Eurodam Feb 3, 2019 San Diego/Hawaii Live Thread

[faerievert]

Eurodam, we’re on our way!

 

We were up at 4am in Nashville, out the door by 5am, and in the SkyClub by 5:30. A quick breakfast in the lounge and then winging our way to LAX. Enjoyed a couple screwdrivers and an on-board breakfast (we’d been upgraded to 1st class with hot meal service) while I watched Crazy Rich Asians. Then a good long nap and awoke to the final decent announcement.

 

Now it’s 9:30am at LAX. Yet a third breakfast of the day (this time a chorizo breakfast taco...yum! [emoji39]) and a mimosa to keep the nerves at bay. I assure you I don’t usually drink this much before lunch. [emoji1635]

 

It’s unusually gray and rainy here, but it doesn’t seem to be causing any delays. Still need to kill two more hours before we head to the gate for San Diego. I don’t recommend flying in same-day, especially on a ship going directly to see, but all’s we’ll so far [emoji1696]

 

 

 

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[NWWanderer]

Glad you've made it as far as LAX! It's sunny here in SD, after yesterday's deluge. See you onboard!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Looking forward to your Live reports.

[Caribbean Chris]

Following. We’ve booked Eurodam to Hawaii for April 2020. Thanks in advance  for your reports.

[ellbelle]

We are on this sailing (did not participate much on the Roll Call) but remembering you say you were flying in the day of. Glad you made it to LAX and hope San Diego goes smoothly. We flew from Sacramento, CA yesterday only to find our first flight cancelled, our second delayed then cancelled and we finally made a flight arriving at 6:30 last night. We normally fly the day of for San Diego cruises, never again.

[faerievert]

Seriously, anyone planning a future cruise: DO NOT FLY DAY OF. I get that it’s sometimes unavoidable, but absolutely do not do it if you can possibly avoid it, and don’t do it at all if you can’t afford to see your vacation sail away without you.


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[Cailey53]

Following as well as we just booked the March 2020/ 18 day sailing last week. Have a wonderful trip!

[faerievert]

Boarded our super quick 29min flight to San Diego and got the “bag loaded” confirmation. We’ll miss lunch on ship, but now I can finally breath. Two more stops: baggage claim and Rite Aid, before finally arriving at the port.


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[jayhawk66]

I will definitely be following and  am grateful that you will be posting during the cruise! Peggy and I will be boarding the day that you disembark! I will be interested in the quality of internet that you experience as well as any observations about the ship, lectures, entertainment, food, etc. Also, we are booked in an aft veranda on deck 8, so any observations re vibrations etc. will be eagerly read! Bon Voyage and may you experience fair winds and following seas!

[faerievert]

Arrived on time to San Diego and got our checked bag quickly. Hopped in an Uber to the Rite Aid. Bought two bottles of wine and a case of Coke Zero. Walked to the port, large suitcase, two roll aboard, one backpack, and string sack of drinks in tow. Had to detour around construction, but it was a beautiful day out so I didn’t mind. Port was a breeze. Zero lines at any step. I strongly suspect no one would have charged us if we’d attempted to bring on more than two bottles of wine. I saw no signs of anywhere to pay if we’d wanted to![emoji58] They really need to tighten up procedures for later arrivals.


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[cat shepard]

Bon Voyage!

 

Following with great interest, since I make the same trip on the Oosterdam this October. Will enjoy reading what you do at sea and then in each port.

 

We have our wish list, but only have one tour booked.

[faerievert]

Went directly to our room. Someone else’s bag was waiting on the bed! Gave it to a steward to return to the correct room (it was wrong floor, right number... easy mistake). Dropped our bags, opened the mountain of prepurchase envelopes, and checked the itinerary.

It was now 2:15... time to hit the casino for a free bingo card for tonight (though I don’t think we’ll use it). Too early to exchange the card for chips. We’ll have to return when we’re at sea. Checked out the slots and found the craps table. Took a peek at the new gallery bar / game room. Love the look, but can’t hang out in a room without windows on the sea. Headed downstairs to confirm our OCB (on the kiosk, not the big line). Then made our reservations for pinnacle. There was a mistake and our cellar master package only showed one dinner instead of two. After some fussing they fixed it. Also signed up for an additional wine event (our package includes two of the four).

