Maasdam August 21 and August 28, 2010 - Hurricane Earl Cruise - Warning - Very Long

[sail7seas]

I almost never do reviews after our cruises anymore...... did way too many for too many years and I only end up repeating myself.

 

But, I saw a comment on another thread about 'bad reviews for Maasdam' and I can't let that sit without adding comments about our wonderful experience on Maasdam.

 

It isn't fair, IMO, to let someone hesitate about an upcoming cruise because no one who had a great time on a given ship or cruise took the time to say so. I know there have been some great reviews here lately and it was wonderful reading them but I only make random comments.

 

This is about the sixth year in a row we have done this Boston to Montreal to Boston b-to-b cruise. Clearly we love it or would not keep returning.

 

Our car company dropped us at Black Falcon Cruise Terminal at about 11:00. Very nice stevedore took our heavy, way too many suitcases and we only waited a few minutes until the terminal opened. We are "S" guests so have priority embarkation and we certainly got priority. We were on the ship as soon as they started embarkation. How fabulous!

 

Our cabin was exactly as it was when we left it in May. Everything was fine and air conditioning and plumbing functioned properly. While there were no rips, tears or stains, I started to feel good that she will soon get new carpets, curtains etc at her upcoming April drydock. Maybe because we have been in that cabin so very many times (this was our 24th cruise on Maasdam if I counted correctly), but it'll be fun to see some new soft goods. :)

 

There was no Suite Welcome Aboard Cocktail party as there was a very large group occupying most of the "S" suites. They had their own party so there weren't enough others of us to have a party for the handful left over. At this point, I have to say, I spoke with the concierge immediately upon hearing about this large group about which we had no previous knowledge. I fully expected all these "S" guests who were part of the same group to hang out in Neptune Lounge and have wild, laughing, loud gatherings. Our cabin is across from Neptune and I dreaded we would have a week of chaos outside our door.

 

It NEVER happened. I don't know (or care) how or why but it was outstanding we never once were bothered in any way. Kudos to Hotel Manager, Concierge, Group Leader, All of the above or just to individual members of the group. They totally 'behaved' in the most professional way and aside from the attention required to meet their needs, they never once bothered anyone not a part of their group.

 

Pinnacle was closed to Suite guests the first two mornings due to Code Orange or whatever they are calling the post embarkation period of no self service. They need the stewards from Pinnacle to assist in Lido so there is no one to serve in Pinnacle while there is no self-service breakfast in Lido. Do not be surprised if you are a Suite guest and cannot use Pinnacle for at least the first two days of your cruise.

 

Room Service breakfast used to be our favorite but we now enjoy Pinnacle breakfast more. We had Room Service the first two days as DH did not want to go to Lido.

 

The third morning, we went to Pinnacle and were amazed at the new breakfast menu available there as well as in the Main Dining Room. It is huge. If it isn't on the menu, it is an obscure thing that not very many people would be seeking. Sure, if you want to tortuously read it, I am sure someone will pipe up here.... I didn't see smoked purple, two headed blah blah blah. If you can't find a breakfast to enjoy from this menu, skip that meal and eat a bigger lunch would be my suggestion. :D

 

The Pinnacle Manager, Anca, is great. She ran that restaurant very professionally and greeted everyone very promptly and politely. It seemed to me she visited every table every meal that we were there and did all she could to please. We thought Maasdam's Pinnacle to be wonderful experience and we dined there at least four dinners in the 12 days we were aboard, many breakfasts and one or two lunches.

 

Hotel Manager, Cees Tesselaar, is new to Maasdam but has been a Hotel Manager with HAL for many years. He's very experienced and, of course, it shows. He had lots of balls to juggle and was so good at it. Always calm and collected and always time for a quick chat whenever we passed him. Delilghtful, able gentleman with whom we'd be delighted to sail again.

 

Same for Captain James Russell-Dunford. By coincidence, the only other time we sailed with him was his first ever HAL cruise. That was a long time ago, on Ryndam. It was great sailing with him again and his handling of the Hurricane Earl situation was professional, calm, reassuring and we applaud him in all respects. A very gracious gentleman IMO

 

The weather this cruise was incredible. I brought a whole duffle filled with hoodie sweatshirts, long pants for day, jackets, long sleeve jerseys..... we never wore one thing from that bag. I shouldn't have bothered to unpack it. All the way to Quebec and Montreal and back to Boston, bright sunny skies and temps in the eighties and 90 I think in Montreal. Incredible.

