Eurodam 3/19 Review

[msfish]

Just back from Eurodam, our 1st HAL cruise! We went for peaceful alone time! We are late 40's and 50.

 

Cabin, We had an SA suite which was huge and beautiful, the balcony was amazing and we felt very comfortable, the bathroom was HUGE !! Loved having the Neptune Lounge for snacks and the coffee was the best on the ship, I loved the cappuccino, however the last 2 days the machine broke

 

Food, we ate at Pinnacle twice, the service and the food was terrific, Ben, the manager and Ara our server made these 2 meals memorable, a special thanks to Ben as we actually asked him on HMC to see if there was room for the last night's dinner. He suggested the New York strip and it was PERFECT!

Tamarind was also very good and the service again was outstanding. Could not get a lunch reservation, maybe next time!

We ate at the MDR only twice, not too impressed, the service for open seating was slow and a little rushed. We went for the 2nd formal night and we did notice that the linen chair covers were shabby to say the least and not steamed/pressed at all, they should not have bothered it lowered the standard for the beautiful room.

Lido was good, liked the sushi and DH went for his late nightly snacks!!

Did notice that the dress code was much less formal than I expected, which I was happy about :)

 

The Retreat Cabana's .....all I can say is wow!!! Romeo and Jayson were great, they decorated our cabana with balloons for my birthday and the champagne was free flowing all day, very relaxed and peaceful, we had a windy trip but "our boys" did a great job keeping up the standards :D:D We would not cruise will HAL again without the Retreat, we hated the aft pool, it was not as clean as it should have been , wrappers floating in the pool area and general mess, also too many smokers :( Lido pool was nice but crowded, we loved the Retreat area way too much to stay away too long!!

 

Spa, we did the Thermal Suite package, pool was great, the loungers we had trouble getting a chair as the 20 min limit was not in effect for most people, we got tired of waiting, for the time we spent there not worth the money for that reason only. We did a couples massage, good but expensive and did not need the sales pitch!

 

The ports, we did the Dune buggy in Grand Turk, a lot of fun, DH went diving in St. Thomas and enjoyed his day.

HMC, we had Terracotta Cabana # 13, with the butler service, it was the best port day and would have stayed longer if we could. Ara our butler was wonderful and we enjoyed her company, we also spent a lot of the day with Ben from PG, they are an assert to HAL. :D

 

The only downside to our trip was the flood in our cabin, by the bed and in the dressing area, on the last 2 days, we had water that kept on coming and machines to dry and suck and it did not really work. HAL was very good about keeping us updated on what was happening, gave a shipboard credit, letter and some wine. I was not thrilled to come back from dinner to find our door wide open, with not a HAL employee in sight, this complaint was met with a "higher up" and then the letter/wine/credit!

IMO this cabin should not have been used for the upcoming sailing, as we were leaving the crew were already making it ready for the next cruise, I mentioned more than once that the floor was still VERY WET!!!

 

As a whole we had a great time and would look at HAL again, with the Retreat!! Would not take our kids as I think other lines do it better for them.

 

Still in vacation mode, will be happy to answer any questions as I am sure I forgot a lot of details :)

[operafan]

Lynda,

 

So sorry about the flood!! That must have been miserable..... Loved the cruise. More later when my "Welcome back to cold, damp DFW" headache goes away........ Vicki

[kazu]

Thank you so much for sharing with us. Your review makes me happy I stuck with fixed dining for my future cruises.

 

Sorry to hear about your flood in your suite. That is really sad. It happened to us once a long time ago and I know how much fun it is not:eek:

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the comments, glad you had a great time.

 

Kirk

[Krazy Kruizers]

welcome home

 

glad you had a relaxing cruise

 

were you ever told where the water came from?

[IRL_Joanie]

Welcome home to dry land, though I know that like the rest of us, you hate being home and having to do for yourself:)

 

Thank you for this great review of the ship and it's compliments.

 

I'm with KK and would like to know what the heck caused the flooding???

 

Joanie

[SSBN602]

what was your cabin number we have an sa suite on the eurodam next month

[Cruizer Bill]

Lynda,

Thank you for a fine review!!

Bill

[portofrome]

Thank you for the review.

[msfish]

welcome home

 

glad you had a relaxing cruise

 

were you ever told where the water came from?

 

We were told that the rough seas may have caused the leak???? We were on deck 7, not sure how that happened!! She will be in dry dock after this next sailing.

[msfish]

what was your cabin number we have an sa suite on the eurodam next month

 

7073, flooding was very bad by the side of the window next to the bed., NOT on the balcony which was odd, someone told us may be the pipes in between the cabin walls. The suite next to us had a leak in the bathroom only.

[msfish]

Welcome home to dry land, though I know that like the rest of us, you hate being home and having to do for yourself:)

 

Thank you for this great review of the ship and it's compliments.

