Just off the Eurodam

[Jen1000]

We just sailed the Eurodam from 1/6/19 to 1/13/19. 

 

Background-  12 in our group from 16 to 82 of extended family, 5 cabins.  This is my 9th cruise but first on HAL.  I have been on Carnival, Celebrity and RCL.  8 of us live in SoCal, 2 in SF and 2 in Oregon.  Most of us are well traveled.

 

 

Internet- My SIL bought middle tier on embarkation Sunday it was $99.99 for the entire cruise.  I bought the middle tier just after midnight at about 1 AM Monday and it was $89.99 for the duration of cruise.  For the most part the internet worked well all over the ship but at times it would be spotty or stop working for a bit.

 

Checking in water-  We checked in 3 flats of water, no problem.  They were delivered to our cabins.  One flat was still intact at the end of the cruise and my brother checked it as luggage for debarkation.  The water was delivered in tact with our luggage on arrival and at baggage claim on debarkation.

 

Entertainment-

BB King- Great band, very talented musicians, especially the trumpet player.  The female was ill and only sang the last night. 

Billboard- Fun piano bar duo, the male had just got on board when we did.  

Lincoln Center- Again great musicians

Stage Shows- Enjoyed 1000 Steps, not so crazy about One World.  4 in our group left One World after about 3 minutes.  Comedian excellent.  Really enjoyed the BBC Earth with live orchestra.  I did not see the magician or the show the final night that was the comedian and magician with new material.

 

Activities-  Really enjoyed the Mexican ambassadors.  Great entertainment with the folkloric shows.  Not much of interest to our group in the AM on sea days.  No morning trivia like all other lines I have been on.  It seemed that all of the activities we would enjoy were lumped at the same time in the afternoon.  This is one area this ship could be improved.

 

Food-  Loved that at the buffet the staff serves the majority of the food.  I dislike using the same serving utensils as hundreds as other people so this was a biggie to us.  We all agreed that the food was great in both the Lido and the MDR.  Great fries at Dive In.  Tried a piece of pizza and it was OK.  Compared to Carnival, Celebrity and RCL, we all agreed this was the best food we have had.  Liked that there was a legitimate late night buffet each night from 10:30 to 11:30.

 

Staff-  Incredibly friendly and accommodating.  Top end of what we have experienced on other lines.  I have no complaints about the staff, they were really amazing.

 

Other guests-  I was expecting an older crowd but it was actually skewed more to middle age, with some younger and some older.  There were about 1/3 the number of kids on the ship per our waiter vs. the holiday weeks prior to ours.  Kids running around at the pool was a bit dangerous and no one said anything.

 

Ship- nice small size and in very good shape.  No smoking indoors!!!!

 

Cabins- I was in an obstructed OV.  The view was mostly of one of the shorter life boats so we could see light and some things over the life boat.  The cabin seemed smaller than other ships but the bathroom was much better with a tub, room to actually move around some.  Lots of cabinets and storage, we did not even need it all.  

 

TV- I did not watch much but there was a very good selection of live TV, movies, America's Test Kitchen, etc. plus the dinner menu.  I was on one ship with so little TV it became a joke that I kept watching the same episode of Big Bank Theory over and over in various languages!

 

Question, please ask......

 

Jen

[ShipWalker]

Thanks for the report!

 

DW and I will be on the Eurodam next week.

[Jen1000]

Have fun!

 

One more complaint, the trivia prize is totally awful.  They give a HAL pin for winning at trivia.  It was always a pin.  The kicker is, there are none that say Mexico.  We now have pins from destinations that we were not on.  These are by far the worst prizes on any cruise I have been on.  Also, I think there was only 2 people on the activities staff, the CD and her assistant so they are spread thin.

 

Jen

[mcrcruiser]

3 hours ago, Jen1000 said:

Have fun!

 

One more complaint, the trivia prize is totally awful.  They give a HAL pin for winning at trivia.  It was always a pin.  The kicker is, there are none that say Mexico.  We now have pins from destinations that we were not on.  These are by far the worst prizes on any cruise I have been on.  Also, I think there was only 2 people on the activities staff, the CD and her assistant so they are spread thin.

 

Jen

Hi Jen we enjoyed your review  . We sailed in Eurodam on the same itinerary as you on Dec 9 to 16th ,2018  . It was for my 80th birthday celebration  .We had a unobstructed balcony  .Imo the bathroom was on the smaller side vs other cruise lines we have sailed  .This was out=r 81st cruise.

 

  We also love the trivia games & we thought those pins of various  locations around the world were  nice prizes because when I buy  them they range $5 to $7 each in ports .I have 4 hats full of  hat pins where we cruised to .

