Eurodam Transatlantic Mini Review

[debsjc]

Here is a little Eurodam review from our Trans-Atlantic cruise. I'll keep it short, as I know Retired Mustang already gave everyone a fantastic live daily blog. Plus I'm feeling jet-lagged and have a cold, so lacking energy for a long report!

I'm also happy to answer any questions anyone has.

 

I was travelling with my mum, this is our 4th HAL cruise, and our 3rd on the Eurodam. We had booked a VH guarantee, and were delighted with our assignment of 8112, a category V just under the Lido restaurant. The location made getting to the Lido areas, the sea view pool, and the main dining room very easy. The only places we had a long walk to were the Crows nest and Retreat Cabana areas.

 

 

Embarkation.

 

My dad dropped us right at the ship at Dover at 1115. We checked-in straight away, and were on board about 1145. The cabins were ready when we boarded, and as we were on anytime dining, we used the room phone to make a reservation in the main dining room for that night and the next 2 nights. Next we headed up to the Lido for lunch, we had the option of the Mariners lunch, but we like to just pick some light lunch.

We returned to the cabin, by which time the bags had already appeared on the beds, so time for the fun and games of unpacking. Let me tell you, fitting everything two ladies need for a 17 day cruise in the storage space available is a bit of a challenge!

 

 

Retreat Cabana

I had pre-booked a cabana for the entire cruise. We had originally requested an aft facing one, but once on board we decided the side facing would be better for this cooler routing and were able to change the allocation, as not many people had booked. We loved the cabana, and the fantastic service from Jonathan and Mervin, but due to the weather on this cruise we did not use it as much as I had hoped. If I did this routing again I would just book the cabana once on board, on a day-by-day basis depending on the weather. One morning when the Retreat was totally closed, due to high winds, we were offered a Lido cabana for a few hours instead. Personally I do not like them, the area by the Lido pool is noisy, and the lounger bed is not very comfortable for two people.

 

 

I know there has been a lot of discussion about the cabana areas on this forum, and I can understand why some people are against them and the deck space they take up. Last cruise we were lucky enough to be able to book a Deluxe Suite, and that was not an option for this longer, more expensive, routing. I loved my aft corner balcony last cruise, and having the cabana really made up for not having that large verandah. Personally, I feel the retreat cabanas are quite good value, when you compare them to the price difference of a verandah to a suite.

 

 

One issue I think HAL need to address is the access to the Retreat area. Whilst I have no problem with people wandering through, a couple of people sat in cabanas, and then were very rude and aggressive to Mervin when he politely asked them to leave. I actually though one guy was going to hit him. It is not fair that the staff should have to take that type of abuse. It would be easier to make the area card access only.

 

 

Ports

 

 

Amsterdam - took the bus from just opposite when the ship docks into town, and walked around the city center and flower market. We have been here several times before.

 

 

Zeebrugge - the port authority provided a free shuttle bus to Blankenburge station. From here we took the train to Bruges and walked the into the town center (both the train and the walk each take about 15 minutes). We took a 30 minute canal boat trip, which was excellent, and walked around the town. Had a pizza for lunch on the main square, bought some chocolates, and took the local bus back to Bruges train station.

Just to mention out train was 10 minutes late, which was fine as we had allowed lots of time. If we had left it till the1540 train, and that had been late, we would have missed the last shuttle to the ship.

 

 

Dublin - as we had been to Dublin before we just took the port authority shuttle into town to look round the shops and the park at St Stephen's Green. The shuttle cost 10 Euros return per person, and took around 15 minutes.

 

 

Faroe Islands - we had pre-booked a rental car with Avis. Their office is just outside of town, so we took a taxi from the port area to get up there. This was one of our best days, the islands are beautiful and it is well worth getting out of town and exploring the country side. We left town on the mountain road, with amazing views, then onto the village of Saksun, and back into town via the road that runs along the fjord. The roads were mainly easy to drive on, except maybe the narrow road to Saksun. You can do a similar route by ships excursion if you prefer, the bus even goes down the single track road to Saksun.

We parked the car near the town centre and had a look around, and then left the car at the port area as arranged with Avis. The sun keep peeking out from the clouds, making the sky beautiful for photos.

 

 

Iceland - Unfortunately it was raining most of the day. We had another car rental with Avis, the office is just out of town and they picked us up and dropped us back to the port area. We drove past a beautiful lake to the geothermal bubbling pools at Krýsuvík, then onto the Blue Lagoon for a swim and lunch. Some of the roads were gravel, narrow, and hard to drive on, but it was a great experience.

 

 

Greenland - The day cruising the Prins Christian Sund was the highlight on the entire cruise for me. It was just beautiful, one of the most scenic places in the world. The ship launched a boat to collect some ice from an iceberg, which was then placed on display by the Lido pool.

John the travel guide, and some other ship personnel, went over to a remote settlement on the side of a fjord by inflatable boat, and took them pizzas for lunch.

