For the most part, my wife and I enjoyed our cruise to Alaska on the Holland America Eurodam. We experienced rough seas our first night, and had our stop in Sitka cancelled due to weather, but the rest of the trip was very enjoyable. The whale watching and float plane excursions were fantastic. Our room steward was attentive, and always kept our stateroom clean, to include providing us with fresh fruit every day. The dining experience aboard the Eurodam was very good. We had very friendly waiters who were very attentive to making sure our dining experience was enjoyable. We also experienced the Pinnacle and Tamirand specialty restaurants, and were very pleased with the food and service.

Now, as to the deficiencies we encountered aboard the Eurodam. We purchased a seven day non-alcohol drink package weeks before the cruise. However, every time we ordered a specialty coffee drink at the dining room or at other locations on the ship, we kept being charged for the drinks. I must have made at least five trips to the customer service desk on level one of the ship only to be told differently each time on how the charges would be taken off at the end of the cruise, or that the mistake would be immediately handled, only to run into the same problem again. While the charges were finally taken off at the end of the cruise, we were afraid to use the package for fear of being charged each day. Consequently, the drink package was totally useless and not worth the money spent. We have never experienced this type of problem on any of the other cruise lines we have been on. They usually provided you with a color coded room card that identified what drink packages you had.

Another negative comment I would make is the Lido Deck Market. On most cruise lines we have experienced such as Celebrity and Carnival, the Lido restaurant stayed opened very late into the night, including some midnight buffets. The Lido Market aboard the Eurodam closes around 8pm, and the only other place to get food, especially for people coming back from late excursions is on the back deck where pizzas are made. I also found that the food and service in the Lido Market was deficient at best. Read more