Eurodam TA Nov 2016

[Sonora5]

We recently did a 15 day TA on the Eurodam, BCN to FLL. We had a great cruise. This was our first non Blues Cruise HAL cruise,and we found the differences bearable and somewhat interesting.

 

Pre Cruise

 

We arrived in Barcelona on Oct 30th. We had prearranged transport with Sun Transfers and were relieved to find our driver at baggage claim. We both hate west to east jet lag and happily checked in at the W. We had to hang out for a little while in the lobby until our room was ready, but the W staff were lovely.

 

The room was amazing! Wonderful view of the harbor and Barceloneta. People were swimming and doing all other kinds of water and land sporting activities. You can walk down the boardwalk from the W and dine at many different seaside cafes, or rent all kinds of powered and non powered equipment, from electric bikes to segways.

 

We collapsed the first day, napped, and ate dinner at the hotel. It was fine but we knew better was ahead.

 

On the 31st we had dinner at Arume, very fine restaurant run by a chef who trained under the Adrias. The blackberry mojito is amazing. We have had the paella in the past, this time I chose Pork pluma and Mr S had the beef entrecote. He of course had the pulpo appetizer, while I chose the croqettes. If I were to spend any length of time in Barcelona I would turn into a corquette! These were goat cheese and pine nut, yum! A CC friend joined us and she loved her meal as well.

 

The next day we walked down the boardwalk to Joan de Borboa and at tapas at a little cafe, then HoHo'd around the rest of the day. There is no end to what you will see in Barcelona. We stopped for dinner at Pisco Labis, by the Hilton in the Des Corts neighborhood, very nice, and then back to the beach for an evening stroll.

 

On the second we had reservations at Tickets! This is one of the Adria brothers restaurants. Very hard to get reservations, after being in Mexico during Hurricane Newton when the reservation window opened and unable to get thru, the wonderful W concierge came thru and got us a table. It was an incredible meal. We put ourselves in their hands, and 16 or 17 tapas type courses later we surrendered. I can't possibly describe everything we had but it was all delicious. Quail egg yolk infused with olive oil, sea urchin, eel (tastes like bacon!), pulpo, I have to go back there.

 

The next day we did the Barcelona Segway Tapas tour. Just what we needed, to eat some more. We love this tapas tour, from La Plata in the Barri Gothic (pesconditas! you must try this!) to all the other stops, and you get some touring and history along the way. Our guide this time was Ivo and he as great.

 

Mama Rosa's on the beach for pizza for dinner, and then to bed to get ready to board.

 

To be continued

[easyboy]

That was nice. Very good food to start a cruise!

 

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Forums mobile app

[Krazy Kruizers]

Glad you had a wonderful time in Barcelona.

Looking forward to your cruise details.

[Sonora5]

Embarking:

 

We lazed around the morning of the 4th. The Eurodam was not scheduled to sail away until 11 pm. It was never made really clear to us if we could board and then leave and come back, but in the end we decided to head over around noon and just stay on the ship.

 

There were no lines at embarkation. We realized that we had never gotten luggage tags, but the porter just scribbled our room # on the tags and we were in. Mr S travels with oxygen that he does not always need, but I am always a little apprehensive that a long check in process will wear him out.

 

We made it on board fairly quickly and were delighted to hear that our room was ready. We had booked 7051, a Neptune Suite very convenient to the Neptune Lounge.

 

It had been a while since we had been on the Eurodam, and I know there have been improvements since our last visit. We were really pleased with the look and feel of our stateroom. Unlike suites on NCL, there was actually room on either side of the bed for nightstands and such. Mr. S,who takes care of all the charging and cords we require, was pleased to note that additional outlets had been added. The big screen tv was great. Our balcony was spacious with two loungers and a table and chairs for four.

 

Some cruise staterooms make you feel like you are sleeping in a casino with their garish decor. The new Eurodam look is understated and sleek. Not the way I would decorate at home but still very nice. The bathroom updates in the counter and tile are also very attractive.

 

We headed off to the spa to check out the prices for thermal suites. With 9 sea days we found the $299 price for couples very reasonable, and with what was yet to come it turned out very fortunate for us that we had the thermal suites pass.