 

 

The next day we stopped at the village of Nanortalik. It wasn't as scenic as expected, but interesting to see. The ship arranged for a group of children from the village to come aboard and have lunch in the Canaletto area of the Lido. We were sitting by the Lido pool when they came running through, squealing with delight at the sight of the pool and hot tubs. It was lovely to see, and surprising how many of the children had expensive camera phones with them.

 

 

St John's - we just explored the town, looking at the buildings and visiting the little harbor side park.

 

 

Halifax - I wasn't feeling very well this day, and it was raining, so we cancelled our rental car and walked along the boardwalk to have an ice cream at Cows.

 

 

Part two to follow when I can :)

[eh2zed]

Great reading. Love the Eurodam.

[kazu]

Thanks so much. Looking forward to the rest :)

[erewhon]

Thank you for your interesting review.

Will look forward to part 2.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

 

Sorry you are not feeling well.

[debsjc]

Second, and final part. :)

 

I hope the HAL fans will forgive me for some making some criticisms. These problems did not spoil our cruise, and I understand nothing is perfect, but there are things that could be improved upon.

 

Food

 

 

 

Tamarind, Pinnacle Grill & Canaletto.

 

 

We ate twice in Canaletto, and one in each of the other two speciality restaurants. All three of them ranged from good to excellent for food and service.

 

 

Lido

 

 

The Lido was our regular spot for breakfast and lunch, and we also had a few dinners there. I thought the selection of food for breakfast and lunch was excellent, and dinner was o.k. - in the evening I would have liked to see more food part-cooked freshly, for example a pasta & sauce station, or a stir fry station.

 

 

At the start of the cruise we had a bad evening meal in the Lido, where the hot food was not at all hot, and the attitude of the staff was not great. I had a quiet word with the lido supervisor on duty, and things really improved after that. Suddenly heat lamps appeared, and some meat was kept in the hot pans at the back of the station. I have to give HAL and this supervisor full credit for really taking notice and making a big improvement.

 

 

One big complaint I have about the Lido is a few of my fellow passengers. On the Greenland scenic cruise day some people took tables by the windows and did not move all day. At lunchtime lots of people just could not get a table at all, whilst others were sat in the lido restaurant playing cards, reading or just drinking a never ending cup of coffee. To those who know who they are, please have some consideration for others!

 

 

Main Dining Room

 

 

As we had 'anytime' dining I called in advance and made reservations. I didn't have any problems getting a table for 7.45pm (7.30 can't be booked), but I did always call 2-3 days ahead of time. We stuck to the same table, which was in a nice position towards the back of the ship, but it was freezing there. We mentioned it as we left one evening, and were told lots of passengers complained it was very cold, but it never changed.

 

 

For me the food was mixed, generally good appetizers and desserts, but not so good main courses. The food was much too salty for my taste, and often wasn't served hot. The waiters seemed over worked, but they try very hard to make the dining experience good for their guests.

 

 

Routing and Scenic cruising

 

 

The best thing about this cruise was the fantastic routing, and the scenic cruising. As we left several ports there was 'scenic cruising' with interesting commentary from the travel guides Ian or John. We felt the Captain, and ships crew made an effort to show us the best scenery on the way into and out of our stops.

 

 

Entertainment

 

 

We went to the opening night show, and really didn't think the singers or dancers were very good at all. The only other show we caught was a ballroom dance/ quick change show which was quite entertaining. As we had dinner at 7.45pm we usually found the late show a bit too late to stay up for.

A few times we heard Darlyne Cain singing and playing the guitar, and thought she was absolutely fantastic.

 

 

Front Desk

 

 

I just wanted to mention how some of the staff on the front desk are fantastic, and really helpful. Others are absolutely terrible.

 

Laundry

 

 

We sent a bag of laundry, and when it came back 9 of our items were damaged. The laundry tags had left little holes in them, these were not the yellow stickers we had seen before, but plastic tags punched through the garment. The items were ruined as the holes couldn't be repaired without leaving nasty marks.

The problem was resolved by the Guest Relations Manager, and he a great job of reporting the problem to Seattle and arranging some compensation for us. Although we were disappointed it had happened, and some items will be hard to replace, HAL did their best to put things right.

 

Flowers

 

 

I had arranged for a Bon voyage Bouquet to be in the cabin, as a present for my mum. What was waiting for a small bowl with brown, dying roses around the edge. It was terrible quality, and very different to the photo on the HAL website. After two complaints to the front desk, it was replaced with a lovely bouquet.

 

 

Beverage Card

 

 

Our card stopped working twice, and the bar staff insisted we went to the front desk to resolve this before we could have our drinks. Apparently this happens regularly, and is not the fault of the passenger, the strip just de-magnetises. My point is why should I, as the customer, leave my lunch and go down to front desk to resolve a problem which is not of my making. Surely HAL should resolve the issue by the bar staff speaking to the front desk, or having the ability to reset the card themselves.

