My cruise reviews are generally a collection of random thoughts. DH and I are 55 and we have an 18-year-old daughter and a 17-year-old son. My full cruise history is in my signature. This was our 2nd cruise with HAL and 2nd cruise on Eurodam. We last sailed HAL in 2011. We really enjoyed our 2011 cruise and thought dining and service was exceptional. My kids who were 4 and 5 at the time, loved ClubHAL but we found the casino experience to be overcrowded and smoky. We took a long covid break, so many of my comments should be qualified by the fact that we haven’t sailed in 4 years. My cruise report will try and capture things I had read here on CC over the last few months. My apologies if I conflate things I read here vs. things read on the X board. Will use headings to you can pick out any sections of my review that interest you. Travel & Embarkation Our travel day was very smooth. We flew AC out of Pearson on Dec 23. I have had horrible experiences with AC, so I was very worried about cancellations and delays. Online check-in had some glitches, but all was sorted out at the airport. As expected, the airport was busy, and Air Canada always has limited ground personnel to provide assistance. We struggled with the kiosks and self-check luggage. We arrived at Pearson for 6:15 am and we were sitting in the departure lounge by 7:10, however all 4 of us have Nexus. We used air tags in our luggage, but I didn’t think they needed. The air Canada app provides you with scanned tracking updates on your luggage. Arrival at FLL was very smooth, collected our luggage and were at the Port by approximately 1:10. I had posted here about challenges I had with HAL check-in. The website would tell me check in was complete, however I would get emails saying my check-in was incomplete. I thought it was all resolved with a phone call to HAL, but we still had issues at the port where we were told that our check-in was incomplete. So, if you have issues … just wait and resolve at the port. Our luggage was at the cabin when we got there, and we were fighting for a table at the LIDO by 2PM. The Ship I was surprised to learn that Eurodam is only 16 years old. She is definitely showing signs of wear and tear throughout the ship and in the cabins. Service Overall service was good but not exceptional. Service may have declined since 2011 (last HAL) or 2019 (last cruise). We were not left with any impressions of receiving exceptional service other that at the Crow’s nest lounge. I tried wherever possible to submit positive feedback through the app. Cabin & Cabin Attendants Our cabin attendants were very good. We gave extra cash gratuities at the end. We had two AFT cabins on Deck 6 Starboard. We had towel animals most nights. We received Lindor chocolates on the first formal night, and HAL chocolate squares on the 2nd formal night. I’ll mention here that I took my shark flex styler and it did not work in the cabin. Might have something to do with grounding, but it would not power on. My daughter took her dyson air wrap and it worked in her cabin. My husband uses a CPAP. I contacted guest services and was told to bring my own extension cord and pre-order my own water. Water was in the cabin when we arrived, and so was an extension cord! Dining On sea days, we had all our breakfast and lunches in the MDR. My daughter enjoyed the Lido salad bar other than that we ate lunches at the Dive-In or NYC Pizza. In advance of our trip, the Navigator was showing me menus for the New York Deli and the Dutch Café and late-night snacks, but they don’t exist on Eurodam. I forgot about pre-ordering on the app. Did it on the last day and it worked well. You are able to customize the burgers on the app. MDR food was okay, nothing great. I noticed some decline in consistency. For example, we all ordered the kiwi and lychee appetizer, but my plate was missing the lychee. Another night, I ordered something with shrimp, but there was no shrimp on the plate. The port-to-plate fish options were generally good. Dessert offerings were not great. Someone posted recently that the desserts were generally tasteless cakes or gelatinous blobs, and I will concur. DH looked forward all week for apple pie on the 2nd formal night and ordered two pieces, only to find raisins in the pie which he hates. I was disappointed to note that the “every day” menu was gone. On the first night we had to purchase the Pinnacle Steak for my son as nothing else interested him. The rest of the nights there was an option for steak or prime rib or tenderloin on the included menu. In the past, a sirloin steak has been found on the included menu. The everyday menu used to have Crème Brulé and escargots, and I would often enjoy every night; on Eurodam, they both made an appearance once on the 2nd formal