RevNeal's LIVE Eurodam Report

[thomasale]

Kids should not be allowed on HAL ships, let them take Disney or RCCL since I hate that line, also for what I have been reading from Rev Neal, the 'Euro'dam is a disaster including the service...

 

This guy really needs his own line...REALLY

[thomasale]

I think you are correct in your assessment of the trend in HAL's reasoning, however I think they should be taking measures to please both groups. Maybe if they strictly enforced the rules regarding the "adults only" pool and had a few adult designated areas that were also strictly enforced (including a dining area), then both the passengers with children and the older passengers who want a quiet, peaceful experience could coexist happily.

 

Now there is a sensible approach...you will however have those parents who want there children to experience the "adult enviroment"...answer should be that will be fine when they are adults...but to ban children entirely from the ships would be wrong IMHO...Yeahhhhhhhh for Sapper1

[boneslides]

Thank you for taking the time to share your vacation and impressions with us. I have enjoyed reading of your adventures and look forward to more photos and your final review.

 

Safe travels home!

 

~D

[tamsno]

Rev. Neal

I want to add my thanks to you for your time and talent sharing your cruise experiences and "life lessons." I'm excited for the upcoming 3-Day NY Eurodam voyage. I was new to CC earlier this year and enjoyed reading all your reports on the Volendam and Panama Canal before my April trip. I will again be on the Volendam in March Auckland to Hong Kong and receive my 100 day medallion. I agree it is a lovely, well run ship and I hope to have another wonderful HAL trip. It's been a pleasure to ride along with you. Have a safe trip home. :)

Cindy

[aussiedisneyfan]

RevNeal, thanks so much for your informative travel blog, it certainly has gone fast, especially since I only started reading last week.

 

Now on to my professional comment as a CPA with 45 years of tax experience in the metro NY (as in overtaxed) area. Here is a link to a Wikipedia table of comparative tax rates around the world. The top Swedish marginal rate is actually roughly 60 %. Which means that once you get above a certain point of income the federal Swedish government takes 60 cents on the dollar.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax_rates_around_the_world

 

 

Thanks, that was actually interesting. Australia also has a compulsory Medicare levy of 1.5% on top of income tax for the public medical system and if you earn over a certain amount and don't have private health insurance then you have to pay another 1%. We don't have state taxes though.

[satchiesmom]

RevNeal,

Add me to the list of folks who have read your wonderful posts of your experiences on the Eurodam. I have looked forward to each new episode and enjoyed them all. Thank you so much. Your photographs are stunning!

[robsta]

Greg,

 

It's been great reading your posts and seeing your pictures. I am actually looking forward to the being on the Eurodam in Novemeber. We have a couple from our church that will be going with us so I think it's going to be a great vacation. Thanks so much and God bless. :)

[kryos]

RevNeal,

Add me to the list of folks who have read your wonderful posts of your experiences on the Eurodam. I have looked forward to each new episode and enjoyed them all. Thank you so much. Your photographs are stunning!

And add me as well. Thank you so much for your generosity in taking me along on your wonderful trip. It is most appreciated.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[Mary Ellen]

As someone who was along for the ride, thank you for chronicling our trip with you. Right now we're in the SAS lounge at the CPH airport waiting for our flights home. It will be great to finally get home.

 

Oh, for those who dined with us the last 10 nights of the cruise, our overnight in CPH also involved broken glass - QUITE a bit of it (actually mirror). We had some noisy neighbors and apparently one of them went into the mirrors at the end of the hallway (right outside our room). We were awakened about 5-5:30 am by the sound of it shattering.

 

I'll have to write up our views of the cruise. To sum it up: The crew was wonderful trying to work under the circumstanes, but the ship isn't for us. It will take extraordinary circumstances to ever get us back on the E'dam. As I stated in my comments on the HAL questionaire for the last 10-days "If this had been my first HAL cruise, it would also have been my last".

[Spender Nui]

Add me to the list of those who sailed along with you. Thanks.

