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A Week in Eurodam’s Penthouse: Review & Photos, Dec. 13-20

purplenorway

By purplenorway,
in Holland America Line

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purplenorway

purplenorway

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Pre-Cruise & Embarkation

 

We booked this cruise about a year in advance and were very excited because we upgraded to the penthouse suite two weeks prior to the sailing!

 

The day before the cruise, the weather cooperated and we took uneventful flights to Ft. Lauderdale except for my luggage which was mutilated. They did give us a voucher for the damage when we showed it to the luggage office.

 

We stayed at the Hyatt Place. The room was very nicely decorated. They are crazy about circles there. We ate at Outback Steakhouse next door and walked to Embassy Suites where we met Tom and Lisa (laffnvegas). We walked to the Harbor Shops, but weren’t too impressed. I did find a box lying on top of a trash can and tore off a couple pieces of cardboard. I stuffed this inside my luggage lining to protect it from being punctured.

 

The hotel had free continental breakfast. It was chaos there as everyone was trying to eat and get to the cruise port. A free shuttle service holding 25 people began at 11 am. There were many people waiting and tons of luggage, so we decided to just take a taxi. It was only $12 and well worth it. We got there fast.

 

At the port, there was an agent standing by a sign with cabin numbers and he asked us to let him know if we were staying in one. He then gave us a clip-on ‘S’ tag to show that we were in a suite. Inside the building, they would have missed us, but we saw the special check in line and asked about it. They raised the ropes and let us pass. A woman asked our cabin number and whispered “penthouse” to the check in agent. It went very quickly and a supervisor escorted us up the gangway. Then, the Yum Yum Man himself took over and brought us to the Neptune Lounge. Someone in guest relations greeted us and said our room was not ready yet, but she made a phone call and soon we were off to penthouse 7031. We stepped inside and were amazed. She left us to explore.

 

Penthouse 7031

 

At times, we had to call out, “Where are you?” to each other. The penthouse was that big! Everything was wood, marble, gold and frosted glass. When you first walked in the entry way, there was a panty on the left. It had a fridge, toaster, juicer, sink, coffee maker, dishes and who knows what else. On the right, there was the guest bathroom. Then there was a big dining table with nice chairs and blue, glass lights above it. Next to this was a desk with a window and cupboards above it. The sitting area had a big TV, sound system, giant couch, pretty chairs with a barnacle-like pattern and a bench. A large bed came out of the cupboards under the TV. The main bedroom had more cupboards and desk space, a TV, sound system and a vanity.

 

And then there was the main bathroom. Wow. There were two golden sinks with mirrors above that you could push to open a cabinet. The shower looked like a teleporter. You could close the curved glass door be inside in a cylinder. There was a seat and all different kinds of sprays. There was the normal shower head that can be moved around, an overhead shower, sprays on the sides and a foot massager. There was a giant tub that filled up very quickly. Water also came out of the mouth on the Neptune-like face. It had all kinds of jets and a little hand-held shower on the side. The water from the main faucet came out yellow the first time I used it. So I waited until it ran clear. It must have been from all that gold on the fixtures. Connected to the bathroom was a dressing room full of closets.

 

Throughout the suite were lovely pieces of art from past ships like the Rotterdam VI and we had lots of beautiful floral arrangements. There were more remotes and light switches than we knew how to use. One remote controlled the Jacuzzi in the bathroom, but we couldn’t figure it out. The lights could be dimmed and we could even turn on the lights above pieces of artwork if we chose. The curtains were opened and closed by simply pressing a switch. What a life! There was a sound system that ran everywhere, including the bathroom and out on the verandah.

 

When we first opened the sliding glass doors to the verandah, I jogged from one end of the deck to the other and announced that I could do laps there. Huge! To the right, there was a built-in bench, a table, two chairs, a fake orange tree and two lounge chairs. To the left was a Jacuzzi that talked to you, bamboo plant and two chairs. I didn’t care for the fabric on the chairs because salt seemed to stick excessively. The bench was nice because it could be wiped off.

