Hello From Eurodam!

[KLLund]

I am hoping Brian is just having toooooo much fun and not a relapse !!! Pictures of him on the other thread looked healthy though :)

[jhannah]

Yes ... he's having too much fun. He was fit and well yesterday. We all are having a great time.

 

Wish you were here! :D <rub - rub>

[Susie51]

Thank you Brian for posting. I'm glad you are feeling well. I'm excited to read your point of view of the trip so far. I'm glad there are several people posting live from...

[thomasale]

Again enjoying this adventure and loving the writing style...but I gotta say that jacket is the wildest, did you get it from Paul Shaffer???

[babyher]

Brian

 

Glad that you are feeling better :)

 

Enjoying your reviews , thank you for sharing them.

 

 

Looking forward to more

 

 

ENJOY:)

[Boytjie]

I captured a few webcam shots as it was leaving today.

 

 

 

 

[jtl513]

I captured a few webcam shots as it was leaving today.

Still no loungers atop the Tamarind or CN. I can't really tell what's there or not there for the aft pool.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I captured a few webcam shots as it was leaving today.

 

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Peter, I just knew you would be able to capture these, after getting up early yesterday I was able to sleep in a bit today. Those are great captures from the web cam

 

 

 

John, my guess is those deck chairs on top of the Tamarind may only come out when they are in port or until they see how windy it is up there on the open seas;)

[Boytjie]

Still no loungers atop the Tamarind or CN. I can't really tell what's there or not there for the aft pool.

 

The last pictures shows the aft deck to be empty too - otherwise you'd see a sea of blue deck chairs.

[Boytjie]

John, my guess is those deck chairs on top of the Tamarind may only come out when they are in port or until they see how windy it is up there on the open seas;)

 

That deck shouldn't be any windier than the Sports Deck above the Crow's nest on the Vistas. It has the same glass siding.

[Susie51]

Bepsf, since we haven't heard from you, I'm hoping it is because you are having a wonderful time.

 

Thank you for the webcam pics. Where are the cabanas?

[innlady1]

LOL...I think Brian's having too good a time on board to weigh in with us left behind! ;)

[sail7seas]

Those web shots are fabulous! Thanks for posting them.

 

She is a mighty large ship!!! Looks so large looking 'down' on her.

[editor@cruisecritic]

LOL, I can attest to his being in the rudest of health (that's a good thing) -- ran into Brian at the Crow's Nest last night and we had a great chat (and basically closed the place down). Can't wait to meet the rest of the group....

 

Carolyn

 

 

Thank you Brian for posting. I'm glad you are feeling well. I'm excited to read your point of view of the trip so far. I'm glad there are several people posting live from...

[bepsf]

Tuesday, July 1 – Rotterdam

Did you know?

Here in Europe, Euro’s come in various sizes and flavors: Paper money comes in different sizes and colors - as the denominations drop, so does the size of the paper with a 5 Euro note smallest. Then there are the coins: 50, 20, 10 and 5 cents - no “pennies” here, everyone rounds up. The nominal side of the coins is the same, but the decorative/face side is different depending on which country made the coin - each country makes their own and the Dutch coins have the profile of Queen Beatrix on theirs.

 

In addition, cars are much smaller here too. Police drive VW Golf’s, which after a while begin to look rather large in comparison to many of the other cars on the roads here. Fiat, Seat, Renault, Citroen, Alfa Romeo, Smart, VW and Mercedes Benz A and B-Classes are quite prevalent here. Once in a while, we see an American Chrysler 300 or Dodge Pickup and they looks ridiculously oversized and cheap in this environment.

 

Who took the iron?

 

Last night, we called down for an iron to press our clothing for the Christening and an ironing board and iron were promptly delivered before dinner last night, so we left it to do the ironing in the morning. When we woke up this am, I noticed that the iron was gone - Initially, I thought that Dad had taken it to press Mom’s outfit, but I realized that Dad had no access - so apparently the hotel staff had come in to remove it while we were out. So we started ringing the desk to have it returned, and as the morning progressed and no iron was delivered, I became more and more agitated - I simply couldn’t go to the christening in a wrinkled shirt! Fortunately one finally arrived in time for me to play laundry maid for everyone.

