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Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 11/2/19 Chris Dikmen & Rickee Richardson 11/2/19

Eurodam. Sailing south from Vancouver with great entertainment and excellent food.

“I guarantee you, we have the best live music at sea.”

— Rubin Kooiman

By John and Sandra Nowlan

A possible exaggeration from Rubin Kooiman, the genial Hotel Director of Holland America’s 2100 passenger cruise ship, Eurodam. But with 11 days ahead of us, we were looking forward to seeing if his boast was valid.

In recent years, Holland America has evolved its live music program on several older ships and on its newest vessels, Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam. The Music Walk is a series of Deck Two venues added to Eurodam in 2015 that run the gamut from hard rock to blues, from Top 40 to classical.

As on all large cruise ships, Eurodam, launched in 2008, has a main theatre where a team of talented dancers present several different Broadway-style productions each cruise with dazzling special effects from the background light curtains. On our cruise from Vancouver to San Diego, with three stops in Mexico, we also had main stage solo acts, usually from singers and pianists, accompanied by a live band.

But the Music Walk is what sets Holland America apart. Every evening there were several choices for live music, always with a large, appreciative audience. The loudest was the BB King’s Blues Club with a full band and soloists belting standards from the Blues repertoire. Next door was Billboard Onboard, twin pianos played by a pair of singers who know the Billboard charts through the decades and can handle almost any request. On the two newest, slightly bigger HAL ships there’s an additional venue for the high volume Rolling Stone Rock Room.

Stunning Special Effects in Eurodam Theatre.

Our favorite Music Walk venue was the Lincoln Center Stage, located towards the stern of the ship, with two or more concerts each day featuring a pianist and an exquisite string quartet – cello, viola and two violinists. Each player, a recent graduate of a top American music school, was obviously a skilled professional with a wide repertoire ranging from the classical standards – Bach, Schuman, Beethoven – to Leonard Bernstein, the Beatles and Freddy Mercury. Judging by the enthusiastic overflow crowds for each Lincoln Center performance, the smallish room used by the quintet needs to be expanded in the future.

A dynamic quintet perform at Lincoln Center Stage.

No expansion is needed in the Eurodam’s generous dining areas. The ship may be American-owned and registered in the Netherlands but the Asian food, in particular, has to be among the tastiest and most creative of any cruise line. The Lido Buffet, on Deck 9, always has a good selection of Thai, Indian or Japanese food at lunch or dinner but the best venue is Tamarind on Deck 11. This extra cost ($25 per person) restaurant in a quiet, secluded section of the ship, has charming Indonesian servers and a menu filled with visual and tasty delights - Shrimp Tempura, Shanghai Ribs, a spicy Satay Sampler, and for mains, Lime Glazed Sea Bass or Wasabi and Soy Crusted Beef Tenderloin.

Tamarind was also the location of a special Asian dinner, prepared by Japanese Sushi Master Chef Andy Matsuda from Holland America’s Culinary Council. It was a five course feast, imaginative sushi of course but also included a delectable Sashimi Style Tuna Trio and Grilled Scallops Dengaku. Each course was accompanied by high end wines.

Grilled Scallops Dengaku, from Chef Andy's Special Asian Dinner.

The two other extra cost dining rooms are Pinnacle Grill, the ship’s top quality steakhouse and Canaletto, an Italian specialty restaurant.

Along with the rarely crowded Lido Buffet, the cost-included main dining room covers two floors at the rear of the ship and, on our 11 day cruise, had varied and interesting fare each evening. We were impressed. Covered with white cloths, the tables for two, four, six or eight guests have well trained, friendly waiters who presented menus with selections like Surf & Turf (tender and delicious lobster and beef), BBQ ribs, veal cutlet or chicken parmigiana The fish, especially the fresh wahoo the chef picked up in San Diego, was particularly good. Of course, vegetarian options were always available. Our only disappointment in the main dining room was with the Mexican food, offered for a couple of evenings while we were cruising along the Mexican Riviera. Very bland compared with the real thing.

With very few miscues, cuisine is obviously very important on Eurodam. During the day, the BB King’s Blues Club is converted into America’s Test Kitchen where chefs prepare special dishes before an appreciative audience and answer questions about their techniques. Master Chef Andy showed off his sushi skills with a whimsical Panda Face roll.

Our itinerary included five sea days giving us the opportunity to fully explore the ship. From pickleball and shuffleboard courts on the top deck to the two swimming pools, observation lounges with a library, computer center, lecture rooms and a smoke-free casino, there was always something to do.

We boarded Eurodam in Vancouver, one of the most livable, picturesque cities in North America. It has an excellent cruise port facility at Canada Place and. as expected, boarding the ship was easy and efficient.

After two busy sea days we anchored off the charming California city of Santa Barbara where Eurodam’s lifeboat tenders were used to take guests ashore. This was the first of two tendering stops, both of which seemed to have delays and logistical problems.