 

We decorated our cabin for Christmas. We hung a stocking on the door, put snowflake window clings on the sliding verandah doors, lights on the entryway and garland on a potted palm.

 

There was a strong wind when we sailed from Ft. Lauderdale and the seas were rough. That was when we first noticed a creaking noise in the sitting area. That first night, I had the bed from the cupboard there. It was quite comfortable, but the creaking noises were getting worse. I turned on the light a couple times and tried to see what was going on. I tried pressing the wall panels and ceiling to see if that would help, but it didn’t. Sometimes, I thought the ceiling was going to fall down on me. I didn’t realize it, but my parents had a similar problem in their bedroom. It was a long night.

 

The cabin creaking got worse as time went by. I expect some creaking; it is a ship after all and we had rough seas. But this was ridiculous. I thought I was in the bellows of a wooden pirate ship. The creaking on the second night was five times worse than the first night. It seemed to have spread. I stuffed Kleenex in my ears but it still sounded awful. I couldn’t sleep. You’ll probably find this crazy, but I slept in the walk-in closet. No joke. I lined the floor with pillows and used the duvet like a sleeping bag. It felt like I was on a cloud and best of all- it was quiet.

 

My mom could not sleep that night, so she called the Front Desk. She apologized and told them about the creaking noises. The attendant there said she would send someone up right away. My mom said two men came in about five minutes. They listened to the creaking and she showed them where I was sleeping. I had no idea that people were in our room at 4:30 am! I didn’t believe her when she told me they were there, but there was evidence from pieces of paper stuck to the walls and ceilings where they believed the creaking was coming from.

 

Men came after we had sailed the next afternoon to work on the ceiling. They took down sections and said they stopped some of the noise in the bedroom. They came back after a break to work on the living room. They needed to remove panels and said they would come back the next day while we were on a shore excursion so they wouldn’t disturb us. Later, they said metal was rubbing against the main beams of the ship and they needed the contractors to come onboard to fix it.

 

So, I got a rollaway bed set up in the bedroom that night because that room did not creak as badly as the sitting area. We still slept with Kleenex in our ears and the creaking seemed to get worse by the hour. The rollaway was short and not very wide. I felt like I might fall out with the rough seas. A fellow CC suggested I ask for an egg crate. I did and this made it much more comfortable!

 

Guest Relations Manager Amber visited us and sent the most beautiful plate of cheese and fruit we have ever seen. It had a bird made of kiwi, a tree of apple peeling and cheese flowers. Everyone was kind and apologetic. HAL was very generous. By the last day, they refunded what we had paid for the penthouse upgrade. They also upgraded us to a suite for our next cruise!

 

Dining

 

We ordered room service for breakfast every morning. I am convinced that you can write in any item and they will bring it. We wrote things such as Swiss style muesli, French toast, mixed berries, chocolate croissant and pineapple juice and they came. We even wrote “Hi Hendra” (former Yum Yum man who does room service) on top the first day and he came then and each time after that! He was wonderful. He put a table cloth on our dining room table or table on the verandah and set up our food. He removed the plastic wrap from bowls and the covers from juice. He even opened cereal boxes for us!

 

We had 8:00 traditional dining at table 305. We were very surprised to have Andie as our assistant dining steward. This was the third cruise we have ended up at his table! At dessert time the first night, he brought us Holland America Line tea without even asking. He remembered the type of tea! Harlan was our dining steward. The table had seating for eight and our tablemates included a fellow CC member.

 

I didn’t find the menu descriptions to be accurate all the time. Sometimes, items came differently that the description said. When I ordered the flourless chocolate cake and it says it has “a molten center”, then I expect it to be that way (It was still really good, so I asked for another, warmed). Amazing how some things will look completely different from what had imagined in your head. Presentation was beautiful and I couldn’t help but take photos of my food. The beef Wellington was to die for!

