Quick Eurodam Review (Nov 18-29)

[SumoCitrus]

Summary: Fun Caribbean cruise on an obviously aging and understaffed ship. Food and internet were excellent. All the rest left room for improvement. Still, HAL is my favorite cruise line so far and we will be back.

 

 

Check In & Embarkation

 

As others have noticed, the Holland America Navigator App can be pretty moody. Ours was not working properly in the days leading up to the sailing so we printed our boarding passes. Turns out, we didn't need them. We boarded in a snap with just our faces (facial recognition is used) and our passports. I brought two bottles of champagne aboard but they were apparently missed as we were never charged a fee. The room key cards were in the mailbox outside the room. Boarding took maybe 5-10 minutes with no wait.

 

Cabin

 

We had a neptune suite directly across from the Neptune Lounge. The suite was fine in terms of dimensions, but when we checked in the room was not clean. We found used bar soap and dirt in the tub, clipped fingernails on the bathroom counter, and a stain on the comforter. I figured I would bring these to the attention of the cabin stewards when they made their introduction - except they never showed up! I have never been on a cruise where I did not meet my cabin stewards on day one. Our luggage was dropped off outside our cabin without notice. We unpacked and I attempted to find someone to ask about the room condition. Unfortunately, no one was available. The Neptune Lounge concierge was busy with a dozen or so people with various questions and no one answered the phone when I tried to call guest services. We went up to the Lido for lunch.

 

Overall Low Staffing and Ship Condition

 

The Eurodam is a fine ship but it is showing its age. There is rust everywhere. The ship has very stark hot and cold zones. Thankfully our cabin was cold (as we like it) the entire cruise. We received several notices during the cruise that staff would need to enter our balcony to do repair work. It was to chip and grind away corrosion. This was being done all over the ship. At times, it was loud or resulted in portions of the promenade deck being closed.

Lines at the Lido were often long and we found that recently abandoned tables were left dirty a little longer than usual - again, likely due to low staffing levels.

 

When we finally met our cabin stewards the next day, they seemed new and unsure of themselves. Not what I was expecting in a Neptune Suite. We rarely got towel animals or chocolate. One day the stewards accidentally left a stack of folded sheets in our cabin. The next day they left a door stopper in the middle of the floor. I wrote a complaint using the app and the response I got was ..... frankly, inappropriate. Some supervisory employee in a white shirt knocked on the cabin door and presented both cabin stewards and asked in front of them, "are they performing to your satisfaction?" While they waited for my answer I swore I saw the female cabin steward shaking. When I told the supervisor they were great and our issues had been resolved, one let out a sigh of relief as if they had been granted some kind of stay of execution. It was bizarre.

 

Here's what the hallway looked like at 9am one day.

 

 

 

Food and Internet

 

I heard rumors that HAL cutback on food quantity and/or quality post-COVID. I did not experience this at all. In fact, the food on Eurodam is the best I've had on any ship. Portions were excellent and the food delicious. I bit the bullet and bought the internet package. I was very impressed. This ship must have been upgraded to Starlink because the internet was very fast. We were able to Facetime with no issues.

 

Entertainment

 

There isn't much to say here except that HAL ships are bascially entertainment free. The comedian they had was so bad we walked out. She treated her set like a therapy session telling people how fat, single, and miserable she was. It was awful. The rest of the entertainment consisted of some pretty generic dancers, a steel drum band, and a magician who pulled rabbits from hats. Don't cruise HAL for the entertainment. You will be disappointed.

 

More Ship Issues

 

Toward the end of the cruise, more than half of the midship elevators were broken. This made getting around tricky and made disembarkation a nightmare. I was stuck in this particular elevator for 2-3 minutes before it reset and the doors opened. They then disabled it. Again, I suspect this can be blamed on low staffing - no engineers to repair them. I was disappointed with the Neptune Lounge's limited hours. On Princess, the lounge is open 24 hours which is nice if you like late or early coffee. Our water pressure in the showers was never more than a trickle. The water pressure was better on Koningsdam.

