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Holland America has a rich, international heritage. The company was founded 135 years ago and for many years was headquartered in Rotterdam, Holland, where the ship's "naming ceremony" was held on July 1. Presiding was the reigning monarch of Holland, 70-year-old Queen Beatrix, who executed her role perfectly. After invoking the blessing and officially dubbing the vessel "Eurodam," she hit the switch that sent a bottle of champagne smashing against its hull, to the delight of thousands of spectators. Here is a short (1 minute) video of the actual naming and champagne drop part of the ceremony in Rotterdam. It was a very perfect ceremony with weather to match.
This is the 10th vessel to be launched by a member of the Dutch Royal Family. The first was the 1929 Statendam III by Prince Hendrik and the previous one was the 2003 Oosterdam by Princess Margriet. Attributes of Eurodam
Her décor is a combination of tasteful modern styles, with soothing yet vibrant colors such as silver and teal with avocado green and peach highlights. A huge, solid glass chandelier resembling an inverted volcanic cone suspends from the ceiling, dominating the main atrium. A glass staircase with gold-plated bannisters wraps around the glass ceiling piece.
All of the recognizable Holland America rooms are present, such as the Queen's Lounge, which also serves as the Culinary Arts center; the Explorer's Lounge, the Pinnacle Bar and Pinnacle Grill, and the Rembrandt Dining Room, which provides both assigned seating and "anytime dining" for people who do not want to adhere to a structured dining schedule (this alternative is now available fleet-wide).
Eurodam has all the best elements ever included on a Holland America ship. For example, until the year 2000, all Holland America ships had a dedicated movie theater, but it was missing on the four previous "Vista-class" ships built in the last six years. Happily, the 36-seat movie theater is back on Eurodam, and in style. It is bigger than ever, with plush loge seats and the traditional Holland America old-fashioned popcorn machine. Eurodam has a beautiful décor, with a collection of antiques in display cases and pictures of Holland America Line memorabilia everywhere. The art collection is significant enough to warrant a self-guided walking tour, which has already been produced and will be available on iPods on all cruises soon.
Holland America -- Dutch Through and Through
The crew is comprised mostly of Dutch officers assisted by Indonesian and Filipino crewmembers - the same personnel mix as Holland America has maintained throughout its history. A new crew feature, however, is the addition of Indonesian ladies, who serve as waitresses in the finer restaurants. These ladies are tall and beautiful, with quiet voices and gentle, deep brown eyes. The company still recruits through its own training centers in Jakarta and Manilla. New Ship Features -- MicroSoft Digital Workshops
One outstanding new feature is a computer center sponsored by MicroSoft. The technology company, also from Seattle, quadrupled bandwidth of the Internet connection and also offers a variety of onboard computer classes now free of charge. (Previously, Vista-class Holland America ship advanced computer classes carried a fee.) There are several bonuses to this new arrangement. not only are the classes all free, but the ship is now wireless enabled from bow to stern. In fact, I personally found the access "speed" to be much better using my laptop in my cabin than I did in the Web Café area. For those who had experienced it, it is a huge improvement over the Internet acess on the Vista-class ships. The free workshops, taught by MicroSoft "techsperts," provide classes in digital photography, including digital scrapbooking, movie editing, cropping pictures, red-eye reduction and how to set up a blog. Multiple workshops are to be held every day, all free, and guests can take none or all of them as they wish. One-on-one coaching is also available for up to 20 hours/week. The Retreat
The Greenhouse Spa offers the usual assortment of massages and facials, and it has a thermal suite where guests can indulge in essential oil infused steam baths, relax in a massage thelassotheray pool and relax on heated ceramic lounge chair until the warmth envelopes your body. Pricing for ther thermal suite is $25/day per person, or $150 per person per cruise for the first person and $100 for each additional person per cabin.
The main pool area has a massive retractable magrodome roof so the ship can open the pool to the outside elements in warm weather, or enclosed when the weather becomes inclement. The magrodome worked quite handily when an outside buffet celebration in Hamburg had to be moved from the aft pool deck area because of rain. Onboard Shopping
Shopping selections include a high-end jewelry store created by Holland America called Merabella. It offers a one of a kind jewelry collection with loose stones, matching pieces for women and fine watches for both sexes. There is also a souvenir boutique with shirts, necessities and Holland America logo-wear. Culinary Arts Center
Even the kids get culinary arts classes 45 minutes long, with the focus on simple dishes for breakfast and lunch. Dining Options
The regular dining room, Rembrandt, is two decks high and features tables for two to ten people. The ceiling has a changing color "wave" effect, while the tables are always fully set with water and wine glasses and a full array of cutlery. The room offers both traditional cruise dining with early and late seating and pre-assigned tables and servers, or guests can opt for anytime "As You Wish" dining where you eat when and with home you choose. The newest dining room, a first for Holland America, is the Tamarind Restaurant featuring Asian fusion cuisine. The cover charge is $15 per person for dinner, but it is free for lunch serving dim sum. The nighttime choices include Asian-inspired entrees such as sea bass with hoisin-lime glaze, wasabi-soy-encrusted beef (I tried this, it was tender and delectable), steamed lobster with garlic, or shrimp Szechwan with basil. Also on tap are Peking duck and Asian curry dishes. The sushi is perfectly spiced with subtle wasabi flavoring and a slightly sweetened pickled ginger. I also tried this and found it to be unusually tasty for such a typically predictable dish as sushi. Nearby is a beautiful new cocktail lounge called the "Silk Room" featuring "Saketinis," or martini-like beverages similar to martinis but based on sake.
