We Loved Eurodam; March 14 and March 21, 2009

[sail7seas]

I never did get around to organizing a review of our wonderful two weeks on Eurodam. I think after writing so many pages of 'comments' post cruise, I feel like I am repeating myself so hesitated to do so again.

 

But there were some things we enjoyed/experienced on Eurodam I really want to comment about.

 

We boarded on a very beautiful day and though we had visited aboard Eurodam previously, it is quite different spending a few hours aboard vs. crossing the gangway knowing we will have a full two weeks to savor and enjoy and discover.

 

We are very taken with the transition between HAL ships we know and love and the newest in the fleet. We think HAL did it just right. It is no secret how much we love 'our' Noordam and think her as perfect a ship as we have sailed so were prepared to downplay Eurodam and say she falls short.

 

That is not true and not what we felt.

The combination of Mr. Dingermann's decorating and design and the new design team HAL retained to work on Eurodam just plain works! We like the balance of the elegant, graceful, comfortable, tastefulness of all HAL ships and we love the new direction decorating in the cabins. DH always observes but doesn't always comment but the first day we were in our 'SA", he kept saying how very much he liked it. I agree. The clean lines, the uncluttered feel, the textures..... wonderful to my taste.

 

We think Tamarind and Silk Den amazing additions. RTamarind is so beautifully decorated. So rich and tasteful and the service from the lovely ladies is six star ******, at least. :) So gracious and excellent. Tamarind is not just dinner. It's an experience. We dined there at least twice and left so relaxed and well fed but we felt as though we had been transported to a different culture while there; a different place. We've never encountered anything quite like it on any ship.

 

We are always lovers of Ocean Bar on all the ships. We didn't feel as comfortable at this one and weren't happy with the feel and mood there. Maye it was the difference in who was there, what was there... I don't know but it is odd for us to not love Ocean Bar.

 

We went to Silk Den our first night after dinner for a relaxing after dinner drink and loved it there right away. Pancho was bartender the whole of our two weeks and he is such an experienced, professional, delightful bartender. He remembered us from the past and we him. A great treat that first night was to find Yvette is aboard. She was a bar stewardness on our first HAL cruise on Noordam III I it was 1991 or 1992. We have sailed with her a great many times through the years, including on Zuiderdam, but not for a very long time. What a delight to see her again. As always, gracious and friendly and smiling. She looks great and we so enjoyed chatting and seeing her throughout out two weeks aboard.

 

Another bar that surprised and delighted us is Explorer's Lounge. Eurodam's Explorer's Lounge has the only actual bar. None of the other ships have it. As I said, we mostly use Ocean Bar so don't often think to go to Explorer's Lounge except if the music catches us and we stay to enjoy listening. On Eurodam, we right away were so happy at that bar. When we are alone, we are bar sitters. Of course, if with other people, we take a table but we like the bar and a friendly bartender. That is what we enjoyed here.

 

On embarkation day, we ran into Chef Robert Schumann in Lido. He had just boarded and we were so happy to see him. We knew we would be eating well if he was Exec Chef. :) And we were right. The food in Eurodam's main dining room is as good as we have ever had on any cruise, any ship, anytime. We have had as good but I don't think better. Everything we ordered we enjoyed. The menus had enough interesting choices, variety, something for everyone IMO. I often order the Always Available salmon because I really love it. But, this cruise I was tempted away from that more nights than usual. WELL DONE, Chef. We, as always, enjoyed all you and the sous Chefs prepared for us in the Main Dining Room.

 

Now let's talk about Lido.

I agree with the others who say the walkway between the buffet line and first row of tables is too close. We would never take one of those tables as it seems you'd often be 'bumped' by passersby. The designers made a mistake IMO and cut it too close. Even another foot would make a difference.

 

That aside, Lido is about eating. :) And eat we did. I found some of the offerings so tempting I freely admit to throwing caution aside and simply enjoying. I have some health issues that make me take good care of myself and I am a disciplined eater. It is hard to tempt me to eat food I know unhealthy for me. Eurodam's Lido did it to me!!! :D I had the lasagna a few times. I loved it. It has probably been at least 5 years since I had any such a thing with meat sauce and melted cheese and white pasta, high fat and calories. I did a big, so what! It looks good and so enjoyed it. The sandwiches, the salad bar, the hot food choices, the stir fry, the pasta, the list was endless. For anyone to say they couldn't find anything they liked, well,,,,,,,, I'd just shake my head and feel badly. Doesn't seem possible.

