Eurodam Feb 3, 2019 San Diego/Hawaii Live Thread

[Buck1949]

16 minutes ago, SanDiegian said:

MarineTraffic.com shows msEurodam from US SAN 2-3-2019 (San Diego) to MX CSL 2-9-2019 (Cabo San Lucas). Hopefully they find the ship before I board on 2-20-2019 in San Diego US. 

 

GRIN !!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Love the Tamarind and the ladies that work there.

 

Their food is the best.

[faerievert]

 
Would you be able to let us know what the outside temperatures are periodically while cruising TO Hawaii?.  We are set with the Hawaii temps but unsure of the ships temperatures. 
 
Thanks.  That will help us with packing jackets, sweaters etc.  

Current temp 63 F... higher than the forecasted high of 59. It’s been very sunny with small puffy scattered clouds. It is very windy out. Both because we’re moving along quickly and because it’s just windy out here (waves outside have frequent small white tips)


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[faerievert]

Slept great until 6ish. After that I noticed a noise from above or below. My husband says it was happening all night. He thinks there’s an empty cabin with a door slamming open and shut as we rock [emoji19] Will use a louder noisemaker on on both phones tonight.

Got up at 8am with ease (I’m usually a night owl, so this is VERY unusual). Happy that meant I could attend the 9am lei making EXC crafting session. Be early or at least on time. We had filled the seats by 9:02. You must sit to in the designated area participate. Those standing around didn’t get to. Now have a lovely lei in my room and a broken flower pinned in my hair (why waste it?).

Went through spa to go back to room and was handed a spa special I actually wanted. 8 mini treatments for $149. It’s an hour and a half-ish and one of the best dollar per minute deals they’re likely to have. I’ll report on that tomorrow. I combined the booking with my existing manicure appointment at 10am. Now I go in at 8am and will be with her for up to 3 1/2 hrs of pampering [emoji3590]

Stopped at the 10am spa raffle, but no luck. This was a far shorter schpiel than previous embarkation raffles I’ve attended, but also fewer prizes. Failed to win. The special for attendees was $100 off a $269 75 min massage package. Nope, not interested.

Grabbed a mini breakfast of guava juice, muesli, and mixed berries to take with my daily vitamins & meclizine back on the room’s veranda.

11am CC roll call meet in the Billboard piano venue next to the casino. They provided spa water, coffee, tea, and cookies. Chatted for a bit, but we were eager to get to the 11:30 Hawaii geological history talk. I like our cultural guide. Will definitely attend more.

Noon we hit the very crowded lido at prime time. No free tables walking the full interior (we didn’t check by either pool). So we asked a group to join them at a large table. Left our things and grabbed a small sushi plate and cold tofu-noodle dish on the Asian bar. Then the mango no sugar added mousse for dessert. I recommend it, if you like that kind of thing. Very light with no noticeable fake sugar taste (I didn’t ask if any was used.




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[just_cruising_along]

Thank you for taking the time to post about your cruise.  We will be on the same cruise later this Spring.  When you go to the Pinnacle Grill, will you be able to take a photo of their wine list?  Thanks.  Have a great cruise.

[DAllenTCY]

Departure from San Diego was a bit delayed due to loading supplies.  One truck arrived very late .....on Super Bowl Sunday....it wasn't due to traffic!

 

David

[faerievert]

3 hours ago, just_cruising_along said:

When you go to the Pinnacle Grill, will you be able to take a photo of their wine list? 

 

I will try to remember when we visit Pinnacle on the 7th or 13th. 

[faerievert]

6 hours ago, Buck1949 said:

 

Would you be able to let us know what the outside temperatures are periodically while cruising TO Hawaii?.  

