Cruise Review of Eurodam-Quebec to Ft Lauderdale Oct 2015

This cruise marked 100 days of sailing with HAL as part of 30 cruises spread over 8 other cruise lines. We arrived 2 days early for our cruise which began in Quebec. If you have not been in this port before, I would wholeheartedly suggest giving yourself this extra time in port as it is a lovely city to visit. The independent tours of Quebec we booked before we boarded were through Viatour – a 2 hr walking tour for $23 pp Canadian and a 4.5 hour tour to the Isle of Orleans and Montmorency Falls for $44 pp Canadian. Would highly recommend both.

We arrived at the terminal around 1 pm and were on board with access to our cabin in under 10 minutes. I don’t know if the quick speed was due to arrival past an early wave of passengers or if passengers were delayed in boarding by taking flights in on embarkation day since we had an overnight in Quebec. Either way, it was pleasant not to have to sit and wait in a white walled terminal.

First impressions of the ship were positive. I like the elegance of polished wood and interesting art and sculpture of HAL ships. We had not been on the Eurodam before, but had enjoyed our cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam a couple of years ago. Since we were past the time for the MDR lunch, we went to the Lido. The set-ups here had changed a bit since our cruise a year ago, however for the most part it was the same type of food. Not something to rave about. However, I did like their grab and go sandwiches which I improved by adding more ingredients from their lackluster salad bar offerings. (I’ve seen better salad bar offerings at national restaurant buffets).

After lunch we went to schedule our specialty dining choices which was conveniently located just outside the Lido. We had no trouble switching out our pre-arranged Explore 4 Pinnacle Dining room date. We also got our first choices for Canaletto and Tamarind for lunch and dinner. Next we went to the spa to look into setting up appointments. We booked the Thermal suite for both of us for $249 for the two weeks. Because this was a port intensive cruise we wanted this area to relax and unwind after a day of touring.

Throughout the cruise we never saw more that 6-8 people in the t-pool at any time and one other person in the aromatherapy steam rooms. Only once did I have to wait to use a ceramic lounger, and that was for 2 minutes. We used this area right away as our swim suits were packed in our carry-on luggage. Loved the respite from any crowds or loud noise. Would definitely book again at that price. Other notes on the spa… Had 1 sea day at the beginning and 2 at the end and they had great specials every day. And it was easy to rearrange appointments.

Our luggage arrived and was put away before our 6pm dinner at Pinnacle. Our service was very good this time as was the food. In the past, we’ve had more misses than hits here so it was a positive first day. No show in the main theater tonight. Instead we saw a show at the BB King Blues Club and spent some time with Jimmy Maddox in the Piano bar. We’d be spending most of our evenings on the cruise between these two venues. The Blues Club is a great addition to the entertainment on the ship!

Entertainment - The String Quartet is now a duo. There is a small version of the theater band that plays some dinner time music in the lounges. However, they’ve done away with the live sail away music which is now only piped in. On the plus side though, they did have 2 offerings of live music with a Celtic duo who had played the main stage the night before and one day with a steel drum player at lunch.

My Lido lunch the first day left me flat but their breakfast the next day was much better. Here the offerings have expanded with international offerings of Asian, German, Dutch and the multiple styles of Eggs Benedict. One day tried the Oscar version but was surprised that the crab and asparagus were served cold under the hot eggs. Liked the fact you can get Greek Yogurt without asking for it. Only negative was the lack of berries. Fresh fruit offerings in fruit cup were mostly melons and some pineapple. The only time I saw a strawberry was one sliced as a garnish. As a tea lover, I was pleased to see offerings of Lipton and Bigelow – which included my favorites of Rooibos and Earl Grey. But here’s one of the oddities. Beverage offerings on the ship at the bars and Lido include a fruit smoothie. However, it can’t be had anywhere on the ship at breakfast except in room service.

We used the port day with the ship to souvenir shop and go to the Farmers market. The market had lots of beautiful produce offerings, wines and other specialty foods. At the far end of the market there was a great spice and tea shop that sold these items loose and then sealed for travel. They had at least 100 or more options. Bought items there that I can’t find at home. Returned to the ship for a late lunch and then lounged in the thermal suite before the lifeboat drill.

Canaletto - Dinner provided excellent service. Only wished their “small bites” options were just that – small. For me it seemed more like full size servings except for the antipasto plate. These dishes would work well for 4 people to share and then have your own entrée. Our entrees were the Sea Bass and the Veal Picatta which were very good.

Tamarind - Dinner and lunch were stellar in both food and service. The new dinner option of Lobster was perfect as was the Duck entrée. Loved all the options at lunch but did not try the sushi here as I never liked the looks of it at the Lido.