 

We had lunch in the Pinnacle Grill when we were in Grand Turk. At first, we were the only ones there. Chef Phil came over to talk with us and was very funny. I liked the five onion soup but the pasta was too rich and creamy for my taste. Also, the chocolate brownie decadence didn’t seem very decadent. Funny story- my dad asked for it a la mode and I asked for the same. When it came, there was no ice cream, but it was sprinkled with beautiful almonds on top. I guess the server didn’t hear correctly or thought that was what a la mode meant. If so, she learned something new and then came back with two perfect scoops of ice cream.

 

Grand Turk

 

We found Captain Mercer on the pier and took some pictures. We showed him what we thought was a stingray (the water is so clear). He said it was and said some charming British phrase like, “Good spotting!” We walked along the beach to the right of the pier. It was interesting to see how it had changed since the hurricane. There were conch shells all over the place and the waves were big.

 

San Juan

 

We took the El Yunque Rainforest Drive tour. It was about a 45 minute drive to get there. We stopped at the welcome center, a waterfall and an observation tower. We also went on a 15 minute walk on a trail. Our guide was very good and I liked when he painted a rock and his face with pigments from stones. Before leaving the rainforest, we stopped at a store that sold some local food. We tried a sweet log-shaped cornmeal thing filled with cheese. The store had a dog on the roof!

 

St. Thomas

 

There was a beautiful rainbow that ended in the street! We went through the Crown Bay shops and watched the iguanas on the rocks. I went downtown for lunch. Even with so many big ships, it didn’t seem too busy from what I saw. The sail away was gorgeous.

 

Half Moon Cay

 

We rented the Oasis Grand Cabana. We had 15 people all together. It was fantastic! Our butler, Anuk, picked us up at 9:30 am at our cabin and we went on a tender. The cabana was huge and had a tall ceiling with pretty fish and panels. There were three bathrooms, a hammock, a dining table, a couple high tables and chairs and a bar. There were lounge chairs and a hot tub on an open deck, which was nice since the water was quite cold. We found it was good to go down the slide to get soaked and used to the water. The best was to put a mat on the slide, flip up the front to shield your face and go down on your stomach, head first. You stayed floating on the mat when you made it down and could just lounge around.

 

Early in the week, I filled out a shore excursion form asking for the guests’ flipper sizes. However, they did not have them ready for us when we arrived and would not allow our butler to get them for us. So, we just had to go get them ourselves. It was a good snorkeling spot, too. If you don’t want to snorkel, you can see tons of fish just under the stairs to the water.

 

The Pinnacle Chef set up our lunch buffet with salads, fruit and desserts. We had two grillers who made fresh steak, ribs, chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers and corn on the cob. It was nice to have everything right there.

 

Miscellaneous Memories

 

Our Cruise Critic Meet and Greet was fabulous. We had it in the Silk Den at 11 am. This was the first time a Meet and Greet has been there. I thought it was spacious and a lovely view. About 50 people came. We called this the Cruise of the Chocoholics, so they gave us a chocolate fountain! We had fruit skewers to dip in it, pre-dipped strawberries and pineapple, appetizers, cookies, brownies and drinks. We barely made a dent in all of it! Many of us brought some chocolate to exchange. We lined it up on the bar like a buffet. The bar staff was very helpful. Hotel Manager Mark Pells made a speech. Cruise Director Shane Michaels and Beverage Manager Murat Kaya also joined us. We were ready to go into a chocolate coma by the time noon came around.

 

We had a San Juan sail away party in our penthouse. We filled the verandah with about 40 people and had wine, strawberries, grapes and cheese. Bartender Raphael was great and stayed the whole time. The penthouse needs a doorbell. Some guests came and knocked but we did not hear them.

 

We had a med-evac later in the week and went to San Juan again.

 

The captain announced that there were some vandals onboard. We saw a sign saying “deck” changed to another word.