The top alternative dining venue is the Pinnacle Grill, now on every ship in the Holland America fleet. This restaurant features Seattle-style Pacific Northwest cuisine, such as steaks, chops, and cold-water fish like salmon. The Pinnacle Grill menu on Eurodam is different from the other ships and has dishes in the "experimental" stage for possible permanent inclusion on the menus of all ships. Canaletto is an Italian-theme venue created nightly in a section of the Lido restaurant. There is no cover charge for this restaurant, which features waiters and tables set in the dining room style to offer table-side Italian service of lasagna and other pasta dishes. Next to Canaletto is "Slice," the pizza restaurant, open nearly 24 hours a day. The Lido Restaurant, which Holland America now lays claim to inventing (and I have no reason to doubt it), has a separate salad bar, several carving stations, and the infamous HAL ice cream and hot cookies, always free of charge, and available after lunch and throughout the day. They are several flavors of ice cream and toppings available. Room service is offered 24 hours a day at no additional charge. Dining Room menu choices are available en-suite during dinner restaurant hours. The regular en-suite dining menu is limited and varies by breakfast, noon to 10:00 p.m., and after-hours dining choices. Eurodam Entertainment
The main showroom is the best yet on a Holland America ship, with state-of-the-art theatrical stage effects like video screens and laser lights. In this showroom, Holland America has replaced the bench and coffee-table seating with true theater-style seating. The sight lines in the balcony are greatly improved over previous Holland America ships by replacing the brass and glass safety railings with deep but lower buttresses where one can easily see over the top.
The production shows are contemporary revues with talented singers and dancers and extensive costume changes. One of the shows on this voyage was "The Opera Babes," two young ladies equally gifted with classic soprano voices performing tradional opera pieces and more contemporary material. They sing with finesse adding a significant amount of harmony, some from the original scores and some invented. It is an interesting concept which they execute expertly. Another show was a tribute to Elton John by Jonathan Kane - not just the usual production show featuring his songs, but an entertainer who looks like and sings the songs of Elton John, like attending a concert by the original. It was a good show, especially for Elton John fans, and certainly a departure from the old Holland America presentations. Children's Programs and Facilities
Staterooms
Sizes vary from smaller inside cabins to expansive suites. All feature the line's "Signature of Excellence" enhancements such as extra-plush mattresses, Egyptian cotton towels, make-up mirrors, massage showers, fresh flowers and complimentary fruit. Passenger staterooms include two Penthouse verandah suites of 1,000 sq. ft. and 318 sq. ft. verandahs. Deluxe suites vary from 380 to 570 sq. ft. A standard verandah suite is a very generous 300 sq. ft (at least one-third larger than the average cruise ship cabin). There are some larger than average inside staterooms of 255 sq. ft. as well as the standard 175 sq. ft. There are a number of Concierge-class staterooms whose occupants get exclusive access to the private Neptune's Lounge, which offers free coffee, pastries, DVD movies (for in-suite viewing) and concierge services such as making shore excursion and restaurant reservations for the guest.
On the top deck near the Retreat and the Greenhouse Spa are 56 luxury verandah Spa Suites. These suites are smaller than the average verandah stateroom, with smaller balconies as well, but they feature organic bathrobes, a selection of flavored mineral waters, a constantly flowing water fountain and a Bose docking station for playing music from an iPod. There is a special breakfast spa menu with fresh-squeezed juices and organic muffins. Special night-time chocolates are infused with relaxing herbs. Public Rooms
The Explorations Café, "powered by the New York Times," (located within the Crow's Nest) features several Web-connected workstations, a huge library, downloaded versions of the New York Times and an extensive library of DVDs available for viewing in your stateroom ($3 apiece per night).
The Ocean Bar, also found on most ships in the fleet, features classical music nightly along with brandies and other sipping beverages. The Piano Bar is the traditional sing-along forum with a talented and comedic keyboardist host playing requests, punctuated by barroom jokes, on his barstool surrounded baby grand. Add in the "Screening Room Movie Theater", several facilities for meetings onboard, and the Northern Lights nightclub with disco dancing at night, and you have a shipload of fun. Northern Lights, the Disco/Karaoke bar is tastefully hidden away so the music and atmosphere can get busy inside without interrupting the relative calm of the rest of the ship. Eurodam is a ship that comes alive at night but still feels serene and dignified during the day.
Summing Up Eurodam
I sense this is the beginning of a new era for Holland America in appealing to a larger, younger demographic. The ship is tasteful yet never stuffy. It is contemporary but never gaudy. All of the small but perfect touches that make Holland America special are here; the movie theater with free popcorn, the free ice cream and fresh cookies, the magrodome-covered pool area so the pool can work in any weather, the spacious and so comfortable staterooms, now all with bathrobes, mini-bars and flat screen televisions with DVD players. Yet Eurodam adds a few flourishes like the Retreat, the thelassotherapy pool and new dining venues, all while still preserving the highest standards in stateroom décor. Unlike other premium lines, Holland America has not built bigger and bigger ships in an attempt to maximize economy of scale. The Eurodam is still small enough to keep the lines short and the service prompt. It can sail through the Panama Canal and on other exotic itineraries, as can all Holland America ships. Holland America remains one of the best values in cruising. For people who still appreciate ships where comfort, convenience and service are paramount, Holland America sets the standard, especially considering the competitive rates the line still offers.
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