 

 We did not see a lot of children on our pre Christmas cruise . HAL does not generally attract  a lot of families with young children . We also felt that the food was better than even Celebrity  where we have cruise over 40 cruises  . We enjoyed the Pizza  in back of the Lido  by the back pool area . It took awhile when it was busy  ;but well worth the wait .  The entertainment on the is cruise was some of the best we ever saw  .I would rank it in the top tier area for cruise ship entertainment . 

 

   Your review is very similar to ours  for the Eurodam Mexican Riviera 7 night cruise

 

  Cliff

Edited January 17, 2019 by mcrcruiser

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for your review.

 

HAL is not known for a lot of activities on sea days in the mornings.  Trivia prizes have been pins for years now.  Yes the staff doing the activities is very thin -- just 2 people -- one of many cut backs for all.

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for taking the time to post your comments.

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

[grsnovi]

Glad to hear the E'dam is still in "...very good shape..." we'll be on her again this August... 

[Jen1000]

The pins would make sense if they had Mexico, California/San Diego, the ports of call, etc.  We got was Northern Europe, Mediterranean, Caribbean, it was just pretty funny at some point.

 

Good to know HAL is light on morning on activities on sea days in general.  We will be planning another big family cruise and need to weigh everything out for next time.

 

My last cruise was Oasis of the Seas and the entertainment was phenomenal.  I was not expecting anything like that though!  Food and entertainment is subjective of course.

 

Jen  

[Classiccruiser777]

Next month we will be on our first Eurodam cruise though we’ve taken several HAL cruises. Any tips you have that are specific to this ship?

[Mimiya11]

Thanks for your review as we set sail this Sunday for the first time on HA.   Glad to read that both the food and entertainment were great.   I am particularly thrilled that the Lido is not self service.  A few questions

- Wondering how easy it is to get a table for breakfast and what times seemed busiest?

- Did you notice if they were offering discount on specialty restaurants on the first night?  We are going to Tamarind regardless but was curious.

- How is the coffee or will I be going to buy lattes each morning?

 

Regardless, am happy to be on a cruise considering we are expecting mega snow this weekend.   

[grsnovi]

12 minutes ago, Mimiya11 said:

how easy it is to get a table for breakfast

We've always managed to find someplace in the Lido but it can be a challenge. Typically one of us will stake out a place while the other heads over to get breakfast.

 

13 minutes ago, Mimiya11 said:

Did you notice if they were offering discount on specialty restaurants on the first night

It seems that when we went to Norway (on the K'dam in June) they were trying to drum-up business for their specialty restaurants but I didn't notice a discount incentive. There may be one - we'll always go to Tamarind at least one night.

16 minutes ago, Mimiya11 said:

How is the coffee or will I be going to buy lattes

Coffee is such a personal taste. I like my coffee on the darker side. In 11+ years sailing with HAL, I have never had a problem with the coffee they have in the morning in the Lido. I also like their lattes but I don't need to have one every morning.

[rotjeknor]

On 1/17/2019 at 12:28 PM, Krazy Kruizers said:

Thank you for your review.

 

HAL is not known for a lot of activities on sea days in the mornings.  Trivia prizes have been pins for years now.  Yes the staff doing the activities is very thin -- just 2 people -- one of many cut backs for all.

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

 According to a staff member this was done because the games became too competitive , with people using their phones to look up answers . On our last Rotterdam cruise we did win HAL cookbooks on the last day though 😉

Members of the EXC team also participate in hosting activities , at least they did on Zuiderdam last february and the Rotterdam in april. They hosted several Trivia games ( animal sounds and travel trivia) as well as some games on deck.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the review. 

[Jen1000]

On 1/17/2019 at 8:45 AM, Classiccruiser777 said:

Next month we will be on our first Eurodam cruise though we’ve taken several HAL cruises. Any tips you have that are specific to this ship?

The ship is pretty small so easy to get around and find everything.  I have not been on HAL before so not sure what is different about this ship vs. others.  I did not know about the games in the lounge off the casino until my brother found them.  Food is not the same on the two buffet sides so take a look around.  We started going in to the main show room on deck 1 so that we did not have to walk down so many stairs to sit near the front.

[Jen1000]

On 1/17/2019 at 8:52 AM, Mimiya11 said:

Thanks for your review as we set sail this Sunday for the first time on HA.   Glad to read that both the food and entertainment were great.   I am particularly thrilled that the Lido is not self service.  A few questions

- Wondering how easy it is to get a table for breakfast and what times seemed busiest?

