JimVrhovac

It has been our experience that the suite key cards are a different color than the others on the ship and the color of the card is what gets you the priority tendering or debarking.

This may have changed with all the changes going on though.

We always get priority because Ruth is disables but that is a very high price to pay for a little time saved. Trust us we would rather stand in line and be well than always bumped to the front of the line.

We would like to take a minute here to thank everyone that has ever stood there and said nothing or never complained when a handicapped person is moved ahead of you in line. We really appreciate it and are sometimes embarassed by it.

Ruth & Jim

I have surprised Ruth with a Renewal of Vows several times and we have always enjoyed it.

Consider following it up with dinner in the Pinnacle Grill

Ruth & Jim

HAL supplied the shower chair. Remember that you had to put two legs outside the tub and two legs inside the tub and sit 90 degrees from the shower. The new shower chairs fit 100% in the tub and when you sit you look at the shower. There is also a back support on them GOOD JOB HAL.

I think it was SC suite. Back corner. I just pay the bills and say "YES DEAR" I have learned that this is the safest thing to do. If you think Tony Soprano is vindictive let it happen that Ruth does not get her own way................

Jim (without Ruth)

It was hard to judge the users perspective on the Retreat area or the Lido deck.

If you are in a suite you already hace a nice deck area.

If you are in an inside cabin these may be just the thing for you to use to sunbathe. Only time will tell how much they will be used. The judge will be when they start cruising the Caribbean.

Ruth & Jim

Thank you

Ruth & Jim

We have had the Neptune lonuge make our dining reservations ever since they started the program.

Next time someone tells you no request an appointment with the Guest Relations Manager THAT DAY. The GRM also manages the Neptune and Fron Desk staff.

Their job is to make your cruise better by taking care of all the small details and that is what you pay the extra fare for....

Ruth & Jim

I use my laptop to play games with while on a cruise.

I do not know where the hotspots were on the ship. Sorry.

Ruth & Jim

CIGARS:

There is an upright class case in front of the cigarettes that has the cigars. It is locked. Fair selection with reasonable prices.

LIDO DECK:

When the top is open the area by the pool is well ventilated. If the top is closed the ventilation is minumal. We found that on most descent days they kept the top partially open causing good ventilation.

OUTSIDE SMOKING:

On the lodo deck towards the sterm is open decking and the upper open decking are still smoking. When it is cold it is not the most comfortable area to smoke in. The casino and the casino bar are still smoking.

On the starboard end of the ship where the pool is there is unrestricked smoking as it is open decking. They have a canvas over the part of the deck by the bar and all of this area is tables and chairs and is smoking. My problem was the restrictiveness of the smoking in the bars.

On one occasion we were at a table in the Oceans bar smoking and the people in the next table gave me a dirt look and I politely said that this was a smoking area and if it bothers them they should move over a couple tables. They thanked me for the information and moved to another table farther away. There was no confrontation or nasty words exchanged. Once the knew where the smoking area perameters where they knew where to pick the table for themselves.

SHOPS:

There was too much space given to high end tiems. The actually had fur stols on the racks. In that small specialty shot the had reproductions of the Egs (Russian - Cannot think of their names) starting at $4,000.00. Rhere were very few racks with cruise wear and we had trouble finding a zip up sweat shirt that would fit Ruth.

Very few watches displayed. Ship models were all crystal and very expensive. They are going after high end sales not the mass market and they missed the boat here again.

CABIN 5187 verandah:

On the side there was two lounge shairs set at an angle. There was a small table with 4 chairs just outside the doors which would have been very cramped with 4 people at end. Just enough room for two to have breakfast on the table. To the right there were two chairs with foor rests.

There is enough room on the balcony to enjoy it. It was just not the balcony that I had expected,

TAMAROND & SILK BAR:

Both have sake menu, warm and cold. After all my years in the far east I prefer Jack Daniels now....

NEPTUNE STAFF:

Louise was the ladies name and will try to find his name for you. At the front dest there was Patricia from the Veendam Neptune lounge and both the people from the Oosterdam Neptune staff when we sailed them. It was old home week,

CABIN 5187 LAYOUT:

The layout of the cabin is different from the other suites. If you did not know the square footage sifference you would not know that there is a difference. It has enough space top be very comfortable.

I hope this answer some of the question you have asked.

I you have any further questions please free to ask them.

NOTE:

Copies of this review are being forwarded to the Guest Relations Manager on the Eurodam and Customer Service Representative at HAL the covers the Eurodam with a request that it be forwarded to the ceo for his information.

I am not trying to disuade anyone from cruising on the Eurodam. Overall we had a good cruise and we have already booked her again so we feel that she is a good ship and crew with some faults that will be corrected in time.

Ruth & Jim

General Comments about the Ship:

We have arranged everything is alphabetical order except for the two glaring deficiencies we noted on the ship.