Then ALL THE WAY UP the stairs to check out tamarind. No one was there to make reservations. Back down to Lido. Did a walk through of the marketplace, swung around the back outside to find the pizza place (not open right now, from the look of it), and back around to Canaletto. Turns out the DON’T have a special tonight, but Tamarind is 25% off! Made reservations for 8 after the big game.

Continued to the pool, past the Dive In and cabanas (they really do look spiffy, but not my cup of tea), and on to the spa for our thermal spa pass stickers (I bought ahead over the phone).


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[Krazy Kruizers]

Great that your flight got you to San Diego and you had time to shop.

 

Only 1 big suitcase for a 17 day cruise??  We couldn't do that.

 

Looking forward to your reports.

[faerievert]

Muster is a quick reality check in regards to the demographics. I find it a little vulgar to take pictures of the crowds standing around looking uncomfortable, but we were most definitely the youngest couple in sight (we’re both 35, turning 36 during the cruise). And while we’re no longer less than half the average age, it’s still pretty close. I would bet that at least 4 out of 5 passes are over 65. Saw a few younger adults with groups, but they were obviously with relations. No sign of children yet. I could count at least 8 walkers and 4 scooters just within sight of my muster station, and at least as many canes (including some really snazzy blinged our ones!).

Not surprised, and still a younger average age than our first HAL — a transatlantic repositioned. It’s very difficult to take 17 days to go to sea when you’re working! Our shorter Alaskan and Caribbean trips had a lot more families with minor children.

We’re managing this winter getaway because my husband is currently stuck on disability recovering from shoulder surgery (he goes back to work in March). He sure has a lot of “homework” from his physical therapist to do in the gym! I work online and got the ok for reduced hours and limited availability. If working an hour a day means I get to sail, I will happily take that trade off vs a shorter fully unplugged trip.


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[Augustina]

15 hours ago, jayhawk66 said:

I will definitely be following and  am grateful that you will be posting during the cruise! Peggy and I will be boarding the day that you disembark! I will be interested in the quality of internet that you experience as well as any observations about the ship, lectures, entertainment, food, etc. Also, we are booked in an aft veranda on deck 8, so any observations re vibrations etc. will be eagerly read! Bon Voyage and may you experience fair winds and following seas!

Thank you for posting,  we also are on the Feb 20 sailing.  Enjoy sea and shore days looking forward to your experiences.  Here's sending you lucky thoughts.

[fann1sh]

Hello again FaerieVert!  Thanks so much for posting earlier on our Feb 20 roll call. 

 

Like JayHawk66 and  Augustina, will be following your thread eagerly,.
 

I'll be stopping at that same Rite Aid for Pepsi and Frexeinet. 

 

Question for you:  are you touring any National Parks?  Although the shutdown is over, I'm anxious about whether the parks can get back up to speed for tourism after such a long shutdown, with limited budgets.  And, Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island has its own challenges, due to the 2018 eruptions. 

 

I feel for you about that "day of" flight.  I  purchased last minute from a well known discount agency, which includes air.  Agency prefers to shepherd all the chicks.  But, a "day of" flight from an airport where it  snows?    NOPE.  Deviation fee paid. 

 

I started cruising HAL when I was your age, 25 years ago.  Demographics were no different then.  Now, I've aged in....in what feels like a blink of an eye.  So  CARPE DIEM! 

 

 

Edited February 4, 2019 by fann1sh

[Krazy Kruizers]

Hope your DH is able to do all his physical therapy on the ship to get that shoulder back i working condition.

[BEAV]

Faerievert,

 

Thanks in advance for taking us along with you!  Looking forward to following. While interested in every aspect of your future posts, I'm especially interested in any speakers that HAL includes on this voyage, especially since there are so many sea days.

 

Also curious if you were ever solicited pre-cruise for upsells. And if so, can you share the details. 

 

Now that your day of flying is over, relax and enjoy those sea days on the way to Hawaii. 😉

 

 

[SanDiegian]

Tracking the msEurodam on marinetraffic.com

[SanDiegian]

30 minutes ago, SanDiegian said:

Tracking the msEurodam on marinetraffic.com

What’s weird is the tracking says your going to Mexico. 

