Live from Eurodam: Retreat Cabanas, Laundry, Pinnacle, Formal Nights and the Doctor

[Rinderoo]

Now that I've hit all the hot topics... I'm really enjoying this cruise! Food in the main dining room is excellent. We're in and out of there in an hour with three or four courses. Service pleasant and efficient. Not doing much Lido dining, but breakfasts have been good. Crew is no longer serving as we've been on the ship for 48 hours. Lines move quickly and I really like that HAL has beginning and end of lines clearly marked.

 

Formal night last night, and only saw two tuxedos and maybe a handful of long dresses. Most pax in suits and ties (as were my guys). Its Spring Break with a lot of families on board. Had a photo done which was an expensive $40 for one sheet. But we got an 8x10, 5x7 and two wallet photos for that price too, so I guess it wasn't too bad.

 

We purchased the unlimited laundry package and the first load, sent out on Sunday, was returned today (Monday). Everything was neatly pressed--including the cargo shorts and jeans. (I don't think those cargo shorts pockets have looked that good since we bought them.) Whites are white, and colors are fine; no shrinkage. Another load went out this morning, and we'll continue to send it out until they tell us we can't.

 

Tonight we dined at Pinnacle. Food was wonderful, as was service. We had (on our table) for four of us: French Onion Soup, Lobster Bisque, the Arugula Salad with warm bacon dressing, the Porterhouse (at least 18 ounces), Steak Diane, Cedar Planked Cod, and my son decided to eat the filet hamburger. (He's 17: I think he did it just to annoy me but he said it was the best hamburger he's ever eaten.) For dessert we had 3 Baked Alaskas and one Raspberry Cheesecake. My Steak Diane was flamed as was the Kirsch poured over the Baked Alaskas. Everything was absolutely delicious. We spent two hours in there.

 

We're booked (just the two adults) for the Master Chef Dinner too, and were told to block off four hours. I'm bringing my camera and notebook for that one. :p

 

Our great investment has been the Family Retreat Cabana. We're loving it as a place to go during the day. The verandah cabin on Deck 5 has to be the smallest stateroom I've ever crammed four people in to, and next time I sail HAL (and I will), I'll probably do a Large Oceanview. Will likely book the Niew Amsterdam prior to leaving because of that Retreat area. Not sure if I'm ready for one of the smaller ships.

 

What I'm loving about HAL is the lack of announcements every half hour, and very little chaos. Some of it has to do with having the Retreat Cabana, as the Sea View area in the rear of the ship is just packed. the LIdo pool is filled with kids and familes. There's also no Jumbotron screen either.

 

Oh, and my son has been a bit under the weather and I wanted him checked for bronchitis today, so we visited the medical clinic. Kid OK, but I learned that HAL medical staff are from North America/Canada. They also have a Phillipino physician for the crew. It sure was busy in there at 5pm. Regular consult with MD is $95, and then you're charged for meds. Since I couldn't run into the corner drug store I had them give me stuff to get me through the evening until we get to San Juan tomorrow.

 

I'm working on photos and will probably put in a Picasa album. Internet is the best I've ever had on a cruise ship, and I've already gone through 300 minutes (I work while on cruises.) The Exploration Cafe area on this ship is probably the best use of public space I've ever seen.

 

After sailing HAL, I'm done with Carnival. This is just a much nicer experience. I liked Carnival just fine, but there is just much less craziness on HAL.

[OVgirl]

Thanks for taking the time to keep in touch. Sounds like you have made the right choice for your cruise. Glad to hear that you are enjoying the Eurodam.

[Seago2]

Great! Glad to hear abut all of this, especially the cabana. Hope you have a good time and continue to post!

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for starting your review and it is a good one. Keep having fun and report back in if you can.

[erewhon]

Thank you for taking time to post from on board the ship.

Hope your son is OK.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for checking in.

 

Glad you are having a wonderful cruise.

