Fresh back from his 7-day Caribbean Cruise on Holland America Line‘s ms Eurodam, Joe Palko checks in with some of the highlights of his last three days onboard the “Mighty E.”
Day 4: Georgetown, Grand Cayman
“Thursday Eurodam arrived in Georgetown, Grand Cayman. We booked the Atlantis Submarine excursion so we had to get up early! Getting off the ship was easy, but only because we had an 8am excursion. Otherwise, those who did not have an excursion booked had to claim a tender ticket and the wait times were long for those wanting to get off the ship. They were running 6 tenders, so it wasn’t the worst thing ever, but you know how it goes when a ship has to use a tender and 2,000 people want off at the same time.”
“The submarine tour was one of the most exciting tours I’ve ever taken. It went 175 feet below the surface and the coral reef was beautiful. Unfortunately, light appears very differently. For example, around 150 feet, you really can’t see as reds and blues are washed out. You could still see the elaborate formations of the reef and thousands of beautiful fish and turtles. The excursion lasted around 60 minutes and was well-managed, and I highly recommend it. No fear level whatsoever!”
“While the island was beautiful I found it to be very expensive. We decided to grab lunch in a cafe by the port. This was a bad decision. The US dollar converts at .75 cents to $1 Cayman dollar, so the prices are basically 25% higher than already inflated tourist pricing. My “personal pizza,” 6 beers and 2 red bulls totaled $80. If you are not buying jewelry, which is priced well by US standards, don’t buy anything here. BTW, I was travelling with a group, I didn’t actually drink 6 beers and 2 red bulls by myself.
After exploring the island and doing the submarine, we headed back to the ship, hot, tired and exhausted from a day in the sun. We didn’t feel like eating dinner in the main dining room this evening, so we headed up to the Lido Restaurant. While the food was very good, service was not. We found it next to impossible to get anyone to come over to our table to get us a drink, which made an otherwise enjoyable meal very frustrating.
Besides the service at dinner, I have had no complaints about this trip so far, which is great!”
Day 5: At Sea
We’re spent the day at sea as we made our way to Key West and it was hotter than hell! So hot, it was painful to even sit on the deck. I spent most of the day just roaming around the ship. One of the spots I spent some time at was The Silk Den bar. While a beautiful place, it’s very empty. I really don’t think that most people know it’s there. It’s a great place to get away, have a beautiful view, and not deal with lots of people. We enjoyed several cocktails to cool off.
The show onboard was the BEST show I have ever seen at sea, it was called “Ever After” and the show rivaled Vegas shows. The pictures only give you a simple idea of how great it was.
It was the second formal night of the cruise, and tonight in the main dining room the focus was on lobster and lots of it. Here are some photos from dinner:
Day 6: Key West, FL
“Being a South Florida resident, Key West is a place I’ve been to many times. It wasn’t overly fascinating for me, but I did have a great time. The ship docks at an old US Naval Base, so this is kind of a real pain because you have to meet midship for a passport check, which to me seems like a lousy waste of time. Had we had illegals hiding on our ship, they certainly wouldn’t make their way to the Queen’s Lounge to talk to a customs agent. Overall, this was well organized and took no more than 10 minutes, but it was mandatory.
We signed up for the sightseeing Conch Train excursion. It was 1.5 hours, and it was really informative, and the tour guide was great. The price was a bit on the steep side, it came to $125 for 4 of us, but you are allowed to jump on the trolley all day long, and you do see them everywhere, so I guess in reality, it’s not so bad.
We stopped at a bar called 801 Bourbon Bar. This is a gay bar somewhere in the middle of Duval Street, but the people at the bar were relatively mixed. What I later found out was that the “gay bar” portion was actually located in the back, and was clothing optional – hence why the bar on the street was like any other bar. We encountered a lot of crazy stuff that you don’t see in everyday situations and I’m sure that Scott will edit out this report! You can’t make this stuff up. If you can’t handle crazy, Key West is not the place for you.”
