What Do You Want to Know About Eurodam -- Cruise Critic Onboard June 27th

[PCruzer]

Having read RevNeal's reviews thus far, I am seriously rethinking booking this ship for March 2009. Not enough seating in the Lido is not something that is due to working the kinks out. Have you found the same situation in the Lido? Too small a seating area? Thanks for all the posts.

[jtl513]

When you go to the Tamarind and Canaletto do you leave a cash tip?

 

Please vote in my anonymous poll:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=803898

[tsd1]

Having read RevNeal's reviews thus far, I am seriously rethinking booking this ship for March 2009. Not enough seating in the Lido is not something that is due to working the kinks out. Have you found the same situation in the Lido? Too small a seating area? Thanks for all the posts.

 

PC is absolutely right! Not enough seating in the Lido should have been figured out long ago. And what about the reports of the seating in the main lounge? Narrow seating with high arm rests? I'm still disappointed to hear the dance floor is gone. The service is something that can be fixed. Hope they will be dry-docking soon and fixing things before the blues cruise in January - which will be our 8th blues cruise on HAL.

[Host Anne]

Hey Carolyn ~ just dropping by to say hello and thanks so much for sharing your experiences. I enjoyed following HAL's Eurodam construction blog and your thread is bringing it all to life. Wish we were with you!

Have a great rest of the trip....and a wonderful 4th!

Off to check out RevNeal's thread!

ENJOY!

[mafig]

Having read RevNeal's reviews thus far, I am seriously rethinking booking this ship for March 2009. Not enough seating in the Lido is not something that is due to working the kinks out. Have you found the same situation in the Lido? Too small a seating area? Thanks for all the posts.

 

 

I'm booked for December. Thereports thusfar have not led me to think about cancelling, however, I'm less excited than I should be right now.:o :( I am particularly troubled by there not being enough seating in the buffet, leading to not being able to find a place to sit....----I cannot stand that!!!

[hulamoon]

Thanks Carolyn

 

I hope you enjoyed yourself while checking in with us. Hopefully someone will get the service in order soon. What department is in charge of training service on the ships?

 

Thanks for the Rotterdam and taxi tip! I wondered about going into Belgium for that port, we love Brugge, we had a great time with the people, food and of course chocolate!

 

I will also ask around about Keukenhof, when we are there 5/11 that may still be in bloom.

 

Happy Trails!

[AtlantaCruiser72]

The Lido seating issue is not unique to the Eurodam in my opinion. Having previously sailed on both the Noordam and Westerdam I found both ships Lido Buffets to be very crowded and seating to be tight and at a premium. I avoided the stress by trying to avoid the "rush" periods for breakfast and lunch. Additionally very few passenger seemed to "get it" that there was outdoor seating by the aft pool (now mind you I was in Alaska both times...). I would just order an omelette at the aft station and scoot right outside for a yummy fresh breakfast and a cup o'joe!

 

I have examined several websites and have surmised that the "Poolside Cabanas" seem to only be down one side of the Lido Pool deck - the other given over for normal table seating and/or loungers depending on the time of day. Hopefully someone can confirm my hypothesis.

 

All new ships have teething issues - just look back at some of the reports when the QM2 launched! I'm sure that within 3-4 cruises all will start to settle in nicely. The pursers desk on any ship can be hit or miss based on my experiences, give it time they have a lot going on right now!

[KLLund]

Our strategy is always find a table and take turns going to the buffet .. so this one is not stressing me. But I had already planned to let this ship work its kinks out before booking it.

 

We were on the 3rd voyage of the Oosterdam .. and on the train from London to Harwich .. all we heard was "I understand there are a lot of problems, we are worried!" I asked "Where did you hear that " and thus learned about Cruise Critic .. but by the second day of the voyage the same people were saying I CANNOT imagine what they were talking about!! A generator went out at one point .. was there grumbling about no hot coffee or food .. no people all around were saying hey don't fix it we are having tooooo much fun .. or Put up the sails .. it will take longer to get to Copenhagen.

