Just back from the Eurodam yesterday.....

[terigo]

Observations instead of "normal" review... but ask away, if I didn't cover what you want to know.

 

1. Most chaos-free embarkation and disembarkation we have ever experienced.

 

2. Ship is beautiful and immaculate.

She is well-designed, and though we were told she was full, never felt crowded anywhere.

Happy to report no virus outbreaks.

 

3. Breakfast buffet much better than MDR breakfast. Scads of choices and you can actually get a poached egg that is not hard on the inside. I like having things made to order right there on the spot.

I can honestly say, having cruised many lines, HAL has the best breakfast menu of any other ship we have sailed.

 

4. What some people find incredible entertainment was not our idea of a thrill, but that is ok, we didn't go for the shows.

My husband and I got a kick out of the fact that one of our dogs does much better tricks than James Cielen's. Should we rent her out? :D:D

 

They need to not schedule so many fun activities at 9PM, when people who eat later, like us, cannot attend them.

 

5. Dealing with the front desk is like an Abbot and Costello "who's on first?" routine. Do they deliberately misunderstand every single thing you say?

 

6. Everyone else on that ship knocks themselves out to be accommodating.

Hardest working, friendliest staff in the cruise industry, from what we observed.

 

7. People who enjoy pool games and trivia can have all they want in the Sea View aft pool area. There is no need for anyone to miss Carnival atmosphere, if they like it. It can all be found there....

And I think that is a good thing... something for everyone.

 

8. The cooking classes and demonstrations are a lot of fun. Meeting the chefs for the various restaurants and party planner Jill... cool, indeed. Unfortunately for those sailing after us, Tino, the executive chef from the Tamarind left the ship to go home for an extended time at the end of our cruise....

We had our cooking lessons with him, and he was such a hoot!! (and a spectacular chef and teacher)

 

9. The screening room shows films that have just been released on DVD, so we saw a few that we hadn't seen yet, and that was a nice diversion.

Be aware they keep the room cold as a meat locker, and bring a hearing aid. (Hubby and I are late 50s and early 60s and never had hearing difficulties before!) They keep the sound fairly low, for some inexplicable reason.

 

10. Food is subjective, so this is our opinion only (DH and I were in complete agreement, however)

 

Main Dining room, food was excellent on formal nights (Second formal night was outstanding!) and pretty good on the regular nights.

Usually we expect to get dried-out small caribbean lobster on ships.

We got incredibly tender and flavorsome medium sized lobsters (we ordered more than one at the outset, assuming they would be small...they weren't)

The escargot appetizer was to die for. Do not miss second formal night dinner!

 

Desserts tend to be uninspired, however, if you happen to be a dessert person.

 

Tamarind... Excellent service, beautiful ambience, superb taste. Not to be missed.

Again, desserts, not so much, but we didn't care, since we were too full to eat much of it.

 

Pinnacle (on the last night, to avoid dancing waiters)....

 

The shrimp cocktail was fine, as was the onion soup.

The scalloped potatoes were excellent.

 

Everyone kept raving about the rib-eye, so we ordered that. Huh? There was no char on either my husband's nor mine, so the exterior was kind of gray. Considering they say they grill them at very high heats, i have no idea how you can accomplish no char, but they managed.

I much prefer my husband's efforts on the barbecue at home.

 

Our waiter was obsequious enough to give the appearance that he was a terrific server. However, he walked by our table 5 or 6 times never noticing we had run out of ice tea or that I stopped eating my steak after 5 bites.

However, the maitre d' was outstanding and zoomed in on my apparent disinterest in my dinner, and came over.

He subsequently offered me lobster instead, which I accepted, thanking him for noticing.

Interestingly enough, the lobster was the exact same size, amount, and taste as what we had the night before.... still, excellent, but didn't need to go to a specialty restaurant for it.

 

The raspberry cheesecake was great.

Not that we needed them, but our server forgot to bring us the little bonbons with our coffee.... indicative of the service in general there.

 

We will be back on the Eurodam, but the Pinnacle will not see us again. Not horrendous, certainly, but not the 5 star dining experience we anticipated.

