Can You Sell Me on Doing a Baltic Cruise on the Eurodam this Summer?

[GradUT]

My spouse has asked me to research cruises to the Baltics this summer and one of the choices is a 12-day cruise on the Eurodam. We have cruised on Princess twice (Island Princess for the Panama Canal and Pacific Princess for the Black Sea) and we loved it. However, due to our work schedule, the only Princess ship that we could take to the Baltics this summer is the Royal Princess and it just doesn't appeal to us--too large and "glitzy".

 

What we enjoy about cruising are: 1) touring the ports, usually on self-arranged tours, 2) plenty of trivia, games, and classes (such as dance classes) in the evening and on sea days and 3) entertaining shows. We are not foodies, so any meals we don't have to prepare ourselves are good meals. We also LOVE quiet places around a pool to relax and read--no big screens blasting movies around the pool for us. We are active people in our mid-50's.

 

Will the Eurodam Baltic cruise be a good fit for us? Any comments appreciated!

[Globaliser]

Any comments appreciated!

If you're a piano bar person, Jimmy Maddox should be on board until 20 July 2014.

 

If you're not a piano bar person, Jimmy might convert you to being one!

[innlady1]

If you're a piano bar person, Jimmy Maddox should be on board until 20 July 2014.

 

If you're not a piano bar person, Jimmy might convert you to being one!

 

I thought Jimmy was on the NA?

[Taxguy77]

I guess not!

[innlady1]

I stand corrected. I just checked Jimmy's website and he left the NA on 3/22...and joins the Eurodam in May. Lucky people! :D

[Globaliser]

I thought Jimmy was on the NA?

I guess not!

The dates come straight from Jimmy's website - click the link on the word "Update" in that post.

I stand corrected. I just checked Jimmy's website and he left the NA on 3/22...and joins the Eurodam in May. Lucky people!

He's actually been on Westerdam during this Caribbean season (4 January 2014 to 5 April 2014). At least one other CCer has mentioned him in a Westerdam cruise review. Edited April 9, 2014 by Globaliser

[CruiserBruce]

We did 22 days on Eurodam last July. 10 days Baltic followed by 12 days Norway/Scotland/Ireland. Had a great time. It would seem to meet your needs based on what you have stated. Can highly recommend it and will answer specific questions if you wish.

 

The looming negative would be the situation in Russia. Otherwise, St Petersburg is a very interesting stop.

[sammygoose]

I don't feel the need to sell you on anything; however we are booked on the Eurodam for the Baltic Adventure leaving July 27th. We are sold.

 

This will be our third cruise on the Eurodam for many of the reasons that you mentioned not including the fantastic itinerary. It is port intensive with only 2 sea days in 12 days.

#moneywhereourmouthis

[rkacruiser]

My traveling companion and I was on the final Baltic cruise of the season in August, 2013, sailing from Amsterdam aboard the Eurodam.

 

It was a very good cruise. Port intensive and I found the on-board activities more than enough to satisfy our needs. Individual entertainers were good. The cast shows disappointed, but my most recent cruise on the Westerdam were very enjoyable. Maybe a change of direction out of Seattle is what I am thinking.

 

The Eurodam was a well-run ship with a wonderful crew. Not much thought or money was spent on decor. Yes, there is the usual HAL art. But, compared to the Vista Class ships, the ship disappoints in that area.

 

I would not attempt a "do it on your own" tour in St. Petersburg. We did 2 HAL excursions; 50 % were good. I now wish we had joined one of the private tour companies.

 

Port highlight was the call at Tallin, Estonia.

 

While we enjoyed the cruise, unlike others that I have done, it is not an itinerary that I will do again.

[rajkr74]

My spouse has asked me to research cruises to the Baltics this summer and one of the choices is a 12-day cruise on the Eurodam. We have cruised on Princess twice (Island Princess for the Panama Canal and Pacific Princess for the Black Sea) and we loved it. However, due to our work schedule, the only Princess ship that we could take to the Baltics this summer is the Royal Princess and it just doesn't appeal to us--too large and "glitzy".

 

What we enjoy about cruising are: 1) touring the ports, usually on self-arranged tours, 2) plenty of trivia, games, and classes (such as dance classes) in the evening and on sea days and 3) entertaining shows. We are not foodies, so any meals we don't have to prepare ourselves are good meals. We also LOVE quiet places around a pool to relax and read--no big screens blasting movies around the pool for us. We are active people in our mid-50's.

 

Will the Eurodam Baltic cruise be a good fit for us? Any comments appreciated!

 

We did the Baltic Cruise Last May and loved it. We did 4 days in Copenhagen in front of the start of the cruise. St. Petersburg was a great port with 2 days there. Here is a link to 5 albums of our photos from that cruise including Copenhagen which is on Microsoft One Drive:

 

https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=07afc87cdf2f6dca&sc=photos#cid=07AFC87CDF2F6DCA&id=7AFC87CDF2F6DCA%215608&sc=photos

 

Now it is up to you to sell yourself on the cruise. ;)

[Arizona Cruisin]

We did this cruise a few years ago. It is port intensive. We had friends on the cruise that took a private tour in St Petersburg that was terrific. At the end of the cruise we were exhausted. We prefer the smaller ships as there are more private areas than on the big ones.