 

So I figure .. an inaugural with a new ship with some innovations good or bad .. and many many many planned activities for TAs and such .. is no way to judge. Lets see what they are saying next week.

 

Carolyn .. thanks for the great information

[bcnvcanada]

We have enjoyed reading the blogs about the new ship. Most all new ships and resorts have to address problems, before getting up to speed.. Design, however, is another matter. The cabanas seem to be a complete waste of space. Maybe HA could and should charge for the use of the pools---all pools and their space. Also, ruddness in the hospitality business is a big no, no. Hopefully, management will address all of these issues soon.

[Travalerie]

Any news on the air flow in the lido deck cabanas? I purchased one for the week on my cruise on 10/25...I am trying to decide if I made a good decision. How do they know who pays for them? I mean, what prevents someone else from hanging out in your reserved cabana while you are away from the pool? I am not trying to be exclusive, but you do pay for it...

[hammybee]

All new ships have teething issues - just look back at some of the reports when the QM2 launched! !

 

Oh my stars. What an excellent analogy.

[editor@cruisecritic]

Hi, all. I understand the concerns but let's wait until the ship shakes itself out before we get too worried about the Lido. Remember, on a "normal" cruise, people are coming and going all the time often at different times. I did notice that there were efforts to broaden venues -- say for lunch, both Pinnacle Grill and Tamarind were open sometimes. Our last day at sea there was a fantastic pool buffet in honor of July 4 -- so more people than might otherwise have been eating up there were, er, there.

 

I'd be interested to see how, once the current cruise is well underway, the traffic flows in the lido. I'm keeping an eye on Rev Neal and Brian's threads!

 

Carolyn

 

 

I'm booked for December. Thereports thusfar have not led me to think about cancelling, however, I'm less excited than I should be right now.:o :( I am particularly troubled by there not being enough seating in the buffet, leading to not being able to find a place to sit....----I cannot stand that!!!

[editor@cruisecritic]

Hi, Scott, great advice re dining. The cabanas on the Lido deck, as you surmised, are down just one side. I was surprised on our last sea day to see them all occupied (I even asked a few folks -- did you really pay for this, LOL). One tip: one couple actually turned their chaise bed around backwards so they looked out to sea. That was smart.

 

Re air flow I do not know, didn't get a sense there was much air swirling around in there. I did notice that the cabanas on deck ten were getting more than enough :) while we were at sea.

 

I do want to address something that Scott wrote. When writing the blog I've tried to be very clear that you have to be a bit flexible when talking about such a new ship -- and I have been. You've got a lot of crew members working together who may be experienced but haven't really jelled yet as a team. So...your cabin might not be cleaned perfectly or your room service order might be off slightly or communication from restaurant managers about eatery opening times could be off. That's all perfectly understandable.

 

If it seems I judged the passenger information folks too harshly, well, I don't agree. First of all I've found this area of HAL service to be below standard (especially because the rest of its service is typically such a high standard) on almost every cruise I've taken on HAL. This is a stressful job, no doubt, but in many cases they bring it on themselves by giving passengers attitude, conflicting information, no information, etc. rather than just being real and making an effort. The kinds of interactions I had were really just ridiculous and I wasn't the only one to feel this way by any stretch. It felt as if as a passenger you were inconveniencing them...and it was quite the other way around.

 

So there :) -- sorry if I come across strongly but I just think there's no excuse for attitude. Certainly contributing to the problem is that the typical info book that's in cabins (that tells you how to do stuff, where to find stuff, etc.) is really really skimpy and basically just says call info desk to find out how to...whatever. So they're clearly getting more requests for info than are necessary.

 

Carolyn

 

 

The Lido seating issue is not unique to the Eurodam in my opinion. Having previously sailed on both the Noordam and Westerdam I found both ships Lido Buffets to be very crowded and seating to be tight and at a premium. I avoided the stress by trying to avoid the "rush" periods for breakfast and lunch. Additionally very few passenger seemed to "get it" that there was outdoor seating by the aft pool (now mind you I was in Alaska both times...). I would just order an omelette at the aft station and scoot right outside for a yummy fresh breakfast and a cup o'joe!

