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Review: Eurodam New Years Cruise

Fredric22

By Fredric22,
in Holland America Line

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Fredric22

Fredric22

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My family and I just returned home from a really great cruise on board the Eurodam. This was a special 7 day Western Caribbean visiting HMC, Grand Cayman, Honduras, and Costa Maya Mexico. Overall it was a fantastic cruise and a great way to celebrate New Years.

 

I have cruised 30+ times on all of the major cruise lines, so I will base my observations based on comparisons with the other major cruise lines.

 

Food: The food on the Eurodam was very good. The breakfast buffet was excellent and had plenty of variety (it is nice to have unlimited smoked salmon offered). The Eggs Benedict station was also a favorite of mine. Out of all the major lines, I think HAL really does have the best breakfast.

 

Lunch was also very good and had a lot of variety. The Asian section was very good as well as the carvings. The quality of the lunch buffet was excellent and once again beats a lot of the competition. I will note that the lunch on the Eurodam had considerably more selections than my recent cruise on the Veendam did. However, I attribute this to the smaller size of the Veendam compared to the Eurodam.

 

Dinner in the dining room was overall very good. The service was not as personal as we received on the Veendam, but not only is that a smaller ship but this cruise was VERY crowded. Because it was a holiday sailing, the dining room staff was really stretched to their max. However, with that said the staff were always pleasant and we always received our food in a timely manner. There were no 2+ hour dinners any of the nights we dined in the dining room, even on New Years Eve which is probably one of the busiest nights for them of the year. The special New Years Eve menu was great (half of a Maine lobster, special chocolate desserts, etc). HAL really did a great job with this celebration in the dining room.

 

The only complaint I have is with the desserts both in the buffet and dining room. Most of them looked a lot better than they tasted. Even the chocolate brownie indulgence on their every day menu lacked flavor. I think this is one area where HAL can learn from Carnival and improve their dessert menu. They should take a few items off of their menu and copy them (especially the chocolate melting cake). There were a few good desserts but to be honest most of them were not worth the calories.

 

Tamarind: Great service and great food. The sesame crusted filet was outstanding. This is definitely a restaurant worth eating at.

 

Pinnacle Grill: Also great service and great good. The steaks (we each ordered the Porterhouse) were outstanding and cooked perfectly. We also dined here for lunch one sea day and the service and food were equally good. Take note that this is not a rushed dining experience by any means. Our dinner lasted about 2 hours which was the perfect length of time.

 

Retreat Cabana: We rented a family cabana for the week and loved it. The service we received from our two cabana stewards was excellent. They would bring us whatever it is that we wanted. It was nice to have a home base to come back to all day without worrying about getting a chair. The only recommendation I have to improve this area would be to add a hot tub there. Hopefully this will be something HAL takes into consideration on the new build.

 

Bar service: HAL really shines (and beats Celebrity) in their bar service. The happy hours are great along with the complimentary appetizers they bring. We looked forward to the happy hours every day. I would like to see HAL offer an all inclusive beverage package like many other lines are doing. I am sure they will soon to come in line with their competition.

 

Entertainment: Overall the entertainment was very good. The HAL Cats were outstanding and the singers in the shows were very talented. The New Years Eve celebration was really great. Different lounges throughout the ship offered different types of entertainment. We chose to celebrate in the main theater and the party they held there did not disappoint. In fact, if you are curious to see how HAL celebrates New Years Eve, our cruise director took video of the whole thing. Here is the link to view the celebrations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmrTE0cnhM0

One thing I was a bit disappointed in was the change in Adagio from classical strings to a Jazz duo. To be fair, I am not much of a fan of Jazz so some people may enjoy this a bit more. Hopefully they will bring back the strings again soon.

 

Casino: The slots were noticeably very tight (hard to even sit there and play for a little while) and some of the dealers were not very friendly. However, with the exception of a few ships this is something that seems to be common. I understand it is not an easy job, but they could definitely use a few lessons in customer service.