night. Bringing Wine & Drink Packages We carried on 4 bottles of wine. After security, as expected, we were told to go to the table where we would pay the corkage fee. No-one was there and like an idiot, I hung around and waited. I could easily have proceeded up the escalator. When someone finally attended, he asked “do you want to pay the corkage fee’? I jokingly asked if it was optional, and he laughed ‘no’. I was expecting stickers to be applied to my bottles, and I was just told to hold on to my receipt. We were never questioned about paying the corkage fee. We purchased 4 Quench packages. I did not buy them in advance for fear that they were non-refundable if we missed our cruise. We bought our drink packages on embarkation day from the Crow’s nest lounge. They mistakenly charged two packages (mine and hers) to my daughter, but still gave me a QBP sticker on my card. When I checked the account on night 1, I realized that I had been charged for all my drinks. A visit to Guest Services resolved the issue. However, throughout the week, we would order virgin cocktails yet were delivered and charged cocktails with alcohol. Sometimes we were charged for Virgin cocktails or juices. Again, all resolved by guest services. In general, I was disappointed with the HAL beverage package. I didn’t like the limit of 15 drinks (even though we never came close). I also did not like having to sign for drinks as they were delivered. It made me feel like I was buying my drink rather than enjoying a beverage package. Sometimes, servers would just take one card for all 4 drinks, other times we were told it was a 2-drink maximum per card. It was also really hard to keep track. As the main account holder, I could see the 0.00 charge drinks on my Navigator app when my card was swiped, but no other user could tell if they were close to their 15-drink limit, nor could I see how many drinks were used by other users. We were told that bars could tell us, but all bars sent us to guest services. If HAL is going to apply a 15-drink limit, it should be more transparent how many drinks have been used. We drink a lot of bottled water at home, and none of us were fans of the water cans. Things may have changed on Royal and X but I much prefer the way they handle the drink packages. Christmas at Sea The ship was beautifully decorated. December 25 there were some families wearing Christmas jammies or themed t shirts to the MDR dinner (there were several families who did this at breakfast). Christmas brunch was on the 24th – I personally would have preferred the 25th. I had asked here about decorating one’s door and based on the replies I received I opted not to. There were lots of decorated doors, at least on deck 6, and I’m sad I didn’t. We gave the kids USD spending money as our first port day was on the 25th. I picked up Christmas socks from the dollar store, and packed little gifts for the kids. The stockings were well hidden below the lining of my suitcase, so everyone, even DH were surprised on Christmas morning. This was our first time being away from home, and I think for future holiday sailings, we will celebrate Xmas at home and try and sail boxing day or later. Opened our family gifts when we got home on the 30th. WIFI I purchased the wifi surf and stream package for 4 users in advance of our trip. It was on sale for 20% off. I purchase for 279.00 USD. I saw questions here about VPN usage. I did connect to my VPN a few times, but not for long periods. At best my speeds were about 9up/2down. Lots of loading and buffering issues. It was not always apparent if you were logged on or not. You could be connected to HAL wifi but not internet. When apps would stop loading, I would check settings and see that I had no internet connection. Part of our problem was that we were always kicking each other off when the device limit was reached. There was no apparent way to logoff and create space for another user (tried toggling wifi and forgetting network). By day 4, I had issues where I could connect but not be prompted to add my stateroom and birthday. Eventually realized that the best login/logout method was internet.hollandamerica.com. Here you could always find the option for login credentials and logging out. I found the Navigator messaging app to be more reliable, because imessage required the user to be connected to wifi (they may not even have been aware that their device was kicked out). My son was trying to stay on top of university applications, but some schools require use of the Microsoft authenticator app and he was having a hard time getting access codes in a timely manner. Fortunately, the Microsoft authenticator gods did not chase me down over the last seven days. Entertainment I was quite scared based on the reviews I had read