 

Service in Lido......superb! Stewards happy to refill coffee, carry trays (yes, there were trays in Lido) :), one heard me say to DH I wanted another iced tea and he went off to get it for me before I even realized. Service, service, service, with a smile is definitely what we experienced on Eurodam.

 

We had a special treat in that Captain Jeroen was to have left the ship the day we arrived but because the Captain who was to come became ill, Captain Jeroen van Donselaar extended and stayed aboard for another 12 or so days. We were so surprised to see him at Suite Welcome Aboard Party in Neptune Lounge and he could not have been more friendly and welcoming. Also a special thanks to Hotel Manager Mark Zeller who we first met on Noordam. Both do such an outstanding job as surely we know a happy crew makes for happy guests and it is from the top that makes crew happy. Many thanks to them for their professionalism and appreciation for how pleasant they were each time we had the pleasure of seeing them.

 

Special surprise of all was Captain John Scott came our second week. He relieved Captain Jeroen so he could go on his well earned vacation and we were so happy to see Captain Scott. We have sailed with him since Veendam, many years ago, then several times on Zuiderdam, Noordam of course :), and had no idea we'd have the pleasure on Eurodam. A treat. Wish his wife had been with him but she was occupied elsewhere as they both were set to rejoin Captain Scott's ship, Noordam, very soon.

 

Also want to mention new Cruise Director who was aboard. I may be mistaken but it is possible this is one of his first times as CD, but if so, Johnny Quinn is a natural. What a pleasant, energetic, friendly, nice guy. He seems so suited for the position and is doing a great job. Thanks to him for well done.

 

This has run on long and I still have more things to say so will return later when I get a few more thoughts organized.

 

I know this no where falls into anything to be called a 'review' and I don't think I intended for it to. Just some comments about a great time on a beautiful ship where we relaxed and enjoyed the vacation that was what we wanted at this time. We all go with an idea of what we want from a given vacation....sometimes more active, sometimes slower, sometimes lots of friends, other times on our own. Eurodam was the perfect place to do what we wanted, when we wanted, how we wanted.

[taxmantoo]

Thanks for posting your thoughts. We were first time HAL cruisers on the April 4 sailing of the Eurodam and couldn't agree more with your comments.

 

We loved the ship and its staff. We also got to meet Yvette on two occasions (Lunch and dinner at Tamarind) and were impressed to the point of mentioning her by name on our comment card.

 

You are also right on about CD Johny Quinn. We even got him to sing a solo along with Jimmy at the piano one night when he visited the Piano Bar on his way to the Theater.

 

Hope we get to sail on the Eurodam again soon, possibly next Christmas.

[penetangjudy]

I will third your positive comments as we sailed on March 28th. I have only good things to say about our cruise. So much so that we are already planning our next one for Novemeber and it will only be with HAL.

 

I also couldn't believe how friendly the Lido staff were, one server sang me a song to my name while he was getting my coffee :) It was all great!!!!

[Old As Dirt Mom]

Thanks, Sail; Eurodam sounds very nice. Now, if they could only get her over here to the west coast for a season, that would be wonderful, as my flying days are officially over. Hopefully, HAL will replicate some of her public spaces on the other ships. The Tamarind, Silk Den, and the Explorer's Lounge bar in particular, sound great.

[510picker]

We have looked into going on the Eurodam in October and have yet to book. Your review may just be the final push I need.

[our turn]

Thanks for your comments on your recent cruise. We agree with most of your observations especially your feelings about the Silk Den and the Tamarind.

[cruising teacher]

Agree that the Eurodam is wonderful. Does anyone know when the 2010 itineraries will be published? I only see the Eurodam's itineraries through March 2010.

[sail7seas]

I heard they will be out this week or next. They are just about ready for release.

 

[flag fan]

Thanks for posting; I'm looking forward to my first Holland America cruise on the Eurodam in October. I saw the Eurodam on a New England cruise I took on Caribbean Princess (it was following us around, or so it seemed, to almost every port) and it looked so great from the outside I booked it when I got back. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it so much.

 

I have one question, regarding the cabanas. I would like to try one for a day, either on the pool deck or in the Retreat area, but don't really want to rent one for an entire week. Do you know whether they were all pre-booked by people on line before the cruise or were cabanas available for daily rental? You didn't mention renting one so I assume you didn't, but did you notice whether there were any vacant or did you hear stories about their occupancy by other cruisers?

[sail7seas]

Our first week on Eurodam, the weather was about as perfect as one gets in the Caribbean and the seas were calm. Eurodam sailed smoothly and there was barely the little swell.