 

I'm with KK and would like to know what the heck caused the flooding???

 

Joanie

 

 

What is kk? Many reasons given, rough sea, high wind, pipes between cabin walls. Don't know for sure :confused:

[SSBN602]

thanks for the info Im glad you had good time despite the inconvenience.

[IRL_Joanie]

What is kk? Many reasons given, rough sea, high wind, pipes between cabin walls. Don't know for sure :confused:

KK = Krazy Kruisers:) And you answered the question for her:) Sorry for the confusion:)

 

Joanie

[Queen of Oakville]

Mind if I add to your review??

 

no? okay then ....

 

This was our first cruise wtih HAL, and possibly our last. We had a GREAT cruise, I just don't think HAL is the right line for us.

 

I found our inside cabin (6065) to be wonderfully spacious. For a ship that is only 2.5 years old, I found the bathroom to be really run down (cracks in the shower base, stained sink etc). The cabin stewards were just okay. When we had access to our room, there was a few mounds of sand on the carpet. These didn't disappear for a few days. DH stuck the bar of soap in one of the bathroom drinking glasses. I later pulled it out. The glass was merely rinsed and put back (there were still chunks of soap stuck to it). ewwww ~ I assumed we got freshly machine-washed glasses every day. I hope we had new glasses for our sailing, and not a quick rinse after the previous passengers left. There was also a silver earring back on the counter that was there when we got there and never left. In short, the cleaning practices were not up to par, but we didn't complain. Other than that, the room stewards were friendly and courteous. Any requests, were promptly attended to.

 

Dining - we only used the MDR and the Lido. Our dining steward (Yunis) was AMAZING. My kids loved him and especially the origami animals he folded for them each day. He was the best dining steward we've ever had. I wasn't impressed with the lido, but I haven't been on anyship other than Carnival dream. In fact all the dining stewards were amazing (except for one grump we found on the last day). It only took Yunis one night to learn our dining preferences (ex. that we liked our beef cooked to medium rare, or that my daughter liked their food without sauce (or the little ketchup pots that came with fries). After we told him how much we loved fresh berries, every night when we got to our table, was a silver goblet filled with mixed berries.

 

Club HAL - I know many of you here don't have need for club HAL - but this is seriously the best kid's club at sea, albeit we have not yet sailed on Disney. The head counsellor Cassandra was amazing and clearly loves kids and her job. Let it be known that the Royal Family of Oakville won the Family Scavenger Hunt (okay, we were the only family that participated :p)

 

Service- IMPECCABLE! On Grandeur of the Seas in the MDR, DH asked if he could get a sandwich without cheese, and he was asked to scrape it off. On Carnival Dream, when my daughter asked for apple slices for dessert, we were told it was not on the menu. On Eurodam, there was not a single service request that was denied. We were VERY IMPRESSED with this.

 

Smoking ... we didn't have a problem in the rooms (i.e. smell of smoke) ... the only place it really bothered me was in the Casino. There was not a single non-smoking table to be found. I would have left a lot more money behind in the casino, if I didn't have to leave a table every time someone sat down beside me with cigarettes in hand. So perhaps thanks to HAL smoking policy, I left the ship with some money in my pockets.:p

 

I don't know if it was the rough waters, high winds, or the captain sailing 20 nauts, but that boat was moving. Eurodam is the second smallest ship I've sailed and for the first time in 7 cruises, I was sea sick. Towards the end of the week, he slowed down to 12 nauts, and it was a much smoother ride. We spent most of the week in a bonnine stupor.

 

We are in our early 40s, and found the ship a little too tame for us but we also were not particularly social as we were travelling with our kids and were not at our best because of the sea sickness. We also found a lot of passengers were not particularly tolerant of children. We were actually refused seating at one table during the cupcake tea (the people sitting there did not want us!). Other than that, I found most passengers either looked lovingly at my children and tried to engage them in conversation or were looking at them with disgust as if kids did not belong on a cruise ship. When cruising with our kids, we might seek out a more family friendly ship the next time. However, the main reason we probably won't sail with HAL again is that we found the ship too small (with respect to feeling the movement). I know HAL is not headed in the direction of larger ships, which is too bad for us, because the service levels are excellent and HAL should be very proud of their crew. Even the guys cleaning or servicing the ships were well spoken and helpful; unlike on other lines where the behind-the-scenes crew don't want to engage with passengers.

 

Now, who can stop the room from spinnig around me? Sea legs are kicking in full force, even my monitor is swaying from side to side!

[LH25]

Now, who can stop the room from spinnig around me? Sea legs are kicking in full force, even my monitor is swaying from side to side!

 

We were on the same cruise, and yes my office is swaying gently. Not a bad feeling until I remember I am on solid ground now.