(From Scott: Yeah, I did edit a portion of that report as I blushed just reading what Joe sent me!)
“After an exhausting day, and about 2 miles of walking, it was time to return to the ship. We went to Dancing with the Stars at Sea, and it was great. The dancers who were made of actual passengers were really amazing, so amazing in fact that it was virtually a 5 way tie. I’ve been to one of these before, and in all honesty, even though it was fun, the passengers were not even remotely this good.”
Day 7: Disembarkation at Ft. Lauderdale
Disembarking was easy, but my only complaint was that Holland America scheduled tours at 8 am for people staying on the ship for a back-to-back voyage and there was almost a riot in the customs line as tour people were cutting the line saying “we have a tour.” This was not well thought out by Holland America! They should have either escorted these people to the front of the line with a ship representative OR told these passengers that they needed to get off the ship before disembarkation started. People had flights to catch and you could feel the level of frustration/anger that people in line felt.
Follow-Up Questions:
I asked Joe some follow-up questions about this cruise, here they are along with his answers:
Scott: You mentioned in an email to me that you experienced problems at the Dive In at lunchtime. Can you elaborate and talk about the issues and/or food quality? (FYI – the Dive In is the burger outlet located on the Lido Deck near the pool and is open afternoons.)
Joe: Food quality was excellent. I went there at about 5 PM on a Thursday and there were two people working there. It took forever. Honestly, 20 minutes to get a hamburger, and it wasn’t that busy. One cook, and one guy taking the orders. I could have gone and showered and come back.
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Scott: In your Part 1 report you mentioned the Eurodam is showing her age…. what areas are in need of attention in your opinion?
Joe: None specifically… I tend to look at details, probably things that others don’t notice, like paint, moldings, carpets, etc. If you aren’t looking for details like these, you won’t notice anything wrong.
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Scott: When you arrived on Half Moon Cay did you have a hard time finding available beach lounges? I know there have been several times when I was there that finding an available lounger was an issue, just curious as to whether or not you experienced this or not.
Joe: Not at all, we were the only ship there. The lunch in the pavilion was excellent as well.
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Scott: Was the vibration still noticeable in areas of the ship, especially in the Tamarind restaurant?
Joe: My suite was located midship, basically right under the Tamarind, and yes, the vibration is strong. You can even hear things like the TV vibrating. It is nice for sleeping though.
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Scott: On sea days, was it hard to find loungers around the ship’s various pools and were the staff patrolling to get rid of “chair hogs?”
Joe: There were enough chairs. I never saw anyone policing the chairs. It was very hot though. In my opinion, too hot to even lay out.
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Scott: During formal nights, did you see many people wearing formal attire? I ask because on Caribbean cruises, some passengers seem to be a little less receptive to dressing up on hot nights!
Joe: Yes, everyone was really well dressed.
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Scott: What other entertainment did you enjoy on board… shows etc.
Joe: There was a comedian from Boca Raton, FL named Eddie Capone, I missed his first “clean show” and other guests told me he wasn’t funny, but we went to his adult show and he was really funny, SO I have a feeling that he’s just not a clean entertainer. The Phillippino Cruise Show was great too, the woman from the front desk, Kim, had a great voice. We later ran into her on the shuttle in Key West and also told her she was excellent. She went on to say that karaoke is super popular in the Philippines and that’s basically how she got so good.
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Scott: Did you encounter any issues that you had to go to the front desk about and was it handled properly?
Joe: We had Neptune Lounge access so I never used the front desk. Neptune lounge was great. Jeff lost his phone and went to the Neptune Lounge and they immediately tracked it down from the front desk. The Neptune Lounge access is so worth it, not to mention the free laundry service.
Personal Day-By-Day Eurodam Cruise Review:
Photo Tour of the Eurodam:
Preserving memories through photography is an essential part of any vacation, and my cruise was no exception. I took numerous photos showcasing different parts of the ship, including the interior design, swimming pools, and my own cabin. You can find these photos in the Eurodam Photo Tour and in the daily cruise review at the links provided above.