May 21-23, 2013 We leave from Copenhagen, Denmark for a 10 day cruise on the M.S. Eurodam, a ship in the Holland-America fleet. We booked this cruise to rest up from our previous travels and to visit St. Petersburg, Russia. It proved to be so much more and surprisingly we enjoyed most aspects.
The Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish sea bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. Wikipedia
Cruise Log
We stopped at seven different ports-of-call and traveled 1953 nautical miles (NM x 1.15=statute miles).
Aboard were 2104 guests and 915 crew.
Our speed varied between 10 and 20 knots (shy of our max. speed of 23.9 knots) depending on the day, etc.
Our diesel fuel cnsumption was measured not in miles/gallon, but the galloms/mile.
We weighed in at a zaftig 86,7000 tons and a length of approx three football fields.
Master of the ship: Captian Henk Keijer.
"Land was created to provide a place for boats to visit."
-Brooks Atkinson
Life on a cruise ship
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| Every night our steward created a towel animal--this is a lobster |
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| He surveys our room |
Lifeboat Drill
Mandatory drill after embarkation and before we left our first port (Copenhagen). If you refused to participate you didn't go. The drill was professionally done and we were impressed.
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This is not the lifeboat drill!
Looking down at the lifeboats (they are on deck and reflected by the ship's wet hull) during near gale winds and fog |
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| In the middle of the night we passed under the Øresund Bridge which connects Sweden and Denmark |
Kitchen Tour
The food was excellent on the Eurodam and the kitchen served about 13,000 meals a day. The kitchen tour was very popular.
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| Ice carver making fish statue |
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| "Soup kitchen" |
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| Indoor pool under the retractible sliding panels |
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| First port-of-call, Tallin, Estonia |
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| Eurodam has dark hull |
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| Sunset from the ship |
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| Raising lifeboats from the water. This is the Holland America Ryndam |
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| The rug in the elevator! |
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| Main auditorium--meeting place for persons going ashore on a Eurodam-sponsored tour |
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| Mr. Elephant |
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| The age of dinosaurs |
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| Rent a cabana, robes and champagne |
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| Giant buffett, always open |
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| Farewell performance by the crew |
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| One of our favorite activities was to listen to these two talented ladies play classical music every day |
Table 50
We requested evening dinner seating at the same table each night. We dined with three previously unknown couples, perhaps unlikely bedfellows, but never-the-less it was a delightful experience.
We asked to share a table with fellow passengers whenever we could. We met more than 50 people at meals or trivia pursuit. We saw them around the ship and on shore at other times and exchanged friendly "Hellos" again. It enriched our experience!
Our table 50 comrades: Mike and Elena are not shown as Mike was sick the last night.
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| Chuck and his daughter Maureen |
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| Bill and Shirley |
Dancing with the Stars--Holland America competition
There were three dance routines taught to interested passengers and a winner was chosen by the audience and judges to compete in the last night finale.The winner was a passenger from California (far right) who danced the Tango with her professional partner. She will compete against winners from other Holland America ships to win a free cruise.
The logistics of coordinating so many people was staggering, but the crew handled everything well.
Tallinn, Estonia
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia
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| I did some shopping in Tallinn... |
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| There may be more Irish pubs around the world than in Ireland |
The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is an orthodox cathedral in the Tallinn Old Town, Estonia.
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| Looking out over Old Town |
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| Beware of the rooster! |
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| Beware of the seagull |
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