Eurodam Review - Baltic Sea/Europe and Russia Aug 4-14, 2008

[HAL92]

Hi all, i just returned home from Copenhagen after a 10-day cruise on Holland America's Eurodam. I loved the cruise and the experience, the ports of call were awesome. But the ship was lacking in many ways compared with previous HAL experiences and I would recommend to other guests to cruise with a different line instead, this ship is definitely not worth the money!

 

I was upgraded to a deluxe verandah suite and that was probably as good as it got when it comes to the cruise line. The suite was nice, new, and well-furnished, but was considerably smaller than the "S" suites on Maasdam, Amsterdam, and even Oosterdam. Since it's a new ship i think they tried to squeeze more cabins into one space and all the rooms were smaller as a result. The Neptune Lounge was excellent, the concierge very helpful, and having the suite benefits definitely was a positive. I also really enjoyed the Tamarind Restaurant and Canaletto in the Lido, I think that moving away from having only one dining room and the Lido is a really good idea for the cruise ship. The quality of the food in the Lido, in the dining room, and especially for room service was terrible at best. It was some of the worst food I've ever had. Tamarind had excellent Asian food and Canaletto had some pretty good Italian. Having a kitchen that doesn't have to make a fixed menu dinner for 2000 people every night definitely improves the quality of the food. One day i ordered room service and they brought out a bucket of soft bait shrimp, each one about the size of my thumbnail, as well as rotten cheese and graham crackers which were supposed to be eaten with the cheese. The room service also took a really long time, about an hour from when you order it to the delivery in your cabin.

 

If you're going on Eurodam, I recommend eating at Pinnacle, Tamarind, or Canaletto every night, as the food in these places is very good. The dining room was terrible though as well as the Lido at dinner. HAL would greatly improve the onboard dining experience if they completely eliminated the main dining room and created several specialty restaurants (Asian, Italian, Spanish, Middle eastern, Steakhouse, Barbecue, etc) and had many smaller kitchens. I only ate in the dining room two out of the ten nights.

 

The showtime entertainment was decent. They had a few good performers and comedians, and the karaoke "American Idol" competition which was fun, but the cast of singers and dancers was not as impressive as previous Holland America casts on other ships.

 

Our cabin steward was very inattentive and many times forgot to do things which were requested. It may not be his fault, but compared with previous experiences on HAL, this one was lacking.

 

Another issue which isn't really HAL's fault but matters somewhat to me is that nearly everyone on the ship was middle-aged or older. I'm in my 20s and it was a bit awkward seeing nearly everyone on the ship 55 or older. When I've sailed HAL in Alaska, Caribbean, and South America in the past, there were a lot more younger people on the ship but this time we felt a bit out of place because of the demographics of the ship. I like a more elegant ship like HAL as compared with Carnival/RCCL but i guess it attracts more of the elderly people at the same time.

 

The best part of the ship itself, actually the only part that was improved over previous experiences, was the variety of restaurants. Having the option of going to Tamarind, Canaletto, or Pinnacle Grill made the food a lot more enjoyable, because I probably would have gone hungry rather than eat the garbage that was being served up at the Lido and in the dining room. Continuing this trend will help all cruise lines. Of course I still prefer HAL to most cruise lines because the ships are very elegant, well-designed, and still even with these problems have a more traditional feeling than most other lines.

 

As for the ports of call, I have nothing but positive things to say. Seeing Russia was amazing and really a once-in-a-lifetime experience that rivals nearly any place in the world. The day we were in Germany, I took the train to Berlin which I would recommend for anyone going to Warnemunde. I was pleasantly surprised by Tallinn, Estonia and Helsinki, two ports which I thought were going to be rather boring but turned out to be quite nice. We had pretty good weather the whole trip with the rainiest days being in Denmark and lots of sunshine in Russia, Sweden, and Estonia. We did not take any shore excursions with Holland America, and I really think they are all ripoffs. For example the day we were in Germany, I went on a high-speed luxury train with another couple and we were talking about how the people on the HAL tour pay several hundred dollars and ride a very old train to Berlin only to see three or four attractions. We had a private tour guide in Berlin who took us to nearly all the famous sites, much more than HAL would ever do, and the whole thing was far cheaper. Even in Russia where practically no English is spoken, I'd still recommend getting a private tour or exploring yourself, as in this region of the world the HAL tours are ripoffs IMO (in a place like Alaska it's good, so depending on the destination the shore excursions can be a good idea).