here but I’m happy to report that we had entertainment!! There were two comedians. A juggler named Hilby and a standup comic. The juggler was surprisingly funny. The comic was not to my liking (too much potty humour for me). There was a steel drum band. I enjoyed their first show which was classical hits but did not go to the second show. I am happy to report that production shows are coming back to HAL in least in small scale. There were 3 main vocalists (1 female lead and 2 male leads – all excellent) and 6 backup dancers. The first show was All That and is a tribute to Variety Shows. The first number was painful to watch, but it got better as the show progressed. The second show Hey Mr. DJ is a tribute show to the old DJs (Dick Clark, Casey Kasem etc.). The second show was much better than the first. A far cry from the production shows on other lines, but I was happy to have live entertainment. That being said, the shows were NOT well attended. For the late 9pm shows, the theatres were half full. I felt quite bad for the performers. The billboard lounge was great. I can’t say that I normally attend lounges on most ships, but we found ourselves at the billboard lounge most nights. My 18 yo really enjoyed both pianists. The band in the Rolling Stone Lounge was excellent. DH and I stopped by most nights after gambling. We also played music trivia whenever it was offered. We’ve never done that on a ship before. Mariner Perks I was aware from these boards not to expect the mariner embarkation lunch. We received one tile per person. My daughter likes them and uses them in her room. About night 5, my husband mentioned the drink coupons to me. Not sure when they showed up but glad they didn’t go to waste. We had 2 coupons, and the kids received 2 coupons (we were supposed to be one adult in each cabin, so it was probably 2 coupons per adult). Kids on Eurodam If you do not like kids on cruises, AVOID a Christmas sailing. I overheard a lot of older passengers complaining about the number of kids onboard. My guess (purely a guess) is that there were about 100 under the age of 10 and probably another 100 or so teens, and 100 young adults(20s). I would say for the most part that kids were well-behaved and well-dressed. Dress Code For starters, there was zero dress code enforcement in the MDR. I saw it all from jeans/lumberjack/baseball hat on formal night to daisy dukes, athletic shorts, and clubbing outfits. It was clear to me that some people had never cruised before or just didn’t care. I saw lots of hoodies and trackpants at dinner on casual nights. My son wore a golf shirt and walking shorts on the first night. Some nights he wore jeans with a golf shirt or button down. He wore a long sleeve button down with dress paints on formal night. On the last night, he asked me if he could wear a golf shirt and dress shorts, and he was still amongst the sharper dressed. I’m in the camp of what you wear to dinner doesn’t bother me and I’m only concerned with what my party is wearing. Just mentioning the observations for others who may be put off by dress code not being enforced on a 7-night holiday cruise. Chocolate Surprise & Cake Me Away Unfortunately, these were both on the same night. DH & Son went to the Hilby/Comic encore show and missed the chocolate surprise. DD and I were in the billboard lounge, which is a good place to sit except for all the crowds that mass in the area. Our assistant waiter always sought us out, but he only had white chocolate raisins, which neither of us liked. We got one truffle each which was good, and we missed out on everything else. Smoking There is smoking at the Seaview pool (starboard aft). There was some smoke in the casino, but it was very mild, and it didn’t bother me at all. Not like our last HAL cruise (2011) where you could not breathe in the casino. Our cabin was deck 6 aft starboard and I could not smell smoke on the verandah. Casino I had a lot of questions pre-cruise about the players club and table minimums. There were some $5 poker tables. The minimum BJ table was $10. There was also a $10 BJ (no kings) table. There was always a $25 BJ table that rarely had anyone. While I don’t care what anyone wears to dinner, I will get huffy when people play BJ but don’t know what they are doing. Most of them were playing $10, so we avoided that table. The pitboss would always open up a $15 table for DH and myself. I commented a few weeks ago that we don’t get any casino perks. We scanned our card always. We played on average two hours a day. I consistently bet $15. DH bets on average $25 and never misses a DD. I was told here that you need to be rated at 1500 points, and I was told to insert my card into a machine. After 7 nights, I was rated about 400 and DH was almost 700; so, I guess