 

We went to Eurodam’s first ever Webcam wave in Ft. Lauderdale. What fun! It was cold and windy; we were ready to head for the Caribbean!

 

I liked the Mariner ceremony for the medallion holders and the brunch on the second sea day. This was the first time we’ve had it this way. They gave us picture frames that had the menus in them.

 

The production shows were: In Concert, Nightlife and Dreampark. Guitarist Justin Miller was very good as well as his stories and they way he told them. He had a special show on the last sea day. Comedian Jim Labriola also performed at two shows.

 

The captain said we had “Something to tell your friends”- we experienced the roughest seas in Eurodam’s history.

 

Disembarkation

 

We were given a time to go to the gangway. There were no announcements of numbers and colors. We waited in line for about five minutes and were off. We took the ship’s tour to the Everglades. It included an airboat ride. We saw one alligator. Then, we looked at animal exhibits and I got to hold a baby alligator. The bus dropped us off at the airport and we took a cab to the Courtyard by Marriott on the beach.

 

Getting back home was difficult as we were stranded in Detroit without luggage because of the snowstorms. We stayed at the Hampton Inn. The room wasn’t as nice compared to our stays in the other hotels during the trip, but the people were wonderful! Sheila the shuttle bus driver took us all the way to Wal-Mart to get some supplies and clothes and picked us up from Bob Evans next door because the wind chill was 15 below. We went on stand-by for flights the next day and finally made it home at night.

 

Conclusion

 

Awesome cruise! The crew was outstanding and we met wonderful people. What a great bunch of Cruise Critics we had! The seas made it an adventure and I enjoyed the penthouse, except when I needed sleep. You can view my photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/purplenorway/EurodamDec08#

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SAMMYR

SAMMYR

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Fantastic pictures! Great review and glad to see that HAL took care of you with a larger problem like that.

 

Thanks for sharing!

 

I second that. Very very good pix. Scenery shots were excellent. The pix of the retreat looked terrific as we have 1 booked for our 1/3/09 cruise. Thanks again.

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MrsMuir

MrsMuir

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I'm snowbound on the Sammamish Plateau, east of Seattle, and yet just returning from your cruise aboard the Eurodam in the Penthouse Suite. I'm so glad I read your descriptive review and clicked on the link to those wonderful photos. I always like the ship photos, of course, but this was the first time I really "got it" about Half Moon Cay. I'd thought the cabanas were set up each time the ship called. Silly me. Your day at the island looks relaxing and fun. Thanks for warming me up with your review and professional-quality photos.

 

Mrs Muir (Linda)

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Jade13

Jade13

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Great review. Thank you for telling us about the PH, and sharing the pics. Your photographs are great.

 

We actually went to Sawgrass on our own in February. That is cool that for a ships tour they brought out the reptiles for you.

 

Ok, where are you going next? Also, remind me which ship you were on when you went to Norway :)

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RuthC

RuthC

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Very much enjoyed reading your review. It's a shame that a brand new ship, and for what it costs to sail in the Penthouse, that it wasn't right. HAL did seem to make acceptable amends.

I haven't finished looking at all your pictures yet, but thoroughly enjoyed the ones I did see. The ones on board did bring back some memories. :)

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Down-Unders

Down-Unders

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Pre-Cruise & Embarkation

 

We booked this cruise about a year in advance and were very excited because we upgraded to the penthouse suite two weeks prior to the sailing!

 

The day before the cruise, the weather cooperated and we took uneventful flights to Ft. Lauderdale except for my luggage which was mutilated. They did give us a voucher for the damage when we showed it to the luggage office.

 

We stayed at the Hyatt Place. The room was very nicely decorated. They are crazy about circles there. We ate at Outback Steakhouse next door and walked to Embassy Suites where we met Tom and Lisa (laffnvegas). We walked to the Harbor Shops, but weren’t too impressed. I did find a box lying on top of a trash can and tore off a couple pieces of cardboard. I stuffed this inside my luggage lining to protect it from being punctured.

