There was so much to cover on this sailing so Part II should be out next week. I saw Gary's announcement and that cruise looks really great. Thanks for watching!
We are doing an Alaskan cruise on the Eurodam in May of 2024. I will look forward to a review from Gary Bembridge on this ship. He is a big fan of Holland America.
@@mgweir3252 Gary is a big fan and I look forward to his take as well. I am hoping my disappointments are a one off and that the food and experience improves. As I further consider the 10 Night sailing, I think that the crowded feeling of the ship, mediocre entertainment and food all played a role in my disappointments. This is an older ship and I was hoping that the most recent two week dry dock would have had a bigger impact. Fingers crossed for you and Gary's group cruise! Thanks for watching!
Thank you for this! We are going on the Eurodam on an Alaska cruise the end of May and found this very helpful! I am looking forward to part 2. Also as an IU alumni, loved your Indiana plaque on your wall! Go Hoosiers!
Holland America does Alaska very well. You'll find in Part II that the dining was the low spot on our cruise but hopefully you will find a better level on your AK cruise! HAL is normally much better - search that buffet in detail in order to find the things you like. Also, try the MDR for breakfast and lunch. So fun that you are a fellow Hoosier! Many people ask me about that plaque. You are going to have a GREAT AK cruise! Check out my Celebrity Solstice AK Cruise video! Thanks for watching!
As I just responded to another viewer and detailed in Part 2, regarding my disappointing experience in the main dining room, when I selected the entrée recommended by the waiter it was pretty good. When I selected something to "try" is when I was disappointed. I would also recommend to go for the freshly made items at the buffet, like the salads or omelets but expect a brief line and wait for it to be prepared. Dive In was very good and if you are interested in the Pizza order a full pie instead of by the slice. Have a great cruise and thanks for watching!
Thank you! We were so disappointed! The rest of the fleet should also see an exit soon. It will still be around but as a traveling ensemble appearing on various ships. That will not be the same at all. I hope they come up with something to replace it.
Great review, but the filming, yikes. Maybe slow down and pan slowly in one direction. Not back and forth or up and down. First time I've had motion sickness on my couch.😉 Would also have liked to see the view from deck 12 above crows nest.
Thank you Sheila! I have to agree with you on the filming. This ship seemed so crowded always and trying to get clips without showing a lot of people's faces was extremely challenging. I tried at 6:00 am one morning but everything was still packed. I noticed that many clips were too fast. Sorry for the motion sickness - the canal transit video should be much more steady. Part II has a bit more external shots so you hopefully won't need your sea legs. Thanks for the advice and also for watching!
We did a full transit from Fl to San Diego Feb 2023 on the Zaandam for 14 days. This was a bucket list trip. Did all kinds of research and the cruise director was getting us ready for the trip. Got up early to be up on the bow. Once,people started showing up they were trying to force their way to the front. Not cool. After we entered the first lock, it got real boring. It was like the movie Ground Hog Day. Once you’ve seen 1 lock, all the others are the same. To our surprise we were not alone in saying the hype of the canal is overrated. We had a Neptune suite on the port side. This worked out very well. We were on the best side for our trip. For a 14 day trip we figured HAL would pack the entertainment since we had many days at sea. NOPE! We only enjoyed 3 days of live entertainment during the trip. The rest of it was people talking about their jobs on the ship. I will give the entertainment score as negative 10. Food was not the best in the MD. Pinnacle Grill as always were great. Once again a lot of other shipmates felt the same about the food. Very small ship with few stores and products onboard. HAL took Nicaragua port visit away and did NOTHING to make up for it. We had booked our next cruise while onboard. By the time we got home to San Diego we changed our next trip from a 14 day adventure to a 7 day Alaska trip. This will be number 4 for us to Alaska. Hope HAL has fixed food and entertainment issues by our next sailing or we may start to look at other lines to spend our money on. As always, the crew was awesome! But their greatness could not make up for all the other shortcomings. Eurodam.. We sailed on her just after covid in 2021 and we loved that ship. Would sail again on her. Sailing on the Nieuw Amsterdam to Alaska in Neptune suite in 2024. Looking forward to seeing her. Thanks for sharing
As you have noticed, we also felt that this cruise was a bit boring. I will have a separate video of our canal transit but I experienced similar thoughts regarding the hype of this itinerary. I actually thought that it was more interesting going back through but Colon is a dangerous and very industrial port so we stayed onboard. Part II will address that as well as the disappointing MDR food and service. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for watching!
Wow we are scheduled for eurodam in September for Alaskan cruise. The Lincoln center and the bbc was the focus of our cruising…now i dont see anything that makes me choose Holland?
Holland America Line does a very good job in Alaska so all is not lost. Since the destination is the major attraction for you, I'm sure you will still have a great cruise. Budget for some exceptional excursions. Hopefully they will replace Lincoln Center with something good. Part II of my review will be out next week where unfortunately the dining category will bring down the final score.
Excellent Part I review. We will go on the Eurodam in April 2024 with Gary Bembridge's member's cruise. Looking forward to Part II.
