Dave's Live from Eurodam Transatlantic 24 Aug - 10 Sep 2011

Hello CC’ers,

Dave here, with another live blog, this time from the Eurodam transatlantic from Dover, UK to New York City, Aug. 24 – Sept. 10, 2011.

As I have done before, I will try to record my experiences and opinions as I go, and will upload them, and photos, as I am able, depending on internet connectivity. On a similar crossing on Eurodam in 2009, I had very good luck with the connections from the ship, and hope I have as good luck this time.

Here is a report of our travels to London prior to the cruise.

The Flight

We booked air, hotel and transfers from HAL, because we wanted only air one-way, and doing it on our own was prohibitive. We did the air deviation, asking for a particular direct flight from Washington Dulles to London Heathrow. Being 4-star Mariners, the deviation did not cost us anything, but we had done deviations before and found the $75 fee to be well worth it. In this case, we got a United direct flight leaving Dulles at about 10 p.m.

We took care to arrive at the airport early, just to avoid traffic and complications. We spent a pleasant few hours at Dulles, secure in the knowledge that at least we had made it to Dulles before our flight. We boarded on time and had an unremarkable flight, aside from finding that as we grow older, sleeping on a plane is nearly impossible. We arrived at Heathrow a few minutes before our scheduled 10:10 a.m. arrival time. Immigration has improved since last we were here, and we sped through (relatively speaking). We walked through “nothing to declare” at customs and exited, looking for the HAL rep.

We say him soon enough, and identified ourselves. He agreed that he was, indeed, looking for people with our names. He led us outside to the curb and asked us to wait a minute. He went around the corner, and we expected him to come back to tell us where to board the coach. Instead, he came back with a parking fee ticket marked “paid” and led us across the street to a town car. Our HAL transfer was a private town car from Heathrow to our hotel on Park Lane (which is a blue property on UK Monopoly, akin to Park Place and Boardwalk). A quite nice surprise!

The hotel

The HAL hotel is the Grosvenor House Hotel, on Park Lane, overlooking Hyde Park in the section of London called Mayfair, which is one of the most up-scale neighborhoods in central London. It is an older property, recently acquired and refurbished by Marriott. The address was certainly elegant, but we did not know about the hotel itself, although several CC’ers reassured me on a thread I started on the Britain board.

We arrived at the hotel at about 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 20, and checked in. I knew from the hotel website that they had twin-bedded rooms, double beds, queens and kings. I showed my Marriott Rewards card to make sure we got the bonus points for the stay, and asked for a twin-bedded room. Luckily, one was available right away (which may have had something to do with the card I had just shown). We went up and found basically a mini-suite with two double beds, instead of the two twins we expected (photo attached, link to higher-res: http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/510/Grosvenor_House_Hotel_twin-bedded_room.JPG ). We have lived in London and know there are often subtle, and sometimes large, differences between U.S. and British English, but did not realize that “twin-bedded” meant “two beds” and not necessarily “twin-sized beds”. It was a nice surprise. The hotel is indeed elegant, and comfortable, but has some quirks/odd points.

Some practical notes about the hotel:

Breakfast. The HAL package covered only the room and taxes; breakfast was not included. Breakfast was available from the hotel, but was pretty expensive – the full buffet was 29 pounds per person; other options were less, but still pretty pricy. The HAL rep in the lobby recommended a place called the French House, just out the back door and down the alley to South Audley St. We went and found a French place called Richoux (part of a chain). We have not tried it yet, but hope to do so, and I will report what I think if we do.

Coffee. No coffee/tea or other such service is available in the rooms. Coffee can be ordered from room service, or can be purchased from a ground-floor shop that opens at 6:30 a.m. One morning, we found a free service near reception, but it was not available all days.

Ice. There are no ice machines. You can get ice delivered free by calling in-room dining. I presume both the coffee and ice situations are due to limitations of electrical wiring/load limits, but it could of course be due to something else.

Internet. Free only to Marriot Gold and Platinum award levels (we are Silver, so no free ‘net for us). Wired service in the room is 20 pounds for 24 hours, 6 pounds for one hour. If you purchase wired in your room, you also have wi-fi access in the lobby and public rooms; if you sign up first for wi-fi, you can’t use it for wired service afterwards in your room. Strange. We paid for wired, but later found that the nearby Audley pub offers free wifi.

This first post is coming to you via a high-speed connection from the Grosvenor House Hotel on Park Lane in London, on Monday evening, Aug. 22. I hope to post more before we board the wonderful Eurodam on Wednesday, but we have been so busy doing … well, not much at all, but enjoying it very much!