 

The hotel had free continental breakfast. It was chaos there as everyone was trying to eat and get to the cruise port. A free shuttle service holding 25 people began at 11 am. There were many people waiting and tons of luggage, so we decided to just take a taxi. It was only $12 and well worth it. We got there fast.

 

At the port, there was an agent standing by a sign with cabin numbers and he asked us to let him know if we were staying in one. He then gave us a clip-on ‘S’ tag to show that we were in a suite. Inside the building, they would have missed us, but we saw the special check in line and asked about it. They raised the ropes and let us pass. A woman asked our cabin number and whispered “penthouse” to the check in agent. It went very quickly and a supervisor escorted us up the gangway. Then, the Yum Yum Man himself took over and brought us to the Neptune Lounge. Someone in guest relations greeted us and said our room was not ready yet, but she made a phone call and soon we were off to penthouse 7031. We stepped inside and were amazed. She left us to explore.

 

Penthouse 7031

 

At times, we had to call out, “Where are you?” to each other. The penthouse was that big! Everything was wood, marble, gold and frosted glass. When you first walked in the entry way, there was a panty on the left. It had a fridge, toaster, juicer, sink, coffee maker, dishes and who knows what else. On the right, there was the guest bathroom. Then there was a big dining table with nice chairs and blue, glass lights above it. Next to this was a desk with a window and cupboards above it. The sitting area had a big TV, sound system, giant couch, pretty chairs with a barnacle-like pattern and a bench. A large bed came out of the cupboards under the TV. The main bedroom had more cupboards and desk space, a TV, sound system and a vanity.

 

And then there was the main bathroom. Wow. There were two golden sinks with mirrors above that you could push to open a cabinet. The shower looked like a teleporter. You could close the curved glass door be inside in a cylinder. There was a seat and all different kinds of sprays. There was the normal shower head that can be moved around, an overhead shower, sprays on the sides and a foot massager. There was a giant tub that filled up very quickly. Water also came out of the mouth on the Neptune-like face. It had all kinds of jets and a little hand-held shower on the side. The water from the main faucet came out yellow the first time I used it. So I waited until it ran clear. It must have been from all that gold on the fixtures. Connected to the bathroom was a dressing room full of closets.

 

Throughout the suite were lovely pieces of art from past ships like the Rotterdam VI and we had lots of beautiful floral arrangements. There were more remotes and light switches than we knew how to use. One remote controlled the Jacuzzi in the bathroom, but we couldn’t figure it out. The lights could be dimmed and we could even turn on the lights above pieces of artwork if we chose. The curtains were opened and closed by simply pressing a switch. What a life! There was a sound system that ran everywhere, including the bathroom and out on the verandah.

 

When we first opened the sliding glass doors to the verandah, I jogged from one end of the deck to the other and announced that I could do laps there. Huge! To the right, there was a built-in bench, a table, two chairs, a fake orange tree and two lounge chairs. To the left was a Jacuzzi that talked to you, bamboo plant and two chairs. I didn’t care for the fabric on the chairs because salt seemed to stick excessively. The bench was nice because it could be wiped off.

 

We decorated our cabin for Christmas. We hung a stocking on the door, put snowflake window clings on the sliding verandah doors, lights on the entryway and garland on a potted palm.

 

There was a strong wind when we sailed from Ft. Lauderdale and the seas were rough. That was when we first noticed a creaking noise in the sitting area. That first night, I had the bed from the cupboard there. It was quite comfortable, but the creaking noises were getting worse. I turned on the light a couple times and tried to see what was going on. I tried pressing the wall panels and ceiling to see if that would help, but it didn’t. Sometimes, I thought the ceiling was going to fall down on me. I didn’t realize it, but my parents had a similar problem in their bedroom. It was a long night.

