Eurodam - ONE BEAUTIFUL SHIP!!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Just got off the beautiful Eurodam this morning after 14 wonderful days!!!

The first week -- really some rough weather when we left Ft Lauderdale on November 22 -- winds were so bad and seas rough that we missed Grand Turk. As Captain Mercer explained -- he can dock the ship in 20 knot winds -- but our winds were 55 knots with 20 foot waves -- he made 3 attempts -- and had to give up -- so we headed straight for San Juan -- docked at about 2 AM -- many, many people were sea sick (not us :D) those first 2 days.

But enough of that -- we are still in Ft Lauderdale and won't be home until Monday or Tuesday when I can answer questions.

The Eurodam is a BEAUTIFUL ship. I have all the complete menus for the Tamarind -- both lunch and dinner -- and we ate there quite a few times for lunch and dinner on both of our cruises. I will post the menus once we are home.

The Eurodam was decorated for Christmas on Nov 29 -- very pretty. There is a tree in the atrium on deck 1, a tree in the Ocean Bar -- all the railings around the atrium are decorated. There are trees in the Crow's Nest/ Explorations Cafe -- many of the support poles are wrapped in garland at the top -- theme here is Nut Cracker. Explorer's Lounge -- trees and other decorations -- theme -- Delft theme here -- lots of elves. As you enter the dining room -- Holland scene in Christmas with a wind mill -- again support polls are decorated at top. Pinnacle and Tamarind -- lots of what I consider table top decorations but lots of huge gold acorns and ribbons. In all there were 26 large packing cartons of decorations for the ship.

There was plenty of staff everywhere -- never experinced any problems either in the dining room or Lido (never had breakfast there) for a few lunches.

There are 2 cabin stewards for each cabin.

It was explained that of the $11 auto tip, 70% is divided among the cabin stewards and dining room staff (no exact amounts were given) and 30% goes to the "Behind the scenes staff".

[LAFFNVEGAS]

KK, Thanks for the quick mini report :) The Eurodam sounds like it is wonderful. I will be anxious to hear what you report when you get home because we leave very early Friday morning to fly to FLL to board the Eurodam next Saturday and we will get to do a B2B.

Thanks for reporting in :)

[RevNeal]

There was plenty of staff everywhere -- never experinced any problems either in the dining room or Lido (never had breakfast there) for a few lunches.

There are 2 cabin stewards for each cabin.

 

That is most interesting ... and, in my opinion, good news. They musth have increased the ship's crew complement to enable this, because such was absolutely not the case when I was aboard for the Inaugurals. I had one cabin steward for 23 days, the staff in the Lido and Main Dining Room were short handed, and the bar staff were VERY short handed. I wonder where they're sleeping the extra crew?

[NevadaHiRoller]

I wonder where they're sleeping the extra crew?

 

Maybe on the Lido under the cabanas? :D

[Krazy Kruizers]

Maybe on the Lido under the cabanas? :D

 

 

That was what I was going to say jokingly!!!:D

[RedmondCruiser]

Welcome back. We are looking forward to sailing on a Signature Class ship, but they will have to do longer cruises with them before we will go. I still get mixed reveiws on the cabanas --- how did you find them ?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Lisa

Tom will not have any problems eating dinner in the Tamarind -- all the spices and sauces are served on the side. I will post the menus when I get home.

That is wonderful that you are going to be able to do a back-to-back cruise!!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Lisa

 

Tom will not have any problems eating dinner in the Tamarind -- all the spices and sauces are served on the side. I will post the menus when I get home.

 

That is wonderful that you are going to be able to do a back-to-back cruise!!

 

Thanks KK, We are now trying to figure out what night on the 2nd week we want to do Pinnacle and Tamarind again. At least I want to do Tamarind again :D

I will have lots of questions for you about the Turn around day. Were able to have the same cabin for both weeks? We will not so I am guessing they will move our luggage for us. I have questions as to what they will have us do for disembarkation and re boarding the ship? Were you able to diembark when the other passengers were in the inbetween Saturday? I had planned to meet up with a fellow CCer that is flying out of FLL at Noon and originally our airlines were right next to each other and we were leaving close to the same time so we were going to meet up, now we are thinking of still meeting them at the airport but in the food court area before boarding so just needed to know what time we could leave the ship.

[jtl513]

Lisa

Tom will not have any problems eating dinner in the Tamarind -- all the spices and sauces are served on the side.

My Wasabi tenderloin came with a thick layer spread on top of the meat. Be sure Tom orders that without the wasabi!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

My Wasabi tenderloin came with a thick layer spread on top of the meat. Be sure Tom orders that without the wasabi!

Thanks John I am hoping he is really thrilled with Tamarind so we can go back the 2nd week :D maybe even a couple of times.;) Because there are at least 4 entree's I want to try :o

[patwin]

We will be cruising on Eurodam in April, it is our first cruise on HAL and are very excited about it. We read some negative reports on Zuiderdam with its cabin condition and odor smell problem and decided to pick the Eurodam instead. But we miss the itineary of Zuiderdam.

