ElaineCaper

Our first cruise. 17 day Mediterranean cruise on Hals Eurodam. Wondering how formal one needs to be for formal dining. I keep reading that hardly anyone dresses formal anymore. Has anyone been on the Eurodam in the Mediterranean? What are people ACTUALLY wearing--men AND women. Also does anyone know how much drinks cost on the ship? Like diet Pepsi or wine? Thanks.

Aristotle

I've not been on Eurodam, but have been on Noordam and Zuiderdam in the past 2 seasons in the Med. Virtually no one weara a tux, but most do have a jacket and tie. It's harder to tell about women, but most seem to dress nicely, but not like the mother of the bride or a for a teen prom. On longer cruises you may see tuxes, etc on the first night, but not thereafter. Drinks can run your bill up quite a bit. I'm not sure about soft drinks, but think movie theatre plus tip. Wine is about what you would pay in an upscale restaurant - 3+times the liquor store price, plus tip. Many wines are bottom shelf. And beware the wine card, unless you enjoy uninteresting wines.

ElaineCaper

Thanks. That helps. I guess I'll leave home the strapless, satin gown I picked up at a resale shop--probably too dressy. So would you say NOT a long dress?
On wine--if the wines are bottom shelf, what makes the wine card worse? Do you get better wine if you order by the glass and pay as you go? Are any of the wine packages worth buying? Thanks again.

Beachnut11

ElaineCaper - one of the great benefits of Holland America is that you can bring on as much wine as you wish. We brought a case when boarding in Rome for a two week cruise. Enjoyed it for sail away parties on the balcony (ordered cheese and fruit plate from room service - no charge). You can bring a bottle with you to dinner and just pay a corkage charge. Go to cruisecritic.com/boards and look under Holland America - you will find most of your questions answered there.

On our cruise many choose to wear long gowns (we had three formal nights) - others did not - just plan on bringing what you would enjoy the most. (I did bring a long dress and we got a formal picture done - still love it!).

Many we met during the trip purchased the wine package - it really depends on your taste and budget.

doug_stallings

I've sailed on Eurodam but only in the Caribbean. My experience was that a lot of people dressed up. I did, and while it was by no means universal (I sat next to a woman in the late show wearing jean shorts), my impression is that passengers on European cruises may dress up more. On longer cruises like this the passengers are older and may be a bit more formal (there are certainly more formal nights). But there is always a non-formal dining option every night.

I found the wine card (per glass) a good deal but particularly monotonous. I wanted more variety. But you undoubtedly pay significantly more when buying the wine by the glass. The wines by the bottle are pretty overpriced on Eurodam (most egregiously so in the Pinnacle Grill, where I got about the cheapest bottle of wine for around $50, which sells at my local store for $9.99), so getting a bottle package is a good idea. But I priced the low and high packages in Trader Joe's on my return, and I didn't really find that the more expensive package gave a significantly better variety of wines, even though the package was quite a bit more.

ElaineCaper

Thanks much for the ideas on wine and bringing it aboard. So they have no liquid restrictions for security when boarding the ship? And you can really just carry it on with no problems? I like that idea! Now I may even bring my strapless gown after all. Sounds like fun! The sail away party on the balcony sounds delightful! I'll definitely check out the cruisecritic boards. Love this forum

doug_stallings

You can carry on all the wine you want but not alcohol. You do have to pay a corkage fee if you bring a bottle of wine to the dining room for dinner, but I suspect no one would notice if you brought a glass of wine from your cabin to dinner with you. People wander in the dining room from the bars all the time with drinks.

Diet Pepsi can also be brought on board. You pay about $2 per can for sodas, but there is a soda plan, though I don't drink much soda and didn't really look into that. I don't know which brands other than Coke are available, but I can tell you from experience that there may be fewer available brands of diet drinks in Europe, so don't count on Pepsi per se. It would be more expensive than in the U.S., but it's still cheaper to buy sodas in a grocery store in Europe and bring it aboard, and HAL allows that.

ElaineCaper

Thanks for your info on the wine and soda, Doug. Good ideas. We're taking a bullet train from Madrid to Barcelona. How easy is it going to be to buy wine and soda and get it to the dock at Barcelona?

doug_stallings

I guess it depends on the volume. I have never been to Barcelona, so I don't know the area around the train station, but most of these areas aren't the greatest. However, in all likelihood, there will be a place to buy wine and soda in the train station itself, but if not, there's probably a store nearby. I'd feel more comfortable if someone could confirm that for you since I have no personal knowledge, but most of the big European train stations have plenty of options for shopping. Or you might take it onto the train with you if you don't buy a lot.