(Almost) Live from the Eurodam...Sailing 1/14/17

[Copper10-8]

Have a great and relaxing time Joanne! :)

[marycruz]

Day 3: Grand Cayman

 

We decided to stay onboard today, which is our typical thing to do on a Caribbean cruise. We counted 6 big ships anchored at Grand Cayman with us today, and wondered how busy it was pier-side for tender service.

 

We spent the day in our retreat cabana, and are thrilled with our choice to book it. I noticed twice, two different people in the Neptune Lounge trying to book one and being told they were sold out for the week.

 

I should take a moment and talk about the Lido, which is where we’ve been having our lunch all week. As POA said in his post, had I not noticed they rebranded it “Marketplace”, I wouldn’t have noticed much of a difference. The other ships also have different lines for each station (Asian, pasta, sandwiches, etc). I noticed, though, an improvement in the food. Salads now are tossed to order, and served in big blue bowls. I had an Asian tossed salad yesterday with fresh seared tuna (the real kind, not canned), orange segments, bean sprouts, Romaine and spinach, and a bunch of other fresh stuff I cant remember. You could equally as easily make a Cobb salad (the menu suggested both my Asian and that), or a tossed garden salad with dozens of ingredients. The NY Pizza is much improved over what always tasted like frozen mass made pizza to me prior to this. The Dive-In appeared a year or two ago on HAL ships and is a big improvement over the old Terrace Grill. I had a hot dog a few days ago….which I do maybe every few years (?)..but wasn’t able to resist it when I saw it topped with sauerkraut, crispy onions, and bacon. I was glad to indulge.

 

We didn’t do any activities during the day, other than read and go for a few walks. I’m enjoying the drinks at the Explorations Café. This is a minor…minor…complaint. They went to a computerized menu on a TV monitor. The menu is supposed to self-scroll, but it’s so, so slow. Like slow enough that I could be in line with 2-3 people ahead of me, and it will never move off it’s current screen. Since it rotates through hot drinks, cold drinks, alcoholic drinks, etc, you really should get to see your category. I asked for a printed menu and they just point at the screen. I’m defaulting to my safe plain Latte as to not hold up the line, but I know there are more creative things available.

 

Dinner tonight was a highlight, a real treat. We both agree our meal at Le Cirque was among the best at sea we can remember….ever. The quality of the ingredients was top notch, from the lobster salad to the Chateaubriand (me), and lamb (hubby). We have a good pace going with the Pinnacle wine steward, who brings us glasses of wine to pair with our courses, each fitting in the $15 limit of our Elite Beverage package. It was a nice touch to come back to Le Cirque chocolates on our bed.

 

I wish I could post more on the entertainment. We catch glimpses of the shows and bands as we walk through the ship. We stopped in on BB King's a few times, which we've enjoyed on the Oosterdam as well last year. We talk about getting a table and seeing a whole show, which we hope to do still. The other venues - Lincoln Center Stage, Billboard online, are all well attended and look fun. I promise we're not the party poopers we seem to be with our bypassing all the great stuff! We're tired, it's been a rough few years between losing our son to cancer, relocating across states buying and selling a home, changing jobs, and a very busy work travel schedule. What I like about a cruise is you can have the experience you want....doing as much or as little as you want. This trip, we're doing the "little" end of the spectrum.

 

Tomorrow is Cozumel, the weather has been great, and we’re likely to spend the day in our retreat cabana again. Yup, vacation with little to nothing to do is exactly what we needed.

 

Thanks for all the great info.

 

Were you able to find out what kind of pillows are in the Neptune Suite?

[POA1]

Great reports. Thank you. I'm concerned that maybe we're over selling the cabanas. :D

[WeLoveCruising]

Great reports. Thank you. I'm concerned that maybe we're over selling the cabanas. :D

 

You're right!

They are horrible!

Worst waste of money I've ever spent onboard!

 

(Shh....I hope that did it, and we're safe now to find availability for our next cruises!)

[WeLoveCruising]

Thanks for all the great info.

 

Were you able to find out what kind of pillows are in the Neptune Suite?

 

So, what is advertised is an "assortment of soft, medium, and firm" pillows. I asked if we had choices and they told me there are different types in the room. If we want more of one type vs another we could request them. We do have (I'm counting them now) 6 bed pillows in pillow cases on our bed. Sure enough some are soft, some firm, and some medium (feeling a little bit like Goldilocks as I write this).

 

Between all of them, both hubby and I have no problem finding the right combination for each of us.

[MisterBill99]

I'm just about to update that we tried Tamarind again last night, and liked our choices much better.

 

On our first night, my husband had the duck that the menu referred to as "duck bulgogi". It was sliced duck breast, no bones. I may have a photo, I've taken many and will post when we return.