 

We thought we would try the Canaletto, but everyone who had eaten there earlier (yes, we talk to everyone we meet, especially our fellow foodies at the cooking demonstrations :D) told us the food was not very good, so we got room service that night.... and it was wonderful.

 

11. We had a superior suite, which is merely just a category that gets you a bigger verandah, a double vanity with tons of storage space in the bathroom, and a bigger cabin overall than the regular verandah cabins.

It was lovely, with PLENTY of storage and closet space, and our cabin stewards kept it immaculate.

The lighting sucks, to be honest. It is plentiful, but not in the areas you need it most, like right in front of the closets and at the dressing area.

 

12. Smoking... Occasionally we would get a whiff of a person who was on the elevator and smelled like smoke. Once they left, they took the smell with em. Otherwise, not a problem.

 

13. Lido cabana, no matter what people who have obviously never rented one say, is the shiznitz. I need to say a lot about this aspect, since it MADE the cruise for us.

 

I knew things were going to be VERY cool on the first day (day of embarkation) when we walked over with our card from the cabin, and I immediately heard, "I'm Romeo and I will be one of your butlers for the week. This is Jayson, and he will be your other"

After that, we stopped thinking for the rest of the cruise, cos if we thought it, they brought it.... :D

 

The first day they showed us the cabana menu, and when I said, "I dunno, I think I will check out the buffet, I was immediately told to please sit down and they would bring me the entire menu for the Lido, and to pick whatever we wanted and they would bring it.

We never asked them to do that again... at 11:30 every day, a Lido lunch menu was brought and they asked us what we wanted, and when we wanted them to serve it.

 

We brought our own Diet Pepsi on board. If one of them saw me coming with a can in hand, by the time I got to the cabana (took me about 1 minute) he was placing a full glass of ice with a straw in it, on the table.

 

It says they are available from 9 to 5, but we invariably got there early, since we finish breakfast fairly early.

Romeo was always out there, doing other work in the pool area and we told him to ignore us till 9, we would just sit down and relax. He told us he was on duty for us whenever we got there, so not to worry, and would insist on getting us coffee and fresh OJ even at 8:30. There was no arguing with him.... :D

 

We had asked Romeo if they preferred to be tipped a little each day or if they would prefer one large tip at the end (which is how we prefer to handle things, but we didn't want them to think we were going to just enjoy all this special service without acknowledging it financially)

He told us they prefer to get it at the end, so that is what we did.

 

No ventilation? The breeze blew through constantly except for about an hour in San Juan, when it started to cloud up and they covered the dome so the lido area would not get rained on.... and even then, it would not classify as stuffy.... the a/c from the doors runs under the open area in the back and floor ...and the doors open frequently enough so that there is always moving air.

 

Everyone could move quite easily in the walkway, and we never heard anyone griping about the "use of real estate" .

 

Interestingly, the Retreat cabanas were only half sold, but all the Lido cabanas were sold out in advance... which surprised me, since if I listened to the people who post here, I assumed nobody ever used the Lido ones, but everyone wanted the retreat. The exact opposite turned out to be true (on our cruise, which may be an unusual one...dunno)...

When different people we met and got friendly with said they wanted a cabana but they were sold out, we told them we knew the retreat was available.... none of them wanted to be "up there".

Ya might want to keep that in mind when you book in advance. The Lidos are not so easy to get anymore, apparently.

The word on the service must have leaked out :D

---------------------

 

We hadn't been on HAL since 1996, having cruised several other lines over the last 14 years. Happy to report that the things I wasn't crazy about many years ago (for example, the food used to be very bland, IMHO) have been improved upon and the things I loved have stayed the same (the excellent service and beautiful appointments).

 

The only "incident" we had was, going back at night and finding we could not get into our cabin.

After some miscommunication with the front desk, and several trips back and forth to get our keys reprogrammed and us telling them something was wrong with the lock because the steward's master key didn't work either, they finally figured out the locking mechanism battery broke.

So they sent us up to the bar, told us to order as much as we wanted to drink, on the house, until the locksmith could get things fixed.

My husband was a happy little clam for an hour, drinking his favorite cognac.

All I wanted to do was get out of my toe-crippling shoes and go to sleep, but they tried to make the situation better for us, so what more can you ask?