 

All in all i had a great time on the trip overall, the ship was decent but definitely lacking compared with previous HAL experiences. Next time I cruise, I'll probably try a different line. The itinerary was excellent and I'd recommend it to anyone but would also say to not go on the Eurodam. I hope Holland America isn't going downhill all together because I used to really enjoy the ships and now the quality is really going downhill. I think others probably see this as well, HAL needs to get their act together!

[maggieq]

Can you tell me what times they had the main shows?

 

Thanks.

[james j feller]

HAL92,

 

Your cruise was the complete opposite of ours.

 

We were on the JULY 25 th cruise just before yours and we thought the food was excellent in all areas.

 

We had a nice cabin and the steward was the best i think i had in a long while.

 

JIM

[geologygeek]

I'd disagree with the comment about shore ex in Alaska - they seem really expensive for what you get too. Steer clear and do it alone.

[arzz]

I understand that food is subjective -- but I question the statement that the dining room should be avoided because of the quality of the food since the OP admits that he only ate there on two occasions -- possibly the OP did not make the best choices in the DR on those two occasions? -- or it is possible that the food is just not to the OP's taste

 

It is a good thing that there are many cruise lines out there -- the OP states that he likes the traditional decor but wishes that there were just a bunch of restaurants to choose from rather than the main dining room -- isn't that the NCL model? Possibly the OP would be happier on a less traditional line like NCL?

 

Everyone has a right to their opinion -- sharing is what this venue is all about. I respect the OP for a balanced review even though he felt that there were significant negatives to communicate. Thank you for taking the time to share and I am sorry that your cruise experience was not all that you wished.

[HAL92]

The show times are 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM.

 

And I had a great time on the trip, it did in fact meet my expectations. Just the ship didn't. But yeah maybe I'll look into NCL if they have more restaurants. I always thought the ones that were comparable to HAL in quality though were Princess, Celebrity, and those types and that NCL was more like a Carnival or Royal Caribbean. What are the demographics of NCL and is it more of a "party ship"?

 

I will admit that maybe i made bad choices in the dining room, but I had a bad steak and bad lobster. The steak in the pinncale grill was excellent and the one in the dining room was terrible. I don't know how to explain that other than that the food in the dining room was bad. The salads also need work in all parts of the ship, only the Canaletto salad was any good. Definitely the best dining experience on the Eurodam is the Tamarind Restaurant though. It's better than most Asian restaurants on land.

[Route6A]

I have found that the food on HAL in the main dining rooms is not outstanding. The quality suffers simply because of the numbers of dinners prepared. Eating in the alternative restaurants solves the problem, which is what my husband and I do. We continue to sail Holland America, because we love the ships, the wonderful crews and the large suites. If we want better food, we book Regent, Cunard or Silversea. We enjoy the variety of sailing on many cruise lines.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write about your Eurodam experience.

[grannynurse]

I hope HAL92's experience was mainly related to the "growing pains" of a new launch. I do agree that food is subjective. With the exception of one Rotterdam cruise, all of our HAL food experiences have been very good. The exception did have about 30 out of 35 days of wilted salads and some not-so-well-prepared entrees. We're not picky eaters but overall the food on that cruise was mediocre. I sent back several entrees. Overall we had the best cruise ever on that trip so we did not dwell on the food issues. We certainly did not go hungry!!!

I'm under the impression that "ship happens" (doo doo occurs), so since we spend so much money to cruise why not dwell on the positives?

 

HAL92, Thank you for including the positives in your well written and detailed review.

GN

[bookman]

I generally agree with Hal92's assessment of the 8/4 Eurodam sailing. First, a few facts to put my comments in some context. This was our 16th cruise and first on Holland. My sister-in law and brother-in law have loudly sung the praises of Holland for years and pushed Holland(although they haven't been on Holland for some time). We jointly organized a group of 14 to do this cruise. This was our second cruise on a ship which was new. My wife and I were ready to get off of the ship after the 5th or 6th day and that has never happened to us before.

