Comments on our Eurodam cruise

[Amolin]

This is our third HAL cruise and our second on the Eurodam. We used to sail on Celebrity but since our first HAL cruise there has been no going back. I have to say that this was our best cruise yet and want to give a summary of our trip.

 

It was my husband, DD (16) and I. We had an SB suite (our first suite) 7132 aft corner. Our friends had the VA 7134 next door to us aft. The room was hugh and a perfect size for the three of us. The balcony was so large we were all able to share breakfast and dinner out there. The room was spotless and our stewards - Riza and Indrah were wonderful.

 

One comment on smoking - we are not smokers and I hate the smell. I did notice it frequently on the balcony. Our friends do not smoke but there were smokers in the cabin on their other side. I would not have believed the smell would travel that far but it did.

 

We also rented a family retreat cabana for all of us and this was the best thing we ever did. I wish every ship had this. It was great to have a central gathering place to go any time without having to search for chairs together. We called it our clubhouse. The first two days it was always crowded and we were a little disappointed, but it seems people were bringing in friends. After the first couple of days that stopped and there was always plenty of space. Our stewards Brian and Dustin could not have been more helpful. Anything we wanted they were able to get.

 

We did the tour of the ship and thought it was fascinating. I don't think we would do it again, but we learned so much and being able to go into all of these restricted areas and talk to the people in charge and ask all of our questions was great. One note of interest - our guide mentioned that the shipyard in Italy that made the HAL ships had two ships that had been started but the orders were cancelled and they had offered the ships to HAL. Maybe new ships in the near future?

 

My friend and I took the cooking class and it was very hands on. We learned so much from the chef. Afterward we took our food into the Pinacle and had the lunch we made with as much wine as you wanted.

 

My only criticism was of the gym and spa area. In the gym there were 12 treadmills but 4 were not working. These are always full pretty much all day and having these out of service made it worse. We had signed up for the thermal spa and used it daily. One of the tile lounges was also not working. When they brought tours through on the first day they were saying that there were 4 heated lounges and one "cool" lounge. Since 5 is nowhere near enough to begin with this made it hard to get a "warm" spot in here also.

 

The food as always was wonderful. The service seemed a bit disorganized though. There were long gaps between courses. We always seemed to get salad right away and then a long wait for the rest of the meal. After a few days we gave up and dined in the Pinacle and with room service. We had room service for breakfast almost every day and a few dinners and snacks. They were always prompt and the food was always good and hot, but every order was wrong. Missing items, items we didn't order, not enough silverwear, not enough glasses, etc. This was very surprising because we have always used this in the past and never had any problem.

 

For entertainment we had a magician and a comedian who were both outstanding. The singers and dancers are not really our thing so we didn't stay for those shows but usually watched the beginning.

 

We booked our next cruise while onboard and will be doing the Panama Canal next February on the Zuiderdam. I have many questions about this, but that will be another post.

[Olivia'sMom]

Good to hear all this! We're sailing on Saturday and are in VA7138 so must be close to where your friends were. How was their cabin?? Are there robes in those?? Still packing now - so excited to go!

[Amolin]

You will have a great cabin. There is a large balcony with a lounge chair and a table with two chairs. The cabin is large and the view is amazing. Yes there are robes. If not - or if you need extras just ask the steward. Have a wonderful time!

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for taking the time to write a review. Glad you enjoyed your cruise and booked another thru the Panama. That trip is awesome. :)

[firefox23]

We will be leaving on the Eurodam this Saturday as well, and we are very excited. Well my wife will be more excited after her mid term exams tomorrow, but excited none the less. Good to hear you had a great experience.

[stmkit37]

That's too funny! We were in 7136 on the 2/18 to 2/25 cruise! Never saw anyone come out of your two rooms! :)

 

It was our first cruise and I will have to say that this certainly set a HIGH bar for our standards. We loved everything except for the fact that the people above smoked all the freaking time and our veranda was covered in ashes. ICK.

[stmkit37]

Also, I meant to say that I loved going backwards and facing the back rather than the side of the ship. Made for a smooth ride and was very scenic :)

 

Riza was great and so friendly. All the crew members always had a smile on their face too, which is just amazing given their long working days.

 

 

OP, you did the $150 behind the scenes tour? That must have been really neat. We saw they only allowed 12 people so it must have been very up close and personal -- too neat!

[High Flyer]

Good to hear all this! We're sailing on Saturday and are in VA7138 so must be close to where your friends were. How was their cabin?? Are there robes in those?? Still packing now - so excited to go!

 

We were in 7138 last year and loved it. Loved the view early in the morning and just before dark. We had no problems with smokers. Another CC Member warned us about soot appearing on the deck chairs so be sure to keep an extra towel to wipe them off before sitting. But we never found this to be a problem. What we did notice is it's very quiet back there and it's a long distance to everywhere but we didn't gain any weight. Enjoy.

[Amolin]

Yes, we did the behind the scenes tour and it was fascinating. There were signs around the ship announcing it and they said limited to 12 but the day before the tour they called us and said so many people wanted it that they were adding a second group. This was the first time this was done. We were allowed to choose what time we wanted to go. Later I noticed signs for the tour around the ship and they were changed to say limited to 24. I can't believe the smokers were the cabin above you. That is really a big distance and we could smell it quite strongly.

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review.

[cruiseapril]

Thanks for the review.

 

What did you do in the ports? Any recommendations? The Eurodam is our next cruise.

[Amolin]

The only excursion we did was the Power Snorkel in Grand Turk. It was alot of fun and a great way to snorkel along the wall. With these units you can really cover alot of ground quickly. We also went along shallow areas and saw tons of fish and coral. I would definately recommend this.

 

San Juan we just walked around a bit - have been to the Forts before. This will just never be one of my favorite islands.

 

In St. Thomas we went over to St. John (which is our all time favorite island) and just spent some time there.

[erewhon]

Thank you for your review.

Yes, we are well aware how far the smell from smokers travel.

[Himself]

Thank you for the good report on this ship. I was on it once and I enjoyed it very much.

It is a fine ship. Unfortunately I discovered her sister ship the Nieuw Amsterdam and I prefer the NA because it does the Western Caribbean and it also does St. Maartan rather than St. Thomas and I perfer St. Maarten. BUT the Eurodam is a very fine ship and I shall sail her again.

 

By the way, is James Celen the Magician still performing on this ship?

[Amolin]

Yes - it was James Celen. He did one show at night and the next afternoon he did a show in the show lounge where he talked about doing magic and explained one or two tricks. I did not see this but my daughter did and she was fascinated.