Sunday 5th July 2009
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IS EURODAM INDICATIVE OF HOLLAND AMERICA? |
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Reviewed By: Markham, London on 21st Nov 2008
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| Cruise Line: Holland America Cruises |
Times cruised before: 3-5 |
| Cruise Ship: Ms Eurodam |
Sailed:
September,
2008 |
| Destination: Canada |
Age: 56-65 |
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Eurodam was our ship of choice as she was going where we wanted to go (Canada and New England) and she was a brand new vessel. Although we had not travelled Holland America before our traveling companions had, and rated them very highly. Our first impression of the ship which we embarked in Quebec City was one of vastness, she looked like an enormous apartment block.
Embarkation was easy and our luggage arrived impressively quickly. The stateroom was as described, plenty of storage space and a decent sized bathroom. Very comfortable. HAL had the most efficient life boat drill I have undertaken at sea and any nervous passengers should have felt reassured.
We had been unable to get set dining so booked free seating for 7:15pm. We duly arrived and getting seated was a real palaver, the dining room staff had no idea!
Our meal which took 90 minutes to arrive was cold and when we commented we got a shrug of the shoulders. Not a good start.
Entertainment was of a high standard and we thought the dining experience was a first day glitch. How wrong we were! Next morning items on the breakfast menu, (which is the same each day) were not available. It took 40 minutes to locate fruit.
This was the general pattern in the dining room until we complained to the catering manager, in writing. He did not respond however suddenly the Maitre D' took charge of us.!
No longer did we need to worry about booking a table, we had one personally reserved for us and we had personal attention from the Maitre D' and our own server. He checked that our food was as we wanted and that it was hot. We even found ourselves with items that weren't on the menu. What a shame we were the only ones to get this service. Speaking to fellow travellers we found they were all as disgruntled as us but had not complained. One night we went to the Pinnacle Grill, it could not be faulted, wonderful food and service to match.
The excursions were high quality and worth what we paid for them. In Newport Rhode Island we had to disembark by tender and this took 2 hours, shortening the day considerably. Apparently the Newport authorities will only allow a certain number of tenders in the bay and we weren't the only ship in port. Fair enough, but passengers were not told and everyone crowded into one area to wait and wait........... Had we known we could have enjoyed our balconies or other amenities.
I asked the Maitre D' if the ship had been alloted new staff which would have accounted for many things that went wrong, but was told the vast majority had come from other HAL ships.
All in all a bit of a disappointment. We have travelled Princess and Cunard and been very impressed. It would take a lot of persuasion to make us try HAL again.
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| Quality of Food |  |
| Good although not always served hot! | | Entertainment |  |
| Excellent entertainment especially Dr Justin Miller on guitar. | | Shore Excursions |  |
| Peggy's Cove is a wonderful excursion. The sights of Nova Scotia are very beautiful and this excursion gives the opportunity to see varying scenery and hear stories about the history of the area. | | Staff | |
| Fernando who looked after us in the dining room and could not have been more helpful! | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities |  |
| Enjoy playing bridge, shame it wasn't supervised and in a room with a little more air! | | Cabins | |
| Nice cabin, well set out and equipped, plenty of wardrobe space and good sized bathroom. | | Overall Rating | |
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FREEPHONE
Outside the UK call: (0044) 121 312 2809