More later,

Dave

Dave, Really looking forward to your live report. You always do such a great job. Have a great cruise and thanks for sharing your cruise experience.

Bon Voyage!

What a wonderful opportunity to "retake" our TA on the Eurodam!! Looking forward to hearing all about your adventures. Bon Voyage.

We always enjoy your cruise blogs. Have a wonderful cruise.

Oh, to be crossing on the northern route again. I'll be happy to ride along with you. Thanks for inviting us to join you.

Hi Dave, Glad you had a safe trip...looking forward to meeting you on board on the 24th.

Kathy

Dave, I'll be looking forward to your reports - they are always so interesting. Thanks for sharing with us:D

Sounds like a wonderful cruise, can't wait to hear more!

Dave, have a wonderful cruise on a great ship. We just departed her 10 days ago and had a nice cruise.

Looking forward to cruising along with you via your thread, thanks.

Helen

Great reporting style. Eurodam TA is one of the cruises I hope to do, so I look forward to your reports. Smoothing Sailing Mustang.

Bon Voyage!

Thank you for your report and the photo.

Looking forward to your future reports.

Tuesday, Aug. 23

Breakfast at Richoux

We just returned from breakfast at Richoux, which is what we presume is what the HAL rep called The French House, since it is a French place and was where she directed us.

It is a very nice small restaurant, with what looks like a wine bar in the back part, and a dangerous pastry bar just by the entrance. We decided to try the breakfast since other CC'ers also had recommended it. Photos of the exterior and interior are attached as snapshots; higher-res are at:

http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/510/French_House_London.JPG

http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/510/Interior_Richoux_Mayfair_set_for_breakfast.JPG

The meal was quite good, with a mix of traditional British touches and some nice French ones as well -- we had the eggs and rashers, but the coffee was very strong and served with a small pitcher of warm milk, perfect for making cafe au lait. DW loved that, and also the flaky large croissant with apricot jam -- between the coffee and the jam, she'll be up for the shopping trip we plan to take in the rain this morning.

I had the full monte traditional breakfast (snapshot attached, higher-res at

http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/514/The_Traditional_breakfast_Richoux_Mayfair.JPG

DW had eggs and the afore-mentioned croissant. All told, with pots of coffee and included juice, our tab was 27 pounds (service not included), so roughly half the full buffet price of the Grosvenor House Hotel.

The restaurant's web site, including menus, is at http://www.richouxmayfair.com/

Off to shop. I hope to post more before we board the ship tomorrow.

Dave

So pleased to hear such good things about the HAL air, transfers, and hotel arrangements! Certainly the Grosvenor House has always been one of London's premier hotels. Not having ice machines on each floor is one of those so-called oddities (as seen by Americans) that makes going to Great Britain an experience that is memorable. And you did indeed make a good choice in going to Richoux on South Audley Street -- another venerable establishment with three other locations in London, but it could hardly be called a "chain" in any pejorative sense. I am looking forward to reading your upcoming reports!

Lord Kay of Shandon.

Looking forward to reading your (and your DW's) adventures again.

Thank you for taking all of us along!

Cheers,

Deb

So pleased to hear such good things about the HAL air, transfers, and hotel arrangements! Certainly the Grosvenor House has always been one of London's premier hotels. Not having ice machines on each floor is one of those so-called oddities (as seen by Americans) that makes going to Great Britain an experience that is memorable. And you did indeed make a good choice in going to Richoux on South Audley Street -- another venerable establishment with three other locations in London, but it could hardly be called a "chain" in any pejorative sense. I am looking forward to reading your upcoming reports!

 

Lord Kay of Shandon.

ColumbiaSC,

I said the hotel had some quirks, and then also listed some practical considerations, for others who may be staying here on a HAL package deal. The two did not necessarily relate. What I meant about the lack of ice and in-room coffee is that it was odd when considering the usual North America Marriott hotels, not when comparing with the usual London hotel. Some of the other quirks are warrens of passageways leading to rooms, floors that seem to rise for six inches or so in mid-corridor, etc. – things that make it interesting to say here.

We have stayed years ago in pensions in Sussex Gardens that were not only odd, but sometimes verged on bizarre. :D

And, saying that the Richoux in Mayfair was part of a chain was in no way meant to be perjorative at all, but simply was a statement of fact; there is a London chain of four Richoux restaurants, and we had seen the one in Piccadilly before. We enjoyed our meal this morning, and probably will visit again tomorrow morning before catching the transport to Dover to the ship. It's a great alternative to the hotel. For a really cheap but still good breakfast, we noticed that Raffles on Praed St. near Paddington Station is still serving a traditional breakfast for about 4 pounds. That's a couple of miles (and a lot farther in ambience) from Mayfair, though.