 

On our second night in Tamarind, he had Peking duck as an appetizer. The duck that came with that was shredded duck breast (to roll up in the pancake like wrappers).

Thanks. I managed to find an updated Tamarind menu here and it does show the Duck Bulgagi. It sounds good to me, so either the preparation was poor, or it just wasn't to your husband's liking.

 

As for red curry chicken, I like that, but if I'm going to pay a $25 surcharge I'd like to get something fancier.

 

Have you been to the MDR yet to check on A/B menus? :)

[WeLoveCruising]

Thanks. I managed to find an updated Tamarind menu here and it does show the Duck Bulgagi. It sounds good to me, so either the preparation was poor, or it just wasn't to your husband's liking.

 

As for red curry chicken, I like that, but if I'm going to pay a $25 surcharge I'd like to get something fancier.

 

Have you been to the MDR yet to check on A/B menus? :)

 

Hi Bill

 

We definitely have the B menus, and the Le Cirque dinner. Hope that helps.

[nimiq]

A little late into following but not to late as I had time to catch up.

 

Great review so far and love your way of thinking and writing.

 

Sea ya

Eric

 

 

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[seapals2]

Haven't caught up on all your posts yet but enjoying reading your reports.

Left the Eurodam on 14th after some very rough weather hope the seas are once more calm and your days ahead sunny.

The Eurodam was not our favourite ship but being in a regular balcony cabin and not having any of the suites luxury touches may have influenced our view of the ship. We ate too often in the lido buffet .. never a good idea just stress from start to finish. Do you have a restaurant allocated for lunch in a suite.

Presume your cabana is on the upper deck and not round the pool. Who would pay to be behind a curtain on the lido deck. Have you used the retreat on Princess for a comparison.

[WeLoveCruising]

Day 4: Cozumel

 

We were docked so close to the Carnival Paradise, that we could see from our verandah onto the Carnvial passenger’s verandah directly across from us. In fact, we were so close that we could shout hello to them. Being next to that ship prompted us to talk about the changes in cruising we’ve seen over the past two decades. My husband and I both remember well the Paradise inaugural in New York City. He was working for HAL at the time, we guess it was the late 1990’s, and we went to NYC to entertain agents onboard. The ship was advertised as entirely non-smoking, and they highlighted the fact that smoking wasn’t even allowed during construction of the ship. We noticed a few things right away: first of all, there were, by our visual estimate, less than 10% of staterooms with verandahs. That was a sharp contrast with RCI’s Freedom in the background, whose sides were stacked full of balconies. I think that has more to do with the era of the ship than Carnival itself. Secondly, there were some interesting contrasts between the Eurodam and the Paradise. Let’s start with our balcony. We had nice quality wood and resin furniture, with padded cushions. They had strappy lawn chairs. Up on our Lido deck, we had lots of open space – theirs was packed with chairs everywhere we looked. And the music? I’ll never again complain about the new age spa music played in The Retreat. Their reggae was blaring so loud we could hear it in our retreat cabana. There’s something for everyone, my husband reminds me, and tells me (as he always does) “that’s why Baskin Robbins has 31 flavors”.

We had lots of port time in Cozumel – the Eurodam didn’t leave until 11pm. I wish I could tell you we got off the ship and I could report back on shoreside activities, but that wouldn’t be true. We spent the day in our cabana, with breaks for iced tea (him), cocktails (me), and laps around the Promenade deck (3 laps equal one mile). I’ve finished 3 novels from my Kindle library so far on this cruise, and plan to read at least 2-3 more.

 

Dinner time was fun! The Eurodam had a mariachi band and dancers from Mexico come onboard to entertain us in the Lido from 5-8pm. This was more than a typical (cheesy?) band you’d see in a Mexican restaurant at home – they seemed authentic, and were quite good. The Lido was packed – in a good way – it was nice to interact with other passengers. We shared a few martinis with the ship’s priest of all people (HAL cruises all have a priest onboard), and even shared contact information with promises to keep in touch.

 

Believe it or not, we made our first appearance in the MDR for dinner, along with regrets we hadn’t ventured in sooner. The food (prime rib for both of us ) and service were quite good – certainly as good or better than any MDR meal in recent memory. We thought about the 4 meals we already had (2 Tamarind, 1 Pinnacle and 1 Le Cirque) and unanimously voted we should have eliminated 1 Tamarind for a MDR). In fact, we may cancel Canaletto tonight and go the MDR instead. Our service team was a delight. I had no problem ordering my wines by the glass to pair with each course (still loving the Elite package).

 

The ship was quiet at night because we were in port for so long. The ship’s show was a BBC Frozen Earth. We peeked in, and saw a movie of penguins being accompanied by a live orchestra. The crowd vacillated between oohing and aahing, and laughing. It made me wish I knew more about the show, and saw it from the beginning. Hubby and I both like nature / animal shows and this seemed like a unique presentation. Oh well….all reasons to rebook.