 

Now, a few specifics:

 

1)Food- I realize there is a general sentiment that food is subjectively judged by each individual but the food on this cruise, with the exception of Tamarind and Pinnacle was bad. I am assessing this on the opinions of our entire group of 14. The main dining room was loud, lacking in any ambience and provided very poor service. The menu at times was odd. After the 5th night we stopped going there and went only to the specialty restaurants. The Lido was a cattle call at breakfast and lunch and reminded me why I no longer like big ships. Room service was at best mediocre.

 

2) Bar Service -If possible the bar service was worse than the food service. If the bar servers weren't peddling something to you (approached to buy a bottle of wine 6 times during one session of trivia) they were talking to each other or nowhere to be found. I was in the casino every night it was open and was never, not one time, offered the opportunity to buy a drink. If I wanted a drink I had to cash out, leave the table and go to the Casino Bar and then bring it back to the table. Either someone in management has decided offering bar service at the tables is unprofitable or the people are very poorly trained. Fimnally, pool bar service was essentially non-existent. If you wanted a drink at the pool you had to go to the bar and wait for it or search for a bar server and if you found one you had to interrupt their converstion with another bar server. I would conclude my comments here by saying I don't think the problem was attitude but rather very poor training.

 

3) Wine- we drink wine with just about every dinner and my wife and I know something about wine. This was clearly the worst wine list I have ever encountered on a cruise but wait, that may be subjective. How about something that is indisputably objective? Would you believe that they ran out of much of their wine as the cruise progressed. It got to be a standing joke on the cruise as the week progressed- the sommeleir in the specialty restaurants finally stopped bringing the list and silmply told us what they had left. When asked why this had happened, he explained that people were drinking more wine than they anticipated and, by the way, a shipment had not come to them in time before they left Copenhagen on the first day of the cruise. Seems to me like a basis competency of operating a cruise line- have your product on the ship. Finally, the wine was marked up to restaurant pricing- 2-3 times retail. I have never experienced this on a cruise ship before but it was consistent with the overall nickle-diming.

 

4) Internet service- easily the slowest I have ever encountered on a cruise line. This service made dial-up internet from the old days look like a rocket. The internet cafe representatives informed us the bandwidth was insufficient for the number of people who were attempting to use the service. Hello, this is 2008. Have you not noticed on your other ships that people use the internet more now than 10 years ago? The amount of money I spent on this service was absurd for the amount of time I could actually look at my E-mail or read content on the internet.

 

Also, you couldn't print in the Inetrnet Cafe after the 2nd day because they ran out of toner. I guess toner wasn't available in any of the 6 ports we stopped in.

 

5) Strong Oder of Sewer Gas in cabin- I won't elaborate on this but it came and went and was never completely resolved. Soimetimes it was horrific and sometimes it was tolerable but always faintly there.

 

6) We had a very difficult time with this cruise from the get-go when we attempted to book it. We wanted a small suite but were told they were saving those for back to back cruisers. Finally, when several of our group decided we were ready to pull out of the cruise the small suites suddenly became available. And then 3 days before the cruise was scheduled to begin we were offered a 75% cruise credit on any of 4 cruises next year if we would defer our cruise. I guess I don't understand the concept of holding back cabins from early bookers, then over booking a cruise ship and finally having to bribe people at the last moment not to go. This reminds me of the mentality of the airlines and we all know where they rank on the customer scale and how well their business model is working for them.

 

7) While I really have no right to complain about the price of the cruise as I booked it knowing the price, I found it to be much more expensive than it was worth. The nickle-diming was endless and added up. We could have gone on at least two other cruises that were more reasonably priced but didn't because of our relative's pushing Holland.

 

8) Spa Service- I only had one treatment which was very good but the pushing of products and selling during the treatments was obnoxious. My wife said her therapist spent the first 15 minutes of her 50 minutes talking, asking questions and pushing products. Everyone in our groupw ho used the spa cancelled their appointments after their initial one beacuse of this.

