One of my biggest concerns with cruise travel is the quality of the cuisine. I’ve been to my fair share of all-inclusive resorts, and the food is almost always quantity over quality. I was pleasantly surprised by the Eurodam. My first meal onboard with Holland America Line consisted of an array of fresh seafood, including mussels and rockfish, letting me know I was going to be in for quite the treat.
The Eurodam has a wide range of restaurants, including collaborations with world-class chefs like Chef Masaharu Morimoto and Chef David Burke. I couldn’t possibly pick a favorite meal onboard, but some standouts were a fried fish sandwich in the Dining Room, crispy duck with udon noodles at Tamarind, and a perfectly cooked medium rare filet with lobster dumplings at The Pinnacle Grill.
I met with Executive Chef Natarajan Manilal, who told me they make an average of 13,000 meals a day for approximately 3,000 passengers onboard (roughly 2,100 Holland America Line customers and 900 staff members). While the quality of the cuisine was a pressing concern, I was also concerned about the waste.
Chef Natarajan showed me the cruise’s designated biodigester, a machine that breaks down waste, and essentially turns it into pellets. Anything humans can eat can go in the biodigester, but things like pineapple skin, uncooked pizza dough, and other items we typically would avoid cannot.
As for booze, drink prices added up quite quickly on a cruise. If you plan to throw a few back, it might be worth your while to invest in a drink package. I took advantage of the designated happy hour each day, and naturally signed up for not one but two wine tastings onboard, led by a master sommelier.