1

Temps feel significantly cooler than those posted due to the wind. I had to move seats wearing a long-sleeved tunic over a tank top and leggings with sandals. I was ok once we change seats. The hula gals performing at sunset were quite chilly in their warmest "island" outfits wrapped in extra scarves and sipping hot tea! It's a good temp for a spring/fall jacket outdoors with a hat or hood. Luckily, some parts of the aft deck are mostly sheltered from the wind for their outdoor performances. They're going slow during the day, but the wind is still a major factor. As I was advised before sailing, "I wish I'd brought more cool weather clothes." If you don't care about going outside, the Lido "greenhouse" stays quite warm! I had to roll up my sleeves this morning during the flower craft.

[faerievert]

After lunch, it was time for our first cellar master package wine tasting. Usual price <$20. As promised by our cellar master, the pourings were indeed enough to get more than a little tipsy if you finished them all within the time. After, the husband crashed for a nap planning to hit the Ukelele lessons later, but decided to keep sleeping. I hit the relaxation room's "warming trays" (thermal loungers) to relax until my pedicure.

 

Note: When booking nail services, they automatically put you in the high end, non-shellac version. Be sure to specify if you want any other option.

 

Pedicure details

This service is only a $10 premium vs my local salon at home in Nashville, which I consider overpriced, but the ones that I trust that cost less are all over 30 mins away and I had no reason to be in that part of town before the cruise. I'm willing to spend the small premium, but only begrudgingly.  I can't really recommend it, but I would agree she's better than average. Not great, but firmly good. It would have been much better if I hadn't made the mistake of cutting my nails super short before the cruise. If you might be tempted to splurge on a pedicure, don't make that mistake. Standard massage chair, extra thorough foot exfoliation (with better than usual cheese grater followed by sanding), standard polish in very limited shades (I found a mint color I love), elevated leg/foot scrub with hot stone massage, cooling gel (surprisingly nice! -- and why they call it the "fire and ice" package), with standard hot towel wrap. 15% gratuity is charged automatically. Receipts have greatly improved to reflect this. I would normally adjust that up, but I'll see her again tomorrow and intend to give a cash tip for some extra if I'm happy after my next service. I tend to be a 20%+ tipper for nail/body services. 

 

Got out of pedi just in time to hit happy hour on way back to room. Got a pair of my favorite tuscan lemondrops on the rocks in tall glasses (I drink martinis too fast). Found the husband back in room and gave him one, then headed to the hula/ukelele performance on the back deck. Stopped by the photographer's green screen setup on the way. We bought the unlimited print/digital package for $299 and want to maximize our investment. A little bitter we didn't have the $99 digitial package availablel but still worth it to me. We NEVER get pro photos at home.

 

Caught the second half of the hawaiian set. Totally worth it, despite the chilly weather. Will try to see them perform again. The gals are all super sweet. 

 

Headed directly to the MDR for dinner ~6pm. Zero wait for a shared table despite a very full house! Again very impressed with the food. My coconut dessert was only a 3.5 out of 5 (pretty good, not great), but extremely happy with both the sweet potato soup and pork/eggplant ragu pasta. Wine steward was only attentive when it was a clear time to order, but left the bottle on the table for us to pour ourselves so that didn't matter. If we weren't drinking wine, I don't know that he would have been available for more drinks.

 

Went back to room to grab laptop to get some work done on the thermal spa's lounge chairs. Cabin steward arrived during the 5 mins I was there to see if we needed anything before turn down. He thought we were on fixed seating in dining room since we'd done an 8pm dinner the night before. Hint: Make sure you tell your steward if you want turn down at a different time from when you have it the first night!  We've corrected that issue. Bonus! He saw my husband trying to put on the regular sized robe and asked if he would like an XL robe. The people on the phone (90) said that wasn't a thing, but it totally is and you need to ask your steward directly if it's appropriate. My husband is very, very happy to finally have a properly-fitting robe for the first time as an adult. 

 

I didn't get many emails today from work, so that went very quickly. I'll do more tomorrow when I don't have as many activities I'm interested in (and I'll be more sober than I am now). Time to switch to a bathing suit and enjoy this private thermal pool that we're paying so much for! G'night, and see you tomorrow. I promise to be better about taking photos. 