We lived in London for three years in the early 1980s, and have visited every few years since, so we knew roughly what to expect.

More later,

Dave

Tuesday evening (London time), Aug. 23

Some random thoughts on London

We have spent four days now in London, and I have several random observations to offer:

Tourist attractions. As I mentioned above, we lived in London for three years in the early 1980s, and have visited often. So, we did not do many of the typical tourist things – this is not to say you should not, because there is so much worth seeing. It’s just that we have seen most of them, and spent our time this visit more in re-visiting old haunts, old friends, old paths trodden before.

The only thing we did that was “touristy” is that we visited Stonehenge. In all the time here, we had never visited, since it was something we always could do … but never did. So, we decided to book a tour. For those who may be interested -- I searched the site recommended often on the Britain board, and found a tour offered by Premium tours that included pick up at the hotel and transfer to a direct bus to the site, entry fee including audio guide, and direct bus back, leaving in the morning and arriving back to Victoria Coach Station at 2 p.m. Cost was 29 pounds per person. The HAL rep gave us a book featuring tours by Evan Evans, a large and reputable firm in Britain, and they also had a similar direct tour, but theirs left in the afternoon. We enjoyed fine weather when we went on Monday and were able to drive straight to the National Trust site, arriving before 10:30; as we left just before noon, we noted that there had built up quite a line of traffic, caused by vehicles turning into Stonehenge. So, probably the morning tour was the better option. The one hour and 20 minutes or so on site were enough to see things. There is not much there – restrooms, a small gift shop, a snack bar with sandwiches, cakes, chips, soft drinks, etc., and a small ice cream stall. Plan on a light lunch or bring food with you.

The Audley Pub. This is on South Audley St., just down from the Richoux, and thus is the local for the Grosvenor House. It sees a lot of Yanks there. Recently, this may be because it was the place where U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama and her daughters had fish and chips in 2009. But, it has seen Yanks for years – it is only a couple of blocks south of the U.S. Embassy on Grosvenor Square … and also from a building cater-corner from the Embassy --7 North Audley St., where I worked for three years at the headquarters of the U.S. Navy Europe command from 1980-1983. The building was Eisenhower’s headquarters during World War II, and was used by the Navy afterwards. The command has now shifted to Naples, Italy, and the building seems empty and somewhat forlorn. In any case, I was very familiar with Mayfair, and the Audley; we have had a glass our two there this trip as well. A photo is attached and at: http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/510/Audley_Pub_London.JPG

Sunday lunch and ramble. On Sunday, we went to another old friend, the Salisbury Pub on St. Martin’s Lane, north of Trafalgar Square. Photo attached and at: http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/510/Salisbury_Pub_London.JPG We have made it a tradition to do the Sunday joint and two veg there whenever we are in London on a Sunday, and did so this time as well. Since the last time we were here, the pub has joined a pub grub conglomerate, and while it was still a good meal, it was not the unique one we usually have had. The roast beef, roasted potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and vegetables were still quite good, though, and worth a visit. But, you can also get such a meal at many pubs in London.

After lunch, we strolled down to Trafalgar Square and crossed south to Whitehall, which we followed to Westminster Bridge (and the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben). We also noticed a lot of construction going on, perhaps in preparation for the Olympics next year. Westminster Abbey had scaffolding around parts of it, and some of the open bits had obviously been sand-blasted clean – I don’t believe I have ever seen the Abbey with nearly white stone facings.

We crossed the Bridge to the South Bank, and turned up the walkway, past the London Eye, and continued on all the way to London Bridge. We passed many places I would not have ventured to in the 1980s, including Gabriel’s Wharf, which is now a place of many restaurants, bars and such, and had quite a crowd of people. We paused and looked at the tables of used books under Waterloo Bridge. We passed the OXO tower, and the Battersea Power Station. When we lived here, it was a power station, and a BBC radio and TV announcer named Terry Wogan used to refer to it as “Colditz on Thames.” It is now the Tate Modern, a major museum of modern art.

We paused also at another old friend, the Anchor Pub. Photo attached and at: http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/510/Anchor_Pub_London.JPG This is a wonderful old pile of place, with lots of small bars, dining areas, nooks and snugs. The sign says it was built in 1615, but parts may have been refurbished later. If I remember correctly it was either here or at the nearby Founder’s Arms where Dr. Johnson sat and watched the Great Fire consume the City of London. In any case, it was a fine way to quench a thirst near the end of a warm Sunday ramble on the Southside.