 

Meanwhile, Scotty and Dad took Mom to the hairdressers to get dolled up - She looked amazing when they returned to the hotel. We fixed her new scarf to her hat and she was ready to go - I had on my “Oranje” Blazer - I ended up receiving several appreciative looks and compliments throuchout the day from the Dutch in appreciation for wearing their colors.

[bepsf]

What was that all about?

 

We called for a car to drive us to the Christening - When a Black Chrysler 300 pulled up, we assumed it was for us but the driver told us that he was for another room number - Oh, well we waited and hopped into a Mercedes E-Class with a Panorama Roof and left the Chrysler waiting in the driveway...

 

We arrived at the terminal and were nicely greeted and shown upstairs to the room where we were handed glasses of Champagne and could peruse various gift items - among them were several prints of old HAL advertising posters for a very reasonable price. Mom was ready to purchase them all and asked the lady if we could purchase them and have them waiting in our rooms? Nope. Were there were any shipping tubes available: Nope. Would they be available for sale aboard the ship? Nope. Could we purchase them on the HAL website at home? Nope... Don’t guess they’ll be selling too many of these of we can’t bring them home...

 

We met up with the CC’ers and made our “Hello”’s and introductions - so good to see our friend’s faces again and meet folks we’ve been talking with for the past several years.

 

At 2.30 we were ushered out to the bleachers for the event - we passed costumed Pirates on stilts, a pair of Laurel and Hardy’s, some silver-painted French people, jugglers, a pair of Edwardian British Gents on High-Wheel bicycles, etc. - but oddly enough, nobody in traditional Dutch costume...

Finally a quartet of British singers came onstage and performed, but I think they must have played better in Southampton than they did to this crowd - Had they been in the Vista Lounge, I’d have have walked out and gone up to the Crow’s Nest.

 

Once they finished, we sat and waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

 

Micky and Stein had walked out during the show to escort Queen Beatrix in - and the crowd grew restless. Finally the Orchestra came to the stage, and they struck up the music to accompany her entrance. The remainder of the ceremony was rather nice and you can see it on the webcast replays - but Stein demonstrated that he is not the best public speaker, in my opinion, and the Queen looked like she was dressed for an Easter Egg hunt in a shade of Purple that wasn’t very flattering. When it was over, they announced that there would be a concert afterwards, but most folks didn’t hear/listen and had started exiting the forum - When the orchestra started playing, at least half the audience was well on their way out, which was a true shame because they played extremely well and the singer was amazing. Why they didn’t have this part of the entertainment before the ceremony with the orchestra playing as we exited, I’ll never know - but I thought that overall it was rather poorly planned out. While I’m certainly glad that we attended, there’s no way it was worth $100/person.

 

The Long, Long Dinner...

 

Afterwards, we made our way to to the Euromast via Watertaxi - and went up to the restaurant: We CC’ers were seated on the West side of the room facing away from the ship and into the sun, as apparently the prime seating area was reserved for folks who were having the Eurodam Special meal for $150 Euros - since we were having the $45 Euro dinner, I guess we were outclassed... Although the company of our CC’er friends was quite pleasant, dinner was long - unpleasantly long - between every course, we were urged up to the Observation Deck, which was refreshing since we could finally get out of the sun and cool off, but then we’d return to the table and wait for the next course again...

 

Finally at 10.45, dinner was ended and we made our way to the Observation Deck again to see the fireworks at 11 - While it was a great vantage point and the display was nice to see, we were all just too tired - as soon as it was done we gathered ourselves and made our escape from the Euromast. We spied 3 taxies at the curb and my family and I grabbed the first one - we learned later that the cars had been ordered for another party, but we didn’t care as we all returned to the hotel and collapsed in our beds...

[mamaofami]

Brian, good to hear your take on the events of the past few days, and good to know you're feeling well. Thanks for posting.

[Sage]

Thanks Brian. It sounds like you are having quiet the time there. I'm anxious to hear your impressions of the ship as well. I hope that you are feeling much better and can relax now that you are onboard. You looked wonderful in the jacket.