 

9) Cabin Steward- generally OK but we did have something happen to us on the first night that I found odd. On every other cruise we have been on, after you unpack and leave the cabin for diiner your cabin steward sets the cabin up for night including putting the luggage under the bed out of the way. I have never not had this happen. We were on a crusie last Christmas and it happened- but not on this cruise. We came back to the cabin late that evening and the luggage was still sitting in the middle of the floor. So I had to wrestle it under the bed as best as I could. This also happened to two of the other couples in our cruise group. I have to conclude that this is not part of the cabin stewards job on Holland

 

10)We had a number of other personal service problems specific to us which I won't elaborate on but were extremely unacceptable.

 

11)Good points- not many but the ship is new and cabin we had was fine although not exceptional. The stops were good. The disembarkation process was smooth and quick- Thank God- as we were so ready to get off of the ship.

 

Summary- We won't go on Holland again and this was the worst cruise we have been on by a wide margin. The value( price v. what we received as a cruise experience) was way below what is acceptable.

 

Not much else to say.

[Jade13]

 

1)Food- I realize there is a general sentiment that food is subjectively judged by each individual but the food on this cruise, with the exception of Tamarind and Pinnacle was bad. I am assessing this on the opinions of our entire group of 14. The main dining room was loud, lacking in any ambience and provided very poor service. The menu at times was odd. After the 5th night we stopped going there and went only to the specialty restaurants. The Lido was a cattle call at breakfast and lunch and reminded me why I no longer like big ships. Room service was at best mediocre.

 

Would you believe that they ran out of much of their wine as the cruise progressed. It got to be a standing joke on the cruise as the week progressed- the sommeleir in the specialty restaurants finally stopped bringing the list and silmply told us what they had left. When asked why this had happened, he explained that people were drinking more wine than they anticipated and, by the way, a shipment had not come to them in time before they left Copenhagen on the first day of the cruise. Seems to me like a basis competency of operating a cruise line- have your product on the ship. And then 3 days before the cruise was scheduled to begin we were offered a 75% cruise credit on any of 4 cruises next year if we would defer our cruise. I guess I don't understand the concept of holding back cabins from early bookers, then over booking a cruise ship and finally having to bribe people at the last moment not to go. This reminds me of the mentality of the airlines and we all know where they rank on the customer scale and how well their business model is working for them.

 

Sumary- We won't go on Holland again and this was the worst cruise we have been on by a wide margin. The value( price v. what we received as a cruise experience) was way below what is acceptable.

 

Not much else to say.

 

Hi, we just got off the Noordam Roman Empire cruise last week and while the ports were great (could not have planned them better myself) and we had a good time it did not live up to our near perfect experience on Westerdam last summer (which was the other 10 nights Med Enchantment). We found many of the same things you mention regarding Eurodam. Like you, embarkation and debarkation (and tendering in Santorini and not in a Suite) was a breeze. We were on and off the ship in 5 minutes and on the first tender. The service was not up to HAL standards and the worst we have ever experienced on a cruise ship. The second to last night in the DR we could not get our plates cleared for dessert and after 20-30 minutes walked out and never came back. The food was just OK (I had a bad meal in pinnacle, yes I really did) and totally inconsistent. My DH had a chicken on the everyday menu in the main dining room on the 3rd night and thought it was good with the sauce. He ordered it again a couple of nights later and it came with no sauce (dry) and the waiters just said "not on the menu". Now he's a Chef at a large hotel and this is not acceptable to have the same menu with inconsistent food. It has to be made the same each evening.

 

They also could not get their supplies through customs in Liverno and had no back-up plan, so we had little to no Elemis. Three days I had to call for basic shampoo. I had one soap (for sink and shower) for 2 people for 3 days. One day all we received was a bottle of conditioner and when I asked for the sharp shower gel (my favorite product) I was given green stuff in a bottle. I have no idea where the bottle came from (whose trash) so never used it. We did not get turn down service one night. The worst was the room service. We only ordered simple things like cereal (no cooked food) and would order 4 cereals (2 each) and 4 milks plus a milk for my tea and received only 2 milks and no spoons (This happened more than once).

 

Now, we are getting on Eurodam next week and I was hoping for better...we are paying a real premium out of NY.

