First Time on Eurodam / HA in two weeks, some need to knows

[Mimiya11]

Leaving in two weeks for our first HA cruise on the Eurodam.  

 

A few quick questions (really more out of curiosity).

1) How is the coffee?  And where exactly is the café/bar to get a morning latte? 

2) Read in some posts that seating in the BB King and other lounges are hard to get unless you are there way in advance?  Is that the norm?    

3) We splurged on a retreat cabana, do we just show up or do we need to get passes?   

4) We didn't book any specialty restaurants yet.  I know on Celebrity upon boarding, they are often discounted on the first night.   Is this the case on HA? 

 

Thanks all!  

 

[Ryten]

I have not specifically been on the Eurodam for a while but in general I can answer some of the questions. 

1. I am not sure where the cafe is on this ship.

2. It's always better to be little early to get  preferred seat but typical there are seats available at the start of most sets. Remember there are three shows each night they perform.

3. You do not need a pass to get to the retreat cabanas. There should be a card in your mailbox (outside your door) or on your desk that confirms your booking. If it not there when you arrive, you can just go up to the retreat cabana and check in with steward who will likely have a clipboard with your name and cabana assignment. (Love the cabanas and the the special service)

4. Recently there have been a 25% discount on at least the Pinnacle Grill on many of the ships for the first night.

Hope this helps, have a great cruise

[luvteaching]

Good morning, 

We were on the Eurodam this summer to Alaska. 

 

1. The coffee bar is in the Crow's Nest. 

 

2. We didn't do BB Kings but did do Lincoln Center Stage multiple times and we got there early because we had certain seats we liked. There was always room at the performances but some was standing room only! At the production shows there always seemed to be seats.

 

Karen

[Seavoyage]

Was just on her in September 2018 - Alaska (OMG what a fabulous cruise!)

 

A few quick questions (really more out of curiosity).

1) How is the coffee? 

In the lido?   It's pretty good but that's subjective to taste of course.

And where exactly is the café/bar to get a morning latte?  Explorations Cafe - Observation Deck 11 - and if you would like a very quiet place to enjoy it - pop over to the Tamarind Bar/Lounge - great views too!

If you are in a Neptune Suite - Your single serve in room machine is fab or The Neptune Lounge has a great coffee set up too!

 

2) Read in some posts that seating in the BB King and other lounges are hard to get unless you are there way in advance?  Is that the norm?  Never found that to be a problem - yes, it's crowded but hey it's a club - and my gosh they put on a wonderful show every night we popped in!

 

If you like oldies and pop music - Don't miss happy hour (complimentary hors d'oeuvres) in the Billboard On Board - Window sit (they are large enough to sit in ;-) and watch the waves - super fun!

      

3) We splurged on a retreat cabana, do we just show up or do we need to get passes?   Never rented one so do not know.

 

4) We didn't book any specialty restaurants yet.  I know on Celebrity upon boarding, they are often discounted on the first night.   Is this the case on HA?   They did offer a discount for the Tamarind - but we are 4 star so it did not apply.  We actually did go the first evening and it was wonderful!

 

We loved the Eurodam - but we love all those "Dam" ships :-)  Any other questions - just ask will try to help.  Happy Sails...

[Krazy Kruizers]

Talking about the Happy Hour as mentioned above -- it is usually around 4 - 5 PM -- check your Where and When for times and locations.

 

Buy one drink and get the second one got $2 -- must be the same type of drink.  If you have the Signature Drink Package or the Elite Drink Package -- Happy Hour prices are not available for you.

[OlsSalt]

We were on the recent Eurodam Christmas cruise and the last nights at the Pinnacle were fully booked, after we got on board. We pre-booked both the Pinnacle and Tamarind for dining earlier in the cruise, so those went fine.  Suggest you book early rather than waiting. Keeping in mind any onboard spending credits must be spent onboard; and I believe do not cover pre-booked expenses. (????)

 

BB Kings was not overly impacted when we passed by in the evening. It is the place to go for non "ballroom" dancing.

