Thoughts on the Eurodam

[Megsie1000]

Just off yesterday. The only negative for me was the weather and some rough seas. I tend to get seasick fairly easily, so at least one night (I think the night we left St. Thomas) was a challenge for me, even with Bonine. But none of the rest of my family seemed to have a problem. I am even struggling now that we are off and home with the "after effects" of the sea sickness and still feeling like I am moving. I think it is just an inner ear problem I seem to have. It will take me a day or two.

 

I want to write my thoughts now and then come back and write a more formal review for submission later. All in all, I give the cruise an A+ even with the bad weather. We had a wonderful time.

 

Us:

 

It was me, my husband and our three children (3, 6 & 8), my parents and my nephew.

 

The Ship:

 

The Eurodam is a gorgeous ship. I love the decor and was especially impressed with look and feel of the Silk Den and Tamarind. We went to the Silk Den nightly for an after-dinner drink. My Dad doesn't hear well, so he appreciated having a place to go without live music where we could just sit and talk and enjoy each other's company.

 

The Cabin:

 

Thanks to CC, I was able to learn about the large inside staterooms on the Main Deck. Thank you!! We were in J1043 - the cabin with the "white space" on either side on the deck plan. I don't know precisely what the white space is, but it consisted of two doors on either side of the cabin that say "crew only." The cabin was exceptionally quiet. I have zero complaints about it. For the price we paid, we also got a terrific amount of space and plenty of storage. It was me and my husband and the two younger kids in the cabin. My 6-year old loved sleeping in her "bunk" and the 3-year old had the pull-out bed, which was fine for him. I though it might be narrow for a child over the age of about 13, though.

 

My parents were in Deluxe Verandah Suite SB6104 with my oldest daughter and my nephew. It reeked horribly of smoke. It was obvious the previous tenants had been smoking a LOT in their cabin. I am not even terribly sensitive to the smell of smoke, and it was obvious to me. It also seemed smaller than the Deluxe Verandah Suite cabins on the Rotterdam. I might be wrong about that and perhaps it was the dark wood that made it seem smaller. The smoke issue didn't seem to bother them too much, so I didn't worry about it. I was not a fan of the super dark wood. It looked cheap. This was the only part of the ship I didn't like. I figured it would be much nicer considering much more they paid for their cabin. The verandah was nice and big. They were able to get the concierge in the Neptune Lounge to get us dining reservations nightly for 7:15, which was nice since Club HAL opened at 7:00.

 

Dining:

 

We had great food everywhere we went.

 

Since we had small children with us, we did room service for breakfast. Food was always delivered in the window and hot items were hot, cold items were cold. We always got everything we ordered. It was so nice to just eat in the room and have the kids be fed right away.

 

The Lido was outstanding for lunch, even though it was a bit crowded and difficult to navigate. We had a lido cabana, so we could have done that for lunch, but we wanted to join the rest of the family.

 

The kids ate pizza, burgers or spaghetti most nights in the Lido, which was fine. Dinner for the adults in the dining room was great. The sweet and sour chicken and the frozen watermelon pie stick out in my mind as the best food(s). We brought our own wine on board (14 bottles) and the wine steward was fabulous about it all. We paid the corkage fee and it was all good. The last night we ate at Tamarind (Yes- it was Master Chef's dinner!) and had the most excellent meal there. Next time I book a cruise on this ship, I am going there at least twice. It was absolutely delicious and the service was terrific.

 

Lido Cabana:

 

We had some rotten weather, so this came in especially handy on the day we were supposed to go to Grand Turk. We went on shore and came right back on the ship because it was just pouring on us. We ended up spending most of the day poolside with the kids. The cabana "boys" :D were so nice and friendly. My parents came and sat in there a few times with us and they were always willing to get them something if they needed it. The girls and I slept in there a few afternoons when the 3-year old was napping in the cabin with Daddy. Champagne and strawberries every afternoon. Some days they even left the bottle, although I never managed to drink more than about a glass and a half since I was taking Bonine and feeling a bit queasy anyway. The kids often changed in the cabana (we just closed the curtain for a moment) and it gave them somewhere to store all their stuff. It was worth every penny.

 

Club HAL:

 

The staff were extremely warm and welcoming to our kids. They knew all their names by the second time we dropped them off. There weren't too many kids on board, but that was perfect because they got lots of attention. I wasn't sure whether my 6 1/2 year old would like it because she was going to be in the 3-7 room and I thought she might be bored, but that was not the case. All 3 + my nephew made friends quickly and loved the counselors. The 3-year old loved it, too, and was always asking when he got to go back. They made it possible for us adults to have a quiet evening for 3 hours every single night and many mornings and afternoons, too.

 

The Staff:

 

I only felt friendliness from everybody I met from the time we embarked to the time we disembarked. I was especially impressed with the Lido beverage staff. There were a very fellows in there who were taken with my son (the 3-year old). They saw him wearing a Star Wars shirt the first day and one of them would sing the "Imperial Death March" to him every time he saw him, would laugh and play with him. Jack loved going to dinner in the Lido so he could hang out with his "friends." It gave me a lot of perspective, too, because while I was counting down the minutes until I got to be free of the kids for a while, these men are all missing their own children. It made me realize how very lucky I am to be able to spend so much time with them. How fortunate we are.

[Megsie1000]

I just want to apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes above. I am really feeling rather like I am in motion still (I don't think 3 flights to get home yesterday helped), and the computer is making it somewhat worse, so I think I will step away for a while. I usually like to proof read my posts, but that isn't going to happen. I will add other thoughts to this thread as I think of them.