 

 

 

Conclusion

 

We had some beautiful ports, excursions, and weather so I think this cruise was a good one. Even with all the headaches, HAL is still a fine line that I will recommend. Very few kids on this cruise but a lot of people with mobility issues so pick your poison. While you won't be tripped up by some zooming whipper snapper, you will likely be blocked by someone walking with a cane or other assistance. If HAL made cutbacks post-COVID they aren't too obvious with the actual product which remains fine. Instead, you may notice service decline and delays relating to understaffed ships.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 30, 2023 by SumoCitrus

[Roz]

Thank you for an honest review. 

[canadarocks]

Thank you for the review. A little disheartening but I appreciate your honesty. Can I ask why the post of the empty hallway at 9am? I’m obviously missing something?

 

Just realized you were probably showing no morning room cleaning… 

Edited November 30, 2023 by canadarocks

[0106]

Thank you for your review.  If my cabin was not properly cleaned, I would immediately use the “let us know” feature on the Navigator app.  If a supervisor brought the cabin stewards to the door, I would immediately request an in person meeting with the hotel manager to inform them that this was not an acceptable way to treat employees.  You were very gracious. 

[Crew News]

Thanks for your review. 

 

I will be aboard in February and a new Captain is transferring from the Nieuw Amsterdam as part of the senior staff new rotation initiative.

[seagarsmoker]

Your review reminded me of several similar items from our Eurodam cruise right before you went. Biggest difference was our Neptune suite was the opposite of your experience. The hard part for us, we felt sad seeing how bad the ship looked and obvious condition issues. Look at my signature cruise list and you'll see we've been on the Eurodam more than any other ship. Mainly because it was our favorite. Unless we read several positive reviews that it's returned to its former glory, we will not cruise on it again. 

 

[TLHB]

Hubby and I just got off of that cruise as well, and we also had a Neptune suite. Though we are close to making four star mariners, this was our first cruise since 2018 due to health issues in 2019 and then COVID stuff hitting in 2020. I will say that so many things were different and honestly disappointing since we last cruised with HAL. We missed all of the yummy gazpacho options we once got in the dining room. We missed the relaxing fountain in the thermal suite where we relaxed on the heated loungers. We missed the nightly chocolates at turn down service at night. All of these things are minor, but were noticeable. I asked about them in the Neptune lounge. I was told that HAL will be removing those fountains from thermal suites on all of their ships. That makes me sad because the sound of that water running adds to the relaxing atmosphere there. I was told that chocolates are now only given on dressy nights. Also, I forgot to mention that we didn’t have a note pad/paper or pen in our Neptune suite but we were given forms to fill out for our cabana butler service at HMC. If they want us to fill out forms, they should leave pens in the room. I agree with others that think portion sizes are smaller at meals, but I think the meals were yummy. I was sad to see all the supplemental charges required for all of the nicer dishes. I missed having those dishes available on some special nights in the dining room. We did dine at Pinnacle and Tamirand so maybe we missed that in the dining room. On all of our dining room nights there were required supplemental charges for steaks, lobster, etc.  I again want to say that we still love cruising HAL, and any day on a cruise is better than being home at work. But we did miss those special touches. 
One other thing I want to say, and I am clearly in a minority with this. I do not like the new Picnic Banas on HMC. IMO they completely ruin the beauty of that beach. You aren’t able to get a pretty photo of the ship and beautiful water from shore because those ugly inflatables are in the way. I understand though that they are a way for HAL to make money and that’s a business move. I just think they are ugly and mess up the beauty of HMC. 

[Cruise Suzy]

We were on this cruise in a Deck 7 aft bumpout Signature Suite. Our room stewards greeted us the first afternoon and told us about a balcony post that was missing it's plastic top/cover. They had reported it that morning. The next morning, it was replaced.

 

DH noticed a loose arm on one of the chairs and I noticed a loose drawer front. We mentioned those things when the stewards serviced the room in the evening. The chair and drawer were taken to be repaired and returned (replaced?) while we were at breakfast the next morning.