 

Tons of closets and drawer space made unpacking easy when our luggage arrived. We also noted that we had been comped to Signature Beverage Packages, a dinner in the Pinnacle and a dinner at Canaletto by our TA. There were other various notes about a cocktail party for suite guests and that sort of thing.

 

We buzzed across the hall to check out the Neptune Lounge. We met Patrick and Eloisa, our concierges. They are both lovely and really did a good job the entire trip. We enjoyed some of the little snackie things that were available. The Neptune refreshments were well looked after the whole trip, although a little more variety might have been nice.

 

 

We had Patrick make us a reservation at Canaletto for that evening and went to the Ocean Bar to reap the rewards of our comped beverage package and wait for the muster drill. A small jazz ensemble was playing and it was a plesant way to hang around. The muster drill was typical, both in its necessity and its annoyingness, but we got thru it in time to head to Canaletto for our 8 pm reservation.

 

Surprise! Canaletto was actually pretty good! We come from St Louis where there are a lot of excellent Italian restaurants so our standards are fairly high here. You may know that St Louis has a large Italian population (Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola are from here). I really liked the antipasti and the spare ribs. Service was good without being rushed.

 

We watched sailaway on our balcony and then retired to get ready for the next day, a stop at Mallorca.

 

TBC

[JimAOk1945]

I'm looking forward to reading more about your cruise. It sounds like a wonderful adventure!

[puppycanducruise]

Sounds like you're off to a great start.

Looking forward to reading more.

[Sonora5]

We had arranged a small private tour of Mallorca thru SPB tours. We used them for St Petersburg and Berlin a couple of years ago and were quite pleased. Setting it up was a little difficult, communication was not great, but we finally confirmed for a day in Valdemossa with three other CCers.

 

Our guide, Adriana, met us at the pier. She was a hoot. Tall, slender, with hair flying everywhere. She has an interesting bio involving Eastern Europe and the US. She tucked us into our 16 passenger very new van-lots of room! and introduced the driver.

 

It was a little overcast as we left, and in fact a few raindrops were in store, but overall it was a beautiful day. We journeyed up to Valdemossa, with Adriana pointing out olive and almond trees and goats and sheep along the way. Valdemossa was lovely, old streets and little shops and cafes. We walked up to the old monastery where George Sand and Frederic Chopin had spent a winter. Three of their rooms are still preserved, amid fragrant gardens, and with an amazing view. We also toured some of the monks' rooms. Adriana was very knowledgeable about their daily lives, etc.

 

Back down to the village for shopping and lunch and a little free time. Then, back to the monastery where a local pianist gave a Chopin concert. Really gave a sense of place. We wandered thru rose gardens and then back to the van, where we drove a little further up to a scenic view point. We got some great photos of the ocean and the wild side of Mallorca.

 

We hopped back in the van to do a quick drive by of Bulwer Castle. There was a little time to get out and take pictures there. Everything about Mallorca is photogenic.

 

Back to the ship, then, with promises to Adriana to book her for a tour of the Caves of Drach the next time we visit Mallorca.

 

Overall Valdemossa exceeded my expectations and I am so glad we booked this tour.

 

TBC

[bluesplayer]

looking forward to hearing of your sea days. We sailed a few blues cruises as well on HA which were very fun! Have also sailed around Cape Horn on HA Zaandam.. everything was really nice. Booked a Hawaii trip on the Eurodam this fall... look forward to hearing your reviews. Have fun...

[ZN1300]

Our Hotel

[ZN1300]

View from our hotel room

[ZN1300]

Arume

[ZN1300]

Tickets

[ZN1300]

Cascada Monumental in Ciutadella Park

Part of our Segway Tour

[Sonora5]

Mr S, aka zn1300, is posting some pictures of our trip.

 

More soon.

[Sonora5]

I forgot to mention that there was a Welcome Reception for 3, 4 and 5 star mariners on embarkation day. I have no idea if there was also a lunch. The reception was in the Crow's Nest and was very well attended. The cruise director, Hamish, was enthusiastic and there was a certain amount of speechifying. Drinks and snacks were passed.