 

The cabin creaking got worse as time went by. I expect some creaking; it is a ship after all and we had rough seas. But this was ridiculous. I thought I was in the bellows of a wooden pirate ship. The creaking on the second night was five times worse than the first night. It seemed to have spread. I stuffed Kleenex in my ears but it still sounded awful. I couldn’t sleep. You’ll probably find this crazy, but I slept in the walk-in closet. No joke. I lined the floor with pillows and used the duvet like a sleeping bag. It felt like I was on a cloud and best of all- it was quiet.

 

My mom could not sleep that night, so she called the Front Desk. She apologized and told them about the creaking noises. The attendant there said she would send someone up right away. My mom said two men came in about five minutes. They listened to the creaking and she showed them where I was sleeping. I had no idea that people were in our room at 4:30 am! I didn’t believe her when she told me they were there, but there was evidence from pieces of paper stuck to the walls and ceilings where they believed the creaking was coming from.

 

Men came after we had sailed the next afternoon to work on the ceiling. They took down sections and said they stopped some of the noise in the bedroom. They came back after a break to work on the living room. They needed to remove panels and said they would come back the next day while we were on a shore excursion so they wouldn’t disturb us. Later, they said metal was rubbing against the main beams of the ship and they needed the contractors to come onboard to fix it.

 

So, I got a rollaway bed set up in the bedroom that night because that room did not creak as badly as the sitting area. We still slept with Kleenex in our ears and the creaking seemed to get worse by the hour. The rollaway was short and not very wide. I felt like I might fall out with the rough seas. A fellow CC suggested I ask for an egg crate. I did and this made it much more comfortable!

 

Guest Relations Manager Amber visited us and sent the most beautiful plate of cheese and fruit we have ever seen. It had a bird made of kiwi, a tree of apple peeling and cheese flowers. Everyone was kind and apologetic. HAL was very generous. By the last day, they refunded what we had paid for the penthouse upgrade. They also upgraded us to a suite for our next cruise!

 

Dining

 

We ordered room service for breakfast every morning. I am convinced that you can write in any item and they will bring it. We wrote things such as Swiss style muesli, French toast, mixed berries, chocolate croissant and pineapple juice and they came. We even wrote “Hi Hendra” (former Yum Yum man who does room service) on top the first day and he came then and each time after that! He was wonderful. He put a table cloth on our dining room table or table on the verandah and set up our food. He removed the plastic wrap from bowls and the covers from juice. He even opened cereal boxes for us!

 

We had 8:00 traditional dining at table 305. We were very surprised to have Andie as our assistant dining steward. This was the third cruise we have ended up at his table! At dessert time the first night, he brought us Holland America Line tea without even asking. He remembered the type of tea! Harlan was our dining steward. The table had seating for eight and our tablemates included a fellow CC member.

 

I didn’t find the menu descriptions to be accurate all the time. Sometimes, items came differently that the description said. When I ordered the flourless chocolate cake and it says it has “a molten center”, then I expect it to be that way (It was still really good, so I asked for another, warmed). Amazing how some things will look completely different from what had imagined in your head. Presentation was beautiful and I couldn’t help but take photos of my food. The beef Wellington was to die for!

 

We had lunch in the Pinnacle Grill when we were in Grand Turk. At first, we were the only ones there. Chef Phil came over to talk with us and was very funny. I liked the five onion soup but the pasta was too rich and creamy for my taste. Also, the chocolate brownie decadence didn’t seem very decadent. Funny story- my dad asked for it a la mode and I asked for the same. When it came, there was no ice cream, but it was sprinkled with beautiful almonds on top. I guess the server didn’t hear correctly or thought that was what a la mode meant. If so, she learned something new and then came back with two perfect scoops of ice cream.

 

Grand Turk

 

We found Captain Mercer on the pier and took some pictures. We showed him what we thought was a stingray (the water is so clear). He said it was and said some charming British phrase like, “Good spotting!” We walked along the beach to the right of the pier. It was interesting to see how it had changed since the hurricane. There were conch shells all over the place and the waves were big.

