Eurodam - ONE BEAUTIFUL SHIP!!!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Some days the Cabanas were completely filled -- other days -- only a few were rented. The ones on the port side of the pool were more popular. The ones in the Retreat Area -- very few rented.

They are a PAIN!! -- On the first week we had quite a few people using motor scooters -- because of the cabanas and wooden railing keeping the lounge chairs from being moved into the walking area, scooters can not pass by each other -- too small a passage way!!

[Travalerie]

Some days the Cabanas were completely filled -- other days -- only a few were rented. The ones on the port side of the pool were more popular. The ones in the Retreat Area -- very few rented.

 

They are a PAIN!! -- On the first week we had quite a few people using motor scooters -- because of the cabanas and wooden railing keeping the lounge chairs from being moved into the walking area, scooters can not pass by each other -- too small a passage way!!

I agree that the passageway is small, but I thought the other side was also narrow. Not as narrow, but I don't think that two scooters could have passed each other on the other side either.

[our turn]

Hi Kim!!!

 

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

 

We fly out this afternoon.

 

Hey KK!

 

So glad you enjoyed the M&G -- we did as well. We spent last night at our beach house on the beautiful coast of North Carolina. Had a great breakfast with friends there this morning and drove the 3 hours home in time to go to DS's Christmas concert. Hope you have a safe flight home.

 

I am going to post a review in the next few days, but I will say we had a fabulous time and loved the Euodam!

 

Kim

[Snook]

We just returned from our Eurodam cruise on Saturday. The Eurodam is a beautiful ship. The crew was very attentive and there seemed to be enough of them to provide the services expected. The early dinning was ok but probably just a little too early for all 8 of us. Early dinning on our earlier cruises was I think around six or six thirty. The dinning room service staff was good but a little overwhelmed with the number of tables they were serving so we had to wait a little too long for our meal courses almost every night. We were pleased to see one of our former Wine Stewards, Leto in the dinning room. He did not have our table but he did recognize us and spoke to us each night. One problem we had in our cabin though was the smoking. One of our group was a very heavy smoker and her room was adjacent to ours. There were also one or two heavy smokers on our other side. And, I later figured that there might have been one in the room below us. That situation, I presume is a very rare set of circumstances but it did happen. The smell was horrible. I am allergic to the cigarette smoke so I was sick most of the time with sinus problems. We started propping the balcony door open each night which helped a little. There is nothing that can be done about it since people have a right to smoke and HAL allows smoking in one’s own cabin and I knew that before I booked. They did hand out surveys (in addition to the regular ones) asking us about our opinions as to smoking on ships and would we sail on a cruise which did not allow smoking. We all said that we would cruise especially if smoking was not allowed. So, hopefully they will stop the smoking in the future or at least put smokers on a separate floor. If not, even though we love HAL, I'll have to find another cruise line that does not allow smoking. The entertainment was also very good and the food was excellent. We had reservations for the Tamarind restaurant but had to cancel because of the Mariner's lunch on Thursday. Four others in our party who were not mariners went to the Tamarind and said it was great.

[Krazy Kruizers]

On our first week of the cruise, because we missed Grand Turk, we did not have to go through immigration when we got to San Juan -- that was great.

On the second week -- we had stops at Grand Turk and Tortola -- and should have gone through immigration when we got to St Thomas. But we were lucky -- we were exempted from it!! Don't count on that happening on future cruises!!

One thing I did not like in our cabin -- the soap dish is built into the sink top -- made for a messy area. But since we bring along our own soap and dish -- and only use HAL's soap once in a while, it wasn't a problem for us. We have been told that the Neiuw Amsterdam will not have this type of soap dish.

For those in PS, SA, SB and SC cabins you will have a cocktail party in the Neptune Lounge at 7:30 on the first evening as well as a farewell cocktail party at 7:30 on Thusrday.

If anyone is invited to the VIP party it is at 7:30 in the Crow's Nest the evening that you are in St Thomas.

The first week we had over 900 Mariner's and the second week we had over 1000 Mariner's. The Mariner's Lunch is held at Noon on Thursday -- last sea day. For those that hold medals or will be getting one, you will meet in the Queen's lounge at 11:30 -- wine, champagne and orange juice is served. All those holding medals are assigned to tables -- check your invitation for the table that you are assigned to!!! The first week there wasn't any confusion -- but the second week there was.