Is there is fee for dining at Tamarind or Canaletto?

 

P & W

[kryos]

That is most interesting ... and, in my opinion, good news. They musth have increased the ship's crew complement to enable this, because such was absolutely not the case when I was aboard for the Inaugurals. I had one cabin steward for 23 days, the staff in the Lido and Main Dining Room were short handed, and the bar staff were VERY short handed. I wonder where they're sleeping the extra crew?

No increase in crew, Rev. It's a new thing HAL started recently ... for the Statendam it was slated to start with the cruise after mine which disembarked on October 25. They work in teams now ... each cabin steward paired with a senior steward. They have double the workload each individual had before, but it is believed that it will actually speed things up once the cabin stewards get their working routines down pat. In this new "strategy" each steward on a team will be responsible for different duties. For example, one will do the bathrooms and the balconies, while the other cleans the actual cabin. They will get together for the making of beds, changing bed linens, etc.

 

It will also (again, this is according to the Statendam's housekeeping manager) be beneficial for reducing the chance for infections to spread. This is because one cabin steward will do all the bathrooms, while another does stuff like change out the ice buckets, vacuum, etc. As it was explained to me, it is better not to have the same cabin steward changing your ice that cleaned your toilet five minutes ago. Also, the cabin stewards will do the beds together, reducing the stress on their backs ... which she told me has always been a problem, especially on linen change-out days. Mattresses are also regularly flipped and that, too, is heavy work for one cabin steward to have to do alone.

 

According to this housekeeping manager, the cabin stewards will actually benefit from this new policy, because all of them ... even the "junior" stewards on each team ... got a raise out of the deal. She also said that the new strategy will allow for lots of training and one-on-one mentoring among members of the team because HAL will always try to pair a very experienced steward with newbies, perhaps on their first contract. It will make the adjustment to shipboard life easier for them since it is hoped that the experienced steward will be able to help and mentor them in matters more far-reaching than just the completion of their work duties.

 

But the bottom line is that those cabin steward teams now have double the number of cabins than they used to have ... but they work on them together which SHOULD provide a more streamlined way of doing their jobs, while also providing better passenger service.

 

At least that's the story I got.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[RevNeal]

No increase in crew, Rev. It's a new thing HAL started recently ... for the Statendam it was slated to start with the cruise after mine which disembarked on October 25. They work in teams now ... each cabin steward paired with a senior steward. They have double the workload each individual had before, but it is believed that it will actually speed things up once the cabin stewards get their working routines down pat. In this new "strategy" each steward on a team will be responsible for different duties. For example, one will do the bathrooms and the balconies, while the other cleans the actual cabin. They will get together for the making of beds, changing bed linens, etc.

 

Hmm ... In my opinion that is an EXCELLENT idea. It would minimize the impact of a dreadfully bad, under-trained cabin steward (like Adele had on the Eurodam Inaugurals), and provide an active training source/method for such deficient staff. While not, perhaps, principle in the arrangement, I would imagine it would have that effect.

[kryos]

Thanks KK, We are now trying to figure out what night on the 2nd week we want to do Pinnacle and Tamarind again. At least I want to do Tamarind again :D

I will have lots of questions for you about the Turn around day. Were able to have the same cabin for both weeks? We will not so I am guessing they will move our luggage for us.

I'll try to help with a couple of your questions, Lisa ... though it's been a while since I did my b2b.

 

While I did get to have the same cabin for both halves of my b2b on the Zuiderdam, it is my understanding that if you don't, the cabin steward will help you move everything to your new cabin. From what I understand, they just pull out the drawers in one cabin and swap them with the drawers from the new one. You don't even have to empty them since all of the drawers are the same size and easily can be swapped out. The clothes in your closet are just put on a rolling dolly and delivered right to your new cabin. No fuss, no muss.

 

As for leaving the ship, all "in transit" passengers leave the ship last. But the only reason for this is so that you can give your "in transit" customs form to the inspector and then turn around and get right back on. The key is that you can't get back on until a certain time, and that's why the in-transit passengers leave last ... simply for convenience so that they don't have to wait in the terminal too long. No one can get back on until the ship is ready to receive the new passenger load.

 

But if you wanted to get off and go do something, then you can leave just as soon as the ship is cleared ... you just can't get back on until a certain time. However, chances are that wouldn't affect someone who had business off the ship that morning anyway. By the time you reboarded the ship, new passengers would already be coming onboard.

 

There are also certain ports where it is not necessary to get off at all. I just know that Fort Lauderdale was not one of them. There you have to get off and hand your customs form to the inspector. On my recent cruise on the Statendam where I boarded in Vancouver, it was not necessary to get off the ship at all in San Francisco or San Diego ... the places where others also boarded and disembarked. I think it all depends on the particular port and where the ship is coming from.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Thanks Rita :) When/about what time do they transfer the luggage? Now it seems I read where the day before they deliver your new boarding cards, is that correct? Also I remember someone say that your internet minutes can carry over, if they do do you have to pay another activation fee? If not I would think it would be wise to renew the big plan at the end of the first week.