 

San Juan

 

We took the El Yunque Rainforest Drive tour. It was about a 45 minute drive to get there. We stopped at the welcome center, a waterfall and an observation tower. We also went on a 15 minute walk on a trail. Our guide was very good and I liked when he painted a rock and his face with pigments from stones. Before leaving the rainforest, we stopped at a store that sold some local food. We tried a sweet log-shaped cornmeal thing filled with cheese. The store had a dog on the roof!

 

St. Thomas

 

There was a beautiful rainbow that ended in the street! We went through the Crown Bay shops and watched the iguanas on the rocks. I went downtown for lunch. Even with so many big ships, it didn’t seem too busy from what I saw. The sail away was gorgeous.

 

Half Moon Cay

 

We rented the Oasis Grand Cabana. We had 15 people all together. It was fantastic! Our butler, Anuk, picked us up at 9:30 am at our cabin and we went on a tender. The cabana was huge and had a tall ceiling with pretty fish and panels. There were three bathrooms, a hammock, a dining table, a couple high tables and chairs and a bar. There were lounge chairs and a hot tub on an open deck, which was nice since the water was quite cold. We found it was good to go down the slide to get soaked and used to the water. The best was to put a mat on the slide, flip up the front to shield your face and go down on your stomach, head first. You stayed floating on the mat when you made it down and could just lounge around.

 

Early in the week, I filled out a shore excursion form asking for the guests’ flipper sizes. However, they did not have them ready for us when we arrived and would not allow our butler to get them for us. So, we just had to go get them ourselves. It was a good snorkeling spot, too. If you don’t want to snorkel, you can see tons of fish just under the stairs to the water.

 

The Pinnacle Chef set up our lunch buffet with salads, fruit and desserts. We had two grillers who made fresh steak, ribs, chicken, hot dogs, hamburgers and corn on the cob. It was nice to have everything right there.

 

Miscellaneous Memories

 

Our Cruise Critic Meet and Greet was fabulous. We had it in the Silk Den at 11 am. This was the first time a Meet and Greet has been there. I thought it was spacious and a lovely view. About 50 people came. We called this the Cruise of the Chocoholics, so they gave us a chocolate fountain! We had fruit skewers to dip in it, pre-dipped strawberries and pineapple, appetizers, cookies, brownies and drinks. We barely made a dent in all of it! Many of us brought some chocolate to exchange. We lined it up on the bar like a buffet. The bar staff was very helpful. Hotel Manager Mark Pells made a speech. Cruise Director Shane Michaels and Beverage Manager Murat Kaya also joined us. We were ready to go into a chocolate coma by the time noon came around.

 

We had a San Juan sail away party in our penthouse. We filled the verandah with about 40 people and had wine, strawberries, grapes and cheese. Bartender Raphael was great and stayed the whole time. The penthouse needs a doorbell. Some guests came and knocked but we did not hear them.

 

We had a med-evac later in the week and went to San Juan again.

 

The captain announced that there were some vandals onboard. We saw a sign saying “deck” changed to another word.

 

We went to Eurodam’s first ever Webcam wave in Ft. Lauderdale. What fun! It was cold and windy; we were ready to head for the Caribbean!

 

I liked the Mariner ceremony for the medallion holders and the brunch on the second sea day. This was the first time we’ve had it this way. They gave us picture frames that had the menus in them.

 

The production shows were: In Concert, Nightlife and Dreampark. Guitarist Justin Miller was very good as well as his stories and they way he told them. He had a special show on the last sea day. Comedian Jim Labriola also performed at two shows.

 

The captain said we had “Something to tell your friends”- we experienced the roughest seas in Eurodam’s history.

 

Disembarkation

 

We were given a time to go to the gangway. There were no announcements of numbers and colors. We waited in line for about five minutes and were off. We took the ship’s tour to the Everglades. It included an airboat ride. We saw one alligator. Then, we looked at animal exhibits and I got to hold a baby alligator. The bus dropped us off at the airport and we took a cab to the Courtyard by Marriott on the beach.