The trays in the cabin -- if you use them to bring back juices and coffee, etc back to your cabin -- be careful. They are not perfectly flat.

There is no Master Chef Dinner.

The only BBQ on this ship is at lunch time the day you are at Grand Turk. Since we didn't make Grand Turk the first week it was cancelled. The second week we had it. It was one of the best we have had in some time. There was Greek salad, rice salad, 3 bean salad, tomato salad, shrimp salad, potato salad just to name a few. All types of bread - pita bread, indian flat bread. There were baked potatoes, stired vegetables, steaks, Brakwrust, knokwrust, quail, chicken. Desserts - Baklava, pecan pit, blueberry pie, custard, fruits, rice pudding, fried dough dipped in honey. I know I have missed some items. It is helf on Deck 9 by the aft pool.

In the Explorer's Lounge -- right by the bar -- they have the step up to the bar area ropped off. There are lights under the step highlighting the step up - no problems there. But if you approach that step from above at the bar -- you do not see the step down as the floor is a dark color and disappears into the dark floor below. Thus it is roped off. Very dangerous.

[mafig]

Do they have just one VIP party? 7:30 would be OK for late seating, but early might still be at dinner.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Do they have just one VIP party? 7:30 would be OK for late seating, but early might still be at dinner.

 

Yes - there is only one VIP party. We eat at 5:45 and had no problem getting to it.

[mafig]

Actually, after I posted I got to thinking that there'd only be one because any earlier and the Captain would be at the bridge. And 7:30 is in the middle of early and late seatings.:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Taxi rates as posted at Crown Bay for various stops:

Uptown - $4

Havensight - $5

Coki Beach - $10

Sapphire Beach - $11

Red Hook - $11

Megan's Beach - $9

These prices are per person one way.

HAL offered something that we did not have in the past -- A Pirate boat -- $19 per person for all day -- Hop On and Hop Off -- goes from Crown Bay to town and if you wish -- over to Havensight. The first week there were 5 ships in and town got really grid locked -- so this is a good alternative to a taxi if you want to go all the way to Havensight. You can not buy tickets for this boat on shore -- I checked. The second week we were the only ship in Crown Bay and there were only 2 ships at Havensight -- no problems getting around by taxi.

For both weeks there was a Lido Pool Party from 9 - 10:30 PM. It was held both weeks on Tuesday evening. Shane (CD), the Event Staff and Leena & the HAL Cats were there featuring music, dancing, games and pastries and desserts. This replaces the Dessert Extravaganza. There was a huge water lily in the pool. On the port side of the pool were the pastries and desserts. On the starboard side were the tables. There were colorful umbrellas set up all around the pool. It was very beautiful!!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

KK, Thanks for the much needed info :)

[RuthC]

In the Explorer's Lounge -- right by the bar -- they have the step up to the bar area ropped off. There are lights under the step highlighting the step up - no problems there. But if you approach that step from above at the bar -- you do not see the step down as the floor is a dark color and disappears into the dark floor below. Thus it is roped off. Very dangerous.

I'm happy to read that the step has been roped off. It's another place that almost caused me to go crashing down---I saw it in the nick of time.

 

I have to wonder where were the brains of the ship's designers when they put those two dangerous steps in. The Lido and Explorers Lounge would be better served if the access to those areas were ramps.

[rose hill]

Krazy Kruizer:

Great information about the Pirate Tour. Where did you purchase the tickets? Was it offered as an excursion prior to your cruise or did you get the passes after you got onboard the ship? :confused:

 

Thanks!

[Snook]

We did the pirate tour but it was more of a water taxi. You get your $19 pass at the excursion office on the ship. The pontoon boat picks up and drops off at three different points, one at Crown Bay, next at downtown, and then to Havensight. It takes about 15 minutes between each stop and they are pretty much on time. The pirate guys are entertaining also. We saw several Iguanas on the rocks as we were returning to the ship.

[rose hill]

Thanks Snook. I have been looking for information about this water taxi for a while because DH and I thought it would be a great transportation alternative since we are docking at Crown Bay in January. Appreciate the info. :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Krazy Kruizer:

 

Great information about the Pirate Tour. Where did you purchase the tickets? Was it offered as an excursion prior to your cruise or did you get the passes after you got onboard the ship? :confused:

 

Thanks!