[wormswimmer]

Sorry you had such a bummer of a time abord the HAL. We(my wife and I) have been on RCL, Carnaval, Celbrity and last year HAL.

 

I would have to say that NCL was the poorest of the brands for service and customer satisfaction. The people in the suites get first choice of reservations and getting into the specialty restaurants is a hassle. We had a very enjoyable cruise on HAL, and are going in September for the New England "colors" cruise, which may be too early this year.

 

At your age, I would recommend RCL, as they have a good mix of all ages. Carnaval was definately the PARTY" ship with college age people drunk and passing out in the elevators every night. Celebrity and HAL seem to attract more mature cruisers- average age of probably 55 to 60 on the cruises we have been on. NCL had a good mix also, we just had bad experiences and I could not recommend this line to anyone, but other cruisers with us on this ship had sailed NCL before without the issues we encountered. I guess it depends on the sailing and the crew, as much as the line and the ship.

 

Hope you have great times in the future- maybe this was the worst you will ever have. (fingers crossed)

[norcal2]

The show times are 7:00 PM and 9:00 PM.

 

And I had a great time on the trip, it did in fact meet my expectations. Just the ship didn't. But yeah maybe I'll look into NCL if they have more restaurants. I always thought the ones that were comparable to HAL in quality though were Princess, Celebrity, and those types and that NCL was more like a Carnival or Royal Caribbean. What are the demographics of NCL and is it more of a "party ship"?

 

I will admit that maybe i made bad choices in the dining room, but I had a bad steak and bad lobster. The steak in the pinncale grill was excellent and the one in the dining room was terrible. I don't know how to explain that other than that the food in the dining room was bad. The salads also need work in all parts of the ship, only the Canaletto salad was any good. Definitely the best dining experience on the Eurodam is the Tamarind Restaurant though. It's better than most Asian restaurants on land.

 

Bad luck of the draw sometimes and our own selection at other times I suspect but as others have said it may just take time for the newer ships to iron out the wrinkles. As far as NCL goes, you can get a good idea of their food options if you go to their website. Click Ships, then select the Sun, Click Public Rooms and a list is on that page. The Tapas is a hidden secret as they have some great pre-dinner selections and snacks there. These are big in San Francisco but not sure if others know about Tapas so much. I'm not sure the Lido is shown. I'm a foodie so I can say that NCL's Sun matched my picky needs and more.

 

I have heard raves about HAL's food so I suspect you just experienced an anomaly cruise and that can happen on any ship. I am going on HAL for the first time in February on the Noordam. I loved NCL mainly for the food.

[Susie51]

Thank you for your detailed review. I'm sorry your cruise was not up to your expectations. There seems to be a lot of negative things being said about Eurodam. Hopefully by the time she reaches NYC things will be straightened out.

[Sir PMP]

'Euro' Dam, I am not surprised...

[jtl513]

4) Internet service- easily the slowest I have ever encountered on a cruise line. This service made dial-up internet from the old days look like a rocket.

Have any of your other cruises with fast internet been in the Baltic or at similar high latitudes? That has a great deal to do with a slow satellite link.

[mamaofami]

Thank you for your detailed review. I'm sorry your cruise was not up to your expectations. There seems to be a lot of negative things being said about Eurodam. Hopefully by the time she reaches NYC things will be straightened out.

 

I certainly hope so.

[Youngjude]

We have just returned home after the 25 night cruise on the Eurodam. We thoroughly enjoyed the cruise- the ports of call were fantastic, so interesting.

The ship was beautiful, our oceanview cabin on Main Deck (1) was great.

We enjoyed the shows and thought the singers and dancers were very talented. Only complaint I have is that they didn't seem to appear anywhere else on the ship, other than on stage. Also although the Cruise Director Shane, was a nice enough guy, he wasn't around the ship much either. Other cruises we have done, they are doing other activities and around the ship mixing with passengers a lot more.

The dining room was ok- not the best food I've had on a ship, but ok. We did open seating, so there is no repore with waiters etc, which is a shame. Personally we weren't impressed with the Italian restaurant- poor service and pretty boring food.

But all in all a great trip, we met lots of great people, but are now back in New Zealand and glad to be home!

"Youngjude"