 

Bottom line? Wonderful trip.

We got exactly what we wanted out of this cruise. A pampering, relaxing getaway for a week. We don't go for the ports or the beach, and what we wanted to buy could be found readily right at Crown Bay.

 

Next short R&R will be Eurodam again or Nieuw Amsterdam. We don't want to go without the Tamarind or a cabana.....

[78232]

I was especially interested in hearing about the lido cabana. Which one did you have?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts,

Marcia

[portofrome]

Thanks for sharing your observations.

[terigo]

I was especially interested in hearing about the lido cabana. Which one did you have?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts,

Marcia

 

We had requested, and got, the Dubrovnik. We wanted that one because it was closest to the midship elevators and the Lido restaurants.

However, if someone were to want to be further away from any foot traffic (which didn't bother us at all, but might bother others) and closer to the fore elevators and the spa (which we don't use, but is convenient for those who do), they should request the Crete cabana.

[parrotfeathers]

I agree with your thoughts on the cabanas. When I saw the retreat cabanas I wondered why anyone would want to be "way up there" in such a remote area. I don't think I sat still for more than an hour during my time on the Eurodam. The people in the Lido cabanas seemed to be having the time of their lives.

[78232]

another cabana question...did you use it during the evening? Maybe during a barbeque or dessert extravaganza?

Marcia

[terigo]

another cabana question...did you use it during the evening? Maybe during a barbeque or dessert extravaganza?

Marcia

 

The dessert extravaganza utilizes the entire Lido pool area. They pull back the drapes on the cabanas and remove all the lounges, so there would be no way to use the cabana....

 

we never went up there at night, we used our cabin verandah, but I gather others used theirs during the barbecue party and just to relax at night if they did not have a verandah.

 

Also, Romeo said they work there till 6, so they were at our service after the 5pm, but we were never there after 4 or 4:30, doing other things.... so didn't make use of that.

 

To Parrotfeathers:

The reason we all looked like we were having the time of our lives is due to something I should have mentioned.... unlike the retreat area, lido cabanas are not bound by the "no guest" rule, so if we met people we liked, they could come and visit with us, and would even be offered many of the services!

I laughingly told Romeo he was cheating on me when he offered champagne to one of our visitors, who happened to be there during champagne and chocolate covered strawberry time.

 

Anyone who likes to socialize would find it a very conducive environment for exactly that.... we do, and did, and yes, had the time of our lives... including with our cabana neighbors, who were a really fun couple of guys!

[schoolinmy3]

:rolleyes:

Next short R&R will be Eurodam again or Nieuw Amsterdam. We don't want to go without the Tamarind or a cabana.....

 

MY thoughts exactly. I wish the Tamarind and cabanas were on the other ships. We were on the Eurodam in May and it looks like our next 3 cruises will not be on either the Eurodam or the NA. We will be on the Noordam, Veedam and then the Maasdam - for the itineraries. But I will miss the Tamarind and my daughter is already disappointed that there will be no cabanas for Bermuda!

diane

[terigo]

 

MY thoughts exactly. I wish the Tamarind and cabanas were on the other ships. We were on the Eurodam in May and it looks like our next 3 cruises will not be on either the Eurodam or the NA. We will be on the Noordam, Veedam and then the Maasdam - for the itineraries. But I will miss the Tamarind and my daughter is already disappointed that there will be no cabanas for Bermuda!

diane

 

We have revamped our thinking to Transatlantic next fall on the Nieuw Amsterdam....

Sounds jaded, but after traveling for so many years, there are really no ports we have not seen that we want to, so we go for ship amenities....

The idea of having 10 out of 17 days at sea, and having the lido cabana for that time puts me into mental nirvana!! :D

[Cruizer Bill]

Thanks for the review! We sail on the Eurodam in May and appreciate the feedback

[Oceanwench]

Wonderful review!

I enjoyed reading it - very well done.

I am glad you enjoyed your cruise!

 

I am not a fan of magicians, but I loved James Cielen's shows. He is so much fun!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Thanks for your great review:) Wish I was there :o

 

I have to admit it has been two years Christmas since we were on the Eurodam and your opinion of the Pinnacle was exactly the same as ours so sounds like nothing has changed. But we loved the Tamarind and the Main Dining Room on that cruise.

