Booking the Eurodam Inaugural?

[Ine]

So if I understand the Rev and his updated Intel correctly, Euromast, I mean dam, will be christened by Princess Maxima on July 2nd, 2008 in Rotterdam on the Wilhelminakade. She will then sail her 3-day maiden voyage up north to Copenhagen with invited guests only. Once arrived there, she is sheduled for a 10-day cruise (05-15 JUL 08) up the Norwegian coast (but not all the way up to the Arctic Circle), cut across the mighty North Sea to the isle of the Brits, make three stops there (including two in the land of the kilts) and then cut across the other way and end that cruise back in Copenhagen.

 

Actually sounds like a pretty nice cruise (like Jim, would have liked to have gone up to the Arctic Circle) but it's still a good itinerary. We're still game! Also sounds like the actual ceremony in Rotjeknor will be tough to get into (invited guests only)

 

Of course it is my best guess that the dedication will be done by Pr. Maxima. Oosterdam was done by Pr. Margriet and usually it will not be done by the Queen or the Crownprince.

 

When Oosterdam's dedication took place there were a few differences between guests.

Of course the VIPS were in a special section upfront and most of them had a cabin on board and were invited for the 1st night out. No "ordinary" paying guests were on board.

The night before dedication travelagents and member of the press had presentations and had slept on board already, but had to be off early in the morning so the staff could clean etc for those VIPS coming.

 

I think it wasnot really very difficult to get an invitation for that day. I have the impression that dutch mariners all had had a mailing before and had to confirm if they would like to attend. Something you might have to arrange by then through HAL Seattle...?

 

On dedication day "mariners" (and those guests that were booked on the inaugural leaving the next day) were able to see Oosterdam in the morning, walk around the ship, have a short presentation with champagne etc. Live music of different countries was played on the ship.

"Rotterdam" was head to head in port and we were invited after seeing Oosterdam to have lunch on board "Rotterdam". We were given the famous inaugural plates there as also a small tile because the dutch agent had a celebration too.

During dedication we were seated on a specially built galery (luckily it was a nice sunny day). After the ceremony only the VIPS were allowed to board again, all others had to leave....

It was a very special day and of course we hope to be there when Eurodam will be dedicated and hopefully be able to book before that the 1st sailing our of Copenhagen......

[ekerr19]

Well, I am now considering a booking on the Thomson Celebration either pre or post the Eurodam inaugural cruise....

 

I do miss that old Noordam -and back in 1984 she truly was the jewel of the seas...

 

I am curious to see what Thomson has done to her - when we were aboard the final Noordam voyage, the Thomson guys shared some pretty interesting plans.

 

Regardless of the flag, I'd still love to cruise on that ship one last time... :)

 

We are up for the Eurodam regardless of the itinerary. It will be a such a historical event. When it comes time for HAL to retire her, I expect to see all of you aboard for the final voyage too. :)

[shipcafe]

Laura--

 

Those of us who booked aboard only secured a space on the waiting list - As I understand it, once the pricing/etc. comes available HAL is supposed to contact us so we can choose our specific accomodations, etc.

 

I'm betting that HAL will probably take your deposit for the waiting list if you're not on a cruise, but it would have to be directly w/ HAL and would be the regular deposit amount rather than the $100 shipboard-booking deposit - However TA's are not going to be able to take deposits until HAL comes out w/ the pricing.

 

Either way, once you get your specific arrangements made through HAL, you'll then be able to move your reservation to the TA of your choice for customer servicing and possibly better pricing.

 

I hope you and Sonny are able to make it - both Scotty and I placed our deposits for the cruise!

:)

 

Brian ... per my e-mail to you, I am actually planning to book this one myself ... July 5th, 2008

[sail7seas]

Steve......

 

I so hope we have the chance to meet. :)

 

DH and I placed our deposit last week to be put on the Future Cruise Request List in order for us to have a cabin for the Inaugural Cruise.

 

I just received the 2008 Europe Brochure and it's fun to see Eurodam listed in the schedule. :)

 

 

[bepsf]

Brian ... per my e-mail to you, I am actually planning to book this one myself ... July 5th, 2008

 

Steve--

I got your note - that's fabulous news!

In fact, my parents have now decided to join me for this cruise (their first) - So this becoming more exciting for me as we go along!

:D

[dougnewmanatsea]

The 2008 Europe brochure is out?

 

The itineraries aren't on HAL's web site yet :( . (I actually just checked today, totally unrelated to this thread.)

