Review of Jan 7 - 21 Eurodam cruise

[Jinty684]

I just finished back to back cruises on the Eurodam and had a fantastic time. I’ll give some overall comments and then comment specifically on each week as they were quite different – but both were excellent. Be forewarned, this is a long review :)

 

The first week was the cruise that we won in bingo last year on the Oosterdam. We decided to add the second week as the Eurodam was doing two different itineraries with only Half Moon Cay being on both. First week was Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Maarten and HMC. The second week was HMC, Grand Cayman, Cozumel and Key West. Overall the weather was cooler and more overcast that in previous years but much nicer than the minus 25 degrees C that we left behind in Toronto!

 

The first week was just my cousin and I – this is our fourth cruise together and we travel very well together (so much so, that’s she’s just moved in with me permanently!) We have a lot of common interests and it’s very easy to travel with her. We were joined the second week by my best friend and her husband, plus a mutual friend of my cousin and I. We had a verandah guarantee for the first week and assigned room the second week (because there were three of us in the room).

 

Week 1 -

We flew into Fort Lauderdale the day before the cruise and stayed at the Extended Stay hotel – great location, clean rooms but not fancy. We were very close to the port,Walgreens, Total Wine etc. :) The next morning we took their shuttle ($4 per person) to the port and checked in. There was some sort of delay in embarkation,but we were on and in our cabin by shortly after noon. We met our room stewards (Frank and I can’t remember his partner’s name) and they were great. We never wanted for anything and rooms were made up early every day. Great stewards….

 

Sailing out of Fort Lauderdale was windy and bumpy. Captain Timmers said that we would be bumpy for 2 or 3 hours but he lied :) We actually had quite rough seas for the entire next day, which was a sea day. This is my 7th cruise and I have to say that this was the longest, roughest I’ve experienced.

We had early fixed seating and had the great pleasure of eating with 3 couples that sail together each year…two couples from Virginia and one from Illinois. We had such fun with them every day….I hope to see them on a future cruise again. Our dining room steward was Roy and his assistant Bagas – they, like all HA crew, were fantastic. Loved meeting for dinner each night with this group. I loved the food (I’m not terribly picky – don’t do seafood or spicy though) at all the meals.

 

We didn’t plan to do much at any of the stops this week, as this was to be our R & R week. We sat on the beach at Grand Turk, wandered around old San Juan, didn’t leave the pier at St. Maarten, but visited the shops there and had some beach time at HMC. As an aside, the weather at HMC started out sunny, but after a couple of hours rain set in and then it got sunny again towards the end of our visit. We bailed when we saw the dark skies and made it back to the ship just as the skies opened.

 

We only went to one show in the main theatre (wanted to wait and see the shows with our friends the following week) and it was terrible –Fantastic Patrick, who was anything but….. We spent a lot of time in BB Kings. This band was new to us and in fact, we spoke with the female leadsinger and this was her first contract. They were superb musicians and singers, but they seemed somewhat stiff and didn’t interact with the audience much the first week. I really missed seeing Carlos and Ashley sing– they are still my favourite BB Kings singers and I hope to see them again….but having said that, the band we saw was very good and the place was packed most nights. The Billboard piano players were also very good and played to standing room only most nights. I didn’t go to the Lincoln Centre but I was told by my dinner mates that they were excellent. Our cruise director was Nick and his assistant was Joup(?) – enjoyed both of them – very pleasant and friendly.

 

My cousin and I like the casino and bingo – the first week, both venues were half empty – I’m not sure if that was due to the movement of the ship keeping people away, or if there weren’t many gamblers that week. That certainly changed in week 2 – both were well attended all week.

 

So, we were well rested when we returned to FLL to await our friends to join us.

 

Week 2 –

We had to change rooms but HAL made it very easy forus. We moved from 7090 to 7027 – aft portside to forward starboard side…….I made the wrong turn from the elevator for days after the move! :) We just had to pack up our loose stuff and the stewards moved everything from the closets plus our bags to the new room. We were told we needed to be off the ship from 9:30 until about 11 so we hopped a cab and went shopping. Bought some wine and some birthday supplies as my best friend would be celebrating her birthday onboard. We walked back to the hotel we had stayed at the previous weekend and asked if we could use their shuttle again, and they said yes :) So $4 each later we were brought back to our ship. Friends arrived at about 12:15 and were basically able to check in and board immediately.

 

Our room stewards this week were (believe it or not) Andi and Handi….and again, couldn’t have asked for any better. They had to deal with three in our room and they always had it looking great. I’m not sure that I’ll ever want to sail with three in a room again, but we did have plenty of storage and sleeping space. But when the sofa bed is made up, the room is full of beds.

 

 

We had a table for 6 in the dining room (early fixed again) and our steward was Adlip and his assistant was the wonderful Erhlickman. Erhlickman was such a character and had us in stitches every night. I purchased one of the wine packages this week for our table and Alex, our wine steward was so very helpful and knowledgeable. Donna’s birthday was celebrated with champagne and a whole birthday cake from the kitchen….plus she was serenaded by the stewards. I think she enjoyed it! Again, loved the foodand so did my friends. They had escargot as an appetizer one night and on the second last night we asked Adlip if Mike and Donna could get it again on the last night….he said he’d check and lo and behold, a plate of escargot appeared before each of them on the final night.