 

The tickets are bought through the Shore Excursion office. It is a rainy day --and you change your mind about the tour at the last minute -- no refunds. And you have to buy them before you get to St Thomas -- no last minute purchase.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have been to HMC quite a few times. There has always been a general question on the survey form but for both of our weeks we had 4 questions to which we had to indicate a rating:

1.Private Island HMC

2.HMC - island cleanliness

3.Friendliness od HMC island staff

4.Quality of HMC shore excursions

I can't help but wonder if there have been problems here the last few cruises. Has anyone heard of problems?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Every day in the Lido for lunch there was something different for "Flavors of the World":

1.Thai

2.Vietnamese

3.Chinese

4.Indian

5.Ja[anese

6.Filipiano

7.Indonesian

[Krazy Kruizers]

Many times I have read where people have asked what is shown on the TV's in the cabins:

Channel 26 - On Board Services

Channel 27 - CNN -- International - based in london

Channel 28 - Shore Excursions

Channel 29 - ESPN

Channel 30 - Discovery

Channel 31 - TNT

Channel 32 - Bomerang (children's programs - some ared in Spanish)

Channel 33 - Explorations

Channel 34 - Movies 1

Channel 35 - Movies 2

Channel 36 - Film Festival Movies

Channel 37 - ESPN-2

Channel 38 - Port & Shopping

Channel 39 - Turner Classic Movies

Channel 40 - Ship Weather & Port Information (a technician came on board on Nov 22 and got this feature up and running)

Channel 41 - TV Guide - with background music of the 50's and 60's

Channel 42 - Music 1 - Classical

Channel 43 - Music 2 - Country

Channel 44 - Bow Camera - with background music of Jazz -- There is to be a technician coming on soon to fix the feature where messages like Bingo, announcements, etc., can be heard on this channel.

Channel 45 - Aft Camera - with background Top 40 background music

[Krazy Kruizers]

Some more information.

We had to attend the lifeboat drill for the second cruise - no exceptions.

You are allowed as late as 8 PM on the last full day of the cruise to change credit cards or change from cash to a credit card.

There was never a formal letter sent to the cabins by the cruise consultants indicating that you could book any future cruises with just $100 per person deposit and ge shipboard credit depending on the length of the cruise and the cabin category you book. The only information we got was a promotion for the Panama Canal and Europe.

In the Pinnacle Wine Bar -- the retro chairs are to be replaced very soon -- might even have been as I write this.

We were not given a specific breakdown of the $11 per person auto tips. We were just told that 70% ($7.70) is divided among the cabin stewards and dining room staff and 30% ($3.30) is divided among the "Behind the Scenes" crew.

[RuthC]

In the Pinnacle Wine Bar -- the retro chairs are to be replaced very soon -- might even have been as I write this.

Hurray! Those were some of the ugliest, most uncomfortable chairs I have ever sat on.

 

That lounge could be a lovely place to have a quiet drink before or after dinner, but it isn't furnished in an inviting manner. I hope the change in chairs is a good start in making it useful.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Every time we walked by there -- no one sitting there having a pre-dinner cocktail.

[our turn]

Every time we walked by there -- no one sitting there having a pre-dinner cocktail.

 

Hey KK,

 

We stopped in one evening but as others have said, it was uncomfortable and hardly no one in there. Also, I will check my things, but I am pretty sure we did get a letter from the cruise consultants about the $100 booking and OBC credit. I think it came the day after the invitation to meet with them in the NL.

 

Kim

[RevNeal]

Hurray! Those were some of the ugliest, most uncomfortable chairs I have ever sat on.

 

That lounge could be a lovely place to have a quiet drink before or after dinner, but it isn't furnished in an inviting manner. I hope the change in chairs is a good start in making it useful.

 

Then rejoice, dear Ruth ... you're going to love the Pinnacle Bar on the Noordam. It's very lovely, with substantial and very comfortable chairs.

[RuthC]

Then rejoice, dear Ruth ... you're going to love the Pinnacle Bar on the Noordam. It's very lovely, with substantial and very comfortable chairs.

I'll look forward to it! In all the time I've been on the Noordam, I've never eaten in the Pinnacle or had at drink in the Pinnacle lounge there.

[mommylynn]

Indeed. We were on the Eurodam in Sept. She is a lovely ship. We especially enjoyed the Thermal Suite and Huge special spa pool you could sign up for (for a fee, of course). I told my hubby if we did that I would forego any other spa treatments. We used it almost every day.:)