Eurodam Alaska - All the menus were different! - semi-review

[kcmachinist]

Hello Linaeve, I just got off the Eurodam today and wanted to second a couple of your points. The food was hit or miss, I used to be a room service fiend, especially breakfast, but the fruit plate was exactly as you described and the eggs were terrible, I got a good laugh at the discussion about the "fried potatoes", the McDonald's version is twice the size of that thing. I did not order breakfast again and didn't have to, the MDR had a fantastic breakfast menu and we went from that point on. I will say that room service was always prompt and they were quick to collect the dishes when called, all orders were exactly as described and complete, nothing was ever missing. However, it was nothing to write home about either, not enough to justify the service charges and it's not just cruises, I've had disappointing service at various hotels lately, maybe it's just a luxury on it's last leg.

 

I am not a fan of the lido so I can't comment much on that, but the few meals we had were good and the service was surprisingly adequate despite many complaints I've read since the new layout. My party chose not to eat in the specialty dining restaurants, even though I would have personally. I LOVED the hamburger place, fantastic burgers, they cook to order and my requests were usually pretty close.

 

MDR: they finally have anytime dining figured out, by the time we arrived each evening at 8, the upper level had just been cleared from fixed dining and we were seated there almost every night, which worked out great as it's our preferred location. The service was impeccable and not at all chaotic like the way recent reviews have described, so I don't know, maybe the later hour worked better as it was often not full and beginning to empty out. The food though was nothing to write home about. Desserts were always fantastic and so were the soups, but the entree's were bland, portions small, not necessarily a problem for me, but why scrimp on the sides? I can understand cutting back on the meat/fish, but most of the time the plate had vast empty spaces, and they had to resort to using the sauce or gravy to cleverly cover it up. None of the meats were good and I finally stopped ordering, the nicest thing I can say about the veal dish is that the person responsible for ordering it should be fired, never have I had that bad of a cut of veal in my life.

 

The ship was fantastic, very impressed, and will sail the Eurodam again. The service was equally good, can't think of one time that I wasn't greeted, more on that in my own review.

 

While we had no problem with where we docked in Juneau, the new port in Sitka was terrible, I hate tendering, but at least when we used to do that it dropped us off right in town. I don't mean to make light of the missed port but you probably would have been disappointed with that aspect had you been able to go there; we certainly were, as we had looked forward to Sitka more than any other, but had to skip it due to various mobility issues for everyone in our party.

 

Anyway, I just wanted to get some thoughts out there while they were fresh, and I will have more specifics when I post my own review.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Hello Linaeve, I just got off the Eurodam today and wanted to second a couple of your points. The food was hit or miss, I used to be a room service fiend, especially breakfast, but the fruit plate was exactly as you described and the eggs were terrible, I got a good laugh at the discussion about the "fried potatoes", the McDonald's version is twice the size of that thing. I did not order breakfast again and didn't have to, the MDR had a fantastic breakfast menu and we went from that point on. I will say that room service was always prompt and they were quick to collect the dishes when called, all orders were exactly as described and complete, nothing was ever missing. However, it was nothing to write home about either, not enough to justify the service charges and it's not just cruises, I've had disappointing service at various hotels lately, maybe it's just a luxury on it's last leg.

 

I am not a fan of the lido so I can't comment much on that, but the few meals we had were good and the service was surprisingly adequate despite many complaints I've read since the new layout. My party chose not to eat in the specialty dining restaurants, even though I would have personally. I LOVED the hamburger place, fantastic burgers, they cook to order and my requests were usually pretty close.

 

MDR: they finally have anytime dining figured out, by the time we arrived each evening at 8, the upper level had just been cleared from fixed dining and we were seated there almost every night, which worked out great as it's our preferred location. The service was impeccable and not at all chaotic like the way recent reviews have described, so I don't know, maybe the later hour worked better as it was often not full and beginning to empty out. The food though was nothing to write home about. Desserts were always fantastic and so were the soups, but the entree's were bland, portions small, not necessarily a problem for me, but why scrimp on the sides? I can understand cutting back on the meat/fish, but most of the time the plate had vast empty spaces, and they had to resort to using the sauce or gravy to cleverly cover it up. None of the meats were good and I finally stopped ordering, the nicest thing I can say about the veal dish is that the person responsible for ordering it should be fired, never have I had that bad of a cut of veal in my life.

 

The ship was fantastic, very impressed, and will sail the Eurodam again. The service was equally good, can't think of one time that I wasn't greeted, more on that in my own review.