 

We had never visited Grand Turk /Caicos before and were happy to see it. It is what it is. We think of it as another day at the beach, though we used the large pool instead of the beach. :) The prices in the shop and drink prices are ridiculous but when you're the only game in town, you can charge what you want. It was clean, no walk from the ship, some shops to look at and for folks who want a day at the pool, it's pleasant. We never went to the beach but heard some say it wasn't as clean as they hoped. Could have been a storm brought some debris ashore. I don't know as we never went there.

 

Even still despite the high prices, I couldn't go to Margaritaville and not have a Margarita. It was not the best I've ever had and only got it as it seemed I should :rolleyes:. Gave it to DH and he drank most of it. He got a t-shirt but I passed on that. I would go back to Grand Turk and would not fail to book a cruise because it went there but wouldn't rave about it either. I didn't dislike it just wasn't Wowwed by it either.

 

We were back aboard about 1:00 and had a burger on the ship. Why go pay for a burger ashore when we can have a delicious one on the ship and we had enough sun by then anyway. Seeing as it was such a beautiful day, we had comfy chairs at the pool and saw something we'd never seen before, it was a good day. :)

 

It was wonderful we didn't have to go to Immigration at all during this cruise under we arrived back at FLL. We didn't expect that so a nice surprise. The order of the ports is: FLL, Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Thomas, HMC and FLL. We assumed we'd have to do cattle call in San Juan but they waived it. REALLY good news. St. Thomas knew we came directly from San Juan, so no Immigration required there.

 

Room Service was not our favorite style. Actually, it was our least favorite. The food taste and selection were fine and pleased us. The service was mostly on time but everytime we ordered Room Service breakfast, the steward knocked, we opened door, they sometimes said good morning but not always, dropped the tray on the table and we just about had to chase them to give a tip. We're used to the lovely Room Service cart they use for Suite Room Service on Maasdam so this was not quite as pleasant. I love the 'first pour' theory of breakfast room service. That practice being steward brings breakfast, unloads the tray, sets out coffee cups and saucers and POURS THE FIRST CUP of coffee. That is the way to make a lazy, relaxing, vacationing cruiser happy first thing in the morning. If you start the day with a smile, bodes well for the rest of the day.

 

Of course, it's a much larger ship with a great many more suites so I understand why that would be difficult. The food came mostly what we ordered and hot/cold as appropriate and tasted (mostly) good so I shouldn't be complaining.

 

 

I've commented before about the new uniforms. I don't think they look as good as the nice whites do in the Caribbean. The dark blue, heavy weight belongs in cooler temps. The shirt and trousers with tie is not the smart, sharp look HAL uniforms have been in the past. I have commented before I mixed up officers with security a few times. Their uniforms looked a lot alike. Wish they'd go back to the whites. I love the look of them but I'm sure no one is going to solicit my opinion. ;)

 

Oops, have to get dinner going. DH will be home soon. We almost always go out on Friday nights but decided not to tonight so if we're going to eat, I'd better cook.

 

"Dam"..... wish I could call Room Service now. That'll stop me from complaining about a tray being placed on the table and not unloaded.

 

[sail7seas]

I have one question, regarding the cabanas. I would like to try one for a day, either on the pool deck or in the Retreat area, but don't really want to rent one for an entire week. Do you know whether they were all pre-booked by people on line before the cruise or were cabanas available for daily rental? You didn't mention renting one so I assume you didn't, but did you notice whether there were any vacant or did you hear stories about their occupancy by other cruisers?

 

I can't say for absolutely sure but it appeared all the Retreat area cabanas were booked all the time. I prefered them to the Lido Pool cabanas. We sailed both weeks being Spring Break with family groups so maybe they booked up more because of that being a great 'home base' for the families.

 

If you have your heart set on having one, I'd check early to determine if you can get it by the day on your cruise.

[Two@Sea]

I appreciate your comments on the Eurodam. We intended to sail with our teacher DD and her DH on the Westerdam during her next spring break, which is the only time she can go, but it seems the Westerdam is headed for drydock soon afterward (?) and I would prefer not to take the final cruise before scheduled work. So, Eurodam it is!

 

How did you find the cabana/retreat areas? I have visions of blocked off decks, and a "cluttered" appearance.

[COLLEYBERRY]

Thanks for taking the time to post your review. Brought back a flood of memories.

The Tamarind and Silk Den really are lovely aren't they? So wish I were

going there for dinner this evening:)

Glad you had a great cruise and enjoyed the Eurodam.

