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Thursday 24th May 2012
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First Class Cruise With No Disappointments
First Class Cruise with No Disappointments |
36 of 37 people found this review informative
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Reviewed By: Hall, Chester Le Street on 6th Feb 2012
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| Cruise Line: Holland America Cruises |
Times cruised before: 10+ |
| Cruise Ship: Ms Eurodam |
Sailed:
January,
2011 |
| Destination:
Caribbean
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Age: 56-65 |
| Cabin: Balcony |
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We arranged our own cruise & stay with 3 nights in Fort Lauderdale; 7 nights on Eurodam followed by 4 nights in Key West. Renting a car to take us down to KW and back, a car was unnecessary in FL so we taxied to the port ignoring the rude taxi driver then the port official demanding opened passports so he had to do little work.
Arriving at 1.00, we were on board within 15 minutes. We chose Eurodam and HAL for 3 reasons: Itinerary, Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay, their private Island in the Bahamas, St Thomas and Puerto Rico in that order. Also because of their reputation.
A key test was to sail on a smaller ship for a change;: 2000 passengers as opposed to last years 3000+ on Azura and Star Princess. It was a good choice.
First impressions? Décor a little bland compared to many ships however it was neutral. Atrium not grand. Scenic lifts were great. Service from the off seemed to be really good with very friendly staff throughout.
The Ship. A nice comfortable size compared to the 116k tonners. You could walk right round, no sunbed assault courses such as we found on Azura. Unlike the last two 116k ships you could also walk from front to back on all decks except where you came up against the “extra charge private adult-only retreat or spa”. Dispense with that too please!
The Captain: had a personality, in his bridge messages and also in the formal welcome address.
Staff service and attitude: marvellous in all departments, perhaps due to American training and service philosophy; compared to Azura experience.
Safety briefing. An early one at 4.00; “You must attend or you wont be sailing this evening”. No lifejackets, we were told to leave in our cabins, sensible.
Balcony cabin overlooking the stern was very clean, sizeable and as good or better than our other experiences in the past 12 cruises. Wardrobe doors! Get rid of them and just put in a dressing area. Bathroom spacious with a bath (didnt use it but it stops you being assaulted by the shower curtain).
TV channels are generally USA focussed but a DVD player with 1000 DVDs on tap if you want them.
Room Service. A superior choice compared to previous mentioned ships. Hot breakfast, wide choice. A couple of main courses and wide choice of sandwiches.
Cabin Stewards (two) The usual hard workers and always responsive.
We had a juddering problem, not for long, and it was only spasmodic; But a Front Desk lady attended in person and couldn't do anything, but she pacified us and followed up admirably.
Food: Really good. We were Anytime, booked a table the evening before, never a wait. Great choice, Great quality, better than Azura, Also had the edge on Princess; knocked spots off Legend of the Seas.
Three special restaurant nights! One, the Chefs parade was on the last night which negated that “you're going home tomorrow” feel. Good surf & turf, decent, (if obviously frozen) crab legs, A decent baked Alaska, and always alternative choices.
The clientele; US and Canadian with 34 Brits, and other small international representatives from the UN. Sadly Formal (smart casual) and Smart Casual (very informal) nights had the impression of dress down Friday, although ladies usually made more effort than gentlemen where it was spot the bow tie night!.
Lido(Buffet) Restaurant. A great layout compared to some big ships mentioned, no bottleneck, always a seat, either indoors or out good choice and quality with free ice cream all day.
Speciality restaurants seem nice but the food was too good for us to feel the need to pay for extras which we don't these days. Also some “specialities” are not that special in our opinion.
Drink: Wine package wasn't cheap but what is cheap in a cruise ship glass? Better value though, by buying in advance. Two bars had a happy hour between 4-5 and one from 6-7.
Cocktails were insipid and are to be avoided unless you just want fruit and no spirit.
Entertainment; A good average although we only caught the ships singers and dancers once. We didn't see the magician, we had disappeared that evening. Crew did a show which was very good. Bar entertainers were good – pianists, guitarist classical quartet – a wide range, professional and not over the top nor under-performing.
Trips: We don't do them and sort ourselves out. Grand Turk is a lovely little island. A 4$ taxi into town and a walk up a deserted beach about half mile out of town, picking up huge conch shells, then a stroll back into town after a swim, for conch fritters and rum punch (with rum we could taste unlike the ships cocktails). There were some good snorkelling opportunities inshore of that 7,000ft wall.
Half Moon Cay, is HAL's own island, well set up, professionally managed and with all amenities situated on powder white sand. A few good bars and a decent barbecue buffet. Good waterborne activities if you want them too.
Apparently 26th January was the best day for many weeks; blue skies and 80f. A really nice spot.
St Thomas is nice and you can do an island tour for around $25. Or go into town for $4 or $5
There are two cruise terminals now (there was only a jetty 20 years ago) Crown Quay is 2 miles out so you need a taxi. San Juan in Puerto Rico is still a nice town with a distinct Spanish-American feel.
Verdict - HAL met our expectations. The ship was a comfortable size, spacious friendly and service was as good as any we have experienced. And, with 1000 passengers fewer than our recent cruise experiences, we really enjoyed HAL and would choose either Eurodam, or her sister, Nieuw Amsterdam without hesitation.
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