 

I have examined several websites and have surmised that the "Poolside Cabanas" seem to only be down one side of the Lido Pool deck - the other given over for normal table seating and/or loungers depending on the time of day. Hopefully someone can confirm my hypothesis.

 

All new ships have teething issues - just look back at some of the reports when the QM2 launched! I'm sure that within 3-4 cruises all will start to settle in nicely. The pursers desk on any ship can be hit or miss based on my experiences, give it time they have a lot going on right now!

[editor@cruisecritic]

Just a heads up. If, on turnaround day you are planning to debark this ship (or frankly any other ship in which a cruise winds up in Copenhagen) beware: when I got off Eurodam yesterday, the wait for a taxi was at least one hour, possibly longer.

 

I don't know for sure because after it took 20 minutes to move 6 feet, I trundled my 37 kilo suitcase 15 minutes to the nearest train station.

 

A big boo hiss to the port of Copenhagen for either not being prepared or simply not dealing with the fact that it simply doesn't have enough taxis to accommodate a ship as big as Eurodam. As well, and understanding this is the first turnaround for this ship, onboard shore excursion staffers simply must do a better job in informing passengers about the realities of what to expect (seriously, people could have easily missed planes because of not factoring in the taxi variable).

 

I've been on ships where we're told that a debark port often doesn't have enough ground transportation and that extra cruise-organized transfers would be made available (hint, hint). That's what I'm suggesting.

 

It's important that cruise lines realize that last impressions are just as important as first and second ones when it comes to remembering a trip. And inching forward (occasionally) in a serpentine line at the end of a cruise only reminds me of the negatives of a big ship trip.

 

Also, another and fortunately much happier note: If you have a late flight out of Copenhagen airport, here's a fantastic way to spend the day: get yourself to the central train station (Kobenhaven), check your luggage in to storage there and walk across the street to the magical Tivoli...it was a lovely day.

 

Carolyn

[mamaofami]

Considering the fact that the Lido is usually very crowded at breakfast on a turn around day, I wonder how it went in Copenhagen? That's a day to order room service or eat in the dining room, for sure.

As far as the taxi situation, the full ship didn't even disembark.

[melos]

Carolyn - did you go in a pool? How cold were they? They're not heated, are they?

[jtl513]

Did you happen to learn if the tables/chairs and loungers outside the cabanas in the Retreat area of the Oservation deck "belong" to the cabana renters or are they for everyone? (I'm curious if the VT cabin occupants get to use them.)

[editor@cruisecritic]

Hi, John. No, the Retreat area is private for cabana renters....

 

Carolyn

 

Did you happen to learn if the tables/chairs and loungers outside the cabanas in the Retreat area of the Oservation deck "belong" to the cabana renters or are they for everyone? (I'm curious if the VT cabin occupants get to use them.)

[editor@cruisecritic]

Great question -- but would you believe, after seven days onboard, I never made it remotely close to the pools (didn't try out the loungers, either -- what is wrong with me?). I was either busy with stuff or -- it was cold and blustery.

 

Hopefully one of our esteemed bloggers onboard now will share a report?

 

Carolyn

 

 

 

Carolyn - did you go in a pool? How cold were they? They're not heated, are they?

[editor@cruisecritic]

I walked through the Lido several times and would you believe it was quite a peaceful spot. Busy but not full by any means. But consider that a lot of people staying on for the next cruise had probably headed out for shore tours (and most of the people leaving the ship were Europeans who didn't have to rush off).

 

Since I had the usual embarkation day anxiety (and since I'd fallen asleep, sadly, way too early the night before) I actually was up at 4 a.m. -- and yes, the sky was light already. I'd ordered in-cabin breakfast. One of the things that really is premium about HAL is that you can order in-cabin breakfast on the last day and you can stay in your cabin for a reasonable amount of time.

 

Kudos due there.

 

Carolyn

 

Considering the fact that the Lido is usually very crowded at breakfast on a turn around day, I wonder how it went in Copenhagen? That's a day to order room service or eat in the dining room, for sure.

 

As far as the taxi situation, the full ship didn't even disembark.