 

We don't do shore excursions as we've been on this itinerary so many times but each time we went ashore the shore excursion people, Lammy, Joe and Emily always greeted us, had a nice chat and were quick to answer any question we might have. They make a great team and even though we didn't use their excursions, made no difference.

 

In Bar Harbor, we walked up the hills to the park, browsed some shops we like, enjoyed the views down to the harbor, DH got his Boston Sunday Globe to read aboard and we had a great seafood lunch. Tendering was a snap and we had almost no wait going either ashore or back to the ship.

 

What was wonderful fun for us was to see a magnificent yacht anchored at Bar Harbor. By coincidence, (very long story) we happen to know the owner of this vessel, he was aboard and it was the first time we saw his $8 million incredible sailing yacht. Our tender rode relatively close to her and we got such a thrill seeing her. Later that evening, we noticed her sailing aside us en route to Halifax.

 

In Halifax, we walked and walked and loved it. It's quite level walking along the boardwalk and up on the main street. It was a glorious day and we stopped for lunch at our favorite lobster 'eatery' which has an outdoor patio right on the water. A perfect day for outdoor lunching. Had a great time and pleasant walk back past the Maritime Museum. Maasdam docked port to the dock which was fun as we got to listen to the pipers when we arrived in the morning. I still miss the Town Crier who used to read Proclamation of Welcome but he is gone now two years.

 

Sydney the next day we stayed aboard. We were lazy and spent a day enjoying Maasdam.

 

Charlottetown again was picture perfect, gorgeous day. Here I wanted to shop as I have a few stores I like, we've done the touring that interested us and it's fun to walk by Province House and government buildings. We love this port and the people here. We had a delightful day and again, lunched ashore. In PEI, you must have mussels if that is a food you enjoy. In all our travels, we have never had better than in Charlottetown. A good friend recommended a place we had never tried before and we loved their mussels...... we appreciate the excellent recommendation and very much enjoyed. A casual table at a little corner spot with very sweet server, a bit of shade, great food....... we were Very happy. :)

 

Quebec City delights us. It is so European in North America and we always look forward with anticipation to another visit and it never disappoints. Had to be about 90 degrees and bright sun. We could not dock at the usual terminal but went next door. Apparently Circque du Soleil is in town and they used the terminal building to store their equipment or that is what we were told. If that true? Beats me but that is what they said. The down side was the gangway was so steep in the morning getting off the ship, I truly was terrified going down. This has never happened to me and I am an able bodied person who does a lot of walking. No way a wheelchair could go down that gangway. I near froze frightened but made it down safely.

 

And then it was Montreal..... ahhh, Montreal. Again, we were off and doing our own thing on the same kind of gorgeous day. Who gets such weather the last week of August this far north?? Freaky weird but oh so wonderful.

 

This is quite too long as it is but way more to say.

More later.

[Himself]

Thank You for a good report. I used to run into James Russell-Dunford on the VEENDAM a long time ago. At that time he was relief Captain for the Ryndam and the Veendam.

[fuzzywuzzy]

 

And then it was Montreal..... ahhh, Montreal. Again, we were off and doing our own thing on the same kind of gorgeous day. Who gets such weather the last week of August this far north?? Freaky weird but oh so wonderful.

 

This is quite too long as it is but way more to say.

More later.

 

Thank you for a great trip review. We too love Maasdam but have never sailed this itinerary. It would be nice though as Boston isn't that far from us and to see some of our own country via cruising.

 

I just have to make a comment about your comment regarding the weather "this far north". As I am a Canadian from Ontario, this weather of hot, sunny days and even high humidity is not uncommon in the summer and fall. We have many hot summers and this summer was especially warm in August. In S. Ontario we reached 33 C which is over 90 F with humidity factors of up to 40C or over 100F. It never ceases to amaze me that there are still people who believe we live in the "frozen north" all year round.

