RevNeal's LIVE Eurodam Report

[fcorey]

Greg, its always a pleasure to read your travelogues, I'll be looking forward to more posts in the coming weeks. Thanks for taking the time to post the pictures.

[JRachels]

Hi Greg,

 

I hope your weather on arrival in Copenhagen tomorrow is as good as it has been the last 3 days. Just glorious here.

 

I need a small favor. After reading about the dining room problems you, Brian and the others had, would you please make sure that I'm seated with you. I'm in VT 11006 and have late seating on my paper but it sounds like they may ignore it.

 

Can't wait to see you and finally meet Christopher as well as Brian's parents.

 

Love,

Joyce (Rachelson) just in case they can't find me by cabin number:eek:

[Sir PMP]

Can we get a picture of these 'cabanas', where are they, and do they block othet people's views?

[kryos]

On a recent flight a parent told me that they couldn't control their toddler. (I had already asked him very gently to stop kicking.) I suggested that they review which was the parent and which was the child! Luckily, about half way between LA and Chicago, the little one fell asleep.

You are far more patient than I to wait for the kid to fall asleep. If the parent told me she had no control over her kid, I'd have gotten a flight attendant involved immediately. If that didn't help ... well, the kid's foot could get accidentally broken. :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Krazy Kruizers]

Great pictures!!

 

Sure hope things improve for you all.

[Growler]

Greg, I don't wish in any way to detract from your marvellous posts, as they're giving us all a valuable insight into what might best be described as the inevitable 'shakedown' phase of any cruise ship's existence. As a recent convert to this site, though, I was wondering if there's any history of 'live from' threads from inaugural HAL sailings that I and others could read to gain a comparative view of how your current woes stack up against what's gone before. In particular, I'm wondering whether HAL really haven't learned from previous experiences, or whether the current teething problems are just that - teething problems - associated with getting a new team all singing off the same hymn sheet.

 

As a couple of examples, your description of the 'breakfast bottleneck' on the Eurodam is something I experienced last year on the Ryndam, so I'd perhaps be a little reticent to lay the blame for such crowds on the presence of the cabanas, as my guess is it's just a numbers issue, and that over time the 'breakfast rush' will spread out a little such that everyone manages to get seated. I may be completely wrong of course! (wouldn't be the first time, and for sure I'm not there to observe directly!). One other thought occured to me too - are the 'Canaletto' tables available for breakfasting lido diners, or are they permanently 'cordoned off'?

 

Anyway - let me say again that I'm more than a little grateful for all the hard work that you, Brian, Copper et al are putting in on our behalf, and that I loved the 'forward/aft' picture. Are all the signs like that, or was this just a one-off?

 

Tim

[Northshorecruisers]

Loving the posts and pictures! Thank you so much for doing this. I'm sure the service will become better over the course of your cruise, at least I hope they will come up to the level we all love about HAL.

Interesting to hear that people are "dressing". Do you feel it's because it's an inaugural cruise or because there are more European's on board?

[RevNeal]

Breakfast in the Main Dining Room:

 

Given the disaster that breakfast was on our first morning I decided to try the Main Dining Room for breakfast this morning. It was a much better choice. The atmosphere was quiet, the people interesting, the staff attentive, and the food was excellent. Sometimes the Main Dining Room food selections at breakfast leave something to be desired, but this time they turned out quite nice. Given how horrible the Lido was yesterday, I'm seriously considering trying breakfast in the Main Dining room on most of the next 20 mornings. Sadly, I had to go alone ... Christopher was still sawing logs when I got up, and only barely moved as I got showered, dressed, and left. I think he had too much to drink last night ... he usually sleeps late after such evenings.

 

As a result, I enjoyed my meal and my conversation with a nice couple from Northern Wales. When we found out where each other was from, the lady of the couple began the conversation with: "Happy Independence Day to you!" And my reply was: "My condolences on your loss." :D It was a very pleasant meal.

 

Odds and Ends:

 

After breakfast I made my way all the way forward and up to the Crows Nest for Team Trivia with Mary Ellen, Karl, Christopher, and Grumpy and Slinky. We didn't win, but we did ok -- 9 out of 15 -- and the questions were VERY hard.

 

Weather is mixed today. We began this morning with heavy fog and light rain, plus an overcast sky. The seas were very choppy and the ship had quite a bit of motion as a result. As breakfast progressed the weather cleared up nicely, and the sun finally came out during team trivia, making for a very lovely day. However, as I'm writing this I've noticed that the sun has moved behind clouds again. The weather forcast on the Scan Channel says that it should be partly-cloudy all day today, with occasional showers. And, from a glance at the horizon, that seems to be right.