Now I take it we do not have to check in again that they have already done that for us. We are thinking it might be easier to meet out friends at their hotel instead of the airport if they would let us off the ship by 8:30 and grabbing a taxi will not be that hectic, at least we will not have luggage :D

[RuthC]

Also I remember someone say that your internet minutes can carry over, if they do do you have to pay another activation fee? If not I would think it would be wise to renew the big plan at the end of the first week.

You may, or may not, be able to roll over your Internet minutes. Do not trust that it is automatic!

Speak to the Internet Manager early in the first week to determine if it can be done, then re-confirm at the end of the week.

 

The inaugural cruise was sold as two 10-day cruises, or one 20-day cruise. For those of us on the 20-day cruise, our Internet was supposed to carry over. The Internet Manager had to go in and manually override the system to let them carry over.

There was no additional set-up charge.

 

Since your cruises are two separate cruises, it might not work that way. That's why I suggest you introduce the question early in the game---you might get an exception made on something they hadn't considered.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

You may, or may not, be able to roll over your Internet minutes. Do not trust that it is automatic!

Speak to the Internet Manager early in the first week to determine if it can be done, then re-confirm at the end of the week.

 

The inaugural cruise was sold as two 10-day cruises, or one 20-day cruise. For those of us on the 20-day cruise, our Internet was supposed to carry over. The Internet Manager had to go in and manually override the system to let them carry over.

There was no additional set-up charge.

 

Since your cruises are two separate cruises, it might not work that way. That's why I suggest you introduce the question early in the game---you might get an exception made on something they hadn't considered.

Ruth, thanks for the heads up :) I will do that the very first day, then confirm it again at the end of the week.

[our turn]

Hey KK!

 

We enjoyed meeting you and your DH. I agree with you, the Eurodam is a beautiful ship and the decorations were gorgeous. Also experienced very good service. We are still traveling and hope to be home late tomorrow afternoon. Safe travels to you.

 

Kim

[Beebob1]

Sailing E-dam in April and very excited about it. Our first HAL cruise, hope the guest are as nice as other passangers.

[brucory]

Hmm ... In my opinion that is an EXCELLENT idea. It would minimize the impact of a dreadfully bad, under-trained cabin steward (like Adele had on the Eurodam Inaugurals), and provide an active training source/method for such deficient staff. While not, perhaps, principle in the arrangement, I would imagine it would have that effect.

 

We really noticed how happy the stewards seemed working in teams... Companionship is no doubt benficial, and it shone through from our stewards. Also, though tipping is personal, I imagine exposure to 28 rooms is possibly better than 14.

 

:D:D:D

[Krazy Kruizers]

Hi Kim!!!

It was great meeting your DH and you!! Loved our Roll Call get together!!!

We fly out this afternoon.

[Krazy Kruizers]

The majority of the time we have always had the same cabin for our back-to-back cruises. The only exception was on the Maasdam when we were in 004 for the first week and 001 for the second cruise. The people in 001 did not leave the ship until after 9:30 so we were not able to move until nearly 11:30 - 12.

Ft Lauderdasle -- those carrying off their own luggage get to leave first -- one week it was around 7:47 and this past week they started at 7:30. Everything is done by assigned times. We got our new ID cards and information Friday evening. We had to meet at the front desk at 10:15 -- there were only 3 passengers who were intransit on our cruise. We were escorted off the ship. Things have changed again here in Ft Lauderdale. We were escorted into the terminal, and taken down stairs to the luggage area -- never did that before. Then we were escorted to the immigration people where we showed our passports and Intransit tickets. After that we were escorted back upstairs to wait for the all clear that we could get back on board. Just our luck -- The Coast Guard pulled an unannounced inspection and we could not get back on the ship until 11:35 -- same time as they were allowing the new passengers to embark. Our pictures did not transfer over so we had to go to the Neptune Lounge and have them taken over.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Having 2 cabin stewards does not the preparations of the cabins every day go faster. It is true that they do have more cabins, but between the 2 of them -- they get things done very quickly. Some days only one person worked on the cabin -- they would trade off different days. On days when it was sheet changing day -- both worked on the same cabin together.

Dining Room staff -- looking around as best as possible we never saw anyone waiting long periods of time to get their food. Sitting by the rail we were able to check out the AYWD down stairs -- everything seemed to go well there.

Lido -- no problems -- plenty of staff there to help people.

Bars and Lounges -- only once did we have trouble getting a drink in the Ocean Bar -- that was when people discovered that from 5 - 5:30 (second week only) drinks were 2 for the price of 1 (No premium brands)!!! And the place got really busy.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Forgot -- Go to the Silk Den after dinner -- look out the window -- and you will see an animated Santa in a Sleigh with a Reindeer pulling it.

There is also one up high -- go out on Deck 9 aft and look up.

[Krazy Kruizers]

My Filet Beef came with very little wasabi on it in the Tamarind -- it was Excellent.