[sail7seas]

fuzzywuzzy,

 

:) My comment is only based on my personal experience. We sail this itinerary, Boston to Montreal to Boston, every summer and we have never encountered weather of this sort. Every time we have been through Halifax, Sydney, Saint John, Charlottetown, Quebec and Montreal, we have needed any combination of long sleeve jerseys, hoodie sweatshirts and/or jackets. This time we never wore more than short sleeves ashore all day, everyday.

 

This year was extraordinarily warm in Boston. We have lived here all our lives and have no memory of ever having a summer like the one just ending.

[RetiredMustang]

...

In Halifax, we ... stopped for lunch at our favorite lobster 'eatery' which has an outdoor patio right on the water.

 

Sail,

 

Thanks for the review. We've sailed Maasdam twice a few years ago, and just booked her again for Feb. 2012. It will be nice to see her again.

 

But, before then, we are due to visit Halifax next summer on Eurodam. Would love to know the name of your lobster 'eatery' if you would like to share!:D We were there last year and enjoyed walking around, but did not stay ashore for lunch; maybe I can correct that next time.

 

Dave

[wilsonqbc]

Hello Sail, NIce to see you had the warm weather, must have been great around the aft pool in the gulf were it is usually a bit cooler,

 

Yes the Terminal in Quebec city was just booked for that week-end,

Not to store Cirque stuff, but for a special Fund raising evening. Called One Drop. they had to set thing up prior saturday evening, then take it all out on sunday. things are back to normal now, well except this friday maybe a bit of congestion again, as when they had the marathon on the sunday you were here. This friday there is a very big international bicycle race which will be also passing around this area.

[fuzzywuzzy]

fuzzywuzzy,

 

:) My comment is only based on my personal experience. We sail this itinerary, Boston to Montreal to Boston, every summer and we have never encountered weather of this sort. Every time we have been through Halifax, Sydney, Saint John, Charlottetown, Quebec and Montreal, we have needed any combination of long sleeve jerseys, hoodie sweatshirts and/or jackets. This time we never wore more than short sleeves ashore all day, everyday.

 

This year was extraordinarily warm in Boston. We have lived here all our lives and have no memory of ever having a summer like the one just ending.

 

Yes, it was extraordinarily warm most everywhere this summer.

[cruz chic]

Yes, it was extraordinarily warm most everywhere this summer.

Except in Calgary. Can you send some of that warmth here:D;)?

[happy cruzer]

Thanks for taking the time to do a review. It is delightful to see the cruise through your eyes.

[rkacruiser]

Sail,

 

Thanks for an interesting report! I sail on the Maasdam on October 9th and am looking forward to experiencing her for the first time.

 

I love mussels and would appreciate knowing the restaurant in Charlottetown where you dined, if you care to share its name.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Glad to hear Cees Tesselaar is on the Maasdam. We have sailed with him on the Ryndam and the Maasdam and think he is great at his job. He's always around the ship and very accessible and sociable.

 

Barbara

[IRL_Joanie]

Great review Sail!!

 

Joanie

[sapper1]

fuzzywuzzy,

 

:) My comment is only based on my personal experience. We sail this itinerary, Boston to Montreal to Boston, every summer and we have never encountered weather of this sort. Every time we have been through Halifax, Sydney, Saint John, Charlottetown, Quebec and Montreal, we have needed any combination of long sleeve jerseys, hoodie sweatshirts and/or jackets. This time we never wore more than short sleeves ashore all day, everyday.

 

This year was extraordinarily warm in Boston. We have lived here all our lives and have no memory of ever having a summer like the one just ending.

Normally in summer, except this one, it tends to be cool right on the coast but extremely warm inland. In fact I live only 2 miles from the port as the crow flies and even if it is 80 degrees in my back yard I take a sweater when I go near the port as it will be cool most of the time. Sometimes it is bright and sunny here and by the time I get uptown there is a shroud of cold fog sitting over the harbour.

I think sometimes the cruise passengers get their idea that we are cold most of the time because they don't venture too far from the coast.

Fortunately we have cooled off from the blast furnace type heat we had for the past few weeks.

[aliaschief]

Great review...thanks.