[TiogaCruiser]

I don't feel the need to sell you on anything; however we are booked on the Eurodam for the Baltic Adventure leaving July 27th. We are sold.

 

This will be our third cruise on the Eurodam for many of the reasons that you mentioned not including the fantastic itinerary. It is port intensive with only 2 sea days in 12 days.

#moneywhereourmouthis

 

Gee, by July you should be about thawed out. Did you finally get a sap run? Relatives on the US eastcoast reported theirs was very short and late.

[sammygoose]

Gee, by July you should be about thawed out. Did you finally get a sap run? Relatives on the US eastcoast reported theirs was very short and late.

 

LOL Tiogacruiser, well said. At this pace the flannel sheets will still be on the bed come July. This is the grumpiest winter in my recent memory.

We have tapped and thawed ice, then thawed ice and finally got a decent run last week. 14 hours on Saturday and 18 hours on Sunday have made me a very sleepy girl this week. We should have the same amount of sap this week lucky me! It's really a roller coaster of temps with 16C today but a 60kph wind which made it feel cool. Next week is cooler again so who knows?? We do need that extra push next week to fill our orders. River is still frozen and collecting with 4 gallon pails falling through knee deep snow has made me well acquainted with muscles I had forgotten.

Good news is I will be taking a fresh 1 litre bottle of syrup on our BA cruise just like I did last summer. Call me crazy but it is sooooo worth it.

I had to laugh when I brought the bottle to the MDR for breakfast and on the second visit I has 4 wait staff with spoons and a saucer coming to talk and sample. I am sure the last third of the bottle that I left in the room for the stewards wasn't wasted....

[Cruisepucks]

My DH and I are in a similar age demographic. We have not sailed Princess before but have done both HAL and RCI in the past. We are booked on the Eurodam July 8 for the 12 day Baltic cruise.

My thoughts on your concerns

 

From our research this cruise is DIY for all ports with the exception of St Petersburg where a HAL tour or private tour is recommended. If you check the Northern Europe ports area on CC, there are many private tour companies that are recommended.

Cannot comment on the trivia, games and dance lessons as do not participate in those although I am aware that there is trivia but usually during the day.

The shows are usually very enjoyable and comparable to the quality on RCI.

As the Baltic cruise is not really a "sit by the pool" type cruise, I don't think you will have trouble finding a quiet place to sit and read if the weather cooperates. We did an Alaska cruise with HAL a few years back and on the sea days when the weather was nice, it was never a problem to find a quiet spot to relax, read and enjoy the scenery.

We have found HAL to be a good fit for us.

[GradUT]

Thank you everyone. There have been some very useful comments made and I appreciate them. It sounds like the Eurodam would be a good fit for us.

[madera1]

Our daughters were 29 and 32 when they were on the Eurodam Baltic cruise with us and had a great time. They even went back on the Eurodam the following spring to the Caribbean with friends.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[TiogaCruiser]

I had to laugh when I brought the bottle to the MDR for breakfast and on the second visit I has 4 wait staff with spoons and a saucer coming to talk and sample. I am sure the last third of the bottle that I left in the room for the stewards wasn't wasted....

 

Love it!

[PatriciaF]

We are doing this cruise in May. We usually sail Princess, but didn't want to go on the Royal. HAL had a better itinerary than Celebrity from Amsterdam.

 

I think this cruise is very port intensive and will have some very long days--I think we will be too tired to do much in the evening other than eat and rest our feet!

 

My husband has never sailed on HAL and I haven't been on a "dam" ship since 1997.

[sunsetbeachgal]

We sailed on both the Eurodam and the Royal Princess last year and liked them both for different reasons. IMHO, I choose my Europe cruises primarily based on itinerary...I haven't looked at the itineraries of each but Europe cruises are tiring as most days you are in port touring.

 

We enjoyed both ships for different reasons. The Royal is by far lovelier and has some new ship amenities that we enjoyed such as the big flat screen TV's and on demand programming (free). On Princess we love the International Cafe' which there is nothing comparable on the Eurodam. If entertainment is your thing, hands down the Royal is superior. With the exception of the BB King Blues Club, we found the production shows and main shows on the Eurodam to be very disappointing. But the Eurodam is a fine ship with great service and we enjoyed the food,the buffet, the pool area, and of course Tamarind!

 

I'm back to saying that I would choose based on itinerary and price. Either ship is a great option.

Edited April 11, 2014 by sunsetbeachgal

[rjrpar]

We did a 12 day Baltic last year and loved it. Remember, on a European cruise, it is all about sightseeing, not the ship.