- Did you notice if they were offering discount on specialty restaurants on the first night?  We are going to Tamarind regardless but was curious.

- How is the coffee or will I be going to buy lattes each morning?

 

Regardless, am happy to be on a cruise considering we are expecting mega snow this weekend.   

Sorry I did not get back quickly, you probably already left.  But in case others see these questions, I will answer.  

 

It was usually easy to get a table at breakfast but we are on the early side.  It seemed busiest around 9 on sea days and it was packed at 8 on debarkation day.  In port we had pretty early departures so we went to breakfast early and had no trouble.  Typical lunch times were busy on sea days.  We ate all diners in the MDR.

 

There was a 25% discount on at least one specialty restaurant on the first night.  I do not recall if it was one specific restaurant or all of them.

 

I do not drink coffee but those in my party that do were happy with the coffee and none of them bought any coffee on the ship.  There is a good assortment of tea bags for those who drink tea.

[Jen1000]

On 1/18/2019 at 10:57 AM, rotjeknor said:

 According to a staff member this was done because the games became too competitive , with people using their phones to look up answers . On our last Rotterdam cruise we did win HAL cookbooks on the last day though 😉

Members of the EXC team also participate in hosting activities , at least they did on Zuiderdam last february and the Rotterdam in april. They hosted several Trivia games ( animal sounds and travel trivia) as well as some games on deck.

When we first boarded the ship my cousin said there was a group in the elevator studying for trivia!!! I have been on some cruises with multi day games to be the ship champions, those were pretty competitive.  My brother was even booed one time when he showed up for the progressive trivia to join my Mom who was sitting alone.   I cannot imagine that the trivia is any more competitive on HAL than the other lines lol!!! 

 

I was on an 11 night Celebrity cruise and it was pretty competitive and they had a variety of nice prizes (accumulate points and buy prizes on the last night).  Royal has a variety of prizes so it is not always the same thing.  I have not been on Carnival in a while but the ships on a stick and medals to me are just fun.  It doesn't really matter, we play trivia because we have fun.  I would not pick a cruise over the trivia prizes, it is just good to know.  

 

The EXC team did travel trivia each afternoon as well.  There were several sessions of trivia each day, just all of it after lunch so my comment is there was not a lot happening in the AM in general and it was often in conflict with other quality activities or our late dinner seating that they switched us to once on board.  The EXC team also did a few talks (ports on your own and other talks in general about Mexico) so you are right, they chip in with activities.  

 

There was also a couple of events in the art gallery that the lady in charge of the gallery ran, one trivia (my cousin was the only attendee) and a find the hidden objects in the art on the last sea day that I did attend.  The find the objects was well attended and fun.  Prizes for all were postcards of the art and the grand prize a bottle of champagne.  

 

Jen

Edited January 23, 2019 by Jen1000

[JudithLynne]

On ‎1‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 8:45 AM, Classiccruiser777 said:

Next month we will be on our first Eurodam cruise though we’ve taken several HAL cruises. Any tips you have that are specific to this ship?

Keep an eye on your account which you can view on the TV.  We are out over $100 because of HAL mistakes, and have gotten no response from HAL.  It was our 10th HAL cruise, we are 3 star.  We have never had this happen on a HAL cruise.

[KCat]

What kind of device do they have in the cabin to play music? In the past we’ve just played a cd on the DVD player. I didn’t know if that is the same now or if they have a little player by the bed?

[michael620]

On 1/16/2019 at 8:00 PM, Jen1000 said:

We just sailed the Eurodam from 1/6/19 to 1/13/19. 

 

Background-  12 in our group from 16 to 82 of extended family, 5 cabins.  This is my 9th cruise but first on HAL.  I have been on Carnival, Celebrity and RCL.  8 of us live in SoCal, 2 in SF and 2 in Oregon.  Most of us are well traveled.

 

 

Internet- My SIL bought middle tier on embarkation Sunday it was $99.99 for the entire cruise.  I bought the middle tier just after midnight at about 1 AM Monday and it was $89.99 for the duration of cruise.  For the most part the internet worked well all over the ship but at times it would be spotty or stop working for a bit.

 

Checking in water-  We checked in 3 flats of water, no problem.  They were delivered to our cabins.  One flat was still intact at the end of the cruise and my brother checked it as luggage for debarkation.  The water was delivered in tact with our luggage on arrival and at baggage claim on debarkation.

 

Entertainment-

BB King- Great band, very talented musicians, especially the trumpet player.  The female was ill and only sang the last night. 

Billboard- Fun piano bar duo, the male had just got on board when we did.  