 

Getting back home was difficult as we were stranded in Detroit without luggage because of the snowstorms. We stayed at the Hampton Inn. The room wasn’t as nice compared to our stays in the other hotels during the trip, but the people were wonderful! Sheila the shuttle bus driver took us all the way to Wal-Mart to get some supplies and clothes and picked us up from Bob Evans next door because the wind chill was 15 below. We went on stand-by for flights the next day and finally made it home at night.

 

Conclusion

 

Awesome cruise! The crew was outstanding and we met wonderful people. What a great bunch of Cruise Critics we had! The seas made it an adventure and I enjoyed the penthouse, except when I needed sleep. You can view my photos at:

 

 

Your selection of photographs are about the best we have ever seen.

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mariner

mariner

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Ships do make noise like that. They try to engineer around it, but it is an inexact science.

 

Once stayed in the Owner's Suite on a Royal Caribbean ship. Noisest cabin we've ever been in.

 

The materials flex and sway with the motion of the ocean.

 

Toss me a martini and fill up the hot tub.

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purplenorway

purplenorway

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Thanks for such nice comments! I'm glad you enjoyed the review and photos.

 

Jade13, our next cruise is on the Veendam, Western Caribbean. Stops in Belize, Guatemala, Key West and Costa Maya. I went to Norway on the Constellation. Hope to go back!

 

Thank you, Barry! Our new cat says hello to your dogs.

 

My parents talked with the Captain (who also knew along with over a third of the ship that I slept in the closet) and he said he was going to suggest that the PH be closed until the problem was fixed. I'm sure it would be fine in calm seas. We wished the ship would stay overnight in port! This was the roughest, most continuous weather we have ever cruised with.

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Krazy Kruizers

Krazy Kruizers

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Thank you for taking the time to write such a wonderful report. Great reading.

Aren't the Penthouses Great??

I remember the first time we were in one -- Rotterdam -- had a heck of time figuring out the light switches the first couple of days (nothing was labeled then) -- when I found the right switch to turn off something, DH was elsewhere checking switches and he turned them right back on!!

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our turn

our turn

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Thanks so much for your wonderfully descriptive review. What a great attitude you had dealing with the problems you encountered. Great pics - what kind of camera do you use?

 

We stayed in the penthouse on the Westerdam last December and enjoyed every minute of it. I think I like the colors on the Eurodam much better. We thought it would be hard to go back after the PH, but we enjoyed the SC aft corner suite just as much on the Eurodam!

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british betty

british betty

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Hi Becky, I just wanted to say thank you to you and your Mum and Dad for inviting us into the penthouse for the San Juan sailaway. It truly was an eye opener, and those huge chocolate covered strawberries were to die for!!!! :D Jacques and I are still in Florida and we only have his tiny laptop, so I'll wait till we get home to the UK on January 1st to look at your pics. We have taken quite a few pics ourselves, but they too will wait till we get back. Our cabin 10005 was at the very front (starboard I believe) and we had a lot of space in which to try and keep our balance during those rough seas. At times it felt as though the ship was trying to climb up some stairs :eek:, but as others have said, it can be quite soothing to get to sleep, it's another thing, when the rocking and rolling wakes you up!!

 

It was nice meeting you and chatting to you all, and once again thank you.

 

Happy (smooth, creak free) Cruising ;)

 

Bernice

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purplenorway

purplenorway

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That's funny, KK! At least many of the switches in this one were labeled!

 

Thanks, scopewest!

 

mamoafami and Jade13, I'm probably the first and only (I hope). You know, out of my thousand plus photos, I never took one of the closet! I'd say it was 8x3 feet.

 

our turn, I used a Canon Powershot A560. I also love those corner aft cabins!

 

Bernice, we loved sailing with you! I also hope for creak free cruising! Say hello to Jacques.

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