Tour of Holland America's Eurodam in New York 9/26/2010 PT 1

Reporter / photographer Byron Huart on the Lido deck.

Is was on this day 9/26/2010 marked the beginning  of a new chapter in the history of Liveboat for it was our first ship visit here in the United States.

It was here I took an exclusive tour of Holland America Line's flagship 
The MS Eurodam , 

the first of the Holland America's new signature class 

vessels.

As we all know the Eurodam's new sister ship ship the Nieuw Amsterdam was Launched on July 4th of this year in Marghera  and is making headlines as she makes her maiden calls in Europe and the Mediterranean and will soon make her debut in the USA and the Caribbean ,

unfortunately Nieuw Amsterdam will not be coming to Manhattan anytime soon.

For over a century Holland America and the port of New York have had a beautiful and storied history , 

the MV Eurodam proudly continues the legacy of it's 2oth century predecessors the SS Rotterdam and the SS Nieuw Amsterdam into the 21st Century as an innovation to Holland America Line's signature luxury and style. 

Vessel Statistics:







Name: MS Eurodam
Operator: Holland America Line
Port of registry: Netherlands, Rotterdam
Builder: Fincantieri
Marghera, Italy
Yard number: 6149
Laid down: February 9, 2007
Launched: September 28 2007
Christened: 1 July 2008 by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands
Completed: June 16 2008
Maiden voyage: July 5 2008

Class and type: Signature class cruise ship
Tonnage: 86,700 gross register tons (GRT)
Length: 935 ft (285.0 m)
Beam: 105.8 ft (32.2 m)
Decks: 11 passenger decks
Installed power: 64 MW MaK M43C diesel-electric
Propulsion: Azipod Thusters
Speed: 23.9 kn (44.3 km/h; 27.5 mph) (max)
(22 kn (40.7 km/h; 25.3 mph) (service)
Capacity: 2,104 passengers
Crew: 929 crew

As I boarded the massive vessel I proceeded to the main office where I rendezvoused with the Hotel Manager Marco & event planner Elizabeth.

It was approximately 10:30 am when I & Elizabeth began our tour of this beautiful vessel.

Our first stop was the magnificent 3 story main atrium.

We then proceeded through the shops area , where I looked at the various items sold on board and their jewelry room.

As our tour progressed we explored a rare feature in today's modern cruise ships ,

a small movie theater called The Screening Room,

inside guests can enjoy various movie showings.

Our next stop was the main stage where all the ships amazing entertainment and main shows are held ,

as we toured the sage where I looked at the beautiful modern New York and art deco touches and the lovely light sculptures that adorn the stairways.

As I took a closer look I looked at the detail of the old style decor of the seats and of the classic observation booth on the 2nd level.

Deck 11

Observation deck.

It was here we looked upon the beautiful observation deck at the Crows nest & the HAL exclusive 
New York Times powered Explorations cafe where guests can surf the web or relax and look through the vast image collection and the library, as we toured around the cafe we ran into the ships doctor passing the time reading a book.

One deck down we proceeded to the Greenhouse spa area where we looked at the state of the art facilities.

A fully functional gym with state of the art exercising equipment ,

nail & hair salon.

Gym & Exercise area

Silk Den & the Signature Tamarind restaurant.

As our tour continued we explored the children's room called the paint bucket where children have many activities , & Club HAL for their teenage guests equipped with an Xbox 360 room.

Entrance door / very 1960's style decor.

Xbox 360 room

Wall artwork /Groovy pattern art.

Cute!

Deck 9 / Lido Deck.

It was here our guided tour of the vessel ended ,

there I was left to explore the rest of the ship myself.

Stern View / looking at the cabins below.

After I walked around the stern of the Lido deck & grabbed more snapshots it was time to take a break after the long tour , I went to the lovely Lido restaurant to grab lunch.

As you can see , the hard working staff at work preparing & serving all the delicious meals for everyone and the new passengers boarding ready for departure this afternoon.

Here guests lined up to try their main features of the day .

Our review comes of what I tried out.

Turkey with cranberry sauce , spinach with jasmine almond rice.

Deluxe Ruben's Panini sandwich loaded with cheddar cheese , bacon and pastrami & to top it off a warm bowl cream of mushroom soup.

To be continued.... , stay tuned for more updates.