 

This afternoon they're holding a July 4th Party by the pool amidships beginning at 12 noon and going until 3 pm. They say this is to celebrate the "America" in "Holland America Line." I heard a lot of grumbling among the germans about this, however ... they're not happy that the main dinnig room isn't going to be open for lunch; and, for that matter, neither am I.

 

Several of the lounges have been closed, off-and-on, over the past 2 days for various events. We've got a huge number of Travel Agents aboard, and the HAL staff seems to be focusing their attentions on them and ignoring us. In Hamburg yesterday about 500 German TAs came aboard for the day, had meetings with HAL staff, toured the ship, ate dinner in the Main Dining Room, and took up premium space in the bars and lounges. Even though half the ship was off doing things in the Hamburg nightlife, the ship was crowded and understaffed as a good percentage of the crew had been given the night off.

 

More Odds, less Ends:

 

Last night we had a great time. As my photos will show and as I've already shared, after dinner and the fireworks show we went to the Northern lights and danced until about 1 am. The redesign of the Disco makes for a better arrangement, however the sitting arrangements simply aren't as nice. However, as can be seen in the photos, each sitting-area has a stone-top table in the middle onto which projectors cast the image from the camera which is focused upon the dance floor. It's a nice, fun, touch. Having fun, as they often do, Scotty and Brian jumped up on one of the tables and started to dance! Scotty also took Mary Ellen out on to the floor -- with Karl's permission, of course -- to dance some. I also joined in or the fun and things finally got to moving -- along with the ship -- at about 12:45 am.

 

I've spent a little time in the Explorations Cafe -- the Starboard side of the Crows Nest -- and I'm not especially impressed. it's nice, but it's very crowded. I preferred the Explorations Cafe on the Noordam and on the S and R ships, where the room is large enough for the influx of passengers and the location makes it more central to the rest of the evening activities. Sadly, something similar regarding size could be said about many of the public rooms aboard the Euroam. They all appear to be a little bit smaller than on the Vistas, and with an expansion in the passenger-complement this is a troubling development. Yes, I know ... the square-footage per-passenger isn't supposed to be appreciably less, but it sure feels and looks like such is the case; particularly when it comes to dealing with the crowds. Of the complaints I've overheard from many is that they're having to line up for everything. While a small amount of lining up is always going to be necessary, some o these lines are way too long.

 

Looking back over what I've written I know it looks like I've just been complaining about everything, and it is true that there are some aspects to this ship that I just don't like. However, there are many elements that I do like. For instance, even though much of a decor is not like HAL's standard on the rest of the ships, it nevertheless has that "HAL-esque" feel to it -- slightly funky, modern European, with an "Old World" Charm Twist. I like that, for the most part, and hence the decor has really grown on me. Likewise, I must say that the crew is excellent and that the level of service has been, considering the problems and the overcrowding, quite good. Yes, sometimes the service rate lags a bit behind what it ought to be, but I can chalk that up to adjustments to working together. Thus far I've seen about a dozen staff members whom I know from prior cruises on HAL ... they've long been the "Best of the best," so it's not surprising to find them here, helping the new ship get "up to speed."

[RevNeal]

A few more photographs!

 

The Northern Lights at night ... just a few of us here at this point. Here you see the bar.

 



Here you can see some of the gallery seating ... and Karl just peeking around the corner of some of the drapes.

 



A close-up of one of the seating galleries with the projection screen displayed onto the table-top. This is a really "cool" feature.

 



Scotty Dancing with Mary Ellen ...

 



The Ship's Mast-Coins, found up on the deck above the Crows Nest (i.e., the so-called "topless" deck, which today is quite chilly even though the sun is out shining.

[RevNeal]

A few more photographs!

 

Here's a view up at the Bridge, etc., from the forward Bow "observation deck" -- actually, Deck 5 Forward. This and the next photo provide a view of the doors used to access it.

 



 



A view of the Silk Den Lounge exterior looking from the forward Observation Deck, where the new Cabanas are located (just abaft the Crows Nest).

 



As requested, two views of the Lido-Deck Cabanas. These were taken this afternoon, during the pool-side 4th of July Picnic. There were people standing around, eating, incapable of finding a place to sit ... and, still, these thing went almost entirely empty.

 



 

[RevNeal]

Here are links to two downloadable mp4 files taken in the Northern Lights last night. The fist one is just of Scotty bouncing around on a couch. The other is of Brian and Christopher dancing to a Salsa number.

 

Video Clip ONE -- Scotty

 

Video Clip TWO -- Brian and Christopher

[ger_77]

Thanks for the photos - I love the tables in the Northern Lights ... our son saw lots of them when he lived in Japan, but he didn't get pictures of them.

 

The Lido Deck Cabanas look like "Arabian Nights At Sea" - I wonder how long they'll be in existence?

