate officer at HMC that the bar servers were overwhelmed; he replied that a “second wave” was coming. I don't think this was true as I saw no increase in staff.

 

 

In summary, this cruise affirmed that HAL is now my line of choice. They give me everything I want and nothing I do not. And I think I am the exact type of passenger HAL is seeking. I love the entertainment, the service, the amenities and I partook thereof mightily. In return, I'm giving HAL a lot of my money. I just used one of the two FCC's I bought aboard to book a 7-night Western Caribbean cruise on Nieuw Amsterdam this coming Thanksgiving week. I also booked another Lido Cabana for that week. I now have 24 nights booked on HAL and I plan on ensuring that a family cruise to Norway with my sister's brood in 2020 is on Koningsdam or another Pinnacle class ship rather than NCL.

 

One final observation: the cranky old complainers were out in force. The much discussed pop music was omnipresent at the Lido pool for the first few days. It's a curated mix and I was surprised by the variety of songs and styles, and it created a very enjoyable atmosphere around the pool that well matched the variety of folks who were enjoying the pool. Then one day the music disappeared. I asked a bar server what happened to the music, and he mentioned that another bar server turned it off because the "old people" complain so much. He then mentioned that staff would get in a lot of trouble if their manager noticed that the music was off, as the corporate standard is to have music. So, I brought my own Bluetooth speaker to my cabana and started playing music off of my phone. Within a couple hours, the music was back.

 

 

 

HAL is clearly changing. And as much as I want to empathize with the folks who miss what the line used to be, I'm enjoying what HAL is becoming way too much. From my observation, so were the many other friendly folks who sailed with me.

Edited December 20, 2017 by Cruiser Bruiser
Pervasive spacing issues. Sorry!

[Epicureangirl]

Great review, thank you! Makes me even more excited about my upcoming cruise. I get CRAZY amounts of paid-leave too -- and wouldn't trade it for anything! Sounds like you really know what to do with it! :champagne-toast:

[easyboy]

Glad you had an excellent cruise! I am sure you would likewise enjoy your booked future cruises. Thank you for your thoughts.

 

 

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[CarrieAP]

Nice summary and thank you for sharing!!!

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[Keith1010]

Excellent review.

 

Very thorough and extremely well organized.

 

Happy Holidays.

 

Keith

[esimon]

great review and I agree with much of what you said -- HAL provides what we want -- I am tired of the complaining about what use to be. While the price is right it is too much to complain about what I'm not getting. Thanks again for your review !!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

Glad you had a great cruise.

[Roz]

I too sail solo and can appreciate many of your remarks. My last HAL cruise was on Eurodam and it's my favorite so far. I just turned 65 and enjoy music from the 1930s up to the present day and like it when they mix the musical offerings.

 

Thank you for your great review.

 

Roz

 

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[ski ww]

Thanks for the great review. Glad to hear all the positives.

Allan

[G&G]

Thanks for your review.

 

We cruised the Eurodam two weeks earlier and were very pleased. Good to see you made it to San Juan. When we sailed the week of 11/26/17, HAL went to Punta Cana; San Juan was still shutdown. It was a very difficult port to tender; rough seas.

[Liz]

Many thanks for your review! I'm sailing Eurodam on Jan. 7 - my first HAL cruise, after 60 cruises on different lines. I'm looking forward to the entertainment, even more so after your comments.

 

Liz

[chill6x6]

Hey John!

 

i enjoyed your report on your cruise! Really a nice review... I'll be aboard the Eurodam in March. It sounds like more or less the Eurodam is the same as I left her, which is a GOOD thing!

 

The pool music was off and on when I was on the Eurodam.....kinda funny! I wondered why. Now I know!

 

Threads such as yours keeps the anticipation going for those of us looking forward to a cruse!

 

Thanks again!

[debcruising]

Thanks for the review! I liked the way you described and categorized it all. You covered a lot.

 

I was on the NA over Thanksgiving & it was disheartening to hear people on board lamenting "How HAL used to be." Hey, my motto is "The past is like a foreign country, they do things differently there." ENJOY the HERE and NOW! Happy Travels!

[KroozNut]

Thanks for posting your Eurodam observations. We sail her in 2018 and are really looking forward to it! :)

[kazu]

Great Review!!

 

Well laid out and done.

 

thanks so much for taking the time and glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[Rmt1948]

Great review John. We are believers that you live in the moment. While we have not yet cruised on HAL and are still neophytes to cruising, we can hardly wait for our trip in February.

[Epicureangirl]

Hey, my motto is "The past is like a foreign country, they do things differently there."

.

 

I love this, what a great motto! I must say it was also just so refreshing to see such an upbeat review.

[sweettea58]

We also sailed on her the month before as first timers and were completely satisfied with everything. Also rented a lido cabana and really enjoyed the week of pampering. However was not blessed with great weather but made the best of it. Service was great except outside pool area but like you, had to listen to alot of negativity from other passengers.

 

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[Sea girl 23]

No offense to the people who want things "the way they used to be" but do you know now quick Holland America would be made obsolete if they kept things "the way they used to be? "

 

The days of steerage,white gloved porters taking your steamer trunk to your cabin, etc. are long gone. I blame Downton Abbey. :(

[Roz]

Nothing in my life is the same as it was even 5 years ago.

 

Roz

 

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[erewhon]

Thank you for reviewing your cruise.

[SetAnOpenCourse]

I wonder, if Carnival were to make changes in the direction of becoming more like Holland America (perhaps Cunard would now be a better example), what would you recommend for people who liked the way things were? Would you say, Accept it and live in the present? And if both lines progressed in the direction of each other, to the point where they were indistinguishable, would you advise, just live in the present?

 

Sorry, pushback is going to keep happening. If it works (I hope the live-in-the-present folk live up to their words...😉 ), IMO we'll have more real, distinct choices, and not have lines converging on a common denominator.

 

And I think the pushback really isn't as vociferous as some people make it out to be. It's actually targeted on issues and have valid, specific reasons (sometimes it's even about physical/sensory discomfort).

 

It's too easy to say, "oh they're just the type that is resistant to any change". If you knew our opinions on a full range of topics, you might be surprised.

[HALrunner]

Thanks for taking the time to write such a well thought out review! We will also be enjoying a cabana on the Eurodam next month, did you happen to catch if Juvil and E-Jay will still be onboard a bit longer?

[idiebabe]

Enjoyed reading your wonderful review! :)