One of my favorite crew is a Romeo and he was on the Eurodam when we were there in Dec 2008 I was hoping he may have transferred to Nieuw Amsterdam since he tends to be on the new builds we first met him on the Noordam.

This is the Romeo we know and love.... Is this your Romeo? (picture below)

Now I am trying to figure out where Ronald and his wife are and Angie who are all part of the Beverage Staff.

[babygirl722]

Thanks for your review. We booked 3 cabanas for our group's upcoming February sailing and are very excited!!

[topcop]

Terigo...thank you for your review. I was going to do one, but I think I will just comment on yours and add to it.

 

First of all, we missed meeting the Roll Call members such as you, but evidently we were Cabana neighbors and didn't know it. It sounds like we were at the other end of cabana row, in the cabana second from the end.

 

We had never given the cabanas a thought until we saw them and I spoke with Romeo and Alvin. When they told us they had a couple left, we took one. We enjoy seeing and meeting people and since we both cannot take too much sun, it was ideal. Felt a lot like royalty with the excellent/pampering service, but it was also like being in a store display window. On that first day, as we lounged on the daybed sipping champaign and eating chocolate covered strawberries, people out exploring the ship couldn't help gawking at us. I guess we would too.

 

A few asked about the cabanas, how we got one and the price, but I felt a bit awkward by some of the looks we got.

 

Anyway, we felt it was a bargain and wish other ships had them. My only complaints were the inability to turn down the sound on the speakers. I had to remove both my hearing aides on the day the band (albeit a very good band and vocalist) was playing. Also, St. Thomas & San Juan were very humid and when the ship is not at sea, they tend to hold in the heat. A fan would have been nice.

 

Our attendants Romeo & Jayson were very nice young men who couldn't do enough for us. We certainly gave them a generous tip, because they deserved it.

 

Now onto the review.

 

#1 - If it took us more than five minutes to embark I would be lying. Disembarkation was also a breeze. Found our luggage right away and the Customs Officer barely glanced at our passports. - We did have a problem, not with HAL or SW airlines - But we had paid for Bags to Go service where the luggage is picked up as we exit the terminal and they give us our boarding passes. They were not there and evidently no longer do business in FLL. Evidently they stopped doing so just before our cruise, but they accepted payment on 12/2. Trying to contact them for a refund.

 

#2 - Agree

 

#3 - Agree - We got omelets every day and Ren knew our names right from the first day. I wished they served breakfast all day. On one occasion we had two women use their friend to cut the line. Of course I informed them of their poor manners. Others in the line seemed to appreciate my standing up to them.

 

Unlike the Westerdam, I found the Lido area to be very "tight" with tables and chairs along the wall that separates the line and passageway from the dining area. Perhaps that is make up for the seating lost through the cabanas? It made maneuvering very difficult.

 

Had an attempted hi-jacking of a table and an actual one by a crew member. Put our juice and coffees down at a table while we waited for our omelets. Came back to find a crew member sitting there. We don't mind sharing, but at least have the courtesy to ask "may I join you." I assure you the answer would have been "certainly." On the attempted hijacking I was just approaching with my food and got the "we didn't know" line.

 

The lunch buffet was perfect but I was disappointed in the evening buffet. Just the same things being served in the MDR. I would like the ability to have a lighter fare such as different kinds or sandwiches and perhaps a burger.

 

The pizza was very good.

 

#4 - We liked the magician (his wife was incredible too and any man reading this will agree) and the comedian. The song and dance show stuff was just okay. Michael at the piano bar was fantastic and we spent much time there. He can play and sing any song thrown at him. On one night we had the company of a very drunk man who was bothering anyone he could get close to. I was surprised that they continued to serve him so I complained to the proper person.

 

#5 - Agree, agree - I asked for some guidelines on tipping our cabana attendants and the girl told me she didn't know and would get back to me, but never did. Also, there was confusion over the "by the bag" laundry service. I had a very difficult time understanding her explanation. And I had both hearings aides in.

 

#6 - So true. So many asked out names and remembered them too.