 

Does anyone know if these are open for booking? Would love to do the EURODAM inaugural... I've never done an inaugural cruise before and it would certainly be fun to sail with all of you! I was sad to have missed the NOORDAM inaugural so would like to do this one.

 

I'm afraid the itinerary doesn't do much for me, so this would be a cruise to do for the company, not the itinerary.

 

The Baltic itinerary was nice except that with only one day in St. Petersburg it would have been a really poor choice for anyone who hasn't been there before. (To me it wouldn't matter as I've seen the major sights anyway.) But I would like to go to Hamburg and Gdansk which I've not been to (never been to Poland at all, in fact).

 

As for the new itinerary, even though Copenhagen is one of my very favorite places, I am disappointed it doesn't leave Rotterdam. I really enjoy sailing from HAL's historic home, and to do it on a maiden voyage would be even better. And if I were to do a Norwegian fjords cruise (haven't yet) I would like to go to the Geirangerfjord, having seen so many gorgeous photos of different ships there! I would like to go to Scotland, but then that is an area I would probably not cruise to - would more likely fly to Glasgow and stay there for a while as one of my best friends lives there. So all in all, not an itinerary that is tremendously appealing (certainly not unpleasant but not one I'd specifically choose), but as I said that would not be the point of this trip anyway.

[sail7seas]

see next post

[sail7seas]

Yes, Doug.....the 2008 Europe Brochure is out. I am looking at my copy of it.

 

We placed a deposit which put our names on Future Cruise Request but though there is pricing in the Brochure, I was not given the exact cost of what our Inaugural Cruise booking will be.

 

Page 25 of the 2008 Europe Brochure shows The Inaugural Sailing as ten days, Copenhagen to Copenhagen.

 

Page 34 shows 20 day cruise Copenhagen to Copenhagen. However, on day 10 of the cruise, Eurodam returns to Copenhagen and there will be debarks and embarks.

 

One can choose to do the whole 20 day sailing.

 

Pricing for the ten days is included here in the Brochure (as it is for all 2008 Europe cruises) but I have not yet been given our cost.

[Copper10-8]

Just bumping up the revised itinerary as posted by the Rev. (for some reason, HAL doesn't have it posted on their website)

Inaugural sailing is scheduled for JULY 5, 2008

 

10-Day Norwegian Fjords and Scotland

 

0 Copenhagen, Denmark

1 Oslo, Norway

2 At sea

3 Alesund, Norway

4 Vik, Norway *Service call for shore ex.

Scenic cruising Aurlandsfjord

Flam, Norway

Scenic cruising Sognefjord

5 Stavanger, Norway

6 Newcastle upon Tyne, England

7 South Queensferry (Edinburgh), Scotland

8 Invergordon, Scotland

9 At sea

10 Copenhagen

[sail7seas]

If anyone wants, I'll post the full Brochure rate for various categories so they'll have a 'starting point' in terms of thinking about cost.

 

[shipcafe]

I'm officially on the "list" to be booked once this sailing date becomes available in the system. I may also be getting my family to book as well.

[ekerr19]

My TA says her HAL contact indicates the books will open in mid March. We can't wait to book. I got a brochure with the layout of the ship and I even know which cabins we want to book, lol!!!

[HeatherInFlorida]

I know in my heart we can't afford this cruise, but the itinerary would be to absolutely die for. So many places we would love to go.

 

Sail, can you send the brochure rates to me (or posthere)? Maybe then I can just put the whole idea to bed and forget it.

 

Just put me out of my misery!!:o

[hammybee]

Would be very cool if the Edinburgh Tattoo is going on out there that same day!

 

http://www.edintattoo.co.uk/

 

It certainly would be cool, but the Eurodam will be there 15 days too early, in 2008. The Tattoo coincides with the Fringe, the largest performing arts celebration in the world. Edinburgh in August is wild.

[sail7seas]

I know in my heart we can't afford this cruise, but the itinerary would be to absolutely die for. So many places we would love to go.

 

Sail, can you send the brochure rates to me (or posthere)? Maybe then I can just put the whole idea to bed and forget it.

 

Just put me out of my misery!!:o

 

Here are some representative Brochure Prices:

 

If anyone wants a particular category's price, just ask and I'm happy to post it.

