Eurodam 2/19-2/16, what a wonderful time!

[govgurl]

Just back from the Eurodam 2/19-2/16 and as others have said, it's a wonderful ship and we had a wonderful cruise. Great weather, lots of fun.

 

Embarkation: Easy, though I have to say that the Fort Lauderdale cruise terminal is not so great. It's definitely a cargo terminal that's been minimally converted for cruise lines, but whatever, the point is not to hang out in the terminal, right?

 

Ship: I thought it was in good condition, with a friendly and welcoming crew. Everyone was so great to us, the food was great (we ate at both the Pinnacle and the Tamarind), the spa was great (got two massages. One regular massage, and one 20 min massage as part of a 3 treatments/20 min each for $109 package), and everyone went above and beyond to make you feel comfortable. I was a little worried because of some negative reviews prior to departure, but I found the ship to be in really good repair. A little more old fashioned than the other HAL ship I've been on, fewer open concept spaces, more twinkle lights in the ceiling, but still in good shape. Crew was really friendly, with the exception of the aft pool bar staff on the first day (took forever to get a drink, but they were super busy) and the spa reception staff (the actual people that did the treatment were excellent and friendly, reception staff was a little brusque).

 

Didn't really attend any of the ship activities, though spent some time in the casino. I had wanted to go to the Piano Bar, the one on my Alaska cruise was great, but I really did not like the Piano Bar guy on Eurodam. He used a lot of synthesizer with his songs and seemed more partial to Vegas style songs. The Piano Bar was always packed and people seemed to enjoy it, but it was not my style.

 

Sea Days: Two on this cruise, really enjoyed just getting to relax and read (I brought many books on my Kindle). I mostly hung out on the aft deck, since there were a lot of kids on this cruise and they were centered around the Lido pool. I can see why, especially if you have young kids, a Lido cabana would be a fun idea. There aren't as many chairs around the Lido pool, and it would give you a space to watch the kids swimming while you chill. Not having any children though, I enjoyed the adults only pool a lot. Loved the jazz music they played there during the day, plenty of lounge chairs, and drink servers circulating, but not being annoying.

 

Grand Turk: Rented a golf cart for $80 at the gate to the cruise terminal. Puttered around the island with my sister and her boyfriend and drove all the way to Conch World. Probably the world's most ridiculous museum, but it sits on a really beautiful little hill looking over the far side of the island. A nice drive. We ate lunch at a beach shack (not Jack's Shack, but not far away) that looked over white sands and the ocean. It was quiet and set away from the road, really lovely.

 

Puerto Rico: Got suckered into one of those van tours by the tour guides that greet you when you get off, but it was actually fun. He took us to see both of the main forts, the capitol building, and dropped us in the middle of Old San Juan. My mother and I then headed out for the Bio-luminscent kayaking excursion. WOW, it was fun. The water has 800,000 dino-flagellates (the things that make it glow) per gallon, and out in the Lagoon it's very quiet with tons of stars overhead. I recommend going with an experienced kayaker though. To get to the lagoon you have to paddle through a mangrove tunnel in the dark and there are lots of twists and turns. The kayaks don't have rudders, so you should go with someone who knows how to steer a kayak pretty well if you don't want to spend the whole time running into trees.

 

St. Thomas: Our big thing on St. Thomas was to go on a half day sailing and snorkeling trip with Captain Max. This was the highlight of our cruise by far. If you are going to be in St. Thomas, I strongly recommend that you consider booking with her for a half, full, or 3/4 day. She took just our family (group of five) from Red Hook (about 25 min by taxi from Crown Bay where the ship docks) out on a lovely sail to Greater St. James. She usually goes to St. John, but because of recent storms, she knew the snorkeling would not be good there. We sailed to lovely little Christmas Cove and Max and her ship's mate Julie provided us with all the snorkel gear we needed. They also have water toys for people that don't want to snorkel, but like to swim. And for my Dad, who doesn't swim at all, they rigged up a sun awning so he could relax and drink and chat (open bar is included with the reservation. Try the rum punch!). When we got back, we were served a huge plate of fruit, cheese, bread and red pepper hummus to much on the return sail to St. Thomas. SO FUN! Max and Julie were gracious hostesses, knowledgable about the islands, and great conversationalists. It was fun to do something with just our family too, rather than with a huge cruise ship excursion. I also thought this was a very good value: $90 pp for a half day sail (ours was about 3 hours), including all drinks, the big snack (practically a meal in itself, and on full day trips she serves full lunch), the snorkel gear, etc. You can google her or find her on trip advisor.

 

Half Moon Cay was just what Half Moon Cay is supposed to be. White Sand beaches, crystal blue water, quiet. We grabbed some chairs near the tree line (for shade) past the red cabana. This seemed to be far enough down the beach to be out of the crowds, and we didn't even hear a bit of noise from that pirate ship bar. The barbecue luncheon was a bit of a cattle call (two ships in that day, the Eurodam and the Noordam), but the lines moved quickly and everything was delicious.

 

It's so hard to be back to reality, but at least I have a very good tan to show for it all. Happy to answer questions if anyone wants to ask.

[elycelynne]

Didn't really attend any of the ship activities, though spent some time in the casino. I had wanted to go to the Piano Bar, the one on my Alaska cruise was great, but I really did not like the Piano Bar guy on Eurodam. He used a lot of synthesizer with his songs and seemed more partial to Vegas style songs. The Piano Bar was always packed and people seemed to enjoy it, but it was not my style.