[marti2282]

We have booked the Eurodam in December as a wedding/honeymoon gift for DS and the soon to be DIL. Called ships services last week and bought a Retreat Cabana for them. Looked at their reservation online, and it doesn't show up anywhere. Did you book ahead? Get any confirmation prior to sailing?

 

thanks!

[msfish]

We have booked the Eurodam in December as a wedding/honeymoon gift for DS and the soon to be DIL. Called ships services last week and bought a Retreat Cabana for them. Looked at their reservation online, and it doesn't show up anywhere. Did you book ahead? Get any confirmation prior to sailing?

 

thanks!

 

Anything booked by phone will not show up online, I called and asked ships services to email me that I booked the retreat. ENJOY!!! :D We booked about 3 months prior to sailing, there are only 14 cabana's and well worth the money, best thing about the trip for us!!

[msfish]

We have booked the Eurodam in December as a wedding/honeymoon gift for DS and the soon to be DIL. Called ships services last week and bought a Retreat Cabana for them. Looked at their reservation online, and it doesn't show up anywhere. Did you book ahead? Get any confirmation prior to sailing?

 

thanks!

FYI, you do not get the cabana assignment until you board, we "requested" a cabana without the glass, these are the ones facing the lido roof, for the breeze, which we had, very windy! We checked with the front desk on arrival and they gave us the cabana name. They are open from 9a to 5p daily.

[Infi]

We are in our early 40s, and found the ship a little too tame for us but we also were not particularly social as we were travelling with our kids and were not at our best because of the sea sickness. We also found a lot of passengers were not particularly tolerant of children. We were actually refused seating at one table during the cupcake tea (the people sitting there did not want us!). Other than that, I found most passengers either looked lovingly at my children and tried to engage them in conversation or were looking at them with disgust as if kids did not belong on a cruise ship. When cruising with our kids, we might seek out a more family friendly ship the next time.

 

I was on the sailing the week before yours, and had no issues with grumpy kid-haters. In fact, we had over 400 kids onboard and passenger mix was very diverse. But, this was a pleasant surprise as our HAL cruise last year during spring break had plenty of kid, teen, and even young adult haters. I have also had the experience of being turned away from a few tables (most notably during the Mariner brunch) because people didn't want to sit with my young adult daughter. :rolleyes: You're not alone, but it's unfortunate. HAL is a wonderful cruise line, but the experience with some of their passengers almost turned me off from booking another cruise with them. I'm glad I did, because we had a great experience this past cruise. But, I understand exactly what you're saying - it's not fun to be onboard with a bunch of grumpy fellow guests.

[Queen of Oakville]

I was on the sailing the week before yours, and had no issues with grumpy kid-haters. In fact, we had over 400 kids onboard and passenger mix was very diverse. But, this was a pleasant surprise as our HAL cruise last year during spring break had plenty of kid, teen, and even young adult haters. I have also had the experience of being turned away from a few tables (most notably during the Mariner brunch) because people didn't want to sit with my young adult daughter. :rolleyes: You're not alone, but it's unfortunate. HAL is a wonderful cruise line, but the experience with some of their passengers almost turned me off from booking another cruise with them. I'm glad I did, because we had a great experience this past cruise. But, I understand exactly what you're saying - it's not fun to be onboard with a bunch of grumpy fellow guests.

 

Infi - nice to know I'm not alone! My kids got several stares, glares, and growls. And I can honestly say they were well behaved at most times. Anyone who was on this ship and saw a little girl breaking into dance wherever she could, that was my little princess. To be fair, she just turned five and didn't always look to make sure she had the room to break into dance. I thought one older woman was going to rip her head off. I don't expect the world to love and adore my children, but I do expect people to not be rude and perhaps to be a little tolerant. I would expect that most of the people on board had children at one time, or likely have grand-children now. A little kindness and tolerance is all that is required.

[piscesgal223]

I was surprised to hear there were 250 kids on that particular cruise!:eek: I'm in my 40's and didn't have any problems with the kids on board(but I have 5 nieces and nephews so am used to being around young'uns!)

[msfish]

Infi - nice to know I'm not alone! My kids got several stares, glares, and growls. And I can honestly say they were well behaved at most times. Anyone who was on this ship and saw a little girl breaking into dance wherever she could, that was my little princess. To be fair, she just turned five and didn't always look to make sure she had the room to break into dance. I thought one older woman was going to rip her head off. I don't expect the world to love and adore my children, but I do expect people to not be rude and perhaps to be a little tolerant. I would expect that most of the people on board had children at one time, or likely have grand-children now. A little kindness and tolerance is all that is required.

 

We had no issue with the kids, just thought that the pool area was too small for them, we did not like the aft ,adult only pool, due to smokers so for us without the Retreat we would not have been able to "sun worship" and sip drinks which we love to do while cruising. :)

[erewhon]

msfish,

 

Thank you for your review.

So sorry to read of the flood in your cabin.