The cruise that we were on had a largely elderly passenger base and our tastes may be a little different the younger crowd that the ship seems to be designed for.

ROOM 5187:

There are several reasons why we book a suite:

1-We like the size of the rooms.

2-We like the larger balconies and we use it extensively.

3-We like the Neptune Lounge and the other perks associated with a suite.

We booked suite 5187 prior to the ship being launched. We have sailed on the Vista class ships and these rooms have very large balconies. It will actually fit 4 full size tables with 4 chairs at each table. This room is actually a little smaller than the average suite on the ship.

We made a conscious decision to take a slightly smaller cabin away from the Neptune Lounge because it had a much larger balcony.

When we entered the cabin there were two major glaring deficiencies.

1-The balcony was the depth of standard non suite balcony.

2-The desk was not usable as the television was on top of it.

We contacted the Neptune Lounge and the Guest Relations Manager was at our room within the hour. The said that all the suites were sold out but if one came available they would move us to it at no charge. The agreed that the balcony is not like the Vista class ships. They agreed that the television screen was poorly placed. When you look out the window you sit at the desk and to your left there is storage cabined. The large screen TV sits centered over the divided between the desk and the cabinets blocking the view out the window and making it impossible to use the desk. We blame the architect who designed this room, the engineer who built it, and the corporate officer at HAL that approved this room being constructed this way. I have a bad back and had to lean over the coffee table to work on my computer the whole trip.

The bathroom was well laid out and roomy. The dressing area was a little smaller than the regular suites but adequate. The big thing we noticed was that the SHOWER CHAIR ACTUALLY FIT IN THE BATHTUB. This is a big plus for HAL.

WE WILL NEVER BOOK THIS CABIN AGAIN.

EXPLORATIONS CAFÉ, LIBRARY, VIDEO RENTAL, COMPUTER FACILITY:

On the Veendam this is spread out over a nice area and was extremely well used. There were always people in it and the library was extremely large and very well stocked.

On the Eurodam they took 1/3 of the Crows Nest and turned it into this facility. The coffee bar can barely fit two attendants in it. The video attendant has a very small desk with a small video storage area that faces out into the Crows Nest. The Library is extremely small, poorly stocked and some of the shelves are actually in the Crows Nest area. The desks designed with lights to put together puzzles are actually out in the Crows Nest and not usable during parties and affairs using the Crows Nest. The Computer Area is a joke.

The whole area looks like they crammed everything into this small area because they could not find anywhere else to put them.

HOLLAND AMERICA YOU BLEW IT ON THIS ONE. THIS IS AN AREA WELL USED AND EXTREELY WELL LIKED BY YOUR ELDER CLIENTELL AND YOU HAVE MANAGED TO DESTROY IT. PLEASE TELL ME HOW YOU COULD SIT AND SURF THE INTERNET WHILE A PARTY IS GOING ON IN THE CROWS NEST WHEN THE COMPUTER TERMINALS ACTUALLY EXTEND OUT INTO THE CROWS NEST.

PLEASE REVISE THIS ON THE NEXT SHIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CASINO:

The casino is designed similar to the Vista class ships. With the increase in the number of passengers it is not large enough. It was constantly crowded and often Ruth was not able to find a quarter slot machines to play. The blackjack tables seemed to be poorly used. They had both smoking and non smoking nights and it was sparsely used on non smoking nights. Several passengers did comment on how crowded the casino was.

The Casino Bar is smoking and is only one of two bars where smoking is allowed on the ship.

CREW:

We found the crew generally tried to meet the standards we have come to expect from HAL. It has to be taken into consideration that these people have been working together for only a short period of time and it will take time to develop good coordination and develop a ship’s personality that is truly theirs. There were a lot of people there in new positions and we heard a few complaints about crew problems and people not knowing their jobs or substandard performance. All those that we talked to were not overly angry about this and took the newness of the ship into consideration.

CULINARY ARTS CENTER:

I attended several presentations there but the kitchen staff and they seemed well attended and then they were later shown on the TV system. This area also doubles as the movie theatre and can be used for other presentations or meetings. A good utilization of space.

EXPLORER’S LOUNGE:

They have added a bar to this area and when the band was playing there it seemed to be heavily patronized. When there was not a band there it was lightly used and the bar area was virtually empty.

FRONT DESK STAFF:

We had multiple dealings with the front desk staff and always found them polite, courteous, and knowledgeable. We have sailed with several of these individuals before and it was like old home week.

LAUNDRY SERVICE:

We use this extensively during the cruise and have been well satisfied with the turn around time and the quality of their work. These are some of the behind the scenes people that never get the thanks they deserve. We did however talk with other passengers that did have problems with the laundry service. Specifically they had problems with lost items.

