Wonderful Cruise, Not so Great Ship

Item: Eurodam
Rating: 3.4
Author: OldTxun

Eurodam Cruise Review to Alaska - Inside Passage

OldTxun

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 64

Overall rating:

3.4 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Alaskan Explorer With Glacier Bay (Seattle Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 09, 2018

Ship: Eurodam

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 5034

Traveled as: Family (older children)

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

This was my third cruise. I had previously cruised on Royal Caribbean and Carnival. I rate both of those head and shoulders above HAL, or more accurately, the Eurodam ship. The cruise and destinations were wonderful. The management of the cruise, the layout of the ship, especially with its seating bottlenecks, and the advertisement of activities, etc was all marginal to bordering on unacceptable.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Main Dining for evening meals was great. The buffet and casual dining areas were a zoo. All restaurants other than main dining are located side by side on the same level on the ship. So you can imagine at breakfast time or lunch time what a madhouse it was. Finding a table to sit at once you got your food was extremely difficult unless you sent someone up in advance to stake out a table until everyone else got food.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

All members of the service staff and waiters etc were excellent. Very professional, very accommodating, very pleasant.

Ship Quality

2 out of 5

The design and layout of the ship did not accommodate the number of passengers very well. Cleanliness was not an issue.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Ship tip

Choose another ship

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Juneau, Alaska

5 out of 5

Took one of the whale watching excursions. Got great pictures.

Thumbs Up 10

Sitka, Alaska

3 out of 5

Didn't feel any of the excursions were worth the price being asked so just walked around town, did shopping, etc. After talking to others who had taken excursions, they actually confirmed my initial thoughts. If I had it to do over, there was a car rental place right off the ship and I think I would just rent a car for the day and go see the things we were interested in.

Thumbs Up 2

Ketchikan, Alaska

5 out of 5

Ketchikan was also great. Took a tour arranged by Hilton, not HAL, to rainforest, salmon hatchery, raptor center and strongly recommend it. We were even lucky enough to have a black bear wander out of the forest down to the river looking for early salmon. The Raptor viewing area you are so close you feel you can almost reach out and touch the birds. Up Close, the bald eagle is truly magnificent.

Thumbs Up 5

Victoria, British Columbia

1 out of 5

This was obviously just their mandatory stop in a foreign port. It was hardly worth the $40 it cost to ride the bus into town and back to the ship.

Thumbs Up 4

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

4 Comments

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

cruisellama 5 years ago

Thanks

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

CC1949 6 years ago

You are better off to eat breakfast in the main dining room on any Holland America cruise. The Lido area is like a zoo. Also it is very nice to have a balcony and have breakfast in your room on the balcony. Our Alaska cruise on HA was great, but we only took one excursion which was great and was the smaller boat to the glaciers. We availed ourself of the thermal suite, pea soup on the deck, and just enjoying the views from the veranda. Sorry you had a bad time. Surprised at your Victoria comment as Victoria is so beautiful and high tea at the Empress is a fun thing to do.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

Other reviews of this sailing

Alaskan Cruise that Exceeded Expectations

Great cruise

Fabulous trip!