 

Lincoln Center was more crowded with they stuck to purely classical, which is when they were supurb. Less crowded when the HAL playlists required them to play more "popular" non-classical selections - which wasted their talents.

 

The Billboard - two piano duo was usually lively but not overly impacted - had various theme sets that appealed to different audiences such as 1960's hits -- 1970's hits - etc ...so it was a moving crowd and seating openings were always available. With the backdrop of the casino behind the two pianos, one very much had the impression they were in a Las Vegas hotel.

 

My challenge as a reprobate oldster was finding quiet places on the ship because of the heavy impacts of the usual holiday crowds. You will not be facing this I assume - holiday crowds tend to move around the ship in larger numbers of family groups and a lot more children on board.

 

Crow's Nest "library" serenity would be interrupted by microphoned trivia contests or  EXC enrichment lectures. Former Explorers Lounge area now rows of concert audience seating.   Back deck posted "adults only" pool was quickly invaded by the larger numbers of young people on board for this particular holiday cruises.

 

Even the "secret" deck above the Tamarind restaurant while virtually empty was hardly quiet since this is where the two ship's funnels release their  exhaust and vibrations. All being said, this is what we find on every holiday cruise so no surprises; just reminders why our cruises of choice remain the longer non-holiday season ones. We had picked an aft-verandah cabin on this cruise too so  the wake noise was always present so that was not a quiet retreat space either.  I left feeling I had been on the Noisydam.

 

Holiday cruises are full of a happy buzz and everyone looked like they were having a very good time - it just made the Eurodam a very different experience for us (reprobate oldsters remember?) who do like the far more low-key nature of the smaller older HAL ships. 

Edited January 5, 2019 by OlsSalt

[Loreto]

We enjoyed our 11/29 Eurodam cruise.  I felt the shows were very good....better than on other ships.  Our 2 Pinnacle experiences (we each got 2 free meals as 5 star) were not good....noisy and poor food quality.  On the other hand, the 2 Tamarind experiences were fantastic.  We got 50% off each time as 5 star, DH said we should have just eaten there every night.  I would strongly recommend the Tamarind!

Karen

[Mimiya11]

Thanks so much for your responses. 

 

The Tamarind is the restaurant we want to try for sure, discounted or not.   First time on HA and not in a suite, so no perks for us other than being on the cruise.   

 

Seavoyage - you are right, coffee is subjective.   So will figure that one out when we get on board. 

Thanks for the tips re happy hour as we don't have a beverage package (yet 🙂 )   

 

 

[ninjatoes]

On 1/5/2019 at 5:37 AM, Mimiya11 said:

Leaving in two weeks for our first HA cruise on the Eurodam.  

 

A few quick questions (really more out of curiosity).

1) How is the coffee?  And where exactly is the café/bar to get a morning latte? 

2) Read in some posts that seating in the BB King and other lounges are hard to get unless you are there way in advance?  Is that the norm?    

3) We splurged on a retreat cabana, do we just show up or do we need to get passes?   

4) We didn't book any specialty restaurants yet.  I know on Celebrity upon boarding, they are often discounted on the first night.   Is this the case on HA? 

 

Thanks all!  

 

 

1) I am admittedly a bit of a coffee snob, but I thought the Lido coffee was awful. It was weak and had little flavor. 

 

2) None of the entertainment I went to, regardless of venue, ever was at full capacity, including BB King.

 

3 & 4) No idea.

[3rdGenCunarder]

OlsSalt, you're right. OBC does not pay for anything you pre-book.

 

[Heartgrove]

We were on the Eurodam in November for the Circle Hawaii and had a very nice cruise. The 8:00 pm show was usually filled on this cruise as well as the Early Dining. Luckily we had Anytime Dining, due to the many sea days, we went to the later show. For B.B. King we would sit on the couches in the passageway as it can get loud. We also enjoyed the piano quintet in Lincoln Center Stage.

 

Definitely Tamarind, and give Canaletto a try. We enjoyed both, as usual. The Ocean Bar was where we would go for Happy Hour. Ram was our server (great guy!) and tell him the couple that would order "Brooklyns" said hi!