MDR – when we didn’t have early tours, we ate in the dining room for breakfast which had more than enough options for us. Dinners here were split between being on our own or sharing a table. Like others have said, service in the dining room is slow. It was extremely hard to get a drink after ordering our dinner. Rarely had dessert because we wanted to make it to one of the shows and ran out of time. Also, I was a bit disappointed with the dinner menus. I’ve always loved trying new appetizers and ¬¬now they’ve been mostly dropped from the menu. The starters usually included 3-4 soups, 2 salads and 1 appetizer of a fruit sort. Miss the unique seafood offerings that were once the norm and now only offered occasionally.

Ports – Did 3 tours with the ship and several others independently. The ship’s tours included one in Gaspe which took us to Perce. Our guide was Douglas and he started off by having us sing Frere Jacques and definitely kept us entertained as we toured the area. Took us to a beach to hunt for fossils in rocks and showed how the famed Perce rock had changed over the years. It wasn’t exciting, but Douglas made it fun.

We did the ship’s 3 hour walking tour in Boston and found it fascinating. Highly recommend it and would like to come back to Boston to see more of the tour on our own with a guide book. Afterwards we went to Quincy Market – one of the largest food courts I have ever seen with lots of tasty options. We only went through half of it as it was so large.

Third ship’s tour was for the Kennedy Space Center. Chose this as it was an 8 hr tour and wanted to make sure we got back to the ship on time. If you’ve never done this tour, you need to know it is mostly a whole day of walking half in the sun and then inside exhibit halls. It is not for the mobility challenged. One member of our tour who was walking with a cane twisted her ankle within the first 15 minutes. As a result, we had to wait 45 minutes in the sun (or where we could find some shade) for the park to provide a wheel chair and have her fill out the disclosures so the park wouldn’t be sued.

Customs between Canada and Portland, our first U.S port. As the ship does this on a regular basis, I would have thought they could have given us a heads up on the delays to leave the ship in the daily updates. Took over an hour to clear everyone. Since we didn’t arrive until 11 am, decided to have lunch on the ship and then leave. No terminal shopping here and I heard other passengers complaining how frustrating it was to walk several blocks before you found some souvenir shops. I guess that ties in with more people mobility challenged.

Port Canaveral & Customs – more delays in getting off to tour. We had 131 passengers who left the ship 1 port early. I would think this is the norm for ships that end in Florida with passengers wanting to leave in a more centralized location. All these had to clear customs before anyone else could leave which cut our tour by another hour.

Debarkation in Ft Lauderdale – We never book early flights off the ship and so we like to have a leisurely breakfast in the dining room. Since they closed the MDR at 8 am we ordered room service the night before. However, they came early to our room and brought the wrong order so we went up to the Lido instead. All those folks who left the day before, made a difference as there was no problem with getting a table without sharing. So we still were able to have a relaxing breakfast.

As with the last port, there were delays here in leaving due to slow clearance of customs. We were the 2nd to last group to leave. We waited in our room to leave and then headed to the gangway once our color tag was called. We were stopped at the checkpoint for the people to clear customs some more. But that didn’t stop 7 wheelchair passengers from being given clearance to debark the ship. It really didn’t make a difference because we still had to run the gauntlet of 7 zig-zag lines like you’d see in Disneyland until you arrived at the Customs booth.

Outside to catch transportation was a zoo. They have 3 rows of vehicles coming in and being rushed through by the local cops policing the area. Good luck in trying to find your pick-up transportation. Wished they had different arrival and departure areas like airports have. Expect to get your pick-up the 2nd or 3rd go round. This was now 10:20 and buses packed full of passengers were already arriving to get on the ship. Have they changed boarding times? Or do passengers prefer waiting in a cruise terminal rather than someplace more comfortable? Most hotel rooms have noon checkout and I’d much rather get up later and have a nice breakfast than sit in a terminal.

Final thoughts… Loved the ship’s design and the friendliness of the crew. Don’t think I ever want to attend another Art Auction on the ship. I like seeing the art, but they drag it out with pushing way too much Peter Max art which no one bids on. Liked the food trivia in the Culinary Center but never went in for the cooking demonstrations as their choices never interested me. Great Tech Center’s classes on Windows 10 which were filled to overflowing. They could definitely use a larger room and more computers. Wished they had enrichment lectures. There’s so much more to learn about the ports other than where to shop. Enjoyed my 3 spa treatments and liked getting the savings by having them done on port days. Had one treatment at 6 pm and then had dinner at 8 pm and felt great.

Did not book another cruise onboard. On our first cruise on HAL 15 years ago, thought we were too young as we saw so many walkers, canes, wheelchairs and scooters. Though we’ve aged, so has the average passenger age.

Thank you for the review.