[sail7seas]

We always love Maasdams Main Dining Room as we think it an elegant room and love the ceiling more than the design of some others. Dining Room Manager, Johnny, kindly assigned us our table of choice and we appreciate that. He does a fabulous job and the dining room runs very smoothly. Our steward was excellent, very pleasant and we very much enjoyed seeing him each evening. Very experienced and it showed. We still enjoy that HAL has wine stewards whereas some of the lines do not. We commend the dining team who provided lovely evenings at the table.

 

For those that are interested, there was no Suite Lunch either week but DH and I don't usually go so that was fine for us.

We enjoyed the usual Suite Welcome Aboard party in Neptune Lounge our second week aboard. It was fun and we enjoyed meeting some of the guests.

 

Bartenders Ramone and Mike in Ocean Bar were terrific. We have sailed a number of times with Ramone so was great to see him again. When we are just ourselves, we are 'bar sitters' and they are so pleasant to see each evening and watch how efficiently they get those drinks made, poured into glasses and on their way to the guests. All with those bright smiles we all love. Ocean Bar is our favorite 'spot' for a cocktail and the crew there always made it so fun.

 

The first week, Mariners who held Medallions were invited to Explorer's Lounge for a few words from Captain and photos with Hotel Manager and Captain. I always like having those photos as nice memories of our cruises.

 

We were surprised to find a new menu at Mariner's Lunch. Some here have complained it was time for a change and apparently 'someone' agreed. I brought a copy home and will posts it when I dig it out from papers I collected during our cruise.

 

Our departure from the ship, of course, was earlier than planned but handled so wonderfully it was as easy for us as could possibly be arranged. I believe only about 9 or 10 cabins of guests chose to leave as soon as the Officials cleared the ship. We live very near Black Falcon Cruise Terminal so saw no sense remaining on the ship after arrival Thursday afternoon.... we would normally return early Saturday morning were it not for the predicted Hurricane. We have no quibble about the change in scheduling ands would never question safety decisions made by others with far more knowledge about such things than us. But we are grateful to those who made our debark a breeze.

 

We love Maasdam and had a wonderful time. Our next cruise on her is December and we are eager to return. If I have counted correctly, our December cruise will be our 25th Maasdam cruise. :) One could say we have a deep attachment to that ship and her crew.

 

( :) I will get the names and addresses of the restaurants for those who asked.)

[sail7seas]

And especially wonderful our cabin stewards, Hari and Nina. They are an incredible team and work so great together. They took care of our cabin in May and remembered just the way we like things. Never had to ask for a thing. They're outstanding!

[GmaPajama]

Your words of the lovely Ms Maasdam make me VERY impatient to get aboard again. Thanks for sharing your most recent experience with us. That ship is certainly a special one, and I hung on every word!

[erewhon]

sail7seas, thank you for such a positive report of your cruise. It is an itinerary that we would really like to do. The thought of such long flights to get there,is rather daunting!!

 

Your room was near the Neptune Lounge, do you ever hear noise from the Lido?

 

Also, thank you for all the cruising advice that you give to new cruisers.:)

[bobalink]

Hi Sail,

I have enjoyed reading your review. I know you love the Maasdam and the Noordam.

What features do you love about those particular ships?

 

Thanks!

[JWJs]

Sail ~ I'm glad you decided to do another review.:) Your cruise sounded lovely. So lovely that for the 1st time I believe I want to take that cruise someday. :) The Maasdam sounds like a wonderful ship.

[estebofarr]

We are booked on the Maasdam for April and as we have never done this itinerary I was hoping for some suggestions for shore excursions, either with the ship or those we could do on our own. Is there anything you would recommend doing? (Loved your review, by the way).

[dfish]

Thank you for the review. It brought back many wonderful memories from the week I spent aboard the Maasdam last September. I really enjoyed that ship and all others will have to stand up to that experience.

 

Debbie

[donaldsc]

Not long. Long is when you have 5 screens are test for each day, pictures of every meal they had, and (I kld you not) several pictures of the newspaper rack outside of their hotel.

 

DON

[hal lover]

Loved your review! Tell us more!

 

DH & I board the wonderful MS Maasdam on November 12th, and can hardly wait to be "going home".

 

I (think) this will be our 12th time on the MS Maasdam. Never gets old to us!