 

I did want to mention that the beds were also very comfortable.

[dannymac41]

thanks for your review. We were on the same cruise! Sorry to hear you have been suffering ill effects from the rougher seas. Glad to hear your POV on things and especially about the Lido cabanas. I was interested in cabanas prior to sailing but was looking more toward the Retreats. Glad I didn't book those w the weather we had and actually now that I've seen the setups, I think the Lido Cabanas are much more versatile in a variety of conditions now having a chance to see both setups.

 

And yes, thanks for adding the bit about the beds. We found them very comfortable as well!!

 

Best of luck with feeling better also. I didn't have any bad effects from the motion but woke up last night still thinking I was moving on the ship a bit, something I've always found when on the water for any length of time.

[Megsie1000]

You probably saw us. We were the ones with the little boy with the glasses. He got attention everywhere he went. I don't think the staff had every seen a child that small with glasses. We got questions about it every day. LOL

 

thanks for your review. We were on the same cruise! Sorry to hear you have been suffering ill effects from the rougher seas. Glad to hear your POV on things and especially about the Lido cabanas. I was interested in cabanas prior to sailing but was looking more toward the Retreats. Glad I didn't book those w the weather we had and actually now that I've seen the setups, I think the Lido Cabanas are much more versatile in a variety of conditions now having a chance to see both setups.

 

And yes, thanks for adding the bit about the beds. We found them very comfortable as well!!

 

Best of luck with feeling better also. I didn't have any bad effects from the motion but woke up last night still thinking I was moving on the ship a bit, something I've always found when on the water for any length of time.

[dannymac41]

ok, for sure, my wife especially remembers your son. There were only a few kids on board but they all seemed to stand out in their own ways. We felt bad for little girl with the full leg cast, that's gotta be a tough way to spend a vacation as a little kid, or grownup for that matter.

[Megsie1000]

Oh yeah! She seemed so happy despite it all, though, didn't she?

[Coolcruise02]

Thanks for your thoughts. Can't wait! :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review.

 

Glad you had a creat cruise in spite of getting sea sick.

 

Hope you will soon feel better.

[Megsie1000]

ok, for sure, my wife especially remembers your son. There were only a few kids on board but they all seemed to stand out in their own ways. We felt bad for little girl with the full leg cast, that's gotta be a tough way to spend a vacation as a little kid, or grownup for that matter.

 

Hopefully she doesn't remember him from the HMC picnic where he threw a huge tantrum. Lol. That was fun ... Not. Too many nights of not quite enough sleep. He was much better after his nap. Lol. Half Moon Cay was absolutely perfect! I am daydreaming about going back there right now.

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for taking the time. Eurodam is certainly a beautiful ship.

[dannymac41]

nope, no mention of remembering a tantrum. Only great memories from our day there at HMC ... fantastic beach and water ... loved it!!

[lola1999]

Thanks for the review! Sounds like a good trip, except for your seasickness. I hope you feel better soon.

[eyoreblu]

Thanks for the review, we are on the ship leaving March 31st. I had a question about the Lido Cabanas. I have booked two, there is my husband, myself and son in one cabin along with a friend in another cabin. We are in our 50's, my son is 23. I love the sun but can only take a certain amount, then need shade. Can you tell me if I will be able to get sun at this pool? I am so worried that I won't get the full use out of the cabanas as we have excursions planned on the islands too. Any input would be appreciated.

[sugarcharlie]

I was under the impression that as soon as HALs non smoking in cabins went into effect, all rooms were to be ionized and deep cleaned. They said that if the cabin stewards smelled smoke in your cabin when they were cleaning it, they were supposed to report it and you would be charged a fee for cleaning it again. It was to be on your final statement. Doesn't sound like that will work.:cool:

[madera1]

Nice review. Hope you get to feeling better soon.

[Megsie1000]

Thanks for the review, we are on the ship leaving March 31st. I had a question about the Lido Cabanas. I have booked two, there is my husband, myself and son in one cabin along with a friend in another cabin. We are in our 50's, my son is 23. I love the sun but can only take a certain amount, then need shade. Can you tell me if I will be able to get sun at this pool? I am so worried that I won't get the full use out of the cabanas as we have excursions planned on the islands too. Any input would be appreciated.

 

Yes they will open up the retractable roof if the weather is nice and the lido pool area will get sun. We had a couple of days where the roof was closed most of the day due to weather but the rest if the time it was open at least part or most of the day. The cabanas themselves are completely covered. There was a large family on our cruise that had two and they just removed the curtain between them to make one large cabana. They were celebrating a big birthday or something like that and had the whole thing decorated. They looked like they were having fun.

[Megsie1000]

I was under the impression that as soon as HALs non smoking in cabins went into effect, all rooms were to be ionized and deep cleaned. They said that if the cabin stewards smelled smoke in your cabin when they were cleaning it, they were supposed to report it and you would be charged a fee for cleaning it again. It was to be on your final statement. Doesn't sound like that will work.:cool:

 

Hmm for all I know the previous occupants were charged. It was very noticeable the first few days and then dissipated slightly as the week went on. No offer was made to do extra cleaning but my parents didn't complain, either. My only concern was that they would be charged because they would think it was them, but nothing like that has happened.

[gelo7]

Excellent review.

[DFD1]

Great review. I know HAL appreciates passengers like you! Thanks so much.