Eurodam Review
Rating by category
Additional details
This was my first ever cruise. We are 46 and 51, childless; we chose Holland America based on the upscale and less child/hedonistic-20s profile. Again, as our first cruise, realize you, dear reader, may know a lot from experience that we had no good way of gleaning.
Below, I refer to Carnivale. They own (bought) Holland America, which gives Holland America access to Carnivale properties. This is a mixed blessing.
The ship itself is nice. Nice artwork, clever use of curved halls, doesn't seem run down at all. If you look, you can see some signs of age, such as flourescents where you would expect LEDs, but nothing distracting. We had a VB-class room - unobstructed view balcony towards the rear of Verandah (Deck 5.) See the cabin review for those details.
Cabin Review
Deluxe Ocean-View Verandah Stateroom
Lots of USB power ports scattered around the room. You might want a nightlight for the bathroom. Mattress was okay except in the middle where the two fulls were pushed together into a king, but this didn't take much adjustment. There is plenty of storage, but it wasn't obvious initially; there are some decent drawers under the bed, which is also where you shove your suitcases.
The ottoman under the desk also has storage, and there is a desk chair and the table is both movable and height-adjustable. So the cabin really is extremely functional. And we loved having the balcony with the two chaise lounges, two foot rests and the little outdoor table.
Port Reviews
Half Moon Cay
Carnivale owns Half Moon Cay, so it's another sanitized experience. But a really nice one. The cabana is definitely worth it; it's stocked with a dining set (four chairs and table), two nice mattressed chaise lounges, mister/fan, A/C, fridge, chips, plantain chips, guac, salsa, fruits, water, sodas, use of snorkle and float-mats. All for $299. Really made it nice.
Oddly, it seems all the food was brought in by the cruise ship and loaded back onto it, so limited food serving hours. But the beach and water are perfect. It's not a foreign port, but it is a perfect bahama beach.
Amber Cove (Puerto Plata)
Amber Cove is a port owned by Carnivale, who owns Holland America. It's the Disney approach to foreign ports - go there and fence it off, and build what you think it SHOULD be. Nice little place, could just as easily be in Palm Desert or Las Vegas. It's a $60 round-trip-for-two cab ride to Puerta Plata, D.R., which we didn't do.
The observation bar (high tower) was cool though, as was the margaritaville-like restaurant. So no gripes, just realize this isn't really going to give you a Dominican Republic experience.
Key West
Key West is an easy drive from Miami anyhow. And we've done that. The cruise stops in a Navy shipyard, so you have to take a high-security bus back-and-forth. Once there, well, it's Key West. Trouble is, Key West is an evening town, and you're there in the early day. Oh well, it's five o'clock somewhere.