[editor@cruisecritic]

Not only is the magical Tivoli just across the street from the central rail station, you can easily hop a train to the airport (takes about 15 minutes). It's a regular train that just happens to include the airport in its stops (as opposed to an airport-specific train) and one leaves every 15 minutes or so.

 

Couldn't be simpler.

 

Stay tuned for my report on Tivoli; it'll be in our Baltic ports section.

 

Carolyn

 

 

Just a heads up. If, on turnaround day you are planning to debark this ship (or frankly any other ship in which a cruise winds up in Copenhagen) beware: when I got off Eurodam yesterday, the wait for a taxi was at least one hour, possibly longer.

 

I don't know for sure because after it took 20 minutes to move 6 feet, I trundled my 37 kilo suitcase 15 minutes to the nearest train station.

 

A big boo hiss to the port of Copenhagen for either not being prepared or simply not dealing with the fact that it simply doesn't have enough taxis to accommodate a ship as big as Eurodam. As well, and understanding this is the first turnaround for this ship, onboard shore excursion staffers simply must do a better job in informing passengers about the realities of what to expect (seriously, people could have easily missed planes because of not factoring in the taxi variable).

 

I've been on ships where we're told that a debark port often doesn't have enough ground transportation and that extra cruise-organized transfers would be made available (hint, hint). That's what I'm suggesting.

 

It's important that cruise lines realize that last impressions are just as important as first and second ones when it comes to remembering a trip. And inching forward (occasionally) in a serpentine line at the end of a cruise only reminds me of the negatives of a big ship trip.

 

Also, another and fortunately much happier note: If you have a late flight out of Copenhagen airport, here's a fantastic way to spend the day: get yourself to the central train station (Kobenhaven), check your luggage in to storage there and walk across the street to the magical Tivoli...it was a lovely day.

 

Carolyn

[hulamoon]

Thanks Carolyn for the heads up on Copenhagen, we had a situation in Venice where we were told not so correct information about how to disembark, I agree last impressions count too.

 

Nice to hear from you again, the natives were getting restless!:p

[Boytjie]

Hi, John. No, the Retreat area is private for cabana renters....

 

Carolyn

 

Can anyone access the deck above the Crow's Nest? It seems as though you have to go through the Retreat area where the cabanas are.

[editor@cruisecritic]

Hi, Peter, I have a whole list of answers to post and will get back to it (not abandoning thread til I've answered as many questions as possible!). This is one I checked out. There is a lot of open space above the Retreat, including over the Crow's Nest and then again over the spa area, I believe. There's a full length basketball court but no tennis/paddle tennis courts (like I remember from Maasdam and other S class ships).

 

Funny thing. On our one sea day, the mid-section pool was crowded and definitely the Aft area was packed but no one had discovered these uppera areas and though a bit windy, there was plenty of room to spread out. Lounges were in abundance -- stacked rather than arranged -- but it was easy enough to help yourself.

 

 

Carolyn

 

Can anyone access the deck above the Crow's Nest? It seems as though you have to go through the Retreat area where the cabanas are.

[Boytjie]

Hi, Peter, I have a whole list of answers to post and will get back to it (not abandoning thread til I've answered as many questions as possible!). This is one I checked out. There is a lot of open space above the Retreat, including over the Crow's Nest and then again over the spa area, I believe. There's a full length basketball court but no tennis/paddle tennis courts (like I remember from Maasdam and other S class ships).

 

Funny thing. On our one sea day, the mid-section pool was crowded and definitely the Aft area was packed but no one had discovered these uppera areas and though a bit windy, there was plenty of room to spread out. Lounges were in abundance -- stacked rather than arranged -- but it was easy enough to help yourself.

 

Carolyn, thanks for the feedback, your effort to inform us is much appreciated!

 

That area above the Crow's Nest was also less used on the Zuiderdam in the Caribbean in February. This was on a charter where a lot of activities were organized around the aft pool so more people were hanging out there, or at the Lido pool.

 

The Eurodam's deck plan shows a basketball and volleyball court on the Sports deck - same as the Vistas