LIDO POOL AREA:

This area was not well used during the cruise as it was rather cool the first half of the cruise. The was that they have added the Cabana’s along one side of the pool area give the whole area a crowded appearance when you look at it from above or from the Silk Den. It does not have the roominess that most of us have become accustomed to. IT LOOKS MORE LIKE A CARNIVAL POOL AREA – EVERYTHING CRAMMED TOGETHER.

LIDO RESTAURANT:

We ate there quite a few times during the trip on all three meals. The service was generally what we had become accustomed to. It seemed to be a little more crowded in the isle by the serving lines.

During dinner meals the same food is served as in the dining room and rather than wait for it there is a waiter that will bring it too your table. Nice touch. Since Ruth uses a walker there was always someone there to assist her through the serving line and carry the trey to her table. This was well appreciated.

NEPTUNE LOUNGE:

We use the Neptune Lounge to make all our dinner reservations and to take care of a lot of small things for us. These individuals are one of the reasons that we continually book a suite. On this cruise they have done everything from obtaining a vase to finding out the policies and procedures or inviting a crew member to dinner and they did everything in a very timely manner. We gave both of them slippers prior to our debarkment and they loved them.

The snack tray, cookies, and constant supply of coffee and tea’s make it a relaxing place to stop in when returning from shore or an excursion.

OCEAN’S BAR:

We used this bar frequently as it had a smoking area. The bar and ONLY four tables are smoking. The service was excellent and what we have become accustomed to on HAL ships. The band was there when we had drinks before our 7:00 pm diner almost every night. This bar has been greatly enlarged when compared to Vista class ships and was heavily used. We never did see it overcrowded.

PINNACLE GRILL:

We did not use it during the cruise but heard generally good comments from those that did use it. The Pinnacle Grill and the Pinnacle Bar were never crowded, that we saw.

SHOPS:

The staff was nice but the shops are heavily weighted to jewelry and not enough in variety. Their clothing was furs and top end with minimal area given to cruise wear. The liquor area is greatly reduced and the cigarette area is virtually non existent. I had to search around to find where the cigars were kept. This is one of the cheapest cruises that we have taken when it comes to purchases in the shops. Ruth was not very happy with the selection either

REMBRANT DINING ROOM:

We used the As You Wish dining the whole cruise and were really satisfied with it. The Neptune Lounge set up all our reservations for us and we generally were admitted within 15 minutes of the reservation time. The waiters and wine Stewarts were what we have become accustomed to on HAL. Generally the food arrived in a reasonable amount of time. Ruth and I are basic eaters and are not the gourmet type so the food is a little fancy for our taste. The presentation was good and the palpability was good.

There was one incident in the dining room where a lady was chocking on her food and on of the waiters immediately applied the Heimlich Maneuver and the offending piece of food was dislodged. We were not there but we were told that it was handled in a very professional manner and the Captain actually complimented the individual by name during one of his noon briefings over the intercom system.

RETREAT:

This area was not heavily used and I think the weather had a lot to do with it. It is a nice concept for those who are willing to pay the extra tariff. I personally feel that they have taken away a lot of deck area for the benefit of a few passengers and a new profit center. Would we pay for a Cabana? NO.

ROOM SERVICE:

We us the room service extensively. We have breakfast in the room every morning and order tea, coffee, or snacks at least twice a day. Overall they did a very good job. No major mistakes were made on any of our orders and everything was delivered in a timely manner. We used room service over 50 times during the cruise.

We did not hear any major complaints from other passengers about room service.

SUITE PERKS:

Captain’s suite reception was held on embarkation day at 7:30 pm. Most of the senior officers and a lot of the other officers and staff were in attendance. Drinks and snacks were served. We had a chance to spend some time with Captain Jonathan Mercer, Stan Kuppens the Hotel Manager, and Geri Van Luven the Guest Relations Manager. It was typical of all the receptions but it was nice to have a chance to meet old friends and new acquaintances.

The Neptune Lounge is one of the reasons we choose to travel in a suite. They provide a multitude of services that make life onboard the ship so simple and enjoyable. They are arranging for dinner at 7:00 pm every night at a table for 2 or 4 by the window. Each morning there will be verification of our reservations in our mailbox and we have to do nothing on a daily basis.

We are using the laundry services every night and a generally very satisfied with the services. One suggestion is to separate dry cleaning from regular laundry and send them in on different slips.

The suite luncheon was well attended and there were only a few officers there. Not as many as we have become accustomed to on the other ships. The food was excellent and the service was very good.

TAMARIND RESTAURANT:

We ate here twice during the cruise and were extremely satisfied with the service and the food on both visits. He presentation was excellent. The staff was able to explain the dishes in detail and answer all questions that were asked. We would highly recommend trying this as the food is delicious and really on the light side.

