My birthday cruise

First the first time cruise I didn't know what to expect but was amazed at the way everyone was so nice and the cleanliness of such a large ship, the food was always delicious and plenty of it wherever you ate the dinning room or the Lido deck, the cooks always seem to go beyond to make sure of your preference, the waiters and helpers always tending to the drinks and clearing for the next course of food, the steward always making sure your room was clean and anything you need was there for you, all in all it was quite the experience for the first time, and there were so many others that made the cruise so much more... thank you to all of the crew that made this cruise so memorable and I'm already thinking of doing another cruise in 2027 back to Alaska with a couple different stops along the way.

ABC Cabo Rojo cruise on the Eurodam

I was the Eurodam Dec 8-18 2024 sailing to Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Cabo Rojo & Half Moon Cay. First time on the Eurodam, but have sailed on her sister ship the NA a few times. Thought the ship was in very good condition for her age. Saw a few areas of things that needed repair but that is to be expected. Still love the wide promenade on this class of ship. Makes for a nice way to use up "some" of the extra calories that have found their way into the body while cruising! The food was very good, most of the time. Except I found the deserts rather lacking in taste for me personally. Every chocolate desert looked excellent (presentation) on the plate, but mostly was lacking in any chocolate taste. Not sure why.... We did not do any specialty dining this time around. Ate in DR and Lido. Room service on the balcony is always such a wonderful thing! I always enjoy that relaxed breakfast overlooking the sea! Great seas on this cruise! Nice and smooth. We were in a Signature Suite that we enjoyed. Enjoyed as much as the SS on the Pinnacle Class ships. Except for the mattress in our SS on the Eurodam. Found it to be way too firm with very little pressure relief for the tired older joints. In addition, they need to get some new pillows, they were on the lumpy side. Our cabin was nicely appointed and well maintained. Entertainment is a bit lacking, but that is fairly typical for HAL. Not their high point. I think they excel at service. Crew members always greet you with a smile and are very helpful. We thought the ventriloquist was enjoyable. We laughed, so that is a good thing! Did not see the comedian, I believe he had 2 different shows but we missed them both. There was a Steel Drum Band that was not your usually one. The first show they did was steel drum music but was Classical music. Thought it was a very interesting twist on the steel drum band music. It was done well and the 4 musicians were really giving it their all in order to entertain the crowd. They did a different show later in the voyage that was going to be more traditional steel drum music, but we did not see it so I cannot comment. Also, there was a "City on the Sea" talk / show which we found very interesting. Always so interesting to see the inner workings of the ship and the amazing things that they do and how they do it all. HAL does need to up its game on sea days as far as entertainment. "Coloring for Adults"..... I think they could find other things than that to entertain the passengers. There was a Jazz Trio in the Ocean Bar "Park West"?? and they were really good. Nice mellow jazz music to enjoy your drink by. They usually did 2 or 3 sets a night and we saw a few of their sets. We enjoyed. Rolling Stone Lounge was rocking with loud music which lots of people did enjoy. Billboard Onboard with the Pianos is not my thing, so I cannot comment on it. I do not find them to be good, but everyone else seems to love them! First time for us to see Aruba, Bonaire or Curaçao and we enjoyed the islands. Took the ship's shore excursion Trolly Tour in Curacao and that was good. The tour guide was really excellent. A lot to see downtown and as we had not been there before we thought it would be a good way to get a nice over view of the city. And it was. In Bonaire, we took the ship's shore excursion again which was another Trolly Tour. But this time it was a Big mistake! There is not much to see in Bonaire's town that we were in. The sights that we were shown were streets that were on the poorer side, and really not much of anything to see. The tour guide (bless his heart) was trying hard to entertain with jokes, etc. As there was not much for him to really point out. So I would not recommend that Trolly Tour at all in Bonaire. Do something else. We did the ship's shore excursion "Walking Tour & Taste of Aruba" which was good. Two hour walking tour around the historic downtown area with a very good tour guide. She was very informed about the history of the city. Nice way to see the historical sites downtown. We stopped at one place for a typical Dutch breakfast cheese tasting and another time someone brought in some type of Aruba bread, I think. Those were the two "tastes" of Aruba that we had on our tour. Lots of walking, so if you are not up to it I would not recommend. It is super hot there! Half Moon Cay was lovely as always! BBQ lunch served with better than usual this time around. Always a pleasant beach day at Half Moon Cay. Luckily the Eurodam docked early in the morning - before the Rotterdam - so we headed out early before it got more crowded. HAL really needs to have only ONE ship there at a time. More than one ship can cause more crowding. Do wish they would just have one ship a day at HMC. Cabo Rojo. OK, I know there is not much out there on this port. And we were not sure at all about this port going into this cruise. BUT - my DH and I really did enjoy Cabo Rojo. We initially had absolutely NO plans to get off of the ship due to the extremely volatile situation in Haiti. Before porting in Cabo Rojo we spoke with one of the Directors on the ship and she had nothing by praise for the port. She said be prepared to be amazed. We were pleasantly surprised by what we found at the "manufactured" port. Only cruise passengers are allowed on Cabo Rojo, so we did not feel unsafe at any time. We enjoyed the lazy river, large pools, a lot of shaded places to lay out, hammocks in the water, palapas over tables in the water to enjoy your lunch or drinks, a snorkel area at the back of the port, a few shops to take a look around and friendly smiling faces from the people who worked at CR. We ordered lunch at one of the places to eat by the pool and had a nice lunch there. Did not go to the "Baby Beach" as did not want to pay $50 pp when everything was free where we were. We did not pay for anything other than our lunch we ordered. Actually, they were passing out free local Perdernales made beer to anyone who wanted it. I do not drink beer, so I cannot comment on the quality. But it was free and there were a lot of takers! As the Eurodam was only the 5th cruise ship to port at Cabo Rojo, they are still trying to get the hang of things at this port. It was not crowded at all at the lazy river or pools, etc as it was just our ship there. I have to say that if - when - there are more than one ship there it will not be the same experience as we had. I do think that only one ship at a time should be there as I do not see how it will not be overcrowded with more than one ship in the port. But maybe they will just keep it only one for the future. I really do only have good things to say about this port. Found it to be an enjoyable way to spend the day in the water and in the sun. It was impeccably clean and people were friendly. I enjoyed it much more than visits to Amber Cove. Amber Cove is a similar port - ones manufactured for the cruise line. But I find Amber Cove to have very loud music blaring which is not what I am looking for. At Cabo Rojo, I did not find that to be the case. And there was so much more shade available at Cabo Rojo. I think it will be interesting to see what happens with CR in the future. It is being developed with I believe 10 hotels right now, so it will surly be a different animal in the future. But for right now, I think it is nice. I will attached some photos of Cabo Rojo as there is really not much out there on the Internet about this port. Hope this information on Cabo Rojo helps some people out. Not much out there at all on this place.