Tuesday shopping. It has been raining pretty much all day, and after breakfast we set out shopping. We started at Marks and Spencer, and Selfridges, both on Oxford St. near the hotel. Selfridges has a food hall, not perhaps as famous as the one at Harrods on Knightsbridge, but still interesting to see for the fine foods. Photo attached and at: http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/510/Selfridges_Food_Hall.JPG

They have foods from many places, but I laughed when I saw one aisle of exotic food from a foreign land. Photo attached and at: http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/510/Selfridges_exotic_foods_from_other_lands.JPG

We then walked Oxford St. and down New Bond St. to Piccadilly, to shop for gifts that we had shipped from Fortnum and Mason, a famous shop that specializes in food and “bespoke hampers”. We bought teas and biscuits to send to family members in the U.S. Attached is just a sample photo of one of the ground-floor displays, and at: http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/510/Fortnum_and_Mason_display.JPG The shop has several floors, and is a great place to take afternoon tea if you have never done so. On the way back, we stopped at Liberty’s, just off Regent St., so DW could check out the famous print-fabric ladies clothing.

I am wrapping up the London part of the blog here; I probably will not be able to post again until we are onboard Eurodam. Thanks for coming along.

More later,

Dave

The only down side of being on the same cruise as you, is that I won't be able to read your reports. :)

Well, Dave you missed the earthquake which you have probably heard about by now! Our two VA. daughters who work in D.C. evacuated their office buildings. We haven't heard about much damage just bricks here and there. Carol and J.

Well, Dave you missed the earthquake which you have probably heard about by now! Our two VA. daughters who work in D.C. evacuated their office buildings. We haven't heard about much damage just bricks here and there. Carol and J.

Carol,

Yes, we just heard about it. We checked the email first thing this morning before packing up to board the ship, and had an email from our apartment complex manager telling us that they had done an inspection and found no structural damage. We may arrive home to find a broken cup or a crack in the wall or something, but nothing seriously damaged ... which is one less thing to worry about on cruise, so we appreciate the management sending the email.

More from onboard later,

Dave

You've no idea how I look forward to your Live From's, Dave. It's the second best thing to cruising. Thanks SO much for continuing to do these. :)

Wed., Aug 24, Dover

Well, we are aboard the Eurodam!

This morning was relatively painless. We had our bags ready for pickup just inside our hotel room door by 7 a.m., and went down to breakfast. When we returned, the bags were gone.

We took a short stroll into Hyde Park on an overcast, gray day (once more into the park, dear friends) before returning to the hotel, gathering all the rest of our belongings and checking out.

We waited in the lobby for about 15-20 minutes when we got the call to board the coach. We filed onto the bus and had a drive of about two hours to the pier in Dover, arriving at about 11:30. We went through 4-star Mariner/suite passenger check-in, and finished just as they called us to board. We were quickly into our stateroom. Our bags arrived at about 2 p.m. We sailed at about 4:30, just after the lifeboat drill. The weather had cleared by then, and there actually were blue skies over the white cliffs of Dover as we sailed. France was visible to starboard as we went up the English Channel, headed for Amsterdam.

We have an SB on the 6th deck, which we booked months ago. It is spacious and comfortable. Attached are a few photos, and at:

http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/520/Eurodam_SB_cabin.JPG

http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/520/Eurodam_SB_cabin_2.JPG

http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/520/Eurodam_SB_cabin_3.JPG

Joanie, I have taken many other photos, but will post or email them to you after we get back.

Some basic info:

Officers/staff: The Captain is Darin Bowland, who was captain in 2009 when we took our previous Eurodam transatlantic northern passage. Also returning is Hotel Manager Marco Van Belleghem. The Cruise Director is Drew, but I have not yet caught the last name; I don’t believe it is Drew Murdoch.

Laundry: As deluxe verandah suite passengers, we receive complimentary laundry, pressing and dry-cleaning, but here are the prices listed: for the 17 days, laundry is $26 by the bag and $155 unlimited. Unlimited pressing is $89.

Formal nights: There are five scheduled:

- 26 Aug., the day we are in Zeebrugge

- 29 Aug., at sea between Dublin and Torshavn

- 2 Sept., at sea the day after leaving Reykjavik

- 5 Sept., at sea between Nanortalik and St. John’s

- 8 Sept., the day we are in Halifax

Tonight’s show: “Let Us Entertain You – featuring your Cruise Director Drew and the Eurodam Singers and Dancers”. One showtime only, at 9:30 p.m.