[Susie51]

Brian, thank you for your impressions. I'm glad the Dutch liked your jacket. Pics of you and your friends were posted on CC. Have a great day!

[HeatherInFlorida]

Brian, I hope to read more of a skip in your step next time you post!:) Even watching from here, the order of the Christening ceremony seemed a bit "off" and out of order. $100 was a lot to spend for the event and I'm sorry it wasn't everything it might have been

 

Still, it had to be exciting to be there just the same and I know we all envied you that from here.

 

Still loving your style of writing ... top notch always.

[Boytjie]

Brian, since you have a tape measure on board, would you mind measuring a cabin door for me, please? Thanks.

[bepsf]

Wednesday, July 2 – Eurodam

To the Ship!

We all woke up quite excited: The day had finally come for us to leave for the ship! We packed bags, confirmed our driver’s arrival, rang for the bellman who had to make 3 trips to gather the luggage and bring it all down to the lobby. Our driver arrived 10 minutes early - we had arranged for him to arrive at Noon. Once the luggage was piled into his Mercedes Van, we made our way to the Ship Terminal.

Upon arrival at the curb, we found a porter to handle the luggage and the 4 of us got into a line that lead to a desk near the entrance where our passports were checked and tickets were verified and there they gave us a boarding number. We then had to go back out to the curb to get in another line that lead into the terminal itself via revolving doors which kept us from proceeding into the building easily. Immediately through the doors was a security point where we went through the detectors, then we could go upstairs to the main hall for checkin. We marched through the suite passenger’s line and right up to the desk - no waiting in line here! The folks at the desk processed us fairly rapidly, but one fellow had trouble locating the card-folder for Scotty, but once he did we were off marching to the gangway. A few embarkation photos later and we were across the gangway and aboard the ship where we went straight to our suite.

 

How Suite it is...

The Deluxe has dark wood-laminate paneling and cabinetry, charcoal carpets, gold draperies and bed skirts, a dark chocolate brown sofa with 2 Tomato Red wool armchairs and one sidechair, and 2 ice-blue pillows, 2 red pillows and a pair of ice-blue neckrolls - simple ice blue quilted runners are at the foor of each bed. We have a Bonsai on our credenza, a couple of modern flower arrangements, and a large LG flatscreen TV w/ DVD player - however the TV takes up so much space that it renders the desk area completely useless. The nightstands have two drawers, but they are shallower than those on earlier ships to allow for an open space for books - resulting in tables that are taller overall. The LED reading lamps are finally useful: each is mounted to the side of the bed and are on adjustable goosenecks so that they are useful for reading while propped up on the 3 pillows/person that are on the beds. The round hassocks are gone and replaced by square ottomans with a lid that reverses to a tray table. The cocktail table is a simple walnut laminate top with dark wood edging and an aluminum inlay. The bathroom is done in pale grey marble tile with the floor having alternating bands of narrow Charcoal Grey and wider pale grey stone tiles - with a grey-specked solid surfacing countertop and white fixtures - and although the wastebasket is a metal cylinder nicely inset within the shelf below the sinks, the corner medicine cabinets are unfortunately replaced by 3 open glass shelves in each corner.

Mom and Dad are in the adjacent Verandah Stateroom, done in beige carpets, olive green loveseat, Orange wool sidechair, square ottoman, Cherry-toned laminate cabinetry with 4 olive and copper striped pillows, an olive and copper neckroll and copper bedskirts. Their smaller standard bathroom has the same grey speckled countertops and white fixtures, but no tile walls or floors like the bathroom in the suite.

The outdoor furniture for the suite consists of a pair of lounge chairs, two ottomans - all in dark-chocolate brown with medium brown seat-pads - with a small round side table with a walnut laminate top. There are also 4 cafe armchairs in the same brown color and a walnut laminate Cafe Table. No sun-loungers: the deck above covers easily 90% of the verandah, and the aft-facing section of the verandah is a mere 70” deep from bulkhead to the inside of the teak rail with 66” on the side. It does appear that the Deck 4 verandah is the largest with an additional 12-18” to the aft and the side. With the partition open, a clear space of 25” is allowed between adjacent verandahs. Our SC is 170” wide within the main room and @28’ deep overall, the Verandah stateroom is 113” wide with an internal depth of @23’. (Square footage? You can do the math...)

