Eurodam Review
Rating by category
Additional details
This was pretty much a last minute booking less than 2 months prior to departure, due to the fact that I received an unbelievable offer from HAL for the cruise. Not only was I able to get a fantastic deal on the cruise, but HAL was able to get me an AMAZING deal on airfare as well. They were able to get me round trip Business Class for only a few hundred over what Delta wanted for economy and well less than half of what Delta wanted for the exact same flights! I had attempted to do two other Mediterranean sailings earlier in the spring/summer that just fell through for one reason or another. I now have to believe that was for a reason, someone knew this incredible opportunity was ahead for me. It allowed me to not only cruise in a Neptune Suite for 12 days, but to fly business class for less than the other cruises I was looking at for a regular cabin and economy air fare.
The food was excellent as always on HAL, I find it to be superior to other lines including Celebrity. Even if nothing really jumps out you can always count on the everyday offerings of a New York Strip and Salmon to be cooked properly. I am not normally a big deserts person, but find HAL's deserts to be to my liking as they are usually not overly sweet and almost every night have a hard decision deciding. They always have a variety of selections on the buffet at lunch with the wide variety of stations and the burgers, dogs and fries at the Dive In Grill as well as the custom salads are superior to what other lines offer.
The ports on this cruise were simply breathtaking to say the least. I had always been told that you have to include Venice if you do a Mediterranean cruise and I now understand why. I found it hard to decide what to do in many of the ports and I would do this cruise again in a heartbeat! I could go on and on about the ports. I have been to Europe multiple times, but never to the Mediterranean. I now know that I have to go back to the Mediterranean again and hopefully in the near future. My only wish was that the cruise was a day or two longer just to add a couple more sea days as it was very port intensive only having two sea days and you could use the additional sea days to rest and rejuvenate because of the number of ports.
Cabin Review
Neptune Deluxe Veranda Suite
The cabin was FANTASTIC to say the least as the suites were just updated last winter. The bathroom with it's new built-in night light was a welcome addition. The updated entertainment system included a 55" interactive flat panel tv as well as a Bose sound dock that you could use in the cabin or on the veranda. The beds on HAL are some of if not the most comfortable of any cruise line I have sailed. The access to the Neptune Lounge was a fantastic perk and the concierges were fantastic to say the least! It was also very nice to have laundry and dry cleaning included as I didn't have to pack as much and was able to bring most things home clean.
Port Reviews
Venice
We flew to Venice a couple of days before and knew what we wanted to do based on suggestions and recommendations of friends. It was amazing to be taking a 3 island tour of Venice and we just happened to be on it and pass the Eurodam as it was coming into port.
Dubrovnik
We spent the day in the walled city and I arranged a private tour by someone that came highly recommended giving a custom Game of Thrones and city tour combined.
Kotor
It was suggested to just get off the ship and walk around the old walled city which was amazing.
Rome (Civitavecchia)
I arranged a private tour to include front of the line access to the Vatican and the Colosseum. I arranged it through Tours by Locals and our guide was Caron and she was FANTASTIC to say the least
Monaco (Monte Carlo)
I wanted to see the Palace and the Changing of the Guard. I was told that everything was in a small area and could walk to everything easily. On the way back to the ship I wanted to stop at an ATM as I was going to the Casino de Monte Carlo in the evening as we were in port until 11PM, I found a very helpful police man who directed me to an ATM on my way back to the ship.
Toulon
At the suggestion of the conciieres I got off with some others and walked to the local open air market. There we did a Bearfoot Contessa style lunch purchasing fresh items from the marker and finding a wine store a couple of blocks away and another couple of blocks we were at a park and the beach for a wonderful picnic of all fresh local items even a local rotisserie chicken, cheese, olives, bread, tomatoes and even strawberries and cherries for dessert.
Barcelona
We decided to try the Hop On Hop Off bus and road it around both loops around the city. We also needed to arrange for transportation to the airport as we decided not to do a ship transfer since the all left very early and our flight wasn't until 1pm. I again followed the concierges suggestion and went and talked to the taxi drivers and arranged for on to be ready for us at 9am the following morning. I was originally going to book it on line, but by following the concierges suggestion I was able to get it for 20 euros less than booking it on line. The taxi driver was great as he would not even allow me to help him load or unload our luggage and even went and got luggage carts for us to roll our bags inside the terminal.