 

#10 - Food in DR was good. I had the Lobster Bisque in the Pinnacle and it certainly wasn't like the New England style we are used to. The Canaletto was very good but I let my guard down when I ordered wine. the steward presented two bottles and my wife chose one. Good thing I had finished my meal before I signed the bar check. I would have choked. My fault, but the wine was good.

 

#11 - We were upgraded from an "N" inside to a very large "J" inside. Amidships and only a few feet from the elevators. This location was really nice when returning from a port. Walk up one flight of stairs and you are home.

 

#12 - No need to add much here, you covered it quite well. Romeo and Jayson seemed disappointed when they couldn't get us anything. They were so friendly and helpful.

 

 

Boy, I wish our lock was broke, free drinks!!!! We are not lushes, but our bar bill tends to be quite high when we cruise. We could have used those free drinks.

 

And speaking of drinks, we found very few people at any of the bars before dinner. We like to have a drink before dinner and usually meet new people. We tried just about every bar, but they were empty. Finally found another couple who were regulars at the Pinnacle Bar.

 

I hope my comments, and especially those reinforcing terigo's, will help anyone considering a cruise on the Eurodam.

 

Can't wait for our February BTB on the Westerdam, but we will miss the cabanas. we have been spoiled.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your wonderful review.

 

Glad you had a wonderful cruise.

 

If you loved the Eurodam - you will love the Nieuw Amsterdam -- but I have to admit I do not like the table arrangement in the Pinnacle on the Nieuw Amsterdam. Table for 2's are side by side -- you can not have any private conversations.

[terigo]

Thanks for your great review:)

 

One of my favorite crew is a Romeo and he was on the Eurodam when we were there in Dec 2008 I was hoping he may have transferred to Nieuw Amsterdam since he tends to be on the new builds we first met him on the Noordam.

 

This is the Romeo we know and love.... Is this your Romeo? (picture below)

 

.

 

No... this is our Romeo, on the right as you look at the picture..... Please look only at the men in this photo, and pay no attention to the chunky woman... :D

 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Teri, your Romeo looks familiar :)

Well I guess there is hope that my Romeo is going to be on the Nieuw Amsterdam.

Romeo, Romeo, where art thou ...... :D

[terigo]

 

Romeo, Romeo, where art thou ...... :D

 

LOL! That is what I was saying this morning as I was making eggs over easy with bacon and home fries for breakfast.....

At noon it dawned on me that nobody was gonna bring me a lunch menu, either :D

[WarmWaters]

"2. Ship is beautiful and immaculate.

She is well-designed, and though we were told she was full, never felt crowded anywhere."

 

We also got back yesterday and we were not impressed with this ship at all. The cruise was mediocre at best.

 

It was very crowded in the Lido buffet. You cannot find a place to sit, and when you are lucky enough to find an empty table, its not cleaned yet, and no cutlery. To find food in the Lido was very frustrating. Long line ups as they serve you. What a joke !! Having been on 3 cruises the last 2 years my expectations are high. It was our 1st cruise on HAL and possibly never again ! Luckily we paid very little for our balcony, if I paid a lot of money for this cruise I would have been even more disappointed.

 

It was so bad we went to the front desk on day 2 to complain, something that has not happend ever on our previous cruises. I would rate Carnival higher than HAL after this cruise.

 

We quickly got the impression that there is not enough staff on the ship, very evident in the Lido and also sometimes in the main dining room. We had our breakfast served one morning in the main dining room and after I ate it all, toast or bread was offered for the 1st time !

 

Many a night in the main dining room we had to ask for more bread ( had a table of 8 ) and had to ask for water many times and one girl at our table one evening actually had to get up and chase down a wine guy to order another bottle of wine. For us service like what we have seen on this cruise is unheard of. Also very few of the staff shows personality, I am thinking they are exhausted by being over worked. I feel sorry for them and blame management.

 

Yesterday morning in the Lido just before disembarcation our last meal on the ship, after walking forever to find a place to sit down to have our meal, there were once again like so many times before in the Lido, all the used plates of the previous diners still on the table, we had our entire meal there and no one came around to take away the previous diners used plates ! Totally unexceptable !! And no cutlery on the table. To find food and a table and cutlery was hard.

