Imagine you are trying a cruise line for the very first time, and the cruise is canceled repeatedly. The ship changes. The itinerary would go on to change 7 different times, including removal of the port you most wanted to see.
Now imagine that this cruise turns out to be one of your favorite cruises ever. This is the story of that cruise.
We have embarked on 9 different cruises on 5 different lines. The Eurodam turned out to be the smallest ship we have yet encountered. It turned out to be one of our most favorite. In this video I walk through my 5 loves, which are as follows:
1. The "right" size. We fell in love with the intimacy and personal nature of this 2,100 passenger capacity ship. While it obviously lacks the "toys" associated with other cruise lines' megaships (giant water slides, go-kart tracks, etc.), we discovered that it had all of the features that we wanted in a ship without the excess baggage.
2. The ship design. Here I give a special shout-out to the crow's nest, my favorite venue onboard and a magnificent use of space. I go on to point out how this is simply one result of 150 years' practice in ship design.
3. The superb service. Staff aboard the ship were second to none, from the room steward to the waiters to all the other folks who provided the best service we have encountered. Despite the fact that we were still under some COVID restrictions at the time, they also allowed us to share tables with strangers while on board, and we made friends with more than a half dozen other people by dining with them aboard ship.
At this point I digress to the "hates," which is really one issue, with multiple parts. In addition to having the first few bookings canceled because of COVID, our cruise would experience 7 itinerary changes. I bundled the changes into three categories: Logistical issues related to the cruise restart, political issues (related to use of the ports in Venice and Montenegro), and weather issues, which affected embarkation and disembarkation location, as well as skipping one scheduled port.
4. The Music Walk. Unique to Holland America, we fell in love with this concept, which I explain. I go on to call out my favorite main theatre show ever, even after more than 100 days at sea.
5. The "Vibe" of the ship. As a last love, I group together my thoughts on the cabin, balcony, food, and entertainment, bundling them together into a personal connection that we made with the ship. I contrast it with Oceania luxury, Royal Caribbean family diversity, Carnival party atmosphere, Virgin iconoclastic ideas, and the formality of Cunard. To us, this was like one of the best Princess cruises, but on a more intimate ship. And this suits us perfectly.
Let me know if you agree or disagree in the comments.