 

Overall ship: The Eurodam is in GREAT shape. The ship looks new. I did not notice any major signs of wear and tear and the ship was extremely clean. Also the elevator service on this ship beats any ship I have ever been on. There was little to no wait to get an elevator even though the ship was filled to capacity.

 

Overall service: The service was great. The crew were always pleasant and willing to help. I should mention that I usually experience great service on every cruise I have been on and HAL is no exception.

 

Overall this was a great cruise. HAL still offers a very solid product and shines in many areas. I would not hesitate to cruise HAL again. Also, the CEO was on board this sailing and it was fun spotting him in the various lounges and in the dining room. It seemed like he was enjoying himself as well.

 

If you have any questions about the Eurodam, please ask away.

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lovetocruise2020

lovetocruise2020

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Our Nov cruise was almost the same. The HAL Cats were led by a talented young gentleman, and they were pretty good. (We usually hate the HAL Cats), and the adagio was switched to a violin piano duo. We agree wholeheartedly that the desserts need help! The only one that even ever came close to carnival was the chocolate purse, which was not offered this cruise... :( Carnival is worth cruising for the desserts alone. People who have not done other lines do not realize the how far HAL falls short. Anything (like the brownie thing) they say has chocolate fudge has a milk chocolate pudding like sauce. Such a shame! HAL is still the best for us, even though they fall short in the desserts category.

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kazu "Live from...." Rare

kazu

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Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences with us.

 

Great review - I just don't get why HAL can't do deserts:confused: Guess it's there way of making sure we don't over eat;)

 

welcome home:D

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djhsolara

djhsolara

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Thank you for the wonderful review. We were on Eurodam three years ago, last February and will be back on her again in just two short months. Your review made me "homesick" for her but yet glad that we'll be back soon.

 

 

Douglas...Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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totoroni77

totoroni77

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great review,,we just got off the westerdam on sun. what was new years like ? which room did you go to for midnight? :) joani M

 

I was on the same cruise; they had festivities in a few locations (Queens Lounge/Culinary Arts Center, Mainstage Theater, Piano Bar), but the biggest party was definitely in the Mainstage Theater :)

 

 

August 2003 Celebrity Galaxy- Exotic Caribbean, March 2008 NCL Gem- Bahamas, June 2009 Carnival Triumph- Canada, October 2009 Costa Fortuna- Eastern Mediterranean, March 2010 Carnival Dream- Western Caribbean, October 2010 Carnival Glory- NE/Canada, March 2011 NCL Epic- Eastern Caribbean, June 2011 Carnival Glory- Canada, October 2011 Carnival Magic- Western Mediterranean, January 2012 Carnival Pride- Bahamas, February 2012 NCL Jewel- Cruise to Nowhere, May 2012 HAL Veendam- Bermuda, September 2012 Celebrity Summit- Bermuda, New Year's 2012 HAL Eurodam- Western Caribbean

February 2013 Celebrity Reflection- Eastern Caribbean

April 2013 Carnival Breeze- Exotic Caribbean

September 2013 NCL Breakaway- Bermuda

November 2013 Carnival Splendor- Bahamas

January 2014 MSC Divina- Eastern Caribbean

April 2014 Carnival Sunshine- Western Caribbean

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Fredric22

Fredric22

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HAL really did make New Years Eve special all around the ship. They had the dining room decorated very nicely with confetti, balloons, streamers, and chair covers. They also gave out hats and noise makers at dinner. Many of the various lounges were decorated as well. They removed a large section of seats in the main theater to make room for a dance floor. We decided to celebrate in the main theater since that seemed to be where the biggest celebration would be held. All of the officers were there as well as the time got close to midnight. At midnight, the captain rang the Eurodam bell and balloons dropped from the ceiling. Drink waiters then gave out free champagne for the toast. Overall it was very nicely done!

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