Eurodam 8/1-8/11 Review

[GoLaLaKers]

Hello All,

Just came back from the Baltic cruise. What a great time, and we had some of the most amazing weather which is pure luck. I want to thank everyone for the valuable information here on these boards. Here's a brief re-cap of what we did.

Copenhagen - Wow, all I can say is what an expensive city. I paid $16 at McDonalds, and the only reason I ate their is I did not want to wait 45 minutes for a Chicken Sandwich down the street. The 2 days we had we decided to get out of the city, which was the best decision. One day we visited Frederiksborg Castle, and then we also visited the Viking Museum in another little town. Both trips were done in under 40 minutes by local train.

Warnemunde - Great little port. We decided to stay in town as it was Sunday and did not want to wast 6 hrs on train to Berlin. We took a morning excursion to Rostock (river, rail and city tour) and then we went back to boat for a little lunch and rest. Then we visited the port and enjoyed all the little seafood kiosks and had a few beers before getting back on the boat at 1o:30 PM.

Tallin - Another great little port. Very affordable, and people were very friendly. This was one of the ports where I had little expectations but walked away very happy. The women in Estonia were beautiful and the weather was fantastic. We took the hop on hop off tours which was great way to see the city.

Saint Petersburg - We had arranged a private tour with Red October. There were 16 in our group so we were able to get a large bus for less the what the boat was offering for 2 days of tours. We saw everything you possibly good in 2 days. I personally found the palaces the most impressive, as after looking at paintings in museums such as the Hermitage I start to lose focus. I am young so maybe my appreciation will grow over time. All in all St Petersburg was great, and thanks to Red October for the great service. Also Kudos to Holland America for not making any trouble to those who booked private tours.

Helsinki - Another great little port. The weather was fantastic again. Took the ship bus into town, and walked around for a few hours. My parents took a boat tour of the outer islands and enjoyed it, but I was pretty tired after 2 days in Russia so I went back to the boat early. We did get a little rain in the afternoon.

Stockholm - This city is amazing. What a perfect location. I wish we had more then one day here. We took the hop on/hop off boats to see all the sights (which picked us up right off the boat). Got off the boat at 8:30 and went straight to Vasa museum. We were able to beat all of the boat tours and had the Museum all to ourselves for about an hour. The ship is one of the most impressive things I have ever seen. A must stop for anyone going to Stockholm. After the Vasa, we went to the Palace to see the changing of the guard. It was nice, but frankly a waste of time. I would have rather had the extra hour to walk around the town some more. Leaving Stockholm was one of best scenery I have ever had on a cruise (only leaving Venice tops it). The weather was fantastic again and all the little islands and people on their personal boats made for great pictures.

Keil - This was the most disappointed stops on the cruise. Their was not much to see or do, and we did not want to go into Hamburg to see another city.

Overall, the trip was fantastic. The weather was a huge factor but Holland America also did not disappoint. The age gap on HAL was much better this cruise, which was my only complaint with them in the past. The evening entertainment was a little stale, but with a younger crowd on board I still had a blast. If I could change anything about this cruise, it would have been deleting Keil and staying an extra day in Sweden. I am glad we decided to come straight home rather then spending an extra day in Copenhagen as others in my group did. I would definitely go back to Estonia, Sweden and Finland in the future.

Thanks again to all on these boards. You really made my trip a better experience. Feel free to ask any questions.

[wowzo]

Thank You for your review of the ports. Could you tell us what you thought of the ship ? Good & Bad (if any).

Appreciate you taking the time, MaryAnn

[Krazy Kruizers]

Welcome home.

Glad you had a much better HAL experience and cruise this time.

Thank you taking the time to write your report.

[CasaSmith]

Did you enjoy the Eurodam? Did you eat at any of the speciality restaurants?

Thanks for the reivew.

[GoLaLaKers]

The Eurodam is very nice ship. I have sailed on the Noordam before and they are very similar. Cabins were nice, and ship was always clean. I used the gym several times, as well as the Hydro pool. It is pricey but it's one of the best spots on the ship to relax. I'd usually spend 20-30 minutes before dinner each day in their between the pool and steam rooms. Never more then 3-4 people in the pool at a time, and often I was alone.

Piano Bar was the most popular place to be at night, followed by the sports bar and Crow's nest. They might as well close the Northern Lights down as no one uses it. I did not eat in any of the specialty restauraunts as we were in a large group and actually enjoyed dinning together every night. Meal service was often slow, but perhaps it was the group of 16 (2 tables) that slowed it down.

Another great thing about the Eurodam was the travel guide Ian. He really knew his stuff. When we would leave a port he would often do a play by play over the loud speaker on the rear pool deck and at the Crow's nest. Great to have the play by play when we left Sweden. And unlike past cruises i have done (HAl, Celebrity and Royal Car) he never once pushed the use of ths ship tours. The other ships make it seems like the ports are impossible to see on your own. Ian would often showed pictures of where you can take a cab, catch the train and even rent a car. Huge thumbs up for that as all the ports aside from Russia were pretty easy to do on your own.

[onthegogirl]

Originally Posted by wowzo

Thank You for your review of the ports. Could you tell us what you thought of the ship ? Good & Bad (if any).

Appreciate you taking the time, MaryAnn

I was on the same cruise and was blown away by the Baltic. We were blessed by incredible weather.

It was my first time on the Eurodam. The cabins seemed smaller than the ones I've had on the Statendam and Volendam and I really missed the coffee table. The steward had to set the morning tray on the bed as the couch contained all the pillows and I was sitting on the stool. There seemed to be less drawer space too.

My room steward was awesome!

The food was not quite so good either. This time I used AYW dining as I was sailing with my cousins. That might be the reason. Not bad, just not quite as good as on other HAL ships.

Since this was a port intensive cruise, there seemed to be enough lounge chairs by the pool. I noticed that the cabanas were empty most of the time.

The Tamarind restaurant was lovely and we were pampered all evening long.

I would sail on the Eurodam again but only if the itinenary was ourstanding.

Carole