There was so much to cover on this sailing so Part II should be out next week. I saw Gary's announcement and that cruise looks really great. Thanks for watching!
We are doing an Alaskan cruise on the Eurodam in May of 2024. I will look forward to a review from Gary Bembridge on this ship. He is a big fan of Holland America.
@@mgweir3252 Gary is a big fan and I look forward to his take as well. I am hoping my disappointments are a one off and that the food and experience improves. As I further consider the 10 Night sailing, I think that the crowded feeling of the ship, mediocre entertainment and food all played a role in my disappointments. This is an older ship and I was hoping that the most recent two week dry dock would have had a bigger impact. Fingers crossed for you and Gary's group cruise! Thanks for watching!
Thank you for this! We are going on the Eurodam on an Alaska cruise the end of May and found this very helpful! I am looking forward to part 2. Also as an IU alumni, loved your Indiana plaque on your wall! Go Hoosiers!
Holland America does Alaska very well. You'll find in Part II that the dining was the low spot on our cruise but hopefully you will find a better level on your AK cruise! HAL is normally much better - search that buffet in detail in order to find the things you like. Also, try the MDR for breakfast and lunch. So fun that you are a fellow Hoosier! Many people ask me about that plaque. You are going to have a GREAT AK cruise! Check out my Celebrity Solstice AK Cruise video! Thanks for watching!
Thank You For Sharing We Are Sailing on The Eurodam In A Couple Of Days. This Is our First Time On A HAL Ship After 22 Princess Cruises.
As I just responded to another viewer and detailed in Part 2, regarding my disappointing experience in the main dining room, when I selected the entrée recommended by the waiter it was pretty good. When I selected something to "try" is when I was disappointed. I would also recommend to go for the freshly made items at the buffet, like the salads or omelets but expect a brief line and wait for it to be prepared. Dive In was very good and if you are interested in the Pizza order a full pie instead of by the slice. Have a great cruise and thanks for watching!
Excellent review! Thanks. So disappointed that they they killed Lincoln Center theater.
Thank you! We were so disappointed! The rest of the fleet should also see an exit soon. It will still be around but as a traveling ensemble appearing on various ships. That will not be the same at all. I hope they come up with something to replace it.
Great review, but the filming, yikes. Maybe slow down and pan slowly in one direction. Not back and forth or up and down. First time I've had motion sickness on my couch.😉 Would also have liked to see the view from deck 12 above crows nest.
Thank you Sheila! I have to agree with you on the filming. This ship seemed so crowded always and trying to get clips without showing a lot of people's faces was extremely challenging. I tried at 6:00 am one morning but everything was still packed. I noticed that many clips were too fast. Sorry for the motion sickness - the canal transit video should be much more steady. Part II has a bit more external shots so you hopefully won't need your sea legs. Thanks for the advice and also for watching!
We did a full transit from Fl to San Diego Feb 2023 on the Zaandam for 14 days. This was a bucket list trip. Did all kinds of research and the cruise director was getting us ready for the trip. Got up early to be up on the bow. Once,people started showing up they were trying to force their way to the front. Not cool. After we entered the first lock, it got real boring. It was like the movie Ground Hog Day. Once you’ve seen 1 lock, all the others are the same. To our surprise we were not alone in saying the hype of the canal is overrated. We had a Neptune suite on the port side. This worked out very well. We were on the best side for our trip. For a 14 day trip we figured HAL would pack the entertainment since we had many days at sea. NOPE! We only enjoyed 3 days of live entertainment during the trip. The rest of it was people talking about their jobs on the ship. I will give the entertainment score as negative 10. Food was not the best in the MD. Pinnacle Grill as always were great. Once again a lot of other shipmates felt the same about the food. Very small ship with few stores and products onboard. HAL took Nicaragua port visit away and did NOTHING to make up for it. We had booked our next cruise while onboard. By the time we got home to San Diego we changed our next trip from a 14 day adventure to a 7 day Alaska trip. This will be number 4 for us to Alaska. Hope HAL has fixed food and entertainment issues by our next sailing or we may start to look at other lines to spend our money on. As always, the crew was awesome! But their greatness could not make up for all the other shortcomings. Eurodam.. We sailed on her just after covid in 2021 and we loved that ship. Would sail again on her. Sailing on the Nieuw Amsterdam to Alaska in Neptune suite in 2024. Looking forward to seeing her. Thanks for sharing
As you have noticed, we also felt that this cruise was a bit boring. I will have a separate video of our canal transit but I experienced similar thoughts regarding the hype of this itinerary. I actually thought that it was more interesting going back through but Colon is a dangerous and very industrial port so we stayed onboard. Part II will address that as well as the disappointing MDR food and service. Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for watching!
Wow we are scheduled for eurodam in September for Alaskan cruise. The Lincoln center and the bbc was the focus of our cruising…now i dont see anything that makes me choose Holland?
Holland America Line does a very good job in Alaska so all is not lost. Since the destination is the major attraction for you, I'm sure you will still have a great cruise. Budget for some exceptional excursions. Hopefully they will replace Lincoln Center with something good. Part II of my review will be out next week where unfortunately the dining category will bring down the final score.