One of the great things about taking a cruise is exploring the ship.  As soon as we get aboard, Tom and I start walking level by level getting oriented.  The Eurodam, one of Holland America‘s ships, has 2,000 passengers, 800 crew, and 11 stories so there was plenty to explore.  The Eurodam is nine years old.

Our stateroom number on the Eurodam was 5130, a Verandah room.  About 220 square feet with the balcony.  We booked an ocean-view room but got an email from Holland America about a month before we sailed offering us a reduced rate for a Verandah room.  Instead of the usual $500 more per person, it would only be $250 more per person.  Tom and I decided we already spent enough and we declined the offer.  Two weeks before the cruise we got another email.  Now an upgrade would only be $100 more per person.  Tom and I again declined.  One week before the cruise we got an email saying we had been upgraded to a Verandah room at no additional expense.  Yahoo!  Thanks Holland America!

So our room had a queen sized bed, a small sitting area, a small bathroom, and a narrow balcony.  But we are used to living in small spaces, so it wasn’t a problem for us.

The ship had two swimming pools, the dining room, the Mainstage, a fitness center, a spa, and other eating areas.  Tom is not much for formal dining, so we ate at the Lido Marketplace most of the time.  The Lido had a large variety of food at different stations.  We could choose between the Fresh Salad, the entree of the day with a lot of side dishes, Mexican, or Asian.  There was also a dessert station.  Cruise ships are notorious for encouraging people to overeat, but Holland America served right-sized portions.  You could have as much as you want, but the portions were one serving size.  Because of this we never really felt like we were overeating.

While we were on the ship, it was easy to get plenty of exercise.  I walked around the Promenade deck a lot (three laps = one mile) and Tom visited the fitness center every day.  We also took the steps everywhere:  up four floors to meals, up six floors to the library and game room, and down two or three floors to the entertainment areas.  We bought the “unlimited Coca-Cola” package, so we climbed steps every time we wanted a Diet Coke or Coke.  Even though we were “at sea” 10 days, I easily got my 10,000 steps each of those days.

The Indonesian crew on the Eurodam gave us exceptional service.  The servers in the Lido Market were always friendly and helpful.  We rarely saw our room stewards once we learned to put out “service room please” when we were gone.  So our room was spotless and comfortable all the time.  We also learned several bartenders names because we had to go to the bar to get our cokes.

Cruising is such a relaxing vacation.  Once we got onboard we didn’t worry about a thing.  All we had to do was show up at the correct times and enjoy.  I just wish we had a room steward here at home!