Holland America Line's New ms Eurodam to Feature New Inspired Guest Room Decor

[Jason]

Holland America Line's New ms Eurodam to Feature New Inspired Guest Room Decor

The staterooms and suites will offer a calming, more mono-chromatic design, accented with bursts of color, will replace the floral schemes used in the past. The elegantly simple design is enhanced with rich wood tones and the use of burnished nickel fixtures. Passenger corridors leading to the guest staterooms also will be decorated in the same contemporary theme.

"Holland America Line chose NB Design Group of Seattle to create this stylish new decor," said Stein Kruse, president and chief executive officer. "We sought a design firm capable of providing a fresh look while retaining a tailored, Euro-classic aesthetic. NB Design Group has succeeded wonderfully by introducing different woods and textures and fresh color combinations."

Nancy Burfiend, principal designer and founder of NB Design Group, added the intent was to transform each stateroom and suite into a calming oasis where guests could relax and rejuvenate.

"There is so much taking place aboard a cruise ship -- diverse activities, exciting dining, theater shows, and more -- that we wanted the guest rooms to reflect a soothing environment," said Burfiend. "For example, the deluxe verandah suites will feature rich walnut furniture, charcoal gray seating, crisp white draperies and a patterned gray tip sheared carpet -- accented with powder blue and citrus orange in strategic areas to add dimension and interest.

"Inside staterooms will have blond, maple-toned furniture to create a lighter environment, with the recessed area behind the beds painted sky-blue and covered by sheer curtains with a burn-out, wave pattern that allows hints of blue to show -- in effect, creating the sense of a window," Burfiend added.

The new decor will be in all staterooms on the 11-passenger deck Eurodam. For the first time on any Holland America ship, staterooms will be added to the top decks. Deck 11 just off the Crow's Nest will feature 10 verandah staterooms and, just below on Deck 10, 28 staterooms with verandahs and four, forward-facing "panorama" rooms will be located.

With one more deck than Holland America's 10-deck Vista-class ships, the Signature-class Eurodam will feature three alternative dining venues, including a new pan-Asian restaurant on Deck 10. The Explorations Cafe -- powered by The New York Times -- will be located on Deck 11 on the starboard side of the Crow's Nest.

Staterooms will feature all the Signature of Excellence premium amenities: plush Euro-top Mariner's Dream beds, deluxe waffle/terry cloth robes, Egyptian cotton towels, flat panel televisions, DVD players, make-up mirrors with halo lighting, massage shower heads, professional grade hair dryers, fresh flowers and complimentary fruit baskets.

Eurodam is scheduled to debut in June 2008 with European inaugural events and then cruise the Baltic region through the summer. The ship will then offer its first trans-Atlantic cruise and sail Canada/New England in the fall, followed by Caribbean itineraries the remainder of 2008.

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[zebra]

Professional grade hair dryers.... it's about time!!

Wow sounds like stunning decor to me!

[hazelson]

Sounds great - trouble is when I stay anywhere that looks better than my house I want to change everything when I get back home. :o)

[Joanandjoe]

We'll wait and see whether we want to go on a ship even bigger than the Noordam (but not by much). At least it's not a huge monster like the newly ordered Celebrity ships, which we wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. 2,800+ PAX ships are not for us, but we might be able to take 2,000.

As for decor, it sounds colder and more acsetic than the current HAL decor, and neither of us likes gray very much. We might or might not try the new ships. We were pleasantly surprised by Noordam, but we still felt that the ship was gigantic.

One thing we do have an opinion on, sight unseen, is the name, Eurodam. Ugh! Why not stick to the HAL tradition of place names, such as Edam (aka the big cheese). There were several "dam" good names that HAL used in the past; but they chose this ugly generic name, Eurodam, instead. What's next: Asiadam? DamCarnival? To each his own taste, I guess.