Lincoln Center- Again great musicians

Stage Shows- Enjoyed 1000 Steps, not so crazy about One World.  4 in our group left One World after about 3 minutes.  Comedian excellent.  Really enjoyed the BBC Earth with live orchestra.  I did not see the magician or the show the final night that was the comedian and magician with new material.

 

Activities-  Really enjoyed the Mexican ambassadors.  Great entertainment with the folkloric shows.  Not much of interest to our group in the AM on sea days.  No morning trivia like all other lines I have been on.  It seemed that all of the activities we would enjoy were lumped at the same time in the afternoon.  This is one area this ship could be improved.

 

Food-  Loved that at the buffet the staff serves the majority of the food.  I dislike using the same serving utensils as hundreds as other people so this was a biggie to us.  We all agreed that the food was great in both the Lido and the MDR.  Great fries at Dive In.  Tried a piece of pizza and it was OK.  Compared to Carnival, Celebrity and RCL, we all agreed this was the best food we have had.  Liked that there was a legitimate late night buffet each night from 10:30 to 11:30.

 

Staff-  Incredibly friendly and accommodating.  Top end of what we have experienced on other lines.  I have no complaints about the staff, they were really amazing.

 

Other guests-  I was expecting an older crowd but it was actually skewed more to middle age, with some younger and some older.  There were about 1/3 the number of kids on the ship per our waiter vs. the holiday weeks prior to ours.  Kids running around at the pool was a bit dangerous and no one said anything.

 

Ship- nice small size and in very good shape.  No smoking indoors!!!!

 

Cabins- I was in an obstructed OV.  The view was mostly of one of the shorter life boats so we could see light and some things over the life boat.  The cabin seemed smaller than other ships but the bathroom was much better with a tub, room to actually move around some.  Lots of cabinets and storage, we did not even need it all.  

 

TV- I did not watch much but there was a very good selection of live TV, movies, America's Test Kitchen, etc. plus the dinner menu.  I was on one ship with so little TV it became a joke that I kept watching the same episode of Big Bank Theory over and over in various languages!

 

Question, please ask......

 

Jen

I will be on the Eurodam in 2 weeks and I am wondering about the library.  In recent years, the number of new novels have been non-existent.  Most books were 5+ years old. Has this changed at all?

[Boatdrill]

On 1/23/2019 at 8:34 AM, Jen1000 said:

The ship is pretty small so easy to get around and find everything. 

 

I understand that your previous experience was on the mega ships, and so to describe the Eurodam as "pretty small" is based on your past cruises.  Just wanted to mention that the Eurodam is considered "mid size" by the industry, and after HAL launched their newest ship, the Nieuw Statendam, many loyal passengers have expressed  their desire that HAL stop making their new ships bigger, and bigger.  

[Boatdrill]

1 hour ago, KCat said:

What kind of device do they have in the cabin to play music? In the past we’ve just played a cd on the DVD player. I didn’t know if that is the same now or if they have a little player by the bed?

Music channels are available on the tv. 

[IrwinE]

Thanks for posting your review. Sounds like you had a great time. IMO HAL's crews are the best.

[sevenseasnomad]

Thank you for your review.  It's been about 4 years since we were on Eurodam.  Glad to know she's in good shape.  I agree with IrwinE that HA's crews are the most gracious and friendly at sea, one of the reasons we return again and again to the dam ships.

[IPB4IGO]

On 2/24/2019 at 2:52 PM, michael620 said:

I will be on the Eurodam in 2 weeks and I am wondering about the library.  In recent years, the number of new novels have been non-existent.  Most books were 5+ years old. Has this changed at all?

The library is now nothing more than coffee table books.  There is a book exchange there, but when our cruise started (2/3/19) there were no books in it. Over the course of the 17 days a few appeared, but there were no more than a handful until the end of the cruise, when people apparently dumped their books. 

 

Many of us load up our eReaders before the cruise!

[IPB4IGO]

On 2/24/2019 at 2:28 PM, KCat said:

What kind of device do they have in the cabin to play music? In the past we’ve just played a cd on the DVD player. I didn’t know if that is the same now or if they have a little player by the bed?

We came off the Eurodam on 2/20/19. There are no longer DVD players in the cabins. The new TVs in the cabins (at least in our balcony cabin) have no built-in player, and the jacks for external devices are on the back side of the wall-mounted TV. With a lot of effort and some lost skin I was able to access the headphone jack to plug in the transmitter for our wireless headsets, but it was extremely difficult and possible only because I had brought along a right-angle jack adapter.

 

There were some music channels on the TV, as well as movies, ship info, your account, etc.

 

Hope that helps.