Holland (Eurodam) MDR Food Reviews?

Have only cruised Holland a couple of times (to Alaska) and have not been impressed with dining room food (it's been bland, at best). Am trying a Caribbean sailing on HAL this fall and am wondering if sailing in a different area will help?

I've been on Oosterdam and Westerdam, and am hoping I'll hear good things about Eurodam ... or is all of the Holland food the same from ship to ship (like most other lines)?

Thanks for any feedback you care to share.

Food is subjective so take what I say with a grain of salt. We sailed on the Eurodam this past March and we thought the food in the MDR was excellent, none of us had a complaint. We also ate 1 night in the Pinnacle Grill also thought that was excellent.

I hope you enjoy the Eurodam as much as we did.

I agree with doone. What I strongly suggest is trying at least one night in the Specialty Rest.- Tamarind.

We sailed the Eurodam to the Baltics a couple of years ago and I found the food in the MDR rather bland. However, we were on the Noordam to Alaska a couple months ago and the food in the MDR was excellent. Perhaps the improvement was due to better menus shipwide.

Like you, we'll be in the Caribbean on the Eurodam next year, so I hope the food is better now than it was in 2015.

We ate in the MDR 3 nights out of 7 on the E'dam in January and had great meals and service. I also highly recommend the Tamarind (Asian Fusion) which we enjoyed twice. I'm also a big fan of the Pinnacle Grill. We ate there twice, one of which was their Le Cirque night which I think has been replaced by Rudi's Sel de Mer, a one-night "pop-up". The "permanent" Sel de Mer on the Koningsdam has been very popular so they are offering it in the PG on other ships.

Food is subjective so take what I say with a grain of salt. We sailed on the Eurodam this past March and we thought the food in the MDR was excellent, none of us had a complaint. We also ate 1 night in the Pinnacle Grill also thought that was excellent.

I hope you enjoy the Eurodam as much as we did.

True...likes and dislikes are varied. Just hoping to hear it's not bland, so this is helpful. Thank you!

I don't eat meat, but was thinking they had an Italian restaurant I'd try.

I agree with doone. What I strongly suggest is trying at least one night in the Specialty Rest.- Tamarind.

Am not familiar with Asian food, so I'd have no idea what to try there :-} If you can recommend non-meat offerings, I'd consider it. Thanks!

We sailed the Eurodam to the Baltics a couple of years ago and I found the food in the MDR rather bland. However, we were on the Noordam to Alaska a couple months ago and the food in the MDR was excellent. Perhaps the improvement was due to better menus shipwide.

Like you, we'll be in the Caribbean on the Eurodam next year, so I hope the food is better now than it was in 2015.

Right...not bad, just bland -- so I never really felt satisfied. Glad to hear you saw improvement on Noordam! Hope I see the same on Eurodam! thanks

We ate in the MDR 3 nights out of 7 on the E'dam in January and had great meals and service. I also highly recommend the Tamarind (Asian Fusion) which we enjoyed twice. I'm also a big fan of the Pinnacle Grill. We ate there twice, one of which was their Le Cirque night which I think has been replaced by Rudi's Sel de Mer, a one-night "pop-up". The "permanent" Sel de Mer on the Koningsdam has been very popular so they are offering it in the PG on other ships.

That's great to hear -- and I'll ask you the same question I put to freestyling: what do you recommend (without meat) at Tamarind?

And, because I'm curious, what is Sel de Mer?

Thanks!

Sel De Mer is a specialty "pop-up" restaurant offering that will be served in the Pinnacle Grill if offered on your cruise. The menu is manly seafood.

I believe you can see menus for all of HAL's offerings at the HAL website. The link is listed below:

https://www.hollandamerica.com/pageByName/Resp.action?requestPage=Innovations_Dining&showHeader=true&showFooter=true&legacy=true

How long ago did you previously sail? I thought this year was far better than two previous cruises, 2 and 3 years ago.

Sel De Mer is a specialty "pop-up" restaurant offering that will be served in the Pinnacle Grill if offered on your cruise. The menu is manly seafood.

I believe you can see menus for all of HAL's offerings at the HAL website. The link is listed below:

https://www.hollandamerica.com/pageByName/Resp.action?requestPage=Innovations_Dining&showHeader=true&showFooter=true&legacy=true

Thanks, freestyling -- very helpful -- especially the menu link!

How long ago did you previously sail? I thought this year was far better than two previous cruises, 2 and 3 years ago.

Last Holland cruise was June 2016 in Alaska. Am hoping I see (taste) improvement too :-}

We just got off the Neiuw Amsterdam. It was a short cruise of only 4 days where we ate at the MDR 2 nights. Since we only ate twice in the MDR, this is just my perception from that experience.

We found the menu to be not very inspiring. At least they still have the strip steak on anytime menu unlike Princess who has replaced it with a burger..

At any rate, what we had wasn't bad. It was just okay, I think they're trying to push you to either Specialty dining or the buffet.

Speaking of the specialty dining, the Pinnacle Grill was excellent! Some of the dishes were the best I've had. And the Tamarind was just as good! We loved the food there and the service was superb.

Again, my experience is very limited as I've only sailed HAL once for a short cruise. I was overall impressed with HAL and purchased a FCD for another cruise, hopefully soon!

We just got off the Neiuw Amsterdam. It was a short cruise of only 4 days where we ate at the MDR 2 nights. Since we only ate twice in the MDR, this is just my perception from that experience.

We found the menu to be not very inspiring. At least they still have the strip steak on anytime menu unlike Princess who has replaced it with a burger..

At any rate, what we had wasn't bad. It was just okay, I think they're trying to push you to either Specialty dining or the buffet.

Speaking of the specialty dining, the Pinnacle Grill was excellent! Some of the dishes were the best I've had. And the Tamarind was just as good! We loved the food there and the service was superb.

Again, my experience is very limited as I've only sailed HAL once for a short cruise. I was overall impressed with HAL and purchased a FCD for another cruise, hopefully soon!

Your "We found the menu to be not very inspiring." comment is more accurate than my 'bland' descriptive -- that's exactly how I'd describe their food now that I've heard it.

The push toward specialty dining is something I've heard before and I really hope that's not their ultimate motive.

Thanks for the input!