On our first Holland America cruise (to Alaska), we noted that a lot of the advertised daily activities were actually sales pitches for the various onboard shops, and art auctions. That said, HAL also offered lots of trivia and games (many of which involved needing a low cost ticket in order to be eligible for prizes), and a rather good pre-recorded series of EXCTalks (like TED talks) narrated by the Cruise Director.

There’s a casino on board too, although that’s not our thing.

Live music starts after 5 p.m., with a single bar (Ocean) offering a couple of sets by a live jazz-ish trio, and then in the 2 main music venues running from 8:00 p.m. until around midnight.

The evening shows, repeated twice nightly in recognition of the larger number of passengers, are split fairly evenly between glitzy production shows, musical acts, and comedians. Stand-up comedy is not really to our taste, but we recognize that most folks enjoy it. On comedy nights, we can choose to head for the live music venues early.

I’ll be attending all of the EXCTalks, continuing what I started yesterday, and Ted and I typically go to all the evening shows (even the comedians – because we can always sneak out if we don’t like it), after which we try to hit a music venue to finish our evening before I retire to a quiet corner to complete the day’s blog and Ted gets caught up on news..

On our first night on board, we enjoyed the classical pianist Hyperion Knight (yup, his Berkley California hippie parents really named him Hyperion !) at the 9 p.m. show, and then just headed straight back to our room, inexplicably tired.

Last night was the first show by the ship’s own entertainment crew in a show called All That, billed as a musical variety show without commercials. It was cute, but not up to the professional calibre of the production shows on Viking or Princess, and not nearly as good as the shows we saw on Holland America’s pinnacle class ships (with their amazing wraparound stage configuration) on our last 2 cruises with them. Production shows, of course, are only as good as their cast, and some vocal and dance groups just seem to gel better than others.

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Tonight was a comedian, Vince Acevedo.

The theatre on the Eurodam is beautiful, as is the rest of the ship. It’s an “older” ship, and the theatre reflects an era of elegance: three curved tiers of deep red leather seats with wood trim and armrests, and sweeping staircases. I’m finding myself hoping that when they refurbish (due in a year or so) they keep these classic elements.

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Of course, the highlight of any cruise – after the destinations themselves – is the food. Again, we got crazily spoiled by Viking (Food Porn), but we’ve also had some really delicious meals on both Princess and Holland America, and are looking forward especially to our dinner in Tamarind later on this cruise.

My lunch today was from the Dive In: curry wurst, fries, and Prosecco – the classic German combination of street food with sparkling wine. Ted’s was a custom-made jalapeño and pineapple pizza from New York Deli. Those two dishes represent both of the pool-side fast food restaurants on the Eurodam.

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Tonight’s dinner was again at a shared table. The dining room was uncharacteristically dark, making food photos difficult.

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Tomorrow we reach Santa Barbara, California, and a chance to get off the ship for a few hours and explore the waterfront area.