 

Speaking of rebooking, we plan to sit with the Future Cruise Consultant and pick our 25th wedding anniversary cruise for later this year. Our eye has been on the South America, or the Baltic cruise (the one that goes up to the Arctic Circle). We both admitted to each other that we have to throw a 14 night back to back Signature class Caribbean in the mix for choices. It might not seem “25th worthy” compared to the other choices – they seem more “once in a lifetime” kind of experiences, but we both admitted to loving this cruise, and the time together doing nothing. The longest we can take is about 14 nights. We don’t want to wish our lives away, but we very much look forward to retirement and the longer cruises that will be possible then. Hubby reminds me, we don’t have to wish our lives away, we just need to wish for quick lottery winnings .

 

Back in our stateroom, we took advantage of the big TV and watched a movie (Sully). I like that HAL finally leaped into 2009 (that’s sarcasm) and upped the technology. On our stateroom TV we have a selection of TV shows and movies (think of choices similar to an airplane). We can also see the restaurant menus, including the daily MDR menu. We can book specialty restaurants, and check our onboard account (but I don’t want to see that yet!).

 

The TV is just one change of the many we’re noting. In fact, we’re making a list of observations, all of the changes we’ve seen over the years. Some are instantly apparent, and others seem to have slowly evolved. We’ve been playing a game, imaging ourselves time traveling from the Maasdam in 1997 to the Eurodam in 2017. What changes do we see? I’ll post more about that as we wrap up the week.

[WeLoveCruising]

Haven't caught up on all your posts yet but enjoying reading your reports.

Left the Eurodam on 14th after some very rough weather hope the seas are once more calm and your days ahead sunny.

The Eurodam was not our favourite ship but being in a regular balcony cabin and not having any of the suites luxury touches may have influenced our view of the ship. We ate too often in the lido buffet .. never a good idea just stress from start to finish. Do you have a restaurant allocated for lunch in a suite.

Presume your cabana is on the upper deck and not round the pool. Who would pay to be behind a curtain on the lido deck. Have you used the retreat on Princess for a comparison.

 

Yikes, I heard a few people talking about the rough weather on your cruise. I'm sorry that you had that experience.

 

There isn't a lunch specific restaurant for suite passengers, but sometimes the Pinnacle Grill and Tamarind are open (for a fee) to any passenger. I think the Main Dining room is also open on sea days. At least that is the way it once was, we've been eating lunch in the Lido for years. I'm sorry that it was stressful - I dont think HAL does a good job of providing instructions for those who havent sailed, or used the Lido much. The lines can be confusing, and on sea days it can be hard to find a table. We havent ever had any issues on port days, and on sea days we just eat a little early, or a little late - or grab pizza or a burger vs the main Lido line. I do wish they explained the layout and flow better.

 

Yes -our cabana is up top. Some people like the Lido cabanas near the pool, the ones you mention, because they're more in the action and they have a reserved spot for the week (vs people reserving chairs). I much prefer our area, though. We're a longer walk to the food area, but our cabana team will go to get us anything we want - to the point we feel lazy and guilty for asking them to do that (that's just me, of course they are eager to help).

 

I havent had a cabana on Princess, although I've seen some of the private cabana areas touring an NCL ship and they were quite nice.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I am looking forward to seeing the list of changes that you have noted.

I laughed when I read you mentioning about movies on airplanes. For the first time last year flying from San Diego to Pittsburgh, we were on such an old plane that there wasn't any movie.

[marycruz]

So, what is advertised is an "assortment of soft, medium, and firm" pillows. I asked if we had choices and they told me there are different types in the room. If we want more of one type vs another we could request them. We do have (I'm counting them now) 6 bed pillows in pillow cases on our bed. Sure enough some are soft, some firm, and some medium (feeling a little bit like Goldilocks as I write this).

 

Between all of them, both hubby and I have no problem finding the right combination for each of us.

 

Thanks! We like soft and medium down pillows so I guess we will like those.

[WeLoveCruising]

I am looking forward to seeing the list of changes that you have noted.

I laughed when I read you mentioning about movies on airplanes. For the first time last year flying from San Diego to Pittsburgh, we were on such an old plane that there wasn't any movie.

 

That's an old plane! It reminds me of one of our first cruises, which left from Aruba. The cruise included free air, which was a charter flight out of Miami on an airline called Rich International. It was 1992, but the plane seemed at least 25-30 years old. It had wood paneling inside, and harvest gold / avocado seats. I cant believe we actually agreed to go ahead with the flight, other than we were pretty young and naive at the time.

[MisterBill99]

Hi Bill

 

We definitely have the B menus, and the Le Cirque dinner. Hope that helps.