 

Thanks for the review. I'm in total agreement about the piano bar (see my review for my specific comments), although I did hang out there anyway because I'm not really a gambler and I needed to do something when I wasn't at the Vista Lounge show or singing karaoke. But I do prefer someone who plays piano the old-fashioned way and who actually knows some showtunes (although he was very good, but just too "Vegas" for my taste). I was also a bit disappointed that there wasn't a music trivia contest (his decision) at the beginning of the night.

[govgurl]

Yeah, I was a little disappointed. The piano is such a great instrument, it doesn't require a lot of augmentation. And when you do add the synthesizer, it just sounds old fashioned to me. Even though I'm in my 20s, I love Billy Joel and Simon & Garfunkel, Neil Simon and piano jazz tunes from all eras, and I just would have liked to see a little more of that. This guy was definitely not into the themes in general either. I went up on Billy Joel theme night thinking "Finally! A night I can have fun with" and got Chicago and Lionel Richie instead (nothing against them, just, I don't know, not really piano tunes?).

 

Apparently he does usually play in Vegas (he's a close friend of Frankie V. he said), and he had a Vegas gig after the cruise ship gig, so he was probably just not that into the cruise thing at this point.

[Krazy Kruizers]

thank you for your review

 

glad you had a wonderful cruise

[taxmantoo]

Yeah, I was a little disappointed. The piano is such a great instrument, it doesn't require a lot of augmentation. And when you do add the synthesizer, it just sounds old fashioned to me. Even though I'm in my 20s, I love Billy Joel and Simon & Garfunkel, Neil Simon and piano jazz tunes from all eras, and I just would have liked to see a little more of that. This guy was definitely not into the themes in general either. I went up on Billy Joel theme night thinking "Finally! A night I can have fun with" and got Chicago and Lionel Richie instead (nothing against them, just, I don't know, not really piano tunes?).

 

Apparently he does usually play in Vegas (he's a close friend of Frankie V. he said), and he had a Vegas gig after the cruise ship gig, so he was probably just not that into the cruise thing at this point.

 

Do you remember the name of the piano player?

[elycelynne]

Do you remember the name of the piano player?

 

Onboard the ship he just goes by "Piano Man Michael", but he happened to have some copies of a CD he had previously made that he was either selling or giving away, and it said "Michael Sara" (don't know if that's his real name or a stage name).

[DFD1]

Good review. Sounds like you had a great time. Thanks for sharing.

[bobby'sgirl]

Dh and I were also on this cruise. We enjoyed it very much. We enjoyed the speciality restaurants on several evenings. Enjoyed our walking tours in San Juan and Half Cay. Toured St. John's via ferry from St. Thomas. Food was wonderful, staff friendly. Many children but they were well behaved. Considering some negative concerns re Eurodam....I would disagree. We would travel about her again.:)

[kazu]

Dh and I were also on this cruise. We enjoyed it very much. We enjoyed the speciality restaurants on several evenings. Enjoyed our walking tours in San Juan and Half Cay. Toured St. John's via ferry from St. Thomas. Food was wonderful' date=' staff friendly. Many children but they were well behaved. Considering some negative concerns re Eurodam....I would disagree. We would travel about her again.:)[/quote']

 

 

Thank you for sharing. my DS and her family are going on her next week (after all my bugging to try HAL) so I am hopeful they will have a truly wonderful time as well.

[babygirl722]

So true about the spa reception desk...what was the deal with the asst spa manager? YIKES!

[govgurl]

Yes! The blonde spa manager? I found it kind of irritating that the spa reception people were so brusque, because the spa is one of those areas where you need to ask a lot of questions. There are specials that aren't in the official spa brochure, there's questions about how the treatments work, and then there's just the time needed to schedule. I felt like people were rushing you to decide and being a little impatient answering questions. This was mostly on the first day though, when I think they do get a little badgered. When I actually showed up for my treatments, they were a bit nicer.

[babygirl722]

Yes, the blonde! She held tight to that schedule..always told me there was NO availability... Funny, the 2 times I asked someone else, I got the appointments I wanted. Very weird. The only thing I can figure is that she was looking for a tip. Spa technicians, on the other hand, were top notch. Perhaps the best I've experienced at sea....

[petrakae]

Thank you for your review, it is most appreciated as we are going on Eurodam later this year.

[DizzyDallasDi]

Govgirl - thank you for your review but I can't get past the dates of your cruise "2/19 - 2/16" ??? Sooooo....you're a time traveler? :D

[govgurl]

Govgirl - thank you for your review but I can't get past the dates of your cruise "2/19 - 2/16" ??? Sooooo....you're a time traveler? :D

 

:D yes, it is my special power! How did you know?

 

I didn't realize my mistake till the thread was made. :rolleyes: I guess I must still be way too relaxed from my trip!

[olemissmarathoner]

What day was the 3 for $109?

[govgurl]

It was on Day 5 and Day 6 I believe (Day 5 was a sea day, and Day 6 we were in Half Moon Cay). They may have also offered it on other days, it was my mom who found out about it and she didn't do so until Day 5.

 

Like I said, you have a choice of 3 different treatments, each for 20 min (which seems short, but when I was actually getting the treatemnt it seemed like plenty of time). They're all done by the same masseuse in the same room, so it's basically like getting one long treatment on different parts of your body. I did the scalp massage, mini-facial, and hot-stone back massage. They also offer a foot massage, a neck and shoulders massage, and possibly a few others, those are the ones that I remember. It's a really good deal, when you consider it's an hour of massage for close to $100 (plus tip) and the regular massages are $119 for 50 min.