HAL is still my favorite

2nd time on Eurodam and just as wonderful as I remember! I really felt the loss of BB Kings. The Rolling Stone Lounge just isn’t the same. The food? Outstanding! MDR and the specialty restaurants were exceptional. Service was even better than I remember! We had a signature suite and it was roomy, lots of storage, great balcony with comfy chairs! The afternoon teas were a real treat! Drinks, cold and frosty! Fellow passengers were friendly! Weather was perfect! Can’t wait to sail again! The itinerary was just perfect. I do miss the days of Half Moon Cay with only 1 ship in port, however. Not sure what the addition of the new carnival buildup is going to be. Love the longer sailings and look forward to cruising even longer as retirement nears. Sea view pool area had more smokers than I recall and they were spread out on both port and starboard sides. Just little inconveniences for an otherwise spectacular cruise! Did Rotterdam in March. Both were really great!

Eurodam, a Pleasant Surprise

Our recent cruise on Eurodam was a very pleasant surprise, we had previously cruised on Rotterdam and thought that maybe Eurodam would be a let down, but it was not. Our veranda cabin was quiet and comfortable, the room stewards were great and the overall service staff were great. We ate mostly in the MDR and every experience was very good, thanks to the servers and hostess. The music venues were not as impressive as Rotterdam but they were certainly acceptable, maybe with the exception of the Rolling Stone lounge, the band was average at best and the venue is dated. I really enjoy music of all kinds and I was unable to enjoy the effort in the Rolling Stone. The 3 piece ensemble in the Ocean Bar were much better as well as the dueling pianos. One thing that stood out was the smoke from the casino was very well controlled and was not nearly as annoying as it was on Rotterdam. We only had one marginal excursion, the rest were fine, but that is another story. Our favorite place to hang out was the Ocean bar and Crows Nest, great service and we even received a handmade ornament from an Ocean Bar bartender. As a side note, please tip your bartenders, even as little as 1 dollar per drink makes a difference and they will truly appreciate it. I am not a trivia guy but we had a lot of fun participating in the multiple trivia contests and bingo events. I would like to point out that the entire crew, everyone I came in contact with, were extremely helpful and had a great attitude, probably the best overall service experience that I have been involved in. No issues with embarkation or disembarking, very efficient. I have learned that boarding times are totally subjective at port everglades, the peak time is around 11 am so expect a short wait. Another tip, if you purchase items while on your cruise, be prepared to show your receipts, BUT it is very likely you won't be asked by customs and we were not given any customs forms to fill out. In summary, we really enjoyed the ship and the crew, the ship is showing some age but its size is perfect. I am not a fan of the huge cruise ships being thrust on the market now, I will gladly sail the Eurodam again.