Next day, on the pier in San Diego, we found a nearby hop-on, hop-off trolley which gave us an excellent overview of this attractive city with its palm lined boulevards. A highlight was crossing the two mile long Coronado Bridge. We can only be envious of San Diego’s semi-tropical, year-round sunny weather.

In the San Diego Trolley. Crossing the Coronado Bridge.

The Mexican Riviera offered guests a trio of fascinating cities, each with its own special attributes. Cabo San Lucas is a resort destination at the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula. It was another port requiring a tender (with delays). The city of 80,000, one of the Top Five Mexican tourist destinations, is in a beautiful Pacific setting with pristine beaches alternating with rugged cliffs.

Mazatlan, population 500,000, is slightly off the Mexican tourist radar and thus more authentic with many colonial buildings. Its colorful waterfront walk is filled with sculptures and souvenir shops. As a thrill for tourists, daring young men dive into shallow water from a 50 foot high rock.

Colorful Souvenir Shops in all Mexican towns.

Our last Mexican port, the tourist hot spot of Puerto Vallarta. has a magnificent beach setting flanked by lush, palm-covered mountains. We chose a spirit and food tour where the chefs made us complex cocktails using raicilla, a cousin of tequila, also made from agave. This was followed by some authentic Mexican food – spicy and tasty. .

Mixing a Raicilla Cocktail in Puerto Vallarta.

As we sailed north towards San Diego and disembarkation we were glad we splurged for a Signature Suite, the lowest of three suite categories. We had a large room with plenty of storage space, a generous balcony, a huge 50 inch flat screen TV with plenty of channel and movie choices (including MSNBC, Fox News and BBC News) and, best of all, a large bathroom with twin sinks, a Jacuzzi tub and a separate shower. We were spoiled and would probably upgrade again.

At the start of the cruise, the Eurodam Hotel Director told us he’d guarantee the best live music at sea. He was right. But with the ship emerging from dry dock in 2015 and with continuing improvements since then, we’d say his prideful boast could be accurate about several other areas of this sophisticated vessel.

John and Sandra Nowlan are travel and food writers based in Halifax.

Photos by John and Sandra Nowlan

John & Sandra Nowlan 9/27/19 John & Sandra Nowlan 9/27/19

Queen Victoria. A Cunard European Wine Cruise. Tasteful Elegance.

Our fourteen day “Voyage du Vin” on Cunard’s Queen Victoria left Southampton and headed south towards some of the prime grape growing areas in Spain, Italy and France.

By John and Sandra Nowlan

Samuel Cunard would be very pleased with a cruise that focused on vineyards and wine. According to Cunard historian John Langley, the Canadian-born founder of the famous shipping and cruise line was probably a teetotaler. But the steamship pioneer saw the virtue (and profit potential) of stocking even his early paddle wheelers with fine wines from Europe.

Our fourteen day “Voyage du Vin” on Cunard’s Queen Victoria left Southampton and headed south towards some of the prime grape growing areas in Spain, Italy and France. Ahead of us were tours of some outstanding European vineyards, guest speakers with broad knowledge of wines, elaborate dinners with matching wines for each course and onboard tasting sessions featuring many of the best of the more than 400 wines from the Queen Victoria’s extensive cellars.

Arriving in England a day in advance we stayed at a Cunard-recommended hotel, Chewton Glen, a magnificent Relais and Chateaux historic inn adjacent to the New Forest and close to the port of Southampton. With sumptuous surroundings and some of the best seafood we’ve ever enjoyed, we felt totally pampered.

Boarding the Queen Victoria the next day was quick and efficient. The elegant grand lobby led to many spacious public rooms designed for comfort and convenience. The centerpiece is the huge Queens Room, used for big band dancing, afternoon teas, concerts with the resident string trio or guests like the outstanding classical guitarist, Carlos Bonell, daily exercise classes (like line dancing and aerobics) and formal receptions on gala nights.

The 730 seat Royal Court Theatre is designed to look like a large, historic London West End playhouse with comfortable, red velvet seats, great sight lines and even 16 private boxes along the sides. Unlike many cruise lines, Cunard emphasizes live music and employs two orchestras (one in the theatre and one in the Queens Room) along with a talented ensemble of ten dancers and four vocalists who present six different, complex song and dance shows over the course of the cruise plus a full length play (in our case, it was Neil Simon’s witty California Suite). The musical highlight was a brand new staging of the award-winning West End tap dancing musical, Top Hat, based on the 1935 movie starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Marvelous entertainment with familiar Irving Berlin tunes.

Every day, in addition to the wine themes, there were dozens of choices of things to do (from sporting challenges like darts, ping pong, shuffleboard and fencing to trivia, art and bridge classes to guest speakers on a wide variety of subjects like astronomy, climate change and the Royal Family). If guests prefered to read and relax, the 6,000 volume library (covering two decks via a spiral staircase) is one of the best at sea.

