Pretty good but...
Eurodam Cruise Review
Contributor Level:
Third Mate
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 91
Review summary
Kept waiting for a Holland America employee to say something about “our dam ships” but nobody ever did. -99 stars!Embarkation
Went pretty quickly. They had some hors d’oeuvres at a table trying to sell the premium dining.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Only ate in the MDR three times, all for dinner. Consistently got a table near stern on lowest deck, which on the plus side lets you look out large windows at the wake. On the minus side, that area had lots of vibration and was rather noisy while underway. If you got only 20 or 30 feet away it was much better.
Onboard Activities
Wife and I went to almost all the photography and computer activity sessions, photographers were very friendly and helpful. Also liked the cooking seminars although it’s a shame nobody gets to taste anything she made.
Entertainment
The standup comedian just rubbed me and my son the wrong way, but the magician was actually funnier.
Service and Staff
After we asked, our room steward went out of his way over 2 days to get us some large plastic bags that we could use for keeping dirty clothes separately.
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
This time our suitcases were able to fit under the bed, which saved a lot of floor space.
Ports of call
Early morning they opened up a bow viewing area and sold hot chocolate to people bundled up in scarves and gloves. It’s surprising how much it warmed up from then until we were going swimming on the stern deck outside pool by early afternoon. Even though they had a ranger onboard giving announcements about seeing various animals it was mostly luck to spot them yourself. A great place for good binoculars and a long telephoto lens on your camera.
Thumbs Up
4
Probably the smallest and least pretentious state capital you’ll ever see. Went on an excursion bus to the glacier (the real action is the salmon stream and the bears), salmon hatchery and fish fry - sense a pattern there?
We got a pre-cruise minibus tour and transfer from our hotel from a third-party company, was worth it to see some sights and pass time between hotel checkout and cruise checkin. Don’t try to go to the Pike Place Market without plenty of time and/or a local person to get you in and out quickly, it’s very crowded especially around the first Starbucks.
A very nice and safe place, but our itinerary put the ship in late afternoon to mid-evening (and I think we were delayed too) so there’s not much to do before it got dark - even in August. Just walked into town, went to the lit-up government building and stopped in a supermarket on the way back through residential neighborhood.
Disembarkation
The Seattle cruise terminal is laid out very well for quick exit and getting to transfer buses. We had to drag a large suitcase with a missing wheel (airline’s damage not the cruise line) and still had less trouble than in Sydney.