[Susie51]

I hope you are safely home now. Will you be preaching tomorrow or do get a day to unwind?

[happyglobetrotter]

Hi Greg,

It was nice seeing you on board, even if it was just briefly.

I hope the weather will continue to be nice for the rest of the journey.

Just a quick warning if you disembark in Copenhagen.

Getting a cab was plain awful...waiting in line would take at least over 1 hour.

There were 4 big cruise-ships in Freehavn and another at Langelinien, so a big lack of cabs.

We decided to walk to the road next to the terminal and got a cab there. So either take the HAL transfer to the airport or try to book a cab in advance.

 

If you travel with one medium suitcase and one hand luggage on wheels, you can also walk 5 minutes to the entrance of the port, on the right, there is a yellow bus stop. You can then take bus 26 - the only one coming there - and by buying a 4 zones ticket @ 40 Dkr or about $8 each you can get to the airport (I mean right INSIDE the airport). All you have to do is go from the bus stop 26 (every 10-15 minutes) to the main train station and then take the train to the Kastrupp Airport from track 6. They run every 20 minutes. The train is very luxurious and air conditionned, new seats, clean and confortable. There is room for your suitcases and it is safe.

 

We did it on July 25th, there were at least 5 other couples who did it as well as they did not want to wait in the extremely long queue for the taxis.

 

The secret : travel light.

 

Louise

[happyglobetrotter]

WOW! That step is really a bad accident waiting to happen. I hope you and Ruth are OK after tripping on it. I hope they fix it before I get aboard because I would surely trip there too.

 

Thanks for the pictures. It looks like a great time was had at the Meet and Greet and I love Brian and Scotty and the tape measure. Great job!

 

By the way there are also 2 steps at 2 different locations leading to the Explorers Lounge bar and I tripped and fell on one of them.... I just did not see it. None of the other Explorers' lounge on HAL have steps in that room so I was not looking...

 

On the advice of the staff, I went to the infirmary to report the incident, even if not seriously hurt. While in the infirmary, I saw another woman who had fell on another non evident steps in Lido and she had sprained her ankle. The big question we had : why did they put all these somewhat dangerous steps all over the ship ???

 

The report we filled out the nurse and I to be sent to Seattle might give results (ramps, better warning, etc.) We will see.

 

 

Louise

[happyglobetrotter]

Yes. :(

 

 

It can also mean any type of medical emergency. It signals the medical staff where to report....

 

It is not necessarily a death.

[happyglobetrotter]

My DH and I were on the inaugural 20 days and I echo Mary Ellen impressions. It is a wonderful ship, there are things we like a lot on her and things we would prefer not to see...we are not sure we will use her again but we are glad we went and experienced her.

 

The crew was wonderful, we did not encounter any major problems but we do also feel that the Lido, the Explorations cafe and the dining room are too crowded. When we experienced a 'too cold' cabin, the problem was attended to within 2 hours.

 

HAL has a fleet of 14 ships, so we are free to choose on which one we want to sail. The Rotterdam was doing a similar itinerary at the same time than the Eurodam in the Baltic. So there is a ship for all tastes.

 

While on the cruise someone told me that she had been on the Maasdam 2 years ago and thought that it was an OLD ship. She loved the Eurodam.

 

We will be sailing on the Maasdam again soon and we love her much better, again it is a matter of taste.

 

The cruise was great - the staff was working their heart out to provide the best service thay could. They actually have 2 more cabins to do, more tables to attend to, etc. with the same pay. Their long hours are just longer on these large ships.

 

The food was excellent, the service very friendly and sincere, the staff went a mile to make everybody happy !

 

There are some details that need work, but none of the cruises we have been on have been perfect.

 

All and all, the Eurodam inaugural 20 days has been a delight.

 

Not sure it is for us but there is a clientele for her.

 

Louise

 

PS I agree that they should remove the Lido cabanas !!! This is my final grain of salt (but the subject has been discussed too much already).