 

 

Cabin cleanliness & service

 

 

Our steward was a bit 'sour' however his second in command was polite and friendly. One day number one steward saw us leaving the cabin and leaving the 'do not disturb' sign in, we did this as we were only nipping out for 5 minutes, anyway to made sure to 'tell us off'!

We are both blondish, and we kept finding black hairs on the blankets, in the bathroom, on the carpet. The beds were so badly made, we had to remake them ourselves every night before bed.

 

 

I had a bath and when I let the water out it flooded back up the overflow pipe, which was full of dirt and filled a section of the floor with yucky smelling water. We reported this to the cabin steward, and asked for maintenance to look at it. To cut a long story short, the same thing happened the next evening, and when I spoke to him he eventually admitted he hadn't ever reported it to maintenance.

 

 

Disembarkation

 

 

We had medium independent assigned, which was supposed to be between 8.30 and 8.45 .... we were finally allowed off at 10.45 am

I think the shambles was mostly due to the port authority rather than HAL. There were at least three ships in, and the port authority said the arrivals area was too congested. We then waited over 45 mins for a taci.

 

 

Post- Cruise

 

 

Our flight back to London was in the evening, so we had a dayroom booked at The Doubletree JFK hotel. If you are ever thinking of visiting this hotel, don't!

We were checked into a room which already had other guests in (yes really!) the advertised room service was not available, the toilet leaked... 4 hours there was enough for anyone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[debsjc]

Just got round to uploading the photos, mostly of the ports.

We were really lucky with the weather for the scenic crusiing in Greenland, and for The Faroe Islands.

 

Here is the link

 

 

[Sea42]

Your pictures are beautiful! Thanks for sharing them with us.

[liketraveling]

Thanks for your review. I will be on the Eurodam next month.

 

With the magnetic strip on your drink card. Did you ever have it near your cell phone.

 

I had that happen with my regular room key. They gave me a new room key and transferred over everything. The front desk told me that this happens allot when people have the cards next to cell phones or cameras it will de-magnitize it.

 

This was on RT Hawaiian Cruise. It happened after the first port stop and I had forgotten to put my cell phone back in the safe.

 

Might not be the case maybe the drink card was funky!

[Live4cruises]

Thanks for a good, balanced review. I applaud you for getting things put right while HAL had the opportunity to make the best of a less-than-good situation.

 

We just got off Eurodam in July, and are going to take a cruise similar to yours next fall.

[ceeceecruiser]

Just got round to uploading the photos, mostly of the ports.

We were really lucky with the weather for the scenic crusiing in Greenland, and for The Faroe Islands.

 

Here is the link

 

 

 

 

Debbie:

 

I think you and I must have been following each other taking pics, I have almost identical photos. Still have to label mine, they're downloaded and sorted by city.

 

Thanks for posting these, they're great.

 

Cynthia

[liketraveling]

Just got round to uploading the photos, mostly of the ports.

We were really lucky with the weather for the scenic crusiing in Greenland, and for The Faroe Islands.

 

Here is the link

 

 

 

 

Thanks for taking the time to post the pictures!

[sail7seas]

Thanks for you review. Really enjoyed reading it.

 

Your comment about the laundry tag damaging your clothing disturbs me. Hopefully they will cease using that system. We have sailed Eurodam 5 cruises and our laundry came back with the usual tags we are used to so apparently this is a new system they are trying. Hopefully they scrapped that idea. Sorry your clothes were damaged but happy the GRM tried to make up for it.

 

Hope your cold gets better fast.

Thanks for your review and Welcome Back. :)

[debsjc]

Thank you all for the compliments on the photos, I have to mention they were taken my mum. She is chief photographer, and I am tour guide, and driver when we have a hire car!

 

liketraveling - I think my phone was always in the safe, but it is possible I might have had it near the beverage card at some time. That might explain the problem.

 

Live4cruises - I hope you have a fantastic cruise next fall.

 

Cynthia, looking forward to seeing your photos as well. :)

[debsjc]

Thanks for you review. Really enjoyed reading it.

 

Your comment about the laundry tag damaging your clothing disturbs me. Hopefully they will cease using that system. We have sailed Eurodam 5 cruises and our laundry came back with the usual tags we are used to so apparently this is a new system they are trying. Hopefully they scrapped that idea. Sorry your clothes were damaged but happy the GRM tried to make up for it.

 

Hope your cold gets better fast.

Thanks for your review and Welcome Back. :)

 

I'm feeling better now, thank you. :)

 

Our laundry has always been fine on other cruises as well. This time as well as the sticky coloured tags, they was also a clear plastic tags through the fabric. Also several items had shrunk.... the length on the trousers, so it wasn't just that we ate too much. I may get fatter on a cruise, but unfortunately I don't get any taller!

 

I'm sure HAL will solve the tag problem. Both managers we spoke to appeared to take it very seriously, and assured us it would not happen again.

[cruisinjudy]

Your pictures are beautiful!!

[cruisinjudy]

Of also found some of the food to be too salty. Of all our HAl cruises I never found that before.