Ms Eurodam - Hollywood

We had an amazing time on our 9-day Southern Caribbean cruise aboard the Rotterdam. Granted, our two kids were among only 20 kids on board! It's definitely an older crowd but very friendly, fun and well-traveled. We really enjoyed the music at the Billboard dueling pianos, Rolling Stone rock room and B.B. King Blues Club!! The food was amazing as well, best main dining room we've experienced of several cruise lines. Rudi's Sel de Mer is not to be missed! The family also loved Tamarind and Nami Sushi. The ports of call were wonderful, and we highly recommend Solobon Sailing in Bonaire! One thing I will mention is that the verandah staterooms are extremely cramped with the sofa bed and pullman bed in use, more so than on other cruise lines. We had 4 people in the room and we were constantly bumping into things and into each other. I really didn't like that the pullman was over the main bed, hubs and I bumped our heads on it a few times. Still, they are very nice rooms that are well appointed with great amenities. I would just maybe get two rooms or a suite for a family on this ship.

First time cruise with my wife and my 1 year old son. We advised holland America several times prior to our departure that our son had some pretty major food allergies. We were told we would have a specific menu for him ready to go. First night: No one had a menu for him? His first meal, he was served one of his allergens, and was vomiting all night. We were given one free load of laundry. Third Night: we just got our son to sleep, and heard a very loud bang. Our stateroom window had shattered. We were told there were no other rooms available, and would have to stay there. Forcing us to have our 1 year old son sleep beneath a shattered window, on a ship, sailing on the ocean?! No! Thank goodness we had family on board, however it was a massive inconvenience for the other 4 family members who shuffled amongst their own rooms so we wouldn't have to sleep in the room with a shattered window. Absolutely ridiculous way to run a ship. A place where, when on board we have no where else to go. They don't reserve not ONE room in case of emergencies? What if a room flooded from the toilet or something else? Too bad? Only saving graces in this experience so far has been Mr. Presty who took over food preparation after the first incident. As well as Steven who helped get that sorted. This should have been the case from the very beginning

Another charter cruise sponsored by Star Vista inc. a subsidiary of Time Warner. This was the Soultrain Cruise..yes that Television show that shaped America in the 70's- the 2000's. This is my 6th cruise and it was fantastic. Artist such as The Temptations, En vogue, Stephanie Mills, Boys II Men and so many more fantastic artists we listened to during our youth. Then the food was fantastic Chef Rome celebrity chef for top NBA PLAYERS was brought in to work with Chef Pablo the head Chef of Nieuw Amsterdam which was the ship we were on. It's pretty much a nonstop party after an artist would perform on the MainStage then another artist would perform on the Lido deck , then the night club opens at midnight and stays open till 3 in the morning. Then for the next 7 days this process repeats. You'll definitely need another vacation after this vacation. They call it the hippest trip at sea and it's appropriate. So many pictures it would be impossible to post my favorite but I'll do my best.

Holland America Sucks. Just a heads up in case anyone else runs into this: A few days ago received offers from Holland to downgrade our room from balcony to ocean view. Well as of now we have been INvoluntary downgraded to ocean view from balcony and we paid the little extra money to get our rooms guaranteed and next to us as opposed to just waiting til closer to time to get room assignment. They have had our guaranteed 100% paid in full money since April (maybe March) 2024. What is the purpose of a guaranteed payment if it does not guarantee anything ? Very disappointed in Holland America for doing this, hopefully no one else experiences this and whoever is in my guaranteed paid in full room if you get my bag please jet me know. So far I hate and will bad mouth Holland America till I die. They have lost a customer for life. Corporate America sucks. Holland America sucks.

Having run the gamut in our busy year of cruising, from some of the largest (Royal Caribbean cruises to the smallest (Windstar , the more exotic (MSC to the ultra lux (Silversea , we went into our 10 day HA cruise (Central Am/Panama Canal/Caribbean with almost a 'ho hum ' attitude (I know how unappreciative is THAT! . Man were we very pleasantly surprised! As we often do, we took a balcony cabin on the 8th deck, close to mid ship. On paper, it was small (LT 200 sf , but it felt comfortable enough. We also took their Have It All package, which included drink, two specialty dining , and credit for $200 worth of excursions. The ship is better appointed than we thought an older ship would be, kept spotlessly cleaned. The first night, the cruise director did a presentation on the history of HA. You 'd think this might be a piece of ho hum, self promoting, piece of propaganda, but we actually REALLY enjoyed it, thanks in no small part to the job that he did narrating; listening to the roots of its heritage really humanizes this huge cruise line it was actually quite moving in many parts. That would explain the first of 3 things that really impressed us about this cruise: the staff! Yes, we were previously pampered rotten on both of the smaller ships with a high staff to guests ratio, Silver Moon and Star Breeze, but the esprit de corps that 's so vivid on the Eurodam produced a service level that rivals the afore mentioned ships. With only a few exceptions, one gets the sense that the staff really cares. That 's a big plus. Second, we were wowed by the FOOD. Again, since this is main line, mass market, we didn 't have high expectations; that 's a mistake! While the menu IS somewhat more limited (the same lunch menu in the main dining room for 10 days!? , what we had was consistently high quality, served hot, with panache. That osso bucco in the Italian specialty dining resto was out of this world watch for it, as it 's only on Mondays. Pinnacle was opulent and luxurious, but some of the food was arguably only at or just below main dining room fare. The wine selections that came with the drink package was not too bad: you 're allowed to select drinks priced $11 or less; but where they used to charge you the full price if you order a $12 glass of wine or cognac, they now charge only the difference, a fair and long overdue change. Also want to mention how good the dancers were. Third, but most important: the MUSIC. Now this I knew was going to be good. HA is dedicated to promoting different kinds of music, but especially classical. We had a piano quartet that played for us multiple times almost every day. Even though there were some concessions to light classical, even pop and rock (their versions of the likes of Bohemian Rhapsody and Stairway to Heaven ranged from at least not off putting to enjoyable and, thankfully, no Sweet Caroline , there was hard core stuff played in their entirety (Beethoven trio, Schumann and Brahms piano quartets . To be able to sit, front row, if we want, in an intimate setting, listening to beautiful chamber music being played, live ... heck that used to be only for aristocrats! We soon found ourselves arranging the day 's activites around their concert schedule. As well, that house band in the BB King Blues Club was amazing. They DID have to cater more to everyday tastes, and yes, they did have to play Sweet Caroline . So, Holland America is perhaps at the TOP of our list when it comes to future mainline cruises! A minor peeve was the specialty dining rigid requirements: one each in Tamarind and Pinnacle; instead we tried to do two nights of Pinnacle, and at first it seemed like a problem. Ended up some (all? credit for Tamarind was applied to our second Pinnacle. All 's well that ends well.