we won’t expect any free cruise offers in the future! Most of the dealers were pretty good. Fortune was my favourite, always happy. The pitbosses were always nice and greeted us by name as did most dealers. The pit bosses bought us drinks a few times during the week which was a first for us. Cruise Director and Event Staff CD was Valerie. She was okay and not particularly effective at getting the crowd going (caveat – it’s HAL not carnival). That being said, we like CDs like John Heald and others who can warm up the crowd. We’ve had some great CDs on Celebrity and Royal, and Valerie was definitely more subdued. We did a lot of music trivia with Justin, and he was surprisingly entertaining. Guest Surveys I was surprised to not hear the “in your face” requests for top reviews and being told that only a 5-star rating is acceptable. Perhaps this is not done on HAL. It’s usually prevalent on other cruises. Disembarkation The ship had the all-clear at 7:05 and self assist passenger were cleared to leave. We were seated in the MDR when the announcement was made. Breakfast was an abbreviated menu, but we were done eating by 7:45. Went back to the cabin and got our luggage. Surprisingly, got an elevator very quickly and we were at customs by 8:10. They use a facial recognition lottery system, and we were told to bypass the officer and exit the building. We were in a taxi by 8:15 and at the departure lounge by 9 am. Our flight was 11:15. Note to Canadians – make sure you still have the ArriveCan app. I had deleted it recently and could not install it on our return our flight. I tried doing the customs declaration after landing, but it referred me to a kiosk. Did our customs declaration at a kiosk, and with nexus, we waived most lines and were off to luggage collection very quickly. It was overall a great cruise. I think we will stick with Royal and X as our preferred cruise lines, but I would not be opposed to another HAL sailing. I know it’s a long review, hopefully my comments are helpful.

I was the Eurodam Dec 8-18 2024 sailing to Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, Cabo Rojo & Half Moon Cay. First time on the Eurodam, but have sailed on her sister ship the NA a few times. Thought the ship was in very good condition for her age. Saw a few areas of things that needed repair but that is to be expected. Still love the wide promenade on this class of ship. Makes for a nice way to use up "some" of the extra calories that have found their way into the body while cruising! The food was very good, most of the time. Except I found the deserts rather lacking in taste for me personally. Every chocolate desert looked excellent (presentation) on the plate, but mostly was lacking in any chocolate taste. Not sure why.... We did not do any specialty dining this time around. Ate in DR and Lido. Room service on the balcony is always such a wonderful thing! I always enjoy that relaxed breakfast overlooking the sea! Great seas on this cruise! Nice and smooth. We were in a Signature Suite that we enjoyed. Enjoyed as much as the SS on the Pinnacle Class ships. Except for the mattress in our SS on the Eurodam. Found it to be way too firm with very little pressure relief for the tired older joints. In addition, they need to get some new pillows, they were on the lumpy side. Our cabin was nicely appointed and well maintained. Entertainment is a bit lacking, but that is fairly typical for HAL. Not their high point. I think they excel at service. Crew members always greet you with a smile and are very helpful. We thought the ventriloquist was enjoyable. We laughed, so that is a good thing! Did not see the comedian, I believe he had 2 different shows but we missed them both. There was a Steel Drum Band that was not your usually one. The first show they did was steel drum music but was Classical music. Thought it was a very interesting twist on the steel drum band music. It was done well and the 4 musicians were really giving it their all in order to entertain the crowd. They did a different show later in the voyage that was going to be more traditional steel drum music, but we did not see it so I cannot comment. Also, there was a "City on the Sea" talk / show which we found very interesting. Always so interesting to see the inner workings of the ship and the amazing things that they do and how they do it all. HAL does need to up its game on sea days as far as entertainment. "Coloring for Adults"..... I think they could find other things than that to entertain the passengers. There was a Jazz Trio in the Ocean Bar "Park West"?? and they were really good. Nice mellow jazz music to enjoy your drink by. They usually did 2 or 3 sets a night and we saw a few of their sets. We enjoyed. Rolling Stone Lounge was rocking with loud