 

Our first 2 days were Sea Days. On the second one, the lead steward asked us to stay inside while he washed down the Plexiglass screen. We have never had such a clear view of the sea! Some days the morning service was while we were at breakfast and some days it was mid-morning before they came. The evening service was always while we were at early dinner. But we were always greeted by them as we went to meals - if not in the hall they looked up as we passed the cabin they were working in.

 

We mainly used the nearby aft elevators (especially for disembarkation) and had no problems. We had towel animals and chocolates on Thanksgiving and the 2 dressy nights. Laundry that was sent out every morning was returned that evening - never had such fast turnaround. We had a pen and a pad next to both phones.

 

Yes, we did notice some wear-and-tear, like frayed edges on some cloth upholstered furniture. But that didn't affect the usefulness. However, service in Tamarind was VERY slow - it took 30 minutes for DH's drink to be delivered and another 10 for mine. Starters arrived about 10 minutes after my drink, but the entrees weren't delivered until 25 minutes after we finished them. Desserts arrived 2 hours after we were seated!

 

I'm sorry some in Neptune Suites didn't have the service our stewards provided. And, no, we are NOT 4-star Mariners.

[0106]

39 minutes ago, TLHB said:

I do not like the new Picnic Banas on HMC. IMO they completely ruin the beauty of that beach.

Thanks for your review.  These photos are from HMC on October 21, 2023.  I was standing in the same spot and took the picture to my right and then to my left.  

 

What are the new  “picnic banas”? 

[deliver42]

I don't care how old the ship is, the cabin should never be dirty, or have anything left in it by accident by a lazy cabin attendant. I'm usually the last one to complain, but that would have been brought to somebody's attention that had the power to get it corrected. At that point, I wouldn't care who got in trouble.

[canadianbear]

We were on the Eurodam November 8-18 also in a Neptune suite. Our stewards greeted us quickly introducing themselves.  The only issue we had with our cabin is that it was freezing the next day-now I’m one that likes our cabin cold but this was freezing.  Took the technicians 2-3 days to fix it and we were told it was affecting several cabins. 
 

We had dinner in the Pinnacle and had the best service we’ve ever had.  Our waiter was fantastic and actually brought us more food than we ordered.  There were four of us and we ordered one candied bacon but he brought two.  My husband wanted rack of lamb but they only had lamb chops (??) so instead ordered scallops.  Well the waiter brought him the lamb dish & the scallop dish which Mr Bear ate it all (he’s a big guy, lol). 
 

We also ate at the Tamarind and had a fantastic server.  Our drinks were delivered promptly and our food the same. 
 

We also ate at the Canalleto which again was excellent with large  portions and good service. 
 

Luckily we did not experience any issues once the temperature improved in the cabin.  
 

OP I’m sorry your experience was different-it seemed like our room stewards were “seasoned” and yours maybe new. 

Edited December 1, 2023 by canadianbear
Spelling

[doone]

I am sorry your Neptune Suite experience wasn't what you were expecting.  My initial thought is to think that they were understaffed, but it seems you had many issues.  Unfortunately there have been so many cutback on cruising on all lines.

 

In my 30+ years of sailing on HAL I have never found any of my cabin stewards, dining room stewards, bar tenders or servers "lazy", perhaps there were sick stewards for your area and they were running understaffed or perhaps they were new, however I understood the Neptune Suite stewards are seasoned stewards.  Not making excuses, but suggesting possible other explanations........

 

 

[MISTER 67]

Everything I read here with some of it appalling re-affirms our decision not to sail with HAL any longer, we will stay with Celebrity and Princess. We are 4 Star Mariners and we are so disappointed that HAL is not the line it once was, they have lost us as loyal passengers. We love HAL ships with the Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam as our all time favorite ships but that is not enough to become loyal passengers again. Maybe some day things will get back close to who they were at on time.