 

Also our room attendant did not come to meet us, obviously too busy with all the other rooms the poor guy has. We finally met him on day 3.

 

The crew did not seem happy I am thinking they are exchausted and been overloaded with too much work.

 

On the very 1st day our 1st meal in the Lido, we encountered a very rude employee. It was chaotic at the dessert station, lots of people trying to get something to eat and the poor guy, trying to serve everyone got caught up in the bad planning of management on how they regulate you getting desserts. A woman was politely asking him : "Where does the line up start" ? People will milling around, no structure with who is served 1st. He lost it and told the woman : "Madam I only have 2 hands and I am doing what I can to try and help as many people as I can." He raised his voice ( possibly out of pure frustration himself in the way guests are served on that ship ) Me and another woman seeing this happen, told him, he is extremely rude. I have never seen a rude employee on any of our previous cruises. Saw it on this one due to the chaos in the Lido.

 

When it was finally my turn to be served by this employee, I asked him what some of the desserts are as none of them has a name to identify them. His answer was : " I dont know Ma'am " Guest failure no2 right there and we were not even an hour on the ship !!

 

This was a cheap cruise for us. I guess you get what you pay for.

 

Also the entertainment was not good. Not a lot happening in the evening compaired to other cruise lines.

 

My main complaints against this ship is lack of service and lack of quality entertainment. I am not impressed, we were glad to be off the ship yesterday morning frankly.

[VermeulT]

I was on her a few weeks ago and can echo many of your statements...

 

3. Breakfast buffet much better than MDR breakfast. Scads of choices and you can actually get a poached egg that is not hard on the inside. I like having things made to order right there on the spot.

I can honestly say, having cruised many lines, HAL has the best breakfast menu of any other ship we have sailed.

We tried doing "formal" breakfast and lunches in the dining room and found the quality of the Lido was much better.

....

 

5. Dealing with the front desk is like an Abbot and Costello "who's on first?" routine. Do they deliberately misunderstand every single thing you say?

My MIL would love your comment. There was one particular man that she just couldn't deal with. Considering they are guest relations - you'd think the folks there would have a better grasp of the English language.

....

 

7. People who enjoy pool games and trivia can have all they want in the Sea View aft pool area. There is no need for anyone to miss Carnival atmosphere, if they like it. It can all be found there....

And I think that is a good thing... something for everyone.

Something for everyone - I guess. But if I want a Carnival-like atmosphere I'll take a Carnival cruise. HAL has never been known for pool games. I left the aft (Adult) pool due to the loud noise once... the Lido (family) pool was just as loud.

 

Tamarind... Excellent service, beautiful ambience, superb taste. Not to be missed.

Absolutely the highlight of our week.

 

11. .... The lighting sucks, to be honest. It is plentiful, but not in the areas you need it most, like right in front of the closets and at the dressing area.

in the regular verandah cabins too. we were glad we had a flashlight to search through the middle closet.

I heard from someone else that Romeo was a dream. Their comments and yours make me wish I had a cabana - and hope to in the future.

Thanks for your review.

[terigo]

We also got back yesterday and we were not impressed with this ship at all. The cruise was mediocre at best.

 

 

When someone has such a polar opposite experience to so many other people, it makes me wonder what happened.

 

I'm sure you're not making this stuff up, but where you saw unhappy staff, I saw smiling happy accommodating staff.

Where you had terrible dining service, we had a waiter who never forgot our iced tea, the type of rolls we liked or my request to have bleu cheese with any salad.

 

You might have gotten one of the few bad waiters in the bunch. That would be sad.

 

You also apparently got one of the few bad cabin stewards.

 

We never found the Lido buffet to be too crowded, but I confess we only had breakfast there, and that was wonderful... never saw a table sit for longer than a couple of seconds without being cleaned off.

We must have just missed the times you were there.

 

Apparently we never ran into the few rude people at the Lido, too.

 

And they must have ripped off the dessert name tags when you were there, because every one of them had a display plate and title on them when we were there.

 

Guess we just lucked out not having run into all the negative people you had to deal with.

The only place we got what what we consider substandard service was the PG, and even THAT wasn't as bad as what you describe.