On most cruise ships, the main buffet restaurant is usually crowded and unappealing. On Queen Victoria, the Lido (covering the back half of Deck 9) was never crowded and offered a wide variety of British and international dishes. In fact some guests told us they preferred to dine each day in the Lido rather than the more formal Britannia dining room on decks two and three. As most cruise lines become more casual, Cunard alone retains the tradition of requiring men to wear a jacket (tie optional) each night at dinner and, for several formal nights each cruise, a dark suit, tuxedo or dinner jacket. Clearly, Cunard guests love to dress up. One guest from Wales told us the formal nights were great because they reflected the ship’s opulence and style.

*Lido Buffet. Large and usually uncrowded*

After a day at sea, our Voyage du Vin began in earnest. The Queen Victoria docked in Vigo, Northern Spain, and we chose a tour to the Galician wine region. The normally damp, cool climate produces some wonderful white grape varieties, especially the Albarino. To avoid rotting on the wet ground, grape vines are supported by wooden or cement pilings, sometimes a couple of yards high.

*Vineyard in Galician Region of Spain. High enough to provide shade*

Over the course of the cruise, several wine experts gave talks and hosted opulent dinners in the Verandah Restaurant. One evening we chose a Bordeaux theme dinner with Wall Street Journal and Sunday Times wine writer Will Lyons. At a “nominal” extra cost of $US 230, the chef went all out with his cuisine (Gin & Tonic Smoked Salmon, Tea-smoked Duck Breast, Dry Aged Black Angus Beef Fillet and a decadent Strawberry Pavlova dessert) while Will Lyons introduced our seven Bordeaux classic wines including Chateau La Fleur des Graves Blanc, Chateau l’Evangile Pomerol, Chateau Magdelaine Grand Cru Classé and, for dessert, Chateau d’Yquem, 1996. Excellent food and high end wines

Our next stop was in Mallorca, Spain, where our tour took us to small, rural winery run by a family proud of its botanical garden (exotic cactus) and historic farm implements. Seated in the garden along two long tables, we were served several excellent Mallorcan white and red wines along with an outstanding sweet wine.

Following another activity-filled day at sea we docked in La Spezia, Italy (unremarkable since it was reconstructed after heavy bombing in World War Two) but, like many tourists, headed for nearby Pisa and its famous Leaning Tower (now leaning less, thanks to clever engineering). But Italian wine beckoned as our tour then proceeded to a 17th Century farmhouse in Tuscany where the wine maker provided generous samples of his excellent vintages along with snacks and cheese.

*Italian Wine Samples in 17th Century Farmhouse*

In Cannes, France, we had to anchor the Queen Victoria and use lifeboat tenders to reach the port. We’d seen the glamorous film city before and opted for a tour to Old Antibes, an ancient town dating back to the Iron Age. The town has an excellent Picasso Museum and includes the largest yachting harbour in Europe. We enjoyed the lively provincial market, including colourful spice shops, reminiscent of Istanbul.

After docking in Barcelona, another non-wine tour took us to the old Roman city of Terragona. Its amphitheatre dates from the second century while the impressive town cathedral was begun in 1154. There are lots of tourists in Terragona…and lots of pickpockets.

Back on board Queen Victoria, we chose another opulent, extra cost dinner, this time focusing on Italian wines. Our host and wine guide was Canadian Master of Wine, David Gleave. For our “nominal” $US 130 we had another superb dinner featuring Herb Gnocchi, Smoked Venison Carpaccio and Chateaubriand. Our favourite wines among the eight served were a dry, well-balanced La Rocca Pieropan, a 2016 Fontodi Chianti Classico and a 2014 Barolo Aldo Conterno.

*Smoked Venison Carpaccio. Italian Dinner*

Our final Cunard tour, before sailing back to Southampton, was from the fascinating port of Gibraltar We left the British Territory, crossed the airport runway (traffic stops when planes come and go) and entered Spain again. Our destination was a cork and cattle ranch where the friendly owner showed us how cork is stripped from the trees every nine years and then regenerates. The main use is for wine stoppers but purses, hats and toys can also be made from the material. With screw caps becoming more common, the cork farm owner is trying to diversify and use his acreage as a wedding venue and a kind of cork theme park with animals and educational exhibits.

Arriving back in Southampton was as seamless and efficient as embarkation. This Voyage du Vin was an excellent way to combine traditional Cunard hospitality with increased knowledge of and enjoyment of wines. Next year Cunard is planning its “Food and Wine” event aboard the Cunard flagship Queen Mary 2 as it crosses from Southampton to New York in June. Like this year, the crossing will feature many wine-focused events and expert speakers. Samuel Cunard would be delighted.

Photos by John and Sandra Nowlan