Edited December 1, 2023 by MISTER 67

[SumoCitrus]

17 minutes ago, doone said:

I am sorry your Neptune Suite experience wasn't what you were expecting.  My initial thought is to think that they were understaffed, but it seems you had many issues.  Unfortunately there have been so many cutback on cruising on all lines.

 

In my 30+ years of sailing on HAL I have never found any of my cabin stewards, dining room stewards, bar tenders or servers "lazy", perhaps there were sick stewards for your area and they were running understaffed or perhaps they were new, however I understood the Neptune Suite stewards are seasoned stewards.  Not making excuses, but suggesting possible other explanations........

 

 

I also thought they would assign seasoned stewards to the neptune suites. But it didn't seem that way. Maybe they were seasoned but just very overextended.

[TLHB]

9 hours ago, 0106 said:

What are the new  “picnic banas”? 

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/new-floating-platform-available-on-carnivals-private-island/112394

[TLHB]

I want to clarify by adding that I know I’m apparently in the minority on this picnic bana topic. The other cruisers seemed very excited about them and my friend said she loves the idea. They didn’t bother hubby as much as they bothered me. I just think they take away from the beauty of the beach because they are all spread along the water so you can’t get a good photo of the ship without getting part of a bana (and the people in it) in your photo. Again, I know I’m in the minority in my opinion. I just thought I’d share it though. I look forward to sharing it in the HAL survey but I have not received that email yet. And that’s surprising to me. 

[cbr663]

Thanks for your review.  It brought me back to our very poor experience also in a NS on the Eurodam many years ago.  I swore I would never step foot on the ship again and haven't.  

 

[wdw1972]

I was on the 11/18/23 sailing as well, in a spa oceanview up on deck 10.  The stateroom was perfect, I had a pad of paper & pen <g>, and my cabin steward found me late afternoon or on my way to dinner and said he'd been trying to find me to introduce himself - I had been up in the Retreat or elsewhere.  I received chocolate 3 nights, towel animals every night (except maybe the first night) despite not requesting it. The service was great - cleaned as soon as I left in the morning, then again once I left for dinner.  

 

Agree on the comedian - she was not funny at all.  Didn't care for the magician, especially the first night - just too much unnecessary "schtick" in his act.  I always enjoy Island Magic, thought Craig Richards' show was nice, and only saw the Step One show that was new to me (the first one).  Mostly our entertainment was BB Kings, which was excellent - although that venue was definitely cold!  

 

Food was pretty much outstanding.  Made the mistake of trying MDR for lunch on embarkation day - never again!!!!  I haven't set foot in there in decades except for an occasional wine tasting, and don't plan to change that.  We did Canaletto 2x, Lido once, NY Pizza out by Seaview pool once, Pinnacle 2x and Tamarind 4-5 times.  Service was excellent in all the specialty restaurants and food quality was great.  I'm not a fan of the new Canaletto menu, but that's just me.  My travel buddy absolutely loved the big grouper filet at Canaletto (the daily special) and we both found the Tamarind meals to be a lot of food.  

 

We had one of the family cabanas in the Retreat - that's a requirement for us.  Service on embarkation day was a bit off. Stewards went missing in the afternoon.  Most likely HAL deployed them elsewhere during this busy time, but for the price we pay for the cabana this is NOT acceptable.  I used the "let us know" feature on the app and told them so.  That night at dinner (in Tamarind) a supervisor came to my table to apologize for what happened today, confirmed that was not right and they would fix this immediately.  From that point on, service was fabulous - just as it's supposed to be.  This was true not just for me (the complainer) but for everyone up there.  The three stewards hustled, attended to our needs, tried to anticipate those needs, kept busy straightening up or replenishing when not attending to guests, etc.

 

Embarkation & debarkation was a breeze - very fast. There were a few times where it took a while to get a steward to come take our drink order - typically in Tamarind Bar, once in BB Kings and once in World Stage.  That's a minor issues, as mostly we had good experiences. 

