Thanks to HAL fan Linda Vermeulen for sending in these snapshots of Eurodam docked at Aruba.

(more…)

Topics: Caribbean, ms Eurodam, Postcards from... | | No Comments

Mike Faust, editor of Cruise Currents, recently sailed on board Eurodam for a seven-night eastern Caribbean cruise and chronicled his trip for us. What’s your favorite Caribbean port? Let us know in the comments below!

Cruising the Eurodam – Day 7 – Half Moon Cay

I woke up bright and early for the final day of our cruise. It was around 7:00 a.m. and we were still about an hour away from dropping anchor in Half Moon Cay, our final port of call. I used this time to just sit on my balcony and enjoy the passing islands and watching the warm waters of the Bahamas slip past me. Soon we were approaching Half Moon Cay and dropped anchor. The tenders began to arrive and the crew made their way ashore to prepare the island for us. Today was to be a tropical island retreat.

After a quick breakfast in the Lido Restaurant, we made our way down to board our tender to take us ashore. After a short wait, we were quickly sailing closer to Half Moon Cay in our tender. As soon as we were on shore we headed straight for the beach. We quickly found our way into the surprisingly cold water which quickly became warmer with the rising Bahamian sun. It was so relaxing to just kick back and relax on our final day. Except I couldn’t relax, because at 11:00 a.m. I would be parasailing 200 feet above the island. This is a problem for me since I have a minor fear of heights, but for some odd reason I picked the one excursion that would incorporate this fear into a cruise.

(more…)

Topics: Caribbean, Cruise Diary, Half Moon Cay, ms Eurodam, Shore Excursions, Videos | | 2 Comments

Mike Faust, editor of Cruise Currents, recently sailed on board Eurodam for a seven-night eastern Caribbean cruise and chronicled his trip for us. What’s your favorite Caribbean port? Let us know in the comments below!

Cruising the Eurodam – Day 6 – At Sea

Well, we are now down to the final day at sea. I’ll make this brief because, honestly, I just relaxed most of the day and did nothing. Anyway, this morning I had the chance to sit down with Captain Emiel de Vries, Hotel Director Stan Kuppens, Cruise Director Jason Venner and the other writers on this sailing. We discussed the Dancing With The Stars At Sea program and how the show affects the operations of the ship and daily activities. We also discussed how the Eurodam is prepared to enter new markets and the kind of clientele the ship must be marketed for. I will have a full article early next week detailing the entire “Q & A.”

(more…)

Topics: Caribbean, Cruise Diary, Food & Beverage, ms Eurodam | | No Comments

Thanks to HAL fan Peter McQueen for these fun photos of Oosterdam at Hobart, Tasmania, Feb. 10. The ship arrived during the Wooden Boat Festival, which was definitely a sight to behold. Thanks, Peter!

(more…)

Topics: Australia/New Zealand, ms Oosterdam | | 1 Comment

Mike Faust, editor of Cruise Currents, recently sailed on board Eurodam for a seven-night eastern Caribbean cruise and chronicled his trip for us. What’s your favorite Caribbean port? Let us know in the comments below!

Cruising the Eurodam – Day 5 – St. Thomas

We docked in St. Thomas at the Crown Bay Cruise Center around 7:30 am. I had just woken up and was sitting on my balcony taking in the beautiful and tropical views of St. Thomas when the Allure of the Seas began to dock next to us. Now, I know from my tour of Oasis last year that the Allure and Oasis are beautiful ships on the inside, but I was kind of annoyed that a bunch of balconies would be blocking my view of St. Thomas. Anyway, I enjoyed a quick breakfast in the Lido Restaurant and then went down to our cabin to get ready for our pre-planned shore excursion.

Today we would be doing the Champagne Catamaran Sail to St. John. This tour gave us the opportunity to snorkel with the fish of the Virgin Islands or swim to the white sandy beaches ad just relax in the clear shallow waters. After a fun roller coaster-like sail over, we arrived in St. John. Our instructors quickly suited us up to go snorkeling, and in no time, I was jumping off the side of the catamaran into the blue waters of the Virgin Islands. My first underwater view was truly amazing. As I began to rise back up from the bottom, I was able to see the different shades of blue that made up the cool water I was snorkeling in. I eventually began to snorkel through the reefs located just feet from the beach, spotting beautiful colored fish darting in and out of their coral homes. Some other Eurodam guests even said that they saw a sea turtle and a sting ray!

(more…)

Topics: Art, Activities & Entertainment, Caribbean, Cruise Diary, ms Eurodam, Shore Excursions | | 1 Comment

Big thanks to HAL guest Lisa Ann for sharing more photos from her Canada/New England cruise last year.

I could not resist sending in more pictures. Every port of call had something wonderful to show you. From the old world charm of Quebec City and Boston to quaint seaports of Bar Harbor and Baie-Comeau. My absolute highlights for excursions were La Lafabuleuse Cultural Show and Best of Québec & Countryside with Lunch. — Lisa Ann Lapp

(more…)

Topics: Canada/New England, ms Eurodam, Shore Excursions | | No Comments

The young guns of our culinary department — Assistant Dining Room Manager Jan, Tournant Mathijs and Chef de Parti Bram — created a special evening in Rotterdam‘s Pinnacle Grill restaurant showing their finesse and ingenuity. After deliberation amongst themselves they concocted a truly enchanting menu. They have woven the heritages of both the Netherlands and Indonesia, and reconstructed the best of what they have to offer into sublimely styled culinary designs. With the support and watchful eyes of Pinnacle Grill Chef Steven and myself, they succeeded in creating a truly wonderful event.

Martijn van Winden
Pinnacle Grill Manager
Rotterdam

(more…)

Topics: Food & Beverage, ms Rotterdam | | No Comments

Mike Faust, editor of Cruise Currents, is currently sailing on board Eurodam for a seven-night eastern Caribbean cruise and will be chronicling his trip for us.

Today was a day at sea for us here on Eurodam. I pretty much took it easy today as we sailed through the warm, turquoise waters of the Bahamas en-route to Grand Turk. The day began with a delicious breakfast in the Lido Restaurant which we had the chance to enjoy under the warm Caribbean sun at the aft Lido.

After breakfast I actually came back to my stateroom and took a short nap out on the balcony. I guess I was still pretty tired from the first day! Anyway, after my relaxing nap with the waves as my sound machine, I took an hour long walk around the ship to familiarize myself with the areas I had not yet visited. I even took a walk around Eurodam’s complete walk-around promenade deck. I actually took a stopwatch with me and timed myself to see how long it would take to walk around the ship once. I began my walk at muster station one at the aft end of the port side and it ended up taking me eight minutes to complete the walk from muster station one back to muster station one! I was actually surprised by the time since Eurodam is a smaller ship than most I have sailed on.

(more…)

Topics: Caribbean, Cruise Diary, Food & Beverage, ms Eurodam | | 1 Comment