[happyglobetrotter]

He can still eat first and after his meal he can go there with you and have a drink while you eat !!!

 

Only watching those Indonesian girls give you such a great warm service is a treat by itself.

[cruiseluv]

Could you elaborate, what do you mean that there were "things we would prefer not to see"? Also, when you say the dining room was crowded, are you saying that the tables were closer to each other (as compared to other HAL ships), or that you had to wait to be accommodated?

 

I really would appreciate clarification. We will be on Eurodam on 8/14. Obviously, too late to do anything about it, but I like to know in advance what to expect.

 

Thank you for any further details.

[RevNeal]

I'm home.

Ugh!

It wasn't a bad flight, though.

Quiet.

The transfer at Heathrow was the most annoying part. But, otherwise, it was a fairly innocuous trip home. :)

 

And, I'm happy to be home. Dorcas greeted me with barks, whines, and moans. It's always great to know one has been missed!!! :D

 

I'm going to take a little while (today) before reading back over the thread and seeing if there is anything I need to post responses to. I'm sure there's a lot that I missed or didn't have time to respond to with any degree of adequacy. :) And, there's a remark or two (critical remarks) regarding my posting on the misbehaving children that needs to be answered. But, I'll save that for tomorrow ... right now I'm shell-shocked from having just gotten home and my head is still on Copenhagen time. :) And, I've still got worship services tomorrow morning to think about. :D

[CDRMark]

I'm home.

Ugh!

It wasn't a bad flight, though.

Quiet.

The transfer at Heathrow was the most annoying part. But, otherwise, it was a fairly innocuous trip home. :)

 

And, I'm happy to be home. Dorcas greeted me with barks, whines, and moans. It's always great to know one has been missed!!! :D

 

I'm going to take a little while (today) before reading back over the thread and seeing if there is anything I need to post responses to. I'm sure there's a lot that I missed or didn't have time to respond to with any degree of adequacy. :) And, there's a remark or two (critical remarks) regarding my posting on the misbehaving children that needs to be answered. But, I'll save that for tomorrow ... right now I'm shell-shocked from having just gotten home and my head is still on Copenhagen time. :) And, I've still got worship services tomorrow morning to think about. :D

Welcome home Padre

I am looking forward to your wrap-up.

Thank you again for the ride-along!

Cheers

Mark

[mchell810]

RevNeal

 

Welcome home.

 

If I were you I wouldn't bother responding the the critical remarks about your thoughts on children. Your posts were clear and balanced.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience on the Eurodam.

[McDebbie]

Welcome home and thank you so much for taking us on your journey!

[mamaofami]

Welcome home, Greg.

[sail7seas]

Welcome Back, Rev. Happy you are safely home.

 

[innlady1]

I'm home.

Ugh!

It wasn't a bad flight, though.

Quiet.

The transfer at Heathrow was the most annoying part. But, otherwise, it was a fairly innocuous trip home. :)

 

And, I'm happy to be home. Dorcas greeted me with barks, whines, and moans. It's always great to know one has been missed!!! :D

 

I'm going to take a little while (today) before reading back over the thread and seeing if there is anything I need to post responses to. I'm sure there's a lot that I missed or didn't have time to respond to with any degree of adequacy. :) And, there's a remark or two (critical remarks) regarding my posting on the misbehaving children that needs to be answered. But, I'll save that for tomorrow ... right now I'm shell-shocked from having just gotten home and my head is still on Copenhagen time. :) And, I've still got worship services tomorrow morning to think about. :D

 

Welcome back, Greg! I thoroughly enjoyed your "live from" reports and can't wait for the photos...yours are always the best!

Thinking of you as you unwind and get ready for your services tomorrow...it'll be here sooner than you know!

[innlady1]

BTW, what kind of dog is Dorcas? Do I recall a Basset Hound? Don't know why I thought of that....but being a huge dog lover, it seems appropriate.

The 1st thing I did after booking the Good Nuts Cruise was to email our dog sitter to make sure she's available! ;)