music which lots of people did enjoy. Billboard Onboard with the Pianos is not my thing, so I cannot comment on it. I do not find them to be good, but everyone else seems to love them! First time for us to see Aruba, Bonaire or Curaçao and we enjoyed the islands. Took the ship's shore excursion Trolly Tour in Curacao and that was good. The tour guide was really excellent. A lot to see downtown and as we had not been there before we thought it would be a good way to get a nice over view of the city. And it was. In Bonaire, we took the ship's shore excursion again which was another Trolly Tour. But this time it was a Big mistake! There is not much to see in Bonaire's town that we were in. The sights that we were shown were streets that were on the poorer side, and really not much of anything to see. The tour guide (bless his heart) was trying hard to entertain with jokes, etc. As there was not much for him to really point out. So I would not recommend that Trolly Tour at all in Bonaire. Do something else. We did the ship's shore excursion "Walking Tour & Taste of Aruba" which was good. Two hour walking tour around the historic downtown area with a very good tour guide. She was very informed about the history of the city. Nice way to see the historical sites downtown. We stopped at one place for a typical Dutch breakfast cheese tasting and another time someone brought in some type of Aruba bread, I think. Those were the two "tastes" of Aruba that we had on our tour. Lots of walking, so if you are not up to it I would not recommend. It is super hot there! Half Moon Cay was lovely as always! BBQ lunch served with better than usual this time around. Always a pleasant beach day at Half Moon Cay. Luckily the Eurodam docked early in the morning - before the Rotterdam - so we headed out early before it got more crowded. HAL really needs to have only ONE ship there at a time. More than one ship can cause more crowding. Do wish they would just have one ship a day at HMC. Cabo Rojo. OK, I know there is not much out there on this port. And we were not sure at all about this port going into this cruise. BUT - my DH and I really did enjoy Cabo Rojo. We initially had absolutely NO plans to get off of the ship due to the extremely volatile situation in Haiti. Before porting in Cabo Rojo we spoke with one of the Directors on the ship and she had nothing by praise for the port. She said be prepared to be amazed. We were pleasantly surprised by what we found at the "manufactured" port. Only cruise passengers are allowed on Cabo Rojo, so we did not feel unsafe at any time. We enjoyed the lazy river, large pools, a lot of shaded places to lay out, hammocks in the water, palapas over tables in the water to enjoy your lunch or drinks, a snorkel area at the back of the port, a few shops to take a look around and friendly smiling faces from the people who worked at CR. We ordered lunch at one of the places to eat by the pool and had a nice lunch there. Did not go to the "Baby Beach" as did not want to pay $50 pp when everything was free where we were. We did not pay for anything other than our lunch we ordered. Actually, they were passing out free local Perdernales made beer to anyone who wanted it. I do not drink beer, so I cannot comment on the quality. But it was free and there were a lot of takers! As the Eurodam was only the 5th cruise ship to port at Cabo Rojo, they are still trying to get the hang of things at this port. It was not crowded at all at the lazy river or pools, etc as it was just our ship there. I have to say that if - when - there are more than one ship there it will not be the same experience as we had. I do think that only one ship at a time should be there as I do not see how it will not be overcrowded with more than one ship in the port. But maybe they will just keep it only one for the future. I really do only have good things to say about this port. Found it to be an enjoyable way to spend the day in the water and in the sun. It was impeccably clean and people were friendly. I enjoyed it much more than visits to Amber Cove. Amber Cove is a similar port - ones manufactured for the cruise line. But I find Amber Cove to have very loud music blaring which is not what I am looking for. At Cabo Rojo, I did not find that to be the case. And there was so much more shade available at Cabo Rojo. I think it will be interesting to see what happens with CR in the future. It is being developed with I believe 10 hotels right now, so it will surly be a different animal in the future. But for right now, I think it is nice. I will attached some photos of Cabo Rojo as there is really not much out there on the Internet about this port. Hope this information on Cabo Rojo helps some people out. Not much out there at all on this place.