 

While we had no problem with where we docked in Juneau, the new port in Sitka was terrible, I hate tendering, but at least when we used to do that it dropped us off right in town. I don't mean to make light of the missed port but you probably would have been disappointed with that aspect had you been able to go there; we certainly were, as we had looked forward to Sitka more than any other, but had to skip it due to various mobility issues for everyone in our party.

 

Anyway, I just wanted to get some thoughts out there while they were fresh, and I will have more specifics when I post my own review.

 

I understand what you mean about an out of town port vs tendering right into town. I used to prefer when had to tender in St Thomas (QE2 and Norway) because we were right in the middle of everything, no taxi needed. I know from my pre-cruise research that the Sitka dock is not in town. How far is it, and what sort of transportation was available?

[styles27]

I understand what you mean about an out of town port vs tendering right into town. I used to prefer when had to tender in St Thomas (QE2 and Norway) because we were right in the middle of everything, no taxi needed. I know from my pre-cruise research that the Sitka dock is not in town. How far is it, and what sort of transportation was available?

 

 

I honestly didn't think it was bad. We were there on the May 6th sailing

 

As soon as we walked off the ship and up the hill to the building there were plenty of free buses waiting to take us to town. I didn't time it but I would estimate it was 10 min or less.

 

I really didn't think anything of it. This was our first Alaska cruise so I didn't know this wasn't the normal Sitka dock.

 

 

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[GK09]

Wait, NO SALMON ON THE ROOM SERVICE MENU!?!?!? I'm scheduled to take my 4th Alaskan cruise with HAL and the salmon was a favorite! NOOOOOOO!!!!

I'm okay with the different docks because I've seen the ports. Would rather walk and see different areas, but, for those with mobility issues, the cruise should provide shuttles for free, IMHO. But to remove the salmon?! Maybe it was just for that sailing and it will be back?

[RMLincoln]

Thanks to the OP for sharing experiences, expectations and disappointments.

 

Princess, NCL, and Celebrity all have very limited room service breakfasts, I think no hot items at all, just a very basic continental selection of pastries, muffins, toast, coffee and tea, maybe cereal. At least that's what I remember from my cruises on those lines which were a few years ago. And on NCL, other than continental breakfast door knob tags, they charge $7.95 per room service order.

 

I think now HAL charges for smoked salmon and eggs Benedict for breakfast, $4.95 per order. Last cruise we were on there was plenty of smoked salmon on the Lido, along with other types of smoked fish in the Dutch Breakfast which was a small area on the end counter; I think they put this spread out especially for the Dutch officers but I enjoyed it many days. Good breads too, cheeses and cold meats.

 

My point is that the cruise ship lines are all cutting back on room service or charging more for it, but HAL has continued to lag and recently began this compromise now in place with a fewer items on the menu and some up-charges. It's been out now for most of 2017 or maybe longer on some ships.

Many of us miss the old days, and have had to adjust our expectations... some people have moved on to other lines such as Oceania or maybe Cunard which I think still has room service like HAL used to. I have learned about some of the newer "gotchas" from this forum so I"m not surprised, although I may still be disappointed.

 

As for the docking issues and the shuttles: It is very upsetting that there was no information communicated prior to leaving the ship about the need for and cost of shuttles, most especially for ship excursions. I know that sometimes berths are reassigned but there is no reason not to inform the passengers of the impacts of last minute changes. I'm sorry that happened to you and yours. To me one of the nicest things about the Alaska itinerary is that they usually dock in town, but I see now that is not a given, and nor could it be expected that HAL will take up the slack. Too bad, I think this is a form of service that most HAL cruisers would have expected in years gone by, but alas not so much anymore.

 

I do hope you can find a happy way to enjoy for future vacations, possibly an all-inclusive resort? I doubt the cruise lines will be going back to the way it used to be, the changes are here to stay and more will come as long as people fill the ships. m--

[GK09]

Charge for room service? Ouch! That was one of the fun perks of cruising over a typical hotel stay. Not happy with the changes, especially when the cruises seem to be getting more expensive again.

[Herfnerd]

Just got done telling my wife about everyone's experience with the breakfast room service and she's disappointed , especially with the lack of salmon that she loves on Carnival.

 

Just curious about ordering breakfast from the MDR and having it delivered - what are the hours this can happen and anyone have a general idea how soon it can be delivered? With several early morning port arrivals, we're just curious.....

 

 

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