[faerievert]

What’s weird is the tracking says your going to Mexico. 

We are... after Hawaii we have one stop in Mexico.


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[faerievert]

Where did I leave off last night? [emoji23]

The Super Bowl was pretty lame, due more to the slow game than HAL’s attempts at fun. They had drink specials all over the ship, broadcast on every TV and in the Main Stage, and an $89 all-inclusive package in the BBKing’s lounge. The repetitive rugby and cricket commercials on the int’l satellite feed instead of the normal US broadcast commercials is also a big downer on the atmosphere. I unpacked my clothes instead of watching the first half, then went to work on my todo list instead of most of the rest.

We pushed off from SD late. Sometime a bit after 6. So I could finally set up my casino account. I’m up $30 on slots so far!

No $99 digital package on this ship. Bought the $299 all digital and prints package instead.

Successfully got extra pillows, a wine kit, and a fan for the room by calling down. Failed to get the mini bar cleared or an XL robe. Asking the steward directly today. Happy to report I did NOT need extra hangars. There were a ton in the closets.

Took a shower and changed for dinner at Tamarind. Forgot to have the husband change from shorts to trousers and got sent back to change. Not a complaint... I’m glad they’re enforcing the dress code!

Dinner was fantastic. Highly recommend the duck breast bulgogi main. Service was top notch and wish we could take this wine steward with us to every restaurant. I like that the dinner is spaced out a bit on the slow side, but it was never a long pause between courses. Be sure to tell them if you prefer a faster pace or want first and second to be served together. We enjoyed 4 courses over 1.5 hrs and brought our leftover wine back to the room. Where we promptly zonked out without drinking another sip.


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[Buck1949]

1 hour ago, SanDiegian said:

What’s weird is the tracking says your going to Mexico. 

 

I checked the actual ship location (in the water) on the map and it appeared to be heading West South West and out about 300 nautical miles west of the coastline of San Diego. I think Marine Traffic just has the port mixed up. 

[Buck1949]

25 minutes ago, faerievert said:

Where did I leave off last night?

The Super Bowl was pretty lame, due more to the slow game than HAL’s attempts at fun. They had drink specials all over the ship, broadcast on every TV and in the Main Stage, and an $89 all-inclusive package in the BBKing’s lounge. The repetitive rugby and cricket commercials on the int’l satellite feed instead of the normal US broadcast commercials is also a big downer on the atmosphere. I unpacked my clothes instead of watching the first half, then went to work on my todo list instead of most of the rest.

We pushed off from SD late. Sometime a bit after 6. So I could finally set up my casino account. I’m up $30 on slots so far!

No $99 digital package on this ship. Bought the $299 all digital and prints package instead.

Successfully got extra pillows, a wine kit, and a fan for the room by calling down. Failed to get the mini bar cleared or an XL robe. Asking the steward directly today. Happy to report I did NOT need extra hangars. There were a ton in the closets.

Took a shower and changed for dinner at Tamarind. Forgot to have the husband change from shorts to trousers and got sent back to change. Not a complaint... I’m glad they’re enforcing the dress code!

Dinner was fantastic. Highly recommend the duck breast bulgogi main. Service was top notch and wish we could take this wine steward with us to every restaurant. I like that the dinner is spaced out a bit on the slow side, but it was never a long pause between courses. Be sure to tell them if you prefer a faster pace or want first and second to be served together. We enjoyed 4 courses over 1.5 hrs and brought our leftover wine back to the room. Where we promptly zonked out without drinking another sip.


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Would you be able to let us know what the outside temperatures are periodically while cruising TO Hawaii?.  We are set with the Hawaii temps but unsure of the ships temperatures. 

 

Thanks.  That will help us with packing jackets, sweaters etc.  

Edited February 4, 2019 by Buck1949

[SanDiegian]

15 minutes ago, Buck1949 said:

 

I checked the actual ship location (in the water) on the map and it appeared to be heading West South West and out about 300 nautical miles west of the coastline of San Diego. I think Marine Traffic just has the port mixed up. 

MarineTraffic.com shows msEurodam from US SAN 2-3-2019 (San Diego) to MX CSL 2-9-2019 (Cabo San Lucas). Hopefully they find the ship before I board on 2-20-2019 in San Diego US.