[Krazy Kruizers]

Wonderful reports.

 

Glad you are enjoying your cruise.

[cat shepard]

Thank you for the tip about the jacket w/hoodie. We will be sailing near the end of October, so will most likely experience some of the same.

 

The entertainment and activities sound wonderful.  

[just_cruising_along]

11 hours ago, faerievert said:

I will try to remember when we visit Pinnacle on the 7th or 13th. 

 

Thanks, that will be most appreciated!!  Glad you are enjoying your vacation.

[cruisebie]

I'm enjoying your reports. Thanks for doing them! This is a cruise that's on my to do list, but will probably have to wait until I retire and can have a to do list that is composed more of cruises than journals and ledgers.😂

[pebblecruise]

Thanks for letting us come along with you.  I will be on the cruise following you.  

I do have one question and feel free to not answer.  How much is the thermal pool cost for the cruise?

 

 

[faerievert]

Just now, pebblecruise said:

How much is the thermal pool cost for the cruise?

 

$599 for a couple (17-day itinerary). Cannot be booked online. Can be booked ahead by phone, but there's really not any reason to. We did since we were going to be boarding late and it's very important to my husband. I wouldn't be surprised if they start selling these online eventually to maximize bookings. 

Today it was unpleasantly busy in both private spa rooms the late morning (10:30-11am) when I stopped in after my spa treatment. I've never tried that time of day before and likely won't again. 

[pebblecruise]

Thanks!  I see that was for 2 people.  Would the cost be half for just one person?  thanks

[faerievert]

Just now, pebblecruise said:

Thanks!  I see that was for 2 people.  Would the cost be half for just one person?  thanks

It's usually a discount to book as a couple (note that "couple" doesn't have to share a room or partake in the spa together... you can sign up with any random stranger to get the deal). All my past cruises it was $50 more pp if you didn't book as a couple. I didn't see the single price for this cruise because having pre-booked we skipped the times/places it would have been presented. 

[faerievert]

We gained an hour last night. Too bad we'll have to return it on the way home. Be sure to reset your electronics manually before you go to bed. They will NOT reset themselves even if on the ship's wifi. 

 

Again the banging became noticable around 6am. It doesn't seem to have gone all night this time, but we had calmer seas. We found the source. Eurodam room 4043 is directly over the exterior doors to the Promenade deck. The inner set of those doors isn't on a soft spring close device and slams shut. We're probably hearing it slamming behind people going outside who don't close it themselves, and in rough seas when it swings on its own. I reported it to the front desk. They were going to check if there's a broken latch. The daytime is probably unavoidable, but it shouldn't be swinging on its own (I doubt they will actually do anything about it). If it bothers my husband again I'm going to encourage him to try for a room change. I love our location, but I hate that the noise is bothering his sleep. 

[faerievert]

The upside of the noise issue is that it encourages me to be a morning person. Which I'm kind of loving. The only trick is that I need to crash at about 10pm to be up at 7am. Thanks to the clock roll back, bed at 11 last night was effectively 10 so up at 7am was fine. There was even a rainbow outside for some reason! Very nice way to start the day. I hit the lido at 7:30am and was surprised to find it packed so early! I did a full loop and only open table was out by the dive in. I like it better out there anyway. 

 

Restroom hint: I may have said this already, but it's worth repeating. Use the bathroom in the far corner of the lido pool area! Never busy as opposed to the ones between the indoor pool and the restaurant that usually have a line for the ladies. Seriously, everyone seems to forget they're there. 