 

Ports – unfortunately, we were not able to stop at HMC as the swells were too high. This was very disappointing to my friends that hadn’t cruised before. We ended up with two sea days to start and as in the first cruise, they were a little bumpy. The weather was overcast in Grand Cayman, but warm enough. We did two tours with Captain Marvins – Hell/TurtleFarm followed by a one stop snorkel/Stingray City tour. The water was very warm and this was enjoyed by all. In Cozumel we also did a private tour – had a jeep plus our own tour guide, Pancho, who seemed to know everyone on the island. Only four of us took the tour, so we fit in one jeep and visited a tequila factory, chocolate factory, Mayan ruins, lighthouse and finished with dinner in a beachside restaurant. Weather was on the cooler side and very windy, but a nice day was had by all. In Key West, Mike and Donna took a HAL tour kayaking in the mangroves that they enjoyed and the rest of us did the hop on hop off trolley. Skies were cloudy and cooler than normal, but pleasant.

 

We saw several shows in the main theatre – two with the Eurodam singers and dancers and they were very good. One guest performer, Live Wire I think theywere called very excellent (Irish family band – really good musicians and singers) and there was a magician that people seemed to enjoy. BB Kings were still excellent and were standing room only (and seemed to be loosening up a bit by the end of the week) as were the other performers on the ship.

 

Of my three friends, I think my best friend and her husband will cruise again – once they got their bearings, they took advantage of much of what was going on onboard and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I don’t think my other friend will cruise again :)

 

Disembarkation was pretty painless. We did the self embarkation and were off and through customs very quickly. The government was shut down and I don’t know if that had anything to do with them only having 3 agents on duty, but I expect those coming after us were faced with long lines and delays.

 

So, once again, we had a fantastic trip and have already booked for next year. As always, we find the crew on board to be one of our highlights on these cruises, and this one was no exception. In addition to the staff I mentioned earlier, I want to give a shout out to Lorne, waffle maker extraordinaire in the Lido. Always cheerful, laughing and chatty and made killer crepes and waffles! Also want to mention that Nick the cruise director left the ship after the first week and was replaced by a woman, Kelly - she was very nice and we enjoyed her too.

[kftw]

Thanks for writing a review!

[kazu]

Great review :)

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to share with us :)

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review!

[Jinty684]

One thing happened that I thought was interesting/strange and I may need Copper John to confirm my suspicions. We were hanging over our balcony as all aboard time was approaching in St. Maarten watching people hurry back to the ship. All aboard was I think, 3:30. Just before 3:30 a police van came up the pier and parked by the gangway. Various golf carts with on shore staff came too and we could see shore staff coming and going, as well as 2 or 3 HAL security officers coming off the ship, speaking with the police and then returning. About 10 minutes after we should have left, one of the police officers got out of the van and went up the gangway. A minute later, he returned with a man and a woman pulling their luggage behind them. There was a conversation between this couple (the man was doing most of the talking judging by his arm movements) and security staff as well the shore staff. After 5 minutes or so, the couple turned and walked down the pier with their luggage.

 

Our theory is that they were put off the ship for some reason because if they were leaving due to a family emergency, then why wait until everyone had embarked (therefore no guests in the area) and why were police involved? I also believe that HAL would have at least provided a shuttle for them to the taxi stand rather than have them do it on foot.....

 

Any theories anyone? Copper John?

[Saphire]

Great review, thank you!

[HALrunner]

We were on the same sailing and are glad to hear you made the most of the weather on week two! It's a shame you missed the comedian the first week! I think his name was Kevin Jordan and he was one of the better we have seen on HAL ships. Poor Fantastic Patrick....he was like the class clown who occasionally is funny, but generally just.....not.

I'm curious to know the story with the St. Maartin couple who disembarked. We noticed quite a few "characters" both weeks- it was a people watching feast for the eyes! Not at all like the typical HAL crowd we are used to.

I'm glad you were able to escape the Canadian cold and make some wonderful memories with your cousin and friends!

[Cruizer Bill]

Sounds like you had a good time - great! Thanks much for writing your review.

[erewhon]

Thank you for reviewing your Eurodam cruise.

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Thank you for your review. My first HAL cruise will be in a few months on the Eurodam. I love your writing style and I only have one request.... More please :)

[Keith1010]

Terrific review and glad you had a fantastic cruise. Nice that you are booked for next year too.

 

Keith

[Tiggipaws]

Great review. We loved the Eurodam, lovely ship

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise so much that you have booked another one.

It definitely sounds like that couple did something wrong on the ship. If it had been an emergency for them to leave, the police would not have been there and guest services would have arranged transportation for them and you would have seen a port agent there helping them.

[cvpends]

Thanks for the review. We look forward to experiencing Eurodam for the first time this May.

[easyboy]

Thank you for your review!

 

 

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[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for posting your review.

Glad you had an enjoyable cruise.

[Ethel78]

I was on the second week of this cruise, and the weather was disappointing. I have never cruised in January, is it typical to have cool, windy and rainy weather this time of year?