 

Thank you again for taking the time for us.

By the way, Happy Independence Day ! ! !

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

Gerry

[mamaofami]

Great photos Greg. Thanks, and Happy 4TH.

[Love the beach]

Love your photos and reading all about it! Thank you for doing this. Hope things get better as the cruise progresses.

Marge

[Atomica]

Thanks for the updates & the photos, Greg!

 

I had a thought while reading your post: perhaps there's more people booked on this short 3-day 'preview' cruise than on the first 'real' cruise (ie-upper & lower berths filled)? That certainly would explain the crowds being what they are.

[helenp2]

Greg, Thank you so much for the great photos and wonderful descriptions of this fabulous adventure. The ship does look beautuful and my guess is it will only take a few days to work out the kinks. I sailed with you and Brian, etc. on the Noordam inaugrual and it was just perfect. It makes me wonder why the Noordam went out with no glitches whatsoever, and the Eurodam is experiencing what seems like lots of little problems. Anyway, hope all of the CC'ers on board have a marvelous cruise and I look forward to all of the "live from" posts.

 

PS How's the casino treating you?

[james j feller]

REVNEAL,

 

Great photos and good hearing from you.

 

Please get all these problems fixed before we come on board on the 25th, i know, as if you got the pull to do it.

 

JIM

[innlady1]

Greg, maybe you should be the one to point this out to Stan Kuppens and maybe he would give this one to you as a souvenir:D This could bring in a high dollar on eBay

 

Good idea, Lisa! I wonder if this is the only sign with an error like this...Greg is sure to be looking for others.

[innlady1]

Wonderful photos, Greg.

Those cabanas seem to be a huge blunder on HAL's part...taking up so much valuable space if they continue to go unused. Maybe HAL is counting on pax booking them in the Caribbean :confused:

Happy 4th of July to all of you!

[Susie51]

Once again, thank you for the great pics. Northern Lights looks like a fun place to hang out. What did you do in Copenhagen?

[innlady1]

Once again, thank you for the great pics. Northern Lights looks like a fun place to hang out. What did you do in Copenhagen?

 

They will be in Copenhagen tomorrow, Susie. That's when the next portion of this cruise begins. Many more CCer's embarking tomorrow in Copenhagen.

[sail7seas]

Those cabanas are horrid IMO

 

I can't imagine anyone would want to spend a day in one.

That valuable deck space is needed for better use.....like a place to eat one's breakfast or lunch. Are there no tables and chairs around Lido pool now? If one goes to the taco bar late afternoon, where can you sit and eat your snack? Do you have to go into Lido?

I have no problem with them being creative trying to find new revenue streams. I realize they have to but this is one of the worst ideas I've seen.

 

JMHO........

[innlady1]

Those cabanas are horrid IMO

 

I can't imagine anyone would want to spend a day in one.

That valuable deck space is needed for better use.....like a place to eat one's breakfast or lunch. Are there no tables and chairs around Lido pool now? If one goes to the taco bar late afternoon, where can you sit and eat your snack? Do you have to go into Lido?

I have no problem with them being creative trying to find new revenue streams. I realize they have to but this is one of the worst ideas I've seen.

 

JMHO........

 

I may be wrong, Sail, but I think the cabanas line one side of the Lido pool...and there are tables and chairs on the other. Seems as though I saw a photo posted showing the tables/chairs.

In any case, if they're an eyesore if you ask me! I don't mind the ones on the observation deck because they're out of the way of traffic.

Being roped off isn't very welcoming either. To think Greg was booted from them the other day when he couldn't find another place to sit and eat his breakfast is not good customer relations.

I, for one, hope those in the Lido are short-lived. :rolleyes:

[PCruzer]

Thanks, RevNeal, for all the time you are spending posting about the Eurodam. I have to say, though, that I am seriously reconsidering booking this ship for March 2009. One reason is the lack of seating in the Lido restaurant. I would think that is something that can't be easily changed. Access to Lido seating at breakfast and lunch is important to me. Has the situation gotten any better in the Lido? Thanks again for all the posts!

[jtl513]

Are there no tables and chairs around Lido pool now? If one goes to the taco bar late afternoon, where can you sit and eat your snack?

There's normal tables and chairs on the starboard side. (Saw them in dellas1000's pics)

I have no problem with them being creative trying to find new revenue streams. I realize they have to but this is one of the worst ideas I've seen.

How much revenue are these things things bringing in? I think I saw that you can rent one for $199 per week? That's $1592 /wk for the whole bunch ... that's $0.76 per passenger per week. I'll be happy to pay an extra $0.76 per week to see them scrapped!! Heck, I'll pay $2 per week!! :D :D

 

(I don't care about those up in the "Retreat" on the Observation deck ... they won't affect me at all!)