 

Spa morning was mostly relaxing. The 2 1/2 hours of pampering was a delight. Getting turned over to the trainer at the very end for a sales pitch was very much not. Ever worse was hearing a woman in the pedicure chair next to me get a rather nasty pitch from the other trainer in the middle of my session (there was a screen up between us, so he may not have known I was there to overhear). She'd simply wanted to make an appointment with him for some weight lifting instruction. That a trainer would go so far as to DISCOURAGE a person wanting to work out is absolutely unforgivable, IMO. He denied her request to set up personal training and instead pitched her to attend his seminar later that morning about addressing her "inflammation." She was happy to pay for a personal training session at the outset, but I can only hope she will not show up to that seminar to be scammed into buying a more expensive treatment plan and they will lose out on her money entirely. Absolutely sickening. My guy also failed to pitch personal training sessions (I made the mistake of marking my pain from a strained psoas on the spa intake form) and instead tried to get me to do the good feet (insoles) seminar. Honestly, I had been considering purchasing them this trip after regretting not having the money to buy them on a past cruise. Seriously, I've been thinking about them since our Alaskan cruise like 7 years ago... but I found this post-spa pitch so completely distasteful I don't think I could stomach going through with the purchase now! I should have stopped him the moment he started. I would be much happier. I wish it had been the same one who had been so rude to my pedicure neighbor so I could give him a piece of my mind. But the voice didn't match (I never saw that man, and can't even be sure it was a trainer rather than some other spa staff). My pedicure yesterday came with a pitch for products at the end, but I find that normal and not at all distasteful. Trying to sell me products you just used on me and I now know I like is a completely reasonable sales tactic.

 

As for the spa session itself, I had an 8 mini-session package and the fire & ice manicure. I had an eye treatment, leg exfoliation, leg massage, scalp massage, neck/shoulder massage x2, and hand/arm massage x2. The mini massages were 15 mins each, so that's 1 1/2 of massage for $149... best price you'll find on ship I suspect. Plus the bonus eye treatment that takes only a few moments to apply and sets during the massage, and the leg scrub, which I adore but only takes a few minutes. Then another round of hot stone massage for my hands/arms followed by cooling get as part of the manicure. I work on the computer, so this arm pampering is so, so worth it. 

 

 

[tompeter]

Great reporting, thanks!

[faerievert]

Discovered I can download the MDR menu each day! All the ones that are the same for the full cruise are below, plus today's MDR (first gala night). Rudi's is a pop up a couple nights in pinnacle on this ship. I've heard Pinnacle will also do a special valentine's menu on the 14th, but I haven't seen it yet. Note the MDR daily doesn't include the other half of the menu that's the same every day. 

menu-dinner-pinnacle.pdf

menu-dinner-mdr-20190205.docx

menu-lunch-divein.pdf

menu-dinner-rudisseldemer.pdf

menu-dinner-tamarind.pdf

menu-dinner-canaletto.pdf

[cat shepard]

Thank you so much for posting the menus. And the heads up about the fitness/spa’s pitches. 

[Buck1949]

32 minutes ago, faerievert said:

Discovered I can download the MDR menu each day! All the ones that are the same for the full cruise are below, plus today's MDR (first gala night). Rudi's is a pop up a couple nights in pinnacle on this ship. I've heard Pinnacle will also do a special valentine's menu on the 14th, but I haven't seen it yet. Note the MDR daily doesn't include the other half of the menu that's the same every day. 

menu-dinner-pinnacle.pdf

menu-dinner-mdr-20190205.docx

menu-lunch-divein.pdf

menu-dinner-rudisseldemer.pdf

menu-dinner-tamarind.pdf

menu-dinner-canaletto.pdf

 

I have one additional question if you don't mind...... (I may have missed the info somewhere.)

You seem to easily post your comments during the afternoon.  Which internet package do you have and what is your overall opinion of the internet service?

[faerievert]

Just now, Buck1949 said:

 

I have one additional question if you don't mind...... (I may have missed the info somewhere.)

You seem to easily post your comments during the afternoon.  Which internet package do you have and what is your overall opinion of the internet service?

I like it much better than the old by the minute. I’m on the middle package. Speeds are ok. Sufficient but not great. Definitely notice the delays but hasn’t been a problem for my purposes. I can’t imagine trying to stream on it!

[faerievert]

Wow! Our laundry we sent out this morning around 8:30 just came back same day. Nice 😊