Music:

- Queen’s Lounge: Natalie and HAL cats, 7:30-9:30 p.m.

- Ocean Bar: The Neptunes, 6:30-11:30 p.m. Happy hour 6:00-7:00 p.m.

- Piano Bar: Michael 9:00 p.m. – close. Sing-along 9:00-10:00 p.m.

- Explorer’s Lounge: Adagio Strings, 7:00-10:00 p.m.

- Crow’s Nest: Solo guitarist Darlyne Cain, 5:00-9:00 p.m. Happy hour 7:00-8:00 p.m.

- Northern Lights: Dance request night with DJ Tyler, 10:30 p.m. – close. Battle of the Bartenders 10:30 p.m.

More later,

Dave

Thanks for taking us along:) would love to do a TA some day! Capt Bowland was on the Zaandam last year on our hawaii cruise, he was one of the best captains we've ever experienced!

Music:

- Queen’s Lounge: Natalie and HAL cats, 7:30-9:30 p.m.

- Ocean Bar: The Neptunes, 6:30-11:30 p.m. Happy hour 6:00-7:00 p.m.

- Piano Bar: Michael 9:00 p.m. – close. Sing-along 9:00-10:00 p.m.

- Explorer’s Lounge: Adagio Strings, 7:00-10:00 p.m.

- Crow’s Nest: Solo guitarist Darlyne Cain, 5:00-9:00 p.m. Happy hour 7:00-8:00 p.m.

- Northern Lights: Dance request night with DJ Tyler, 10:30 p.m. – close. Battle of the Bartenders 10:30 p.m.

Thankyou!Thankyou!Thankyou! for providing this information! So few cruise reports list this, and it's just the kind of thing I like to know about.

Ruth,

You are welcome! When I saw the sing-along in the piano bar, I thought of you and that you might like to see that info.

All,

Here is an update of Wednesday afternoon/evening:

Wed., Aug 24 (continued)

I took a photo of Dover, the Castle and a bit of the white cliffs as we sailed. It’s attached and at: http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/data/510/Dover_on_sailaway.JPG

After lifeboat drill, we introduced ourselves to the Ocean Bar staff and had a glass of wine before dinner. We then went in to early fixed dining to find that our request for a two-top had been honored … and how! We are at table 84, on the railing and overlooking the lower dining room. We learned a while ago (from fellow CC’ers posting here) to ask for a two-top when we book, and sometimes we get it. The last few times, we have been assigned them, probably because of a combination of early booking, SY or SB cabins and 3 or now 4-star Mariner status. Hopefully, our luck continues, but for this cruise, we will enjoy our dinners very much.

For dinner, we had starters of prosciutto and melon (DW) and mussels meuniere (me), salads and an entrée of prime rib. The menu said it was spice-encrusted prime rib, a feature dish of a guest chef. The meat was lovely, rare and tender, but the sauce was different. We are not gourmets by any stretch, but tried to discern the sauce ingredients. It was tangy and sweet, not so much as in sugary, but as in “sweet” spices. We decided we could taste a base of aged balsamic vinegar, some cinnamon, and I think cardoman, with a few savories as side notes. Very interesting.

After dinner, we attended the suite reception with the captain, chief engineer, hotel manager , cruise director and several others such as Ian the travel guide. He told us that Jon Sigurrdson is also already on board – good news. Jon was the superb guide for the Iceland and Greenland portion of 2009’s cruise, and we look forward to his presentations.

As we went through the reception line, we chatted briefly with Captain Bowland about being diverted from St. John’s last time due to Hurricane Bill, and wondering if the remnants of Hurricane Irene now would affect our route. He said he is crossing his fingers, but it’s looking pretty good for us right now.

The suites reception was held in the Silk Den on deck 11, adjacent to the Tamarind restaurant. We met up with fellow CC’ers Sally and Jim, and had a great conversation, so much so that we realized we probably were the last group to leave the reception – the ship’s officers and staff were long gone.

It was announced that the Netherlands authorities have mandated that all passengers present themselves to immigration with passports Thursday morning before being allowed ashore in Amsterdam. What with the need to do that early and setting the clocks forward an hour overnight, not to mention not wanting to miss a great HAL breakfast before we went ashore, we turned in fairly early.

I’ll be back to tell you about our day in Amsterdam.

More later,

Dave

Thanks Dave - looks like the laundry prices have indeed gone up.

Glad everything went so smoothly.;) Looking forward to your reports as we 'sail' along with you.