One night we had drinks in the Silk Den (non smoking) prior to dinner. We left our camera case on the floor and our waiter (Romeo) insured that it was promptly returned to us. We commended him with a letter to the Captain and a letter to the CEO of HAL.

GENERAL:

We feel that they have increased the passenger compliment and decreased the common areas available to the passengers. The have added profit centers at the expense of the overall passenger. Some areas of note are: EXPLORATIONS CAFÉ, CROWS NEST, LIDO POOL AREA, and CASINO.

HOLLAND AMERICA YOU NEED TO RECONSIDER THE LAYOUT OF THIS SHIP AND GIVE US BACK SOME OF THE AREAS AND FACILITIES THAT WE HAVE COME TO LOVE AND EXPECT FROM YOU……..

There are a lot of areas that are not covered here mostly because we did not utilize them. The true test is will we cruise on the Eurodam again. YES. We have already booked the same itinerary for September 2009.

Holland America had drastically reduced the smoking areas on this ship. If this is an ongoing trend we will not be happy campers. Smoking has become severely restricted in the bars and lounges. There are only two smoking lounges available, The Casino Bar and a very small area of the Ocean’s Bar.

This review is our impression from what we experienced on the 15 day cruise on the Eurodam from 10/01/2008 thru 10/15/2008.

Smoking was addressed as Ruth and I are smokers and we sincerely hope that this does not turn into another smoking thread or personal attacks on us because we smoke.

I will try to post some pictures from some of these areas over the next week or so

Don't remember the name of the ship but it was in the late 1960's. Do rremember that it was a converted troop transport from WWII. I will always remember that fathroom. You could sit on the commode, get a shower, and shave in the mirror all at the same time. It was that small. The beds were welded to the floor. We were way forward and when underway the porthole was under water.

First HAL cruise was on the Noordam in the 1980's. We will always love that ship. Got to sail on the new one sometime in the future...

Ruth & Jim

Don't remember the name of the ship but it was in the late 1960's. Do rremember that it was a converted troop transport from WWII. I will always remember that fathroom. You could sit on the commode, get a shower, and shave in the mirror all at the same time. It was that small. The beds were welded to the floor. We were way forward and when underway the porthole was under water.

First HAL cruise was on the Noordam in the 1980's. We will always love that ship. Got to sail on the new one sometime in the future...

Ruth & Jim

All you have to do is tell the waiter that you want the recipe for a certain thing and they can get it for you. All the recipe's are available for the asking.

We have a good friend who is the Chef on one of the ships. Email me the specific item that you are interested in and I will try to get it for you....

Ruth & Jim

Get some of the putty and put in all four corners. Does not damage the finish like tape and does not leave a residue even when up for 14 days.

Ruth & Jim

We decorate our door each cruise we go on.

Below are picture on Vewendam for Ruth's birthday. We try to theme decorations around an event or a holiday.

Have found that sticky putty works best for putting things up and they do not fall down.

Yes those are slippers hanging on the door.

Both of us wear nothing but slippers when we are on cruises.

Any questions please email...

Ruth & Jim

Thank you for sharing your experience with Ruth and I

If you ever run into an elderly gentleman in fuzzy animal slippers on a HAL ship stop me and say hellow. That is me and Ruth.

God speed and Good health

Ruth & Jim

Better watch it in that uniform. All the ladies will be chasing you...

Ruth & Jim

Thank you for the insight into life aboard the ships. It sounds like a little town with all the intrigue and problems tyhey have....

Ruth & Jim

We prefer the R & S class ships. Smaller and have fewer passangers. Infermary is well stocked as yours is. We have toured them on most of the ships as both of us are RN's

Ship preference would be Veendam which sails out of Tampa except during Alaska season. We probably have 20 cruises on that ship. Ships crew has best personality in the fleet as far as we are concerned....

Enjoy your posts

Ruth & Jim

Thank you for the posts.

With the attitude you bring to the work place you will never have a problem fitting in anywhere.

There are some beautifull Husky Slippers available in the ports up there. Last time we were there purchased 20 pair and had them shipped home. Still have 3 pait left.

Keep up the good posts....

Ruth & Jim (RN's)

Glad to hear that everything is well with you and that you are having a good time.

Enjoy reading your posts.

Have a safe and fruitfull trip...

Ruth & Jim

Please watch what you post as HAL corporate headquarters monitors these threads.

They do it to see the reactions passangers are having not to be sneaky.

Ruth & Jim

Contact HAL corp hqs and get the information sent to you.

They have 3 or 6 month contracts or you can do prn to fill in for just one cruise.

Good luck

Ruth & Jim (RN's)

Have a great experience and enjoy every minute of it.

You will be one of those people that will be able to sit back in the mature years and say I did try that and it was one hell of an experience whereas most people say "I wish I had tried that"

Look forward to your posts

Ruth & Jim (RN's)