 

Eurodam Inaugural Cruise Brochure Prices

 

Verandah Suites

Category SA Deluxe Verandah Suites $ 6,849 - $ 7,149

Category SS Superior Verandah Suites 4,899 - 5,199

Category SY Superior Verandah Suites 4,649 - 4,949

 

 

Verandah Staterooms

Category VA Deluxe Verandah Ouside 3,749 - 4,049

Category VD Deluxe Verandah Outside 3,509 - 3 ,809

 

Oceanview Staterooms

Category T (Eurodam only) 3,349 - 3,649

Category DD Large 3,069 - 3,369

Category F Large 2,929 - 3,229

 

Inside Staterooms

 

Category I Large 2,599 - 2,899

Category M Standard 2,399 - 2,699

 

 

Prices are per person and do NOT include Taxes

[RevNeal]

I'm officially on the "list" to be booked once this sailing date becomes available in the system. I may also be getting my family to book as well.

 

That's great news, Steve! After all this time, I'm look forward to getting to meet you then!

[cruznon]

We got on the list for the Eurodam inaugural last week on board the Oosterdam.:)

[RevNeal]

Thanks Judy ... as we knew it would be VERY expensive.

Oh, well ... maybe I can convince Christopher to let me book us into an inside J cabin on Maindeck? Or, maybe, a G partly obstructed?? Not bloody likely ... but I can TRY.

 

Otherwise, it's poorcity for me. :) But I'm going, no matter what.

 

Later -- oh ... wait ... those are the brochure prices! Sorry!

It won't be that bad.

<whew!>

[HeatherInFlorida]

Thanks, Sail! Well ... not as bad as I thought considering everything. But then you have to add in airfare and I really wonder whether this cruise will be discounted all that much (since it's the Inaugural).

 

So it looks like it would run over double what we're paying for our 10 day Caribbean in February (which we would cancel if we did this).

 

Given what we lost in the market today alone:eek: , it's not looking too positive. But I'll keep my eye on this thread to see when it opens up and price out the whole trip.

 

If it weren't for the itinerary, I wouldn't even consider it ... but that's the part that is soooo inviting.

 

Thanks again!:)

[Atomica]

Wow, those are some expeeeensive brochure fares!

 

I'd love to do it, but I don't think it's in the cards - the airfare would be the deal breaker. Here's hoping some of the Eurodam's later European voyages are priced a little more competitively :)

[dougnewmanatsea]

OK, I'll pop the question.

 

Would any of you be interested in doing this as a group cruise?

 

I think you all know the drill - you have to book through our travel agent but you do get special group amenities and hopefully some kind of discount (I hope - those brochure fares seem a bit steep).

 

I can't actually set anything up until the cruise is open for booking (which it doesn't seem to be yet) but I would at least like to gauge interest.

[cruznon]

It's very disppointed to hear these changes in length and intinerary. Not sure we'll do this now. Norway/England/Scotland is nice, but can't compare to the original cruise. I'm not sure this would be worth the huge expense. Is the Eurodam going to do any Baltic cruises in 08?

[bepsf]

OK, I'll pop the question.

 

Would any of you be interested in doing this as a group cruise?

 

I think you all know the drill - you have to book through our travel agent but you do get special group amenities and hopefully some kind of discount (I hope - those brochure fares seem a bit steep).

 

I can't actually set anything up until the cruise is open for booking (which it doesn't seem to be yet) but I would at least like to gauge interest.

 

Doug--

 

I certainly do not presume to speak for everyone - but a number of us have discussed this recently...

 

...and unless the group-discount pricing/perks from the CC.com TA were really phenomenal and benefitted us all - I think that many would prefer to book our cruises with our own TA's as HAL has generally taken very good care of us with perks, group meetings, combined dining arrangements, etc. when we've traveled en-masse even though we've not booked as a "Group".

[bepsf]

Page 25 of the 2008 Europe Brochure shows The Inaugural Sailing as ten days, Copenhagen to Copenhagen.

 

Page 34 shows 20 day cruise Copenhagen to Copenhagen. However, on day 10 of the cruise, Eurodam returns to Copenhagen and there will be debarks and embarks.

 

Although I will only have time to do the 10-day (with several days before and after), M&D are considering the 20-day (Norwegian Fjords/Scotland + Scandinavia/Baltics), since they are intending to spend at least a month or two in Europe - arriving sometime mid-June...

[RevNeal]

Doug--

 

I certainly do not presume to speak for everyone - but a number of us have discussed this recently...

 

...and unless the group-discount pricing/perks from the CC.com TA were really phenomenal and benefitted us all - I think that many would prefer to book our cruises with our own TA's as HAL has generally taken very good care of us with perks, group meetings, combined dining arrangements, etc. when we've traveled en-masse even though we've not booked as a "Group".

 

I tend to agree with Brian.