[foodgirl]

Thanks for checking in and enjoy your cruise. I will be on her Saturday and can't wait!!!

[kazu]

Thanks so much for sharing with us. Very informative and definitely sounds like you are having a good time other than the medical visit. Looking forward to any updates that you have time to post:D

[aliaschief]

A great morning read! Thanks for sharing your cruise with us.

[IRL_Joanie]

I am absolutely loving it that you are having a great tine:)

 

Will wait, albeit impatiently, for the next report:)

 

Joanie

[fuzzywuzzy]

Thank you for your trip report. I'm excited to read anything with regard to the Eurodam as we sail on her in about two weeks !! We've never been on this ship before.

 

We love HAL for your reasons as well - less craziness - more organized and quiet with lovely atmosphere and great service.

 

Enjoy the remainder of your cruise.

[Linda VH]

We ate at Pinnacle on Noordam 3 times no counting Le Cirque. Have to tell you - I had the filet burger each night. I had it the first night because I was craving a burger and it was soooo good I had it the other times too. :D

[Coolcruise02]

Thanks............can't wait for more! :)

[brazilgirl]

Excellent....I am eagerly awaiting further comments!

 

Is your family doing the open dining?

 

I see you have 17 yr old son... Did he find fellow teens on the ship? Would love to hear about your kids ' experiences , I will sail on the Eurodam with our 3 kids , ages 16 , 13 and 9.

 

How much is the laundry package? Sounds fabulous!

 

thanks...

Kim

[hehny]

Just got off the march 31st sailing and there were tons of children, if the destination coincides with school breaks it will be a child friendly trip.

 

But lack of announcements? I counted five in one day. Our captain loved to talk. I found it really annoying-- I can read the daily program, I really don't need to have a reminder every hour.

 

Le cirque was brilliant. Tamarind also excellent. The rest eh.

[Rinderoo]

As for kid activities on the Eurodam: My kids don't do any of this stuff, even on Disney (except for when they were little.). They tend to want to hang with us and for this cruise we had the big corner Retreat Cabana which was a whole lot better than a kid club. lol You'll see them playing chess on the first day, as well as lounging in the cabana. (They're both rather busy with sports and academics at school and use the cruise to just hang out as we generally keep them very busy and too tired to do what I did as a teen, lol)

 

The 3/31-4/7 sailing of the E'dam had 56 kids age 3-7 and 189 teens age 13+. Far more than what HAL is used to carrying from what the cruise staff told me.

 

I think there are a lot of activities for kids on the E'dam but the problem with them is timing as many things for teens happen at night. Younger children enjoy "activity based" things to do, so pay attention to the schedule. It is NOT the Disney Cruise which is non-stop entertainment in Oceaneer's. HAL kids programming is also dependent on the number of kids on the ship too. I did visit all of the kids clubs to see what they do (needed this for my work) and I thought the kids counselors were positive and upbeat, and there were a lot of games available for the 'tweens. The teen area was organized for conversations moreso than anything else. I had a good impression with my first meeting of the person who organized the teens too. I booked HAL rather than another cruise line because my kids don't want to do the kids programs. In fact, I sent DS up there for the first meet & greet on sail date at 9pm and he said its the same as every other cruise line when they spend an hour discussing rules and that the kids were going to pick the activities. Since they enjoy five course meals and finer dining (and they loved Pinnacle) I now just drag them to wherever I want to go with no regard for kid or teen programming, because they're going to love whatever I book wherever it goes, because they just love to cruise even if it involves reading and not doing much of anything. HAL is not the place to just drop them off for the entire day like Disney and you may see them if they don't find a friend. The e'dam has a good sized sports deck, and the Lido pool is pretty good for kids. They also close the roof so you might be spending time down there with them if they don't want to do the kids programming. Explorations is awesome on the E'dam and both of my kids found books to read and my son liked the various NYT articles that were prepared daily for guests. There are also a lot of games up there too. Kids will find SOMETHING to do... but they may also need to pick up a book too.