Thank-you fro your wonderful review. I am happy to read that you enjoyed dining in the speciality restaurants. We are looking forward to it on our upcoming cruise also. Sorry to read about the less than stellar service in the MDR. Guess we will be avoiding the MDR again.

Now you have me wondering if we would use the thermal pass? :)

Thanks for your review! That sounds like an interesting itinerary.

Thanks for posting your review - I'm saving it for coffee-time.:)

Thanks for the review Chrismch. We were on the same cruise and thoroughly enjoyed it. We also enjoyed the Pinnacle and Tamarind restaurants, This was our first time at the Tamarind and we were very impressed. We found the service in the MDR to be great but I think that was due to our excellent waiter Andy. I also wanted to thank you for all your work putting the meet & greet together. It sure was well attended.

Steve

Thanks for your report, and glad you enjoyed your cruise.

Thanks for the review...

Very readable review. Thanks for taking the time!!

You mention the Lido breakfast, international offerings. What was the German one - I haven't seen that one yet!

Thanks for taking the time and effort.

Lots of good information, very readable, and kept me interested. We also loved Quebec and wish we had another day there. Appreciate you taking the time and effort to post your review.

Great review.

We haven't had an Explore4 with the free dinners per se, but good to hear that you got them changed easily - really great news for so many :)

Sounds like a good time overall and really enjoyed the detailed, insightful observations that you were kind enough to share with us.

and of course, welcome home :)

Great review. I Know the age will be older than we are (early to mid 50s and very active) when we sail the Med in April on the Oosterdam but all the talk about walkers scooters and wheel chairs have me a little concerned. Is it really that many? Don't mine socializing with the older folks at all and we have booked private tours to avoid being held up by those with mobility issues. Is that the right thing to do?

Florida tourist... Always a good bet to do an indie tour when there are so many options in the Med and a small group sets the pace. One of our best tours ever was in Naples with a group of 8. We went to Pompeii and saw the ruins, drove the Amalfi coast, walked around Positana and had lunch on a cliffside restaurant with the locals overlooking the bay then took a ferry back to the ship.

Steve... Glad you had a good experience in the MDR. A good waiter makes all the difference. I saw an example of one of the worst who served a table of 4 who all came at the same time and ordered. One of the women did not get her entree until 10 minutes past the others receiving theirs. Not good.

I get paid to do restaurant reviews for owners to see where they have problems. Even when I'm not doing them, I can't help but review the service whenever I dine out.

Thank you for posting your review.

Sounds like an interesting itinerary.

Nice review, thanks for sharing!

Thank you for your detailed review. There were many questions on the Canada/NE forum this year about docking at pier 30 (with most of us having docked at pier 21/22 so not many answers...). If you can answer some of them, it would be greatly appreciated.

Did you walk from the ship to the Funiculaire? If so, approx. how many minutes was the walk?

For passengers with limited mobility, did they have a shuttle? Was is complimentary? Where exactly did the shuttle leave passengers? Were taxis waiting?

Did you walk from/to the ship at night? Did it feel safe?

Thank you. I will post a link to your answer in the Canada/NE forum.

Thank you for your detailed review. There were many questions on the Canada/NE forum this year about docking at pier 30 (with most of us having docked at pier 21/22 so not many answers...). If you can answer some of them, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

Did you walk from the ship to the Funiculaire? If so, approx. how many minutes was the walk?

 

For passengers with limited mobility, did they have a shuttle? Was is complimentary? Where exactly did the shuttle leave passengers? Were taxis waiting?

 

Did you walk from/to the ship at night? Did it feel safe?

 

Thank you. I will post a link to your answer in the Canada/NE forum.

I was just in Quebec this summer and actually stayed in the port area in a hotel . It is very safe down there day and night. It is about a 15 minute walk from the pier to the funiclaire. But if you don't have mobility issues the stairs were not a big deal. Quebec is very safe. Didn't see any areas I would not walk in at night. Taxis are not expensive there though.

Jolie_Cruiser...On our first night we were out till midnight walking around the Frontenac area and some of the stores that of course were closed. Never felt uncomfortably from a safety viewpoint. As for the shuttle from Pier 30. It didn't take you very far. The drop off was to Espace 400 on Quai Saint-André (marked on Google maps) which is 3 blocks from the Farmers Market on the same side of the street.

If I recall properly, the walk to the old lower section was up a bit of a grade uphill to get to Place Royal or Petit-Champlain - which is where you get the funicular up to the upper section around the Frontenac. An average pace of meandering would take you about 15 minutes - with grades equal to 3-4 stories. I like walking about, but not a fan of hills. If you're mobility challenged, take a cab. The fare should be relatively low for the actual distance

Thank you "FloridaTourist" and "chrismch" for your answers. :)