 

Saw your reply on another thread about your favorite HAL ship's and I'm with you! I hope to sail on the MS Noordam perhaps in the late spring. The MS Noordam was a totally different cruise experience than that of the MS Maasdam but was enjoyed!:)

 

I'm glad that you had a wonderful cruise!:)

[sail7seas]

Thanks for the nice comments. Appreciate them. :)

 

About excursions: We do not do many ship's excursions particularly on itineraries we've done repeatedly. But for this cruise, in the past we really enjoyed the Acadia National Park, Cadillac Mountain and Lobster Lunch Tour in Bar Harbor. We've lived in NE all our lives but had not seen Acadia in the past and I so loved seeing pink marble in the mountains. Who knew Maine had such a treasure? The scenery is beautiful, we had an excellent guide who did a great job with some history and 'color' and the lunch was great. We were lucky the day we went was bright and clear and looking down from up high to the harbor and Maasdam was outstanding.

 

We also enjoyed a tour we took a few years ago in Halifax that brought us to the Maritime Museum (very near where the ship docks) but also to cemetary where some of the 'lost' are buried. A cemetary may not be my usual choice of where to visit on vacation but I found this very interesting. In the same area of those graves, I roamed away a bit and saw a Greek Section, a Chinese Section, Italian etc I had no idea how diverse the population of Halifax. I was fascinated learning the way White Star Line (owners of Titanic) treated the families of those lost. Some of the stories we heard were breathtakingly horrid.

Again we had a very good guide on this tour and we did a driving tour of Halilfax and learned of the great explosion and the history of Halifax.... a view of historic homes and got a feel for this wonderful city. Halifax and Boston have always been linked but I never knew why. Every year, the nice people of Halifax send Boston a gorgeous Christmas Tree in thanks for the assistance the people/hospital/emergency services provided to Halifax at the time of that horrid explosion. All these years later, these gracious people are saying thank you. It's a terrific evening each year when that tree is officially lit in Boston.

 

Both weeks, Hotel Manager and Captain invited us to a Cocktail Party mid way through the cruise. The first was held in Crows Nest and it was wonderful. Many of the Officers came which was so nice. We knew a few from other cruises so it was nice chatting. We always enjoy those parties and appreciate when we are asked. The second week, the party was in Hudson Room (where it usually is on Maasdam) and DH went but I was with friends we were meeting for dinner in Pinnacle. We had a drink in Ocean Bar and DH joined us shortly.

 

I really enjoyed meeting Jade13 and her DH. Such a very nice couple. We've 'talked' with each other for years here on CC and it was great meeting them and coincidentally their table was very near ours in the dining room so we got to chat most evenings for at least a few minutes.

 

We loved aft pool and seeing the weather was amazing, DH came home almost as tanned as he does from a Caribbean cruise. He works outrageous hours when we are home so his time at the pool is very relaxing for him. We returned to the ship most days by 2:00 or 2:30 so he got a good mix of exercise and enjoyment ashore, seafood lunch each day, and then back to the ship for some lounge chair in the sun time. :)

 

We particularly enjoy this itinerary because of the beautiful scenery as we sail the St. Lawrence. This cruise, Captain James brought us to a gorgeous, very small island in the middle of the river. I listened carefully to him as he described this islands as one of the most treasured bird estuaries with a great many species. He stopped the ship for a few minutes so we could get a good view and it was such a treat. I kept trying to hear the name of the island as I wanted to read more about it when we got home but I never clearly understood as the speaker system wasn't as clear as I would have liked. With binoculars, DH and I loved this treat and thank Captain for it.

 

Sitting in the dining room as it got dark but curtains open to see the lights on shore is beautiful.... we are second seating and love seeing all the shore lights visible for many miles sailing on the river.

 

This is a pretty part of the world and there is something for everyone to enjoy.

 

Maasdam is a very special ship and we are drawn back to her again and again. We cross the gangway and know we are in 'our place' where it just feels right. We have never been on a HAL ship we didn't like but there are special ships for some of us and Maasdam and Noordam are ours.

 

I stated earlier in this review our next cruise on Maasdam was to be our 25th but I was wrong. I verified on our Mariners History and it is to be our 30th Maasdam cruise. (After that, we have three more Maasdam cruises already booked. :) ) For anyone to return to a ship so many times, that ship has to have a great deal of meaning for them and that is the case for us.

 

Can't wait to cross Maasdam's gangway again. :)