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My wife and I, both 29, spoiled ourselves with a holiday cruise over Christmas onboard the Holland America Eurodam. This was our fourth cruise (two on RCCL, one on Princess and this one on HAL).
The trip from the Fort Lauderdale airport to the cruise terminal was short and easy. We took a taxi and it cost us $18 total. The check-in area was very quiet and we were directed to a check-in desk immediately.
STATEROOM
We booked a guaranteed inside stateroom for a ridiculously low price at the last minute, and were upgraded to an outside stateroom. The stateroom was great, the best we have ever had. The room was large, with elegant decor and plenty of storage space. The lighting in the room was perhaps the only area where improvement is needed. The bathroom was very roomy and was stocked with luxurious Elemis products from the spa.
SHIP FACILITIES
The ship is brand new and very classy. Not glitzy like RCCL or dull as Princess, but rather a warm and understated elegance with a modern touch.
We did not make use of the lounges too often, but from what I have seen, they seem to be adequate in size and well laid out.
We attended lots of demonstrations in the Culinary Arts Center. Even though this was entertaining, I did get the feeling that many of the demonstrations were not well planned before it was presented to the audience. The presenters all seemed to be very uncomfortable on the stage. To be honest, I think this whole concept is a work-in-progress.
One area that disappointed me was the atrium. It is beautiful, yes, but it really serves no purpose. Princess ships, for instance, has a coffee shop and a wine bar located in their atriums, with some sort of entertainment throughout the day. This invites people to this area where they can socialise in an informal setting around a glass of wine or a cup of coffee. On the Eurodam, the atrium is filled with desks and offices – boring.
FOOD
This is the reason we love cruising!
Let’s start with the main dining room. This is where we ate all of our dinners, and also had afternoon tea twice. The food was always excellent – every meal that we had was well prepared, neatly presented and tasted great! If I had to compare this to our other cruises, I would say that the food on RCCL is much worse, whilst the food on Princess is similar. The service was excellent – very attentive but not intrusive. If I absolutely had to point out one area where they could improve, it would have to be the desserts. They seemed to lack inspiration, and was often “just another dessert”.
We ate our breakfasts in the buffet restaurant, which is really a beautiful venue. The serving stations are laid out caffeteria style, which contributed to an excellent flow of people through the restaurant. The food was very tasty and imaginative, and the quality surprisingly good considering that it is a buffet. As far as selection of different items go, I do remember that RCCL had greater variety, but poorer quality.
The buffet restaurant had some nice extras which was included in the cruise fare, such as good quality, freshly brewed coffee, a large selection of Bigelow teas, freshly squeezed orange juice at breakfast, ice cream and the usual water and ice tea.
We ate lunch only at two occasions on the ship. The first was at one of the new speciality restaurants, Tamarind. They serve Asian food, and have a set menu for lunch. The restaurant inside is absolutely beautiful and the cutlery and crockery very contemporary, but I am sad to report that we did not enjoy the food. Maybe a bit too Asian for us...
The second time we ate lunch was at the burger station next to the swimming pool. They serve every kind of burger and hot dog you can think of. Our burgers tasted great!
We also made a reservation to eat at the Pinnacle Grill, but ended up cancelling it because I could not stand the thought of missing out one night in the main dining room.
Overall, I must say that dining on this ship is truly a special experience every time.
Just before I step off dining, I would like to mention one area of irritation related to the dining. We were on the “As You Wish” dining option, which was not as wonderful as I thought it would be. My wife and I like to eat alone, at a table for two. If I cannot eat at a table for two, I would rather not eat – so I feel strongly about this. The “As You Wish” dining concept should therefore serve me perfectly, but not so. On most nights, when we entered the dining room and requested a table for two, they had no more tables available. Last year on Princess, when this happened, they would make you wait a few minutes until a table for two becomes available. However, on the Eurodam, if they don’t have a table for two available immediately, they seat you at an empty table for four, and tell you that they will not put anyone else with you at the table. No problem with that, except that on more that one occasion, we saw people around us becoming upset when they do in fact bring two more people two your “table for two”. Please HAL, if I ask for a table for two, I want a table for two. If you cannot give it to me at the time, at least give me the option to wait for a table to become available.
ENTERTAINMENT
The Eurodam is one of those ships that go to sleep at 10PM sharp. No problem with that, but just be sure you know this before you step onboard. Compared to the other lines we have been on, HAL definitely has less entertainment options throughout the day. This does not necessarily have to be a problem, considering that you can still find several interesting things to keep yourself busy with every day.
We attended all of the shows in the main theatre. The theatre itself is medium-sized and very classy. The shows were generally good, not great.
The broadway-style shows presented by the HAL singers and dancers were very good, with lots of great decor, special effects and outstanding singing and dancing. One can see that HAL invested a lot of money into these shows. You can imagine my disappointment then when I realised during the last show called “In Concert...” that the singers were in fact not really singing live. By closely following their lips and some subtle mistakes that they made, I quickly discovered that the singing was in fact pre-recorded and that you are in fact listening to a recording whilst they do the dancing. This makes me question their talent and ruined the integrity of all their performances for me.
SERVICE
The predominantly Indonesian and Phillipino crew delivered excellent service with a smile throughout. Their service was faultless, friendly and always enthusiastic. This is in great contrast to the staff on the Crown Princess last year, who was probably the rudest group of people I have ever come accross in my life.
PORTS
On our Eastern Caribbean cruise, we visited four ports: Grand Turk, Tortola, St. Maarten and Half Moon Cay.
In my view, with the exception of Half Moon Cay, the other islands are all equally bad. I honestly do not know what all the fuss is about. We rented a taxi and went for a drive around St. Maarten, and we could not believe how utterly ruined those islands are by the people who live there. The houses look like shacks, people urinate next to the streets, and no matter in which direction you look, you see destruction and filth everywhere. The whole thing reminds me of one big “bad neighbourhood”. I am sorry, but I fail to see the beauty in any of that.
Even Half Moon Cay, which people make a huge fuss about, is to me distinctly average. Perhaps the whole Caribbean is one of those things that if enough people make a fuss about it, it later becomes popular.
OVERALL
Absolutely wonderfull cruise! I am now a HAL fanatic. I know that people say traditionally only much older people cruise on HAL, but I don’t care. I will cruise on HAL again and again and again, even if that means that the next youngest passenger on the ship is 50 years older than me. So watch out for the young guy walking around on the HAL ships, that will be me!
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