 

We love the Crow's Nest, but on this trip it was crowded all the time. In fact, most of the public spaces were crowded, and some of our friends lamented their ability to find a quiet space to read or relax.

 

We did not know how many Mariner stars until someone pointed out that it was on our key cards. Duh! We love the Suite perks on HAL (free laundry! yeah!) and have never paid much attention to the Mariner program. Particularly since our prior HAL cruises have all been Blues Cruises and how many stars you have does not come up.

 

When we returned to the ship after our lovely tour of Mallorca, there was a Suite gathering in the Neptune Lounge. We dipped into this but it was, frankly, a little stuffy. There were some officer types gadding about in a friendly way but we only stayed for a few minutes.

 

Later we heard from some lunch companions that they were kind of offended by a fellow suite cruiser who came up to them during this reception and introduced herself by proclaiming that she was a Five Star Mariner. Good thing we did not meet this person as we would have not known how to respond, not realizing at that point what stars were and how many we had.

 

We ate that night in the MDR. We had anytime dining, so made a reservation for 8:15 pm. (when I say " we made a reservation", read "Patrick and/or Eloisa made us a reservation. Great concierge service! and they always seemed so happy to be doing things for us)>

 

We agreed to share a table and sat with two other couples for a nice dinner that seemed reasonably paced. Unlike others who have commented on this cruise, we generally found service at the MDR to be reasonably efficient and timed to be pleasant but not overly slow or rushed. The food was generally good.

 

We are not much for ship entertainment, so after dinner we headed back to the room. This trip was front loaded with ports, so we wanted to prepare for our Segway tour in Alicante the next day.

[ZN1300]

Valdemossa

Edited November 30, 2016 by ZN1300
no pic

[ZN1300]

Valdemossa

Edited November 30, 2016 by ZN1300

[ZN1300]

View from Monastery

[ZN1300]

Monastery

[ZN1300]

Chopin with a well rubbed (for luck) nose.

[sallycruiser06]

Valdemossa

Beautiful!

[aliaschief]

Enjoying your review and enjoyed finally meeting you onboard. Looking forward to more cruise memories. Thanks.

 

Bruce

[ski ww]

Thanks for the review & photos. We're looking forward to boarding the Eurodam on 31 Dec.

Allan

[Sonora5]

The third day of our cruise featured a stop in the Spanish port of Alicante. We decided to book a Segway tour. We love segway tours. Mr. S. is an experienced motorcycle rider who enjoys experimenting with all sorts of motorized toys. I have managed to operate these sorts of things without, to date, losing a limb. I still have a bruise from wrecking an electric scooter in Santiago last April however.

 

It would be pretty easy to walk in to Alicante from the pier. There was a shuttle that went partway in, and then we grabbed a cab and it was not very far to the Segway place. We were assigned machines and sent to practice. This was easy for us except I was a little wary of the steep downhill they wanted us to master.

 

Then we were off, with our guide and one other couple from the ship. Alicante is beautiful and historic. Highlights were huge old trees located in parks and plazas, a malecon type tree lined walkway by the harbor, and lots of little shops. Apparently there was some kind of handicrafts sale going on, lots of little sidewalk booths were being set up.

 

Then our guide told us we were going to go up to Castle Sant Barbara. Gulp. This was a steep and high climb on our segways. We made it and enjoyed the view, attempting to postpone the return. All that downhill!

 

It was hard! Scary! But really fun, until Mr. S clipped a corner and wrenched his ankle. It took a few minutes to extricate him but although he was sore he was able to climb back on the segway for the return to the store. The guide was very solicitous, and helped us find an ATM after we concluded our segway business.

 

We walked down to a little store where we bought an Alicante picture magnet-we collect these little tchotchkes-then grabbed seats at a windy harborfront cafe where we had drinks. Then shuttled back to the ship.

 

Boy were we glad we had the thermal suites! I think our immediate and continuous use of them really minimized the pain and swelling of Mr. S's ankle. He got a pretty bruise also but it faded quickly.

 

After indulging in the thermal suites and raiding the Neptune Lounge (Macarons! Olives! Cheese!) we decided that Gala night was not in our future and headed for the Lido buffet.

[ZN1300]

Alicante Spain