(doors are 34" wide - B)

[bepsf]

Boat Drill & Sailaway

After we dropped bags in the staterooms, we explored the ship and went up to the Lido for a bite of lunch - it was all quite delicious so we split up: Scotty and Dad took off somewhere while Mom and I toured the spa and made appointments. The Thassolotherapy pool is quite nice and there’s a backlit stained-glass dome where the skylight used to be on the Vistas, and a spiral staircase leads up to Panorama Deck and the “Spa” staterooms.

We wandered through the shops - and indeed the Library is long-gone and a much larger and better laid out shopping arcade is in it’s place. Where the Internet Room was originally on the first 3 Vista’s is where the Screening Room is now - and the space that was the Java Cafe is now the Mirabella Jewelry Boutique. 2 meeting rooms and 1 room for the MS Windows center lie opposite.

We retrieved our lifejackets for Boat Drill: The lifevests are a new style with easy-to-use large plastic clips rather than the long ties from the earlier vests. Unfortunately, the Deck Chairs were left out on the Promenade which made assembly very difficult as there was little available deck-space on which to stand, which didn’t keep the annoying ship-dancer from lisping “Skootch Back, Everyone!” ad-nauseam. Folks were stretched aft to the Dining Room, German passengers were rudely taking cell-phone calls, the roster of stateroom numbers for the aft boat assignments was inaccurate (due to adding staterooms to this ship late in the game?) which all made it difficult to take roll - that and the high humidity made Boat Drill a long, drawn out tedium to be endured.

Finally we were released and so we retreated to our suite where several CC’ers began showing up for an improptu sailaway get-together on our verandah. We all enjoyed chatting and waving to the onlookers watching as we sailed away from the pier down the river to the sea - bands played, confetti flew, whistles blew people waved, flashbulbs popped, endless video was recorded, tears fell, boats crisscrossed and fireboats shot great cascades of water into the air - even as we sailed to the open sea, we could see countless throngs on the shorelines, at open windows and on balconies waving arms and flags as we passed. Lines of cars drove down the roads, chasing the ship as we headed past the floodgates and into the open sea.

 

First Dinner Out

We finally changed clothes and made it to Ocean Bar at around 7.30, which was jam-packed. There was insufficient space in the center of the room where we usually sit, so we moved to an alcove across the atrium where we couldn’t get the waiter’s attention to save our lives - so I didn’t get my pre-dinner cocktail.

When 8 o’clock came around, we moved towards the lower dining room - Confusion reigned since we had requested upper dining as a group, and although the Prelude was supposedly designated all open seating, we 12 had been assigned 2 tables of 6 in Lower, but we couldn’t get past the throngs at the doors waiting for tables. Since I understood that our table would only be held for 15 minutes, at 8.10 I told everyone to come with me upstairs and we’d enter Upper Dining Room and take the inside staircases down. Upper Dining Room Captains at the door tried to be helpful telling us that we had to go downstairs, and I told them that we intended to do so through the dining room as we could get nowhere near the doors below. Once we had finally made it down, we had to ask where our tables were - and the Dining Captain didn’t have a clue: He marched us aft and port, then forward and starboard - then he finally found our places on the upper-side adjacent to the exit for the enclosed central service station.

I understand that @80% of the crew come from existing ships, and that 20% are new: It was obvious that our waiter and wine steward were among the 20%. Although they tried, they just didn’t have the timing and polish that more experienced crewmembers gain through experience. When we ordered a Wine Menu, the waiter handed us Dinner Menus again. When the wine steward took the wine order, he had to return to confirm it. Mom, having such a sweet understanding soul but having no prior cruise experience said, “Well Dear, it is awfully busy in here tonight...”

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks Brian.

Wool covered chairs????

[COLLEYBERRY]

Wow !!! You have to love a man with attention to detail !! Thank you so much!! We are Aft Deck four this Sept. I now have such a visual.

Your efforts are very much appreciated.