Thanks! So I'm going to push the theory that Le Cirque = B menus and Du Librije = A menus, until someone shows otherwise.

 

I'll find out what set I have in March. I'm now thinking it will be A, rather than B (just as I expected you'd have A, based on alternating weeks from POA1's cruise in December).

Edited January 19, 2017 by MisterBill99

[marycruz]

That's an old plane! It reminds me of one of our first cruises, which left from Aruba. The cruise included free air, which was a charter flight out of Miami on an airline called Rich International. It was 1992, but the plane seemed at least 25-30 years old. It had wood paneling inside, and harvest gold / avocado seats. I cant believe we actually agreed to go ahead with the flight, other than we were pretty young and naive at the time.

 

One of our first cruises was out of Aruba also and it was in the early nineties. I wonder if it was the same cruise ship! Our was the Ocean Breeze and it was a small ship and we really liked it at the time.

[WeLoveCruising]

One of our first cruises was out of Aruba also and it was in the early nineties. I wonder if it was the same cruise ship! Our was the Ocean Breeze and it was a small ship and we really liked it at the time.

 

Yes - that's the same one!

OceanBreeze on the old Dolphin Cruise line. We did a 7 night Aruba to Aruba itinerary for our honeymoon. We liked it very much, too. It was an older ship, but the food and service were very good.

[marycruz]

Yes - that's the same one!

OceanBreeze on the old Dolphin Cruise line. We did a 7 night Aruba to Aruba itinerary for our honeymoon. We liked it very much, too. It was an older ship, but the food and service were very good.

 

That's amazing! I remember how much we liked the made to order breakfast food on that cruise. Piping hot pancakes and such.

 

There was a large senior group from Florida on our cruise and that was half the ship. Only 600 if I remember correctly and half were the "flying flamingos" from a Florida retirement community.

[WeLoveCruising]

Day 5: At Sea

 

Quick update today, because it was a day of more of the same.

 

We managed to catch the entire BB King show tonight - the fact that my husband got up to dance is a testament to both the quality of the band and the strength of the drinks, haha.

 

Our retreat cabana guys gave all of the guests a home-made gift - an individual craft item made for each cabana. Ours was a really cute little model of chairs and bistro table made from wine corks and bottle caps. They had our names labeled on it, and our cabana name and date. Other guests got similar but different personalized hand made gifts. I am sure this was of their own doing, vs a HAL sponsored gift. That, and the time they clearly put into it, was very special. I cant say enough good things about this team of young men who take care of us every day at the cabana.

[WeLoveCruising]

Day 6: At Sea

 

(Miscellaneous Stuff)

 

Art Tour

One of the things we always do ahead of time is download the ship's art tour from the HAL website. If you're not familiar with this, HAL does an audio tour that guides you through some of the more notable pieces of art on each ship. They're easy to download, and easy to follow once you're onboard. Most start in the Explorations Cafe, and tell you exactly where to pause, and where to walk to next.

 

Like the other ships in the fleet, Eurodam is full of little surprises. Most of these things I would have just passed by without much thought, so I appreciate the chance to learn more about them.

 

Here are some examples. Each stairwell onboard is considered a "Vertical Art Gallery". The forward, aft, and center stairs each have their own theme. The Aft staircase is full of paintings of international harbors from the 1600's (and we learned a story about the artist). The theme of the center stairway is Rembrandt, and the theme of the forward is paintings of HAL ships from Captain Card.

 

There are too many little things to mention, but another example is glass panels in the Lido to outline Canaletto. The glass panels all depict a different scene in Italy, and are made with a laser technique using 14K gold and glass.

 

Not a part of the official audio art tour, but something we've appreciated are the photography in the ship's passenger room hallways. There are photographs of cruising of day's past - today we got some iced tea and strolled around our Deck 7, looking at photos of passengers as far back as 1906 and as recent as the 1990's. The photos show suites, lounges, pools, and the dining room and really give a fun glimpse into old style cruising. Again, these are photos we would have walked by dozens of times without paying much attention. Once one caught our eye, we were hooked to go view them all.

 

I'm typing this up as we're getting ready to depart Key West and head back to FLL. It's been a wonderful cruise, and I'll summarize over the weekend some final thoughts, as well as share the list we had fun making, of all the changes we noted in the last 20 years.

[POA1]

Thanks for your posts!

[freestyling]

Thanks for the art tour suggestion. We have yet to try that on any of our past HAL cruises. We will this April!

[canadianbear]

I love doing the art tours-you do learn & see a lot normally you would pass by.

 

Can't believe your week is almost over. As much as you like longer cruising, these 7 day ones may be more convenient living closer now.

 

Thanks for taking us along and looking forward to your finals thoughts etc.

 

 

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[SeaWatch]

Sounds awesome!

 

 

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[easyboy]

Thanks for highlighting the art works. Didn't notice its themes.