 

I thought there were more kids than normal and am not pleased with HAL's trend to attract families (kids sail free).  Most kids were fine, but it all depends on the parents.  There was a set of twins who were nightmares - literally RUNNING (with heavy, stampeding feet in spite of only appearing to be around 7-8 years old) through Lido, Crows Nest, & other public venues without regard to other passengers in their way.  Then there was a little bit older girl who would stand but then flop down hard into her seat in the World Stage - over and over and over again (bang, bang, bang).  This is all while grandpa was in the seat next to her (probably wishing he had never taken this cruise), mom & grandma ignored the behavior, and dad was so visibly disconnected (looked like he wished he was anywhere but here) from his family it was almost comical. Eventually after I said to mom "are you kidding me?" she may have told the girl to stop.  Sad.

 

Yes, there's some rust that needs attention.  Elevators seemed to have more challenges than normal remaining in service.  One of the big plexiglass panels in our cabana was broken/shattered - and it has been that way since at least last year (we were in the other family cabana then but saw this) and I sure hope it's fixed by November 2024 when we have that cabana again.  It will be noted on my survey. Also, the retractable pool roof didn't work most of the time - it remained in a partly open position the entire time except for one overnight.

 

Overall I consider it a great cruise (certainly better than being at work) and realize there will always be some imperfections or things I'd rather see done/handled differently but the positives far outweighed the negatives.

 

Sue/WDW1972

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for sharing.

[BabsinTX]

Thanks for the report.  Our first HA cruise will be on Eurodam in September 2024 to Alaska.  We'll be in a Neptune suite too.  We usually sail on Princess which is also experiencing various upcharges, downgrades, etc.  They're sad to see, but I do want cruise lines to survive.

 

We're trying HA since we don't fly, and HA has some very long round-trip cruises we'd like to do.  

[seaoma]

9 hours ago, TLHB said:

I want to clarify by adding that I know I’m apparently in the minority on this picnic bana topic. The other cruisers seemed very excited about them and my friend said she loves the idea. They didn’t bother hubby as much as they bothered me. I just think they take away from the beauty of the beach because they are all spread along the water so you can’t get a good photo of the ship without getting part of a bana (and the people in it) in your photo. Again, I know I’m in the minority in my opinion. I just thought I’d share it though. I look forward to sharing it in the HAL survey but I have not received that email yet. And that’s surprising to me. 

 

Well, that makes 2 of us.

[TLHB]

1 hour ago, seaoma said:

 

Well, that makes 2 of us.

I’m so glad to read that someone else feels that way. I just finished my HAL survey. It came by email a couple of hours ago. I definitely let them know my opinion. 

[sseibert3]

Thank you for your reviews. 

 

We will be sailing again on Eurodam mid-January '24.

 

She was our first exposure to HAL for our Alaska trip last July, and found her Service good,  Our room Stewards were great as was the Service in the MDR.  We also found the entertainment lacking and after a Show and BB King, we found ourselves occupying ourselves in other ways.  She, the Eurodam, could use some attention.  We share some of the criticisms listed above, but also many of the positive comments.  

 

We will be on the Oosterdam in Sept '24.   We are waiting until after these trips to determine if we sail with HAL again.  

 

We have sailed Princess and Royal Caribbean.

 

We like the Ideas that HAL advertises/promotes but oftentimes find the execution to be lacking, 

 

Upon saying this,  We have not been on many Cruises or Cruise Ships and don't have as much experience that many here have. 

 

We remain Hopeful.

 

Scott

[DaHam]

We sailed on the Eurodam to Alaska in August. We had a Neptune Suite and had no problems. One of the highlights of the cruise was our Neptune Concierge, Princess, who was a huge part of an amazing cruise. We are sailing with HAL, on the Oosrterdam, next September and are hoping it compares with our first experience. 

[canadianbear]

19 minutes ago, DaHam said:

We sailed on the Eurodam to Alaska in August. We had a Neptune Suite and had no problems. One of the highlights of the cruise was our Neptune Concierge, Princess, who was a huge part of an amazing cruise. We are sailing with HAL, on the Oosrterdam, next September and are hoping it compares with our first experience. 

We also had Princess, she was great!