[Typhoon1]

Also want to mention new Cruise Director who was aboard. I may be mistaken but it is possible this is one of his first times as CD, but if so, Johnny Quinn is a natural. What a pleasant, energetic, friendly, nice guy. He seems so suited for the position and is doing a great job. Thanks to him for well done.

 

We sailed the Eurodam in February with Johnny, and he is indeed an energetic young man who is relatively new to the job. He will do a fantastic job in that challenging position.

[flag fan]

Thanks for the info on the cabanas.

[jhannah]

The Tamarind and Silk Den really are lovely aren't they?

They surely are. HAL came up with real winners there.

 

Thanks for your thoughts, Judy. We found the Eurodam quite the ship!

[sail7seas]

As much as we enjoyed Tamarind, we also enjoyed Pinnacle on Eurodam very much. It, of course, has a familiar feel to it as being so like those on Vista, but the design is nice. Very comfortable. I like the chairs better on Noordam but Eurodam's are very comfortable. Food was excellent as was the service. We went at least twice and would have gone again but the night we chose was San Juan. We were sailing late and decided to go ashore for dinner. It was a gorgeous Caribbean evening and we had a great dinner ten minute walk from the ship in Old San Juan.

 

Nice thing in the "SA" cabins was the addition of more power plugs as well as a considerably larger safe. We were able to put our wallets, digital camera, cell phone, jewelry as well as our Acer mini netbook in the safe with loads of room to spare. Great idea of HAL to increase the size of these safes as they know so many of us are bringing so many electronics. They probably are happy for us to lock them up so no one has to worry about securing them.

 

We saw a few good movies on board. New and surprisingly current. I'm sure I saw they were playing Slum Dog Millionaire but it was at a time we couldn't see it.... unfortunately. We saw Angelina Jolie movie, Boy in Stripes? , and the newish George Bush movie.

 

For those that often ask, our steward brought us slippers on day two. I like them and it's handy to have them. We didn't have to ask, he simply brought them.

 

We were aboard for St. Patrick's Day and they ran a fun party at Lido Pool. They decorated with huge stream of green and white balloons. Tables set up with nice pastries and chocolate fountain w/ fruit to dip. Festive St. Patty's day lei's in green and white. They drew a big crowd and everyone seemed to enjoy.

 

We were happy to receive USA Today newspapers in our Suite in at least two or three ports. I always enjoy when we get a paper.

 

Nice cocktail party in Crow's Nest where we got to meet our GRM. We had never met Geri before and enjoyed doing so. Very experienced, lovely lady we had heard nice things about so was good putting a face to her name. :)

 

We actually saw a few shows this cruise which we don't always do. There was a husband and wife acrobatic couple that formerly were with Circque du Soleil. If I recall what they wrote in the Daily Program, I think they are from Russia. She is so limber it's unbelieveable the positions she can put her body. Entertaining for the first ten or so minutes but then became too repetitive and we left. They're called Ilia et Valerie Duo Acrobatique. She was very graceful and certainly acrobatic and he muscular and six pack abs :) but after their acrobatics, went into a routine changing large lengths of silk into dresses of some sort. That part wasn't very entertaining for us and we went for an after dinner drink.

 

We finally saw Justin Miller show. He's been with HAL for years and we've always heard good things about his shows so decided it was time to see him and we're glad we did. Such a talented man and he put on a wonderful show.

 

We were given comment cards at the end of the cruise, as always, but these were in a form we had never seen before. They separated various facets re: the ship/cruise into categories and left a space for written comments about that facet specifically. I really liked this new format. They also rearranged the number system. Always the forms we got, had rate your cruise from 1 to 9 and had 1 first and 9 at the end of the numbering.

The new surveys start with 9 and work backwards. I think it more clear for people who don't carefully read the directions. If you really loved your cruise, color in the box at "9".

I like the new format and hope they switch permanently to it.

 

All for now.

More later.

 

 

[Sage]

Sail, I have enjoyed reading your reviews. Thank you so much for posting. Perhaps we will try the Eurodam soon. I really love the Noordam, so the changes to the Eurodam will be interesting to see.

[penetangjudy]

Dh and I were just looking at the new deck plans and they are going to be putting cabanas on the other side of the lido as well, so there will only be seating in the middle and at the ends. It seems the new ones are also bigger than the existing ones on the port side.

 

Flag Fan: I do recall reading they get booked up before the ship sails and they have separate prices for sea days and port days, they did look nice and cozy :)