Photos of Holland America's Eurodam

This week the focus shifts to Holland America’s Eurodam. This ship is s Super-Vista class ship, which means that she is an enlarged version of the Vista class design used in ships such as HAL’s Noordam and P&O Cruises’ Arcadia.

In the two years since Eurodam entered service, I have come across her numerous times in my travels. I think this is because Eurodam does not do the same itinerary each week. For part of the year, she is in Europe, for part in Canada/New England and for part in the Caribbean. The ship gets around.

For me, that is just fine. While she does not have the lines of a traditional passenger ship, she is a photogenic modern cruise ship. Also, she is a maneuverable ship and that allows her to do interesting things in close proximity to other ships, which makes for interesting photos. Accordingly, I have put together a new photo essay of pictures of Eurodam in various ports. It is at: http://www.beyondships.com/HAL-Eurodam-Photos.html

In addition, since my profile of Eurodam was done shortly after the ship entered service, I have updated both the profile and the photo tour of Eurodam on Beyondships. This includes lots of new photos. The profile is at http://www.beyondships.com/HAL-Eurodam.html and the photo tour is at http://www.beyondships.com/HAL-Eurodam-Tour1.html

Profile and Photo Tour of Dawn Princess

I have now been on three of the four Sun Princess class ships. Three of these ships, Sun Princess, Dawn Princess and Sea Princess sail for Princess Cruises. The fourth ship is P&O’s Oceana. She began life as Ocean Princess for Princess Cruises but was transferred to P&O Cruises when P&O still owned Princess.

These 77,000 gross ton ships carry just under 2,000 passengers and would be described as medium-sized cruise ships relative to the ships that are coming out of the shipyards these days. They are large enough to have the features one expects on a modern cruise ship but not so large as to be overwhelming.

The ships have a sleek, arrow-like shape. It is not a traditional passenger ship shape but it is attractive nonetheless.

One thing that struck me about the three I have been on - - Dawn, Sea and Oceana - - is how bright and fresh they look. Although they were built around the turn of the Millennium, they have been well-maintained. Indeed, Dawn Princess just went through a major refurbishment during a drydock last year.

Sun Princess and Dawn Princess are now based in Australia. Reflecting the fact that cruising is becoming increasingly popular down under, Sea Princess will be joining them there next year.

This week Beyondships adds a section on Dawn Princess to its roster of cruise ships. Dawn specializes in longer cruises such as voyages around Australia or to New Zealand and destinations in the South Pacific. Indeed, she even does a yearly world cruise. The lifestyle on Dawn Princess is still very much the Princess Cruises experience. However, it has an Australian overlay to make it more comfortable for its primary passenger constituency.

Beyondships profile of Dawn Princess is at http://www.beyondships.com/Princess-DP-Profile.html . The multi-page photo tour begins at http://www.beyondships.com/Princess-DP-Tour-1.html

Queen Mary 2's Todd English Restaurant

Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 is a unique ship. She is the only ship sailing for a major cruise line that was designed as an ocean liner as opposed to a cruise ship and is the only ship that sails across the Atlantic on a regular basis Moreover, she carries on in the elegant tradition of the great liners in the lifestyle onboard.

This elegant lifestyle extends to the dining. As a nod to the modern age, the ship does have a buffet and some casual eateries but the main dining experience is fine dining. All of the main dining rooms present high quality food, professional service and a sophisticated atmosphere.

On many cruise ships, the role of the specialty restaurant is to offer guests a fine dining alternative. However, since this role is already filled on QM2 by the main dining rooms, the specialty restaurant must have a different role. Therefore, I decided to take an in-depth look at the specialty restaurant on QM2 - - the Todd English restaurant.

Todd English is an American celebrity chef who also owns several restaurants. His unique style of cooking has won him numerous awards. However, how is he able to transplant that style onto a ship that is at sea most of the time. Is it just his name on the door?

