I have been on several cruises previously (HAL/Alaska, several RCCL/Caribbean and Bahamas), as well as traveled in Europe on land, but was very excited for our two week trip through the Baltic on HAL. I was not disappointed! We flew overnight from US into Heathrow and used Smiths for Airport to drive us to Dover. It was expensive, but well worth the price not to have to deal with luggage and bus stations and figuring everything out upon arrival in Heathrow. Arrived in Dover by 2pm, walked around the town, enjoyed the afternoon and had an early dinner. Stayed overnight at the Premier Inn at the ferry terminal and it was reasonable, clean and comfortable.

Embarkation was organized and only took about a half hour. Boarded Eurodam and was impressed....the ship is really beautiful! For a larger size ship, we never felt crowded or had the feeling there were too many on board. Stayed in cabin 1063. One of the cheapest possible categories and that was maybe the best decision we made regarding the trip, because we loved that cabin!! There was no ship movement that low and the cabin was HUGE! Way larger than the outside view and even some veranda cabins we peeked into. We got great nights of sleep with no light coming through the windows. I would recommend it to anyone. The Eurodam is a little confusing to get around, but we had 12 nights to figure it out. Once you realized the mid ship elevators couldn't get you to the Crows Nest area, you were OK! The food was good, on some nights it was great. Surprisingly, the Lido was the best for breakfast. I couldn't make myself turn away from the Eggs Benedict area. They can poach a wonderful egg!! If you have open seating for dinner, I recommend making reservations. We had one night where we waited 45 minutes to be seated. After that, I made a reservation for every night. No problems after that. Had lunch and dinner in Tamarind. I was not impressed with lunch, but the dinner was absolutely fantastic. Also had dinner in Pinnacle and would recommend that as well. The service and food was outstanding. We ate in Canaletto a couple nights to make a change from the MDR and really enjoyed that venue as well.

We enjoyed the food demos in the Culinary Arts Center and saw several presentations about historical aspects of the region (History of the Vikings, Russian Art, Amber, etc.). Also watched a couple movies in the Theatre. The one area really lacking on Eurodam was entertainment, which surprised us. The shows were nothing special, the piano player hopelessly cheesy, Natalie and the HalCats....I don't even want to say what I thought of them. The string quartet was very talented and good, but not my type of music and the guitar player in the Crows Nest, decent. But, even he sang the exact same playlist every evening, which struck me as really weird. There were two visiting entertainers who we saw and liked. But, overall, the entertainment seemed very dated somehow. The passengers on our sailing ranged from young families, middle aged couples and seniors. The entertainment aspect didn't reflect that mix at all. Fortunately, we didn't go on this cruise to see the ships entertainment....it was the ports of call!! Read more