 

I will agree that the entertainment is not stellar, but we knew that would be the case going into this. We researched.

 

Sorry you didn't get to enjoy the same cruise as the rest of us...

[kent4489]

I think that was a very thourough review evn if it was meant to be only comments. Glad you enjoyed your cruise. We were on the Eurodam in Feb. I agree with your feeling of the front desk. OY, makes me so happy we took a Deluxe Suite last month (Ryndam) and another for this month (Westerdam) so we have a concierge that handles everything perfectly. The Eurodam front desk was difficult to deal with. How nice to comp the drinks while they repaired your door lock. I do have to disagree with you about the cabanas... we found it a PITA to pass in front of those Lido cabanas... but glad you enjoyed them. The highlight of OUR Eurodam cruise was our "way up there" cabana in the Retreat for the week! Wow, fabulous! And they were full for the week we had ours. But, different strokes... We had one of the family cabanas and it prefect... for us!

Can't wait for our next sailing on Dec. 31!

[amonkeybutt]

I'm surprised to hear about the lack of speed when it comes to turning over the Lido tables. I was on the same cruise, and the one time I witnessed an unpleasant exchange between a guest and a crew member was regarding the speed at which a table was cleaned. Apparently this lady had gotten up to get something from the buffet and the crew came by and cleaned her entire table including her shrimp cocktail and half full diet coke, she was furious! I have never seen someone get so upset about half a can of diet coke. Anyhow, they were so speedy about table service/cleaning, I usually had to leave something at the table to make it clear that I was still eating/and will return soon.

[mechcc]

We had a retreat cabana and loved it big time. We aren't really pool people and while we enjoy people watching, we also like to just sit around, read, and play cards. We loved our retreat cabanas for that. If we were to cruise with family and small children we would book a lido cabana for sure. If it is just the 2 of us - we would do a retreat cabana again. Ultimate spoiling.

[Tenderpaw]

I was going to post a review but saw this thread and decided to put it here. We were on this cruise also and found it to be very good. This is my 3rd HAL cruise and 22nd cruise over all with the others being on Celebrity, NCL, RCCL, Carnival, and some others no longer in business.

 

Embarkation: Smooth and quick. Waiting to board was minimal and the crew even had the cabins on the ship ready around 1:30.

 

Lido Food: I thought the variety and quality was good overall. Breakfast had a great variety with things changing daily. Lunch was good too, altho sometime there were things i didn't like. No big deal, just get something else.

 

MDR Food: Very good with the exception of the fish. I don't know why, but I have not have very good luck with fish on HAL. The beef was excellent as was the lobster and shrimp.

 

Cabin: We had a terrific cabin (superior suite) with one problem: my wife woke up 2 days in a row with bites. I didn't have a problem. I checked the bed for bed bugs the first day and found no evidence, so we told the steward. He said he would change the linens again, shampoo the carpet, and check everything which he did that day. That solved the problem. Our room was a handicap room with a wrap around forward balcony. BTW, before the handicap cabin police attack because an able bodied person took a handicap room, we were upgraded to this room a few weeks before the cruise.

 

Service: Excellent. Our room steward was top notch. He spoke to us every day and went out of his way to ensure we were happy. In the MDR, the waiter and assist waiter were excellent. I do think they are both overworked and have more tables today than in years past.

 

The ship: this is a beautiful ship and not crowded. I disagree with those who said the lido was crowded. I never perceived this as a problem and could always find a table. We especially liked the Ocean Bar and the Crows nest.

 

Entertainment: The comedian was hilarious and we enjoyed the magician too. I thought the Celtic musicians were talented but fell asleep during the performance. My wife enjoyed the salute to broadway show the singers did also. I thought the cruise director did a good job too.

 

Pinnacle: We too ate in the Pinnacle the last night to avoid the singing and dancing in the MDR. I had a t-bone which was excellent. I agree with the post about the lobster bisque: i didn't care for it and neither did my family. Unfortunately, my son had the lobster macaroni and cheese and the bisque was a basis for that which meant he didn't like it either. My wife had the salmon and liked it but when i tasted it, i thought it was bland.

 

Overall, we had a great cruise. It's amazing how people on the same cruise can have such different experiences.