To help answer these questions, I spoke with QM2’s Executive Chef Mark Oldroyd who not only supervises the ship’s Todd English restaurant but also all of the other dining venues on QM2. Our conversation is posted at http://www.beyondships.com/QM2-review-Todd-English.html


In addition Chef Oldroyd selected several items off the menu at the Todd English for a pictorial in which he discusses those items. http://www.beyondships.com/QM2-review-Todd-English-3.html

Finally, I have prepared a review in which I discuss my experience at both a lunch and a dinner in the Todd English. http://www.beyondships.com/QM2-review-Todd-English-2.html

Cruising the Norwegian Fjords; Photos of Explorer of the Seas

Perhaps the most awe inspiring scenery that I have seen from a cruise ship is in the Norwegian fjords. The ship sails into a narrow passage with sheer rock walls towering literally thousands of feet over the decks. Waterfalls cascade down these wall into the sea.

Just when you think you have taken the whole scene in, you notice a house perched on a ledge. It is so tiny. The scale of these mountains must be so much greater than you thought. How could people even get there much less live there?

At the end of the fjord is a valley with a small village in it. The valley is green and lush. Its reflection is cast into the still waters. Although there are people around, it is quiet. The commotion of modern life is far away.

The scenery in the valley is almost too perfect. It looks like a display that someone has set up for a model train display. There are a few buildings, farms, roads, and greenery going up the sides of the valley.

You look further up towards the mountain peeks that tower over the valley. Up there, snow still covers the grey rocks. Winds propel fast moving clouds so that one moment they obscure the peaks and the next they have gone.

A fjord cruise also usually involves calls in more developed towns such as Bergen, Stavanger or Trondheim. Here, the scenery acts as a backdrop to the cultural experience of seeing the Norwegian approach to life.

I have put together a photo tour section about cruising to the Norwegian fjords. The home page is at http://www.beyondships.com/Ports-Norway-fjords.html It also has separate pages for the ports of Alesund, Bergen, Flam, Geiranger, Olden, Stavanger and Trondheim. The aim is to give you a feel for the type of ports one encounters on a Norwegian fjords cruise.

Changing topics, when I am cruising, I often encounter another ship that is doing something interesting or which is in a good light and in the right position for a series of photos. One such incident occurred early one morning when I was standing on the deck of a ship and Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas came out of the morning sun and proceeded to dock at the Black Falcon cruise terminal in Boston. I have added a photo essay showing this incident to Beyondship’s Explorer of the Seas section. http://www.beyondships.com/Explorer-photos-Boston.html

Profile and Photo Tour of Ocean Princess

The usual reason why a cruise line has small ships is well as large ships in their fleet is that over the years the line has been building larger and larger ships and as a result, the older ones are now relatively smaller than the newer ones. However, this is not always the case. Princess Cruises has three small ships in its fleet that are not the result of the evolution of the line’s fleet but rather because they could offer a somewhat different cruise experience.

Ocean Princess, Pacific Princess and Royal Princess (which will be joining sister company P&O Cruises’ fleet next year as Adonia) are part of a series of eight nearly-identical ships that were originally built for Renaissance Cruises. When that line went bankrupt, other lines swooped in to add these delightful little ships to their fleets. Oceania Cruises and Azamara Club Cruises now have the others.

Oceania and Azmara use these ships to provide luxury cruises. At Princess, the three small ships adhere to the same standards as the larger ships in the Princess fleet. However, while it is a Princess cruise, it is somewhat different.

On the one hand, these ships do not have all the options that one finds on a larger ship. However, the small ships have an elegant and sophisticated atmosphere like a country club or a British country house. They are also more intimate; one can get to know a substantial percentage of the crew and the passengers.

Also, Princess does not use these ships to do the same type of cruising as its larger ships. They do longer cruises and rove the globe, often traveling to places where larger ships cannot go.

Beyondships’ profile of Ocean Princess is at http://www.beyondships.com/Princess-OP-Profile.html The multi-page photo tour begins at http://www.beyondships.com/Princess-OP-Tour-1.html and there is an interview with General Hotel Manager Daniele Cafiso in which he talks about the Ocean Princess cruise experience. http://www.beyondships.com/Princess-OP-art-HD.html