Boston to New England/Canada or?

[I Luv Crusin]

I really would like to do this trip. Does anyone know when the 2014 schedule will be out?

 

If we did one way is there transportation to Montreal? I can fly non-stop to Boston and Montreal but from Quebec City it's a connection. I don't like to connect.

 

Does the 14 day round-trip from Boston follow the same itinerary going and coming?

 

How is the Veendam holding up?

 

Thanks!

[RuthC]

How is the Veendam holding up?

She's all right. She's not as nice a ship as she used to be, pre-Retreat 1.0, imo, though.

I spent 20 days on her this past January, and enjoyed the cruise. The Retreat 2.0 blocks the view from the aft Lido Deck, so it's not the quiet, peaceful area it was originally. There are other places to sit outdoor, though.

There is no aft Sea View Pool, so if that matters to you, be aware it is gone.

 

There is netting covering the beautiful overhead lamps in the dining room, which is most unattractive. It is not as obtrusive as I expected it to be, however.

 

The crew was good, although service has been better on other ships.

The service in the Pinnacle Grill was sublime.

[George C]

We also loved the Pinnacle on that ship , meal was perfect all 3 times we dinned there for dinner, would not sail her if it was a warm weather cruise since they removed the sea view pool, but other than that we enjoyed the ship.

[arewethereyet]

I really would like to do this trip. Does anyone know when the 2014 schedule will be out?

 

If we did one way is there transportation to Montreal? I can fly non-stop to Boston and Montreal but from Quebec City it's a connection. I don't like to connect.

 

Does the 14 day round-trip from Boston follow the same itinerary going and coming?

 

How is the Veendam holding up?

 

Thanks!

We did NY to Quebec on Princess 2 years ago. We took the early morning train from Quebec to Montreal and enjoyed the trip. It's a short cab ride from the berth in Quebec to the train station.

[sail7seas]

HAL may offer bus transportation in both directions, Montreal to Quebec City.

I would check on that.

 

A few times when Maasdam did not travel the river all the way to Montreal but stopped in Quebec City, HAL bussed guests.

 

[arewethereyet]

HAL may offer bus transportation in both directions, Montreal to Quebec City.

I would check on that.

 

A few times when Maasdam did not travel the river all the way to Montreal but stopped in Quebec City, HAL bussed guests.

 

Now I'm curious. Was the Maasdam scheduled to go to Montreal? I guess what I mean is, did HAL bus guests because Maasdam was prevented from reaching its disembarkation port?

[Heartfruit]

Does the 14 day round-trip from Boston follow the same itinerary going and coming?

 

Yes it does. We're going on the 14 day this summer. There seems to be lots to do in each port so being in each for two days seemed like a good thing for me. Otherwise I'd have had much much more difficulty figuring out what to do. Or I'd have ended up trying to jam too much stuff into one day.

[RuthC]

Now I'm curious. Was the Maasdam scheduled to go to Montreal? I guess what I mean is, did HAL bus guests because Maasdam was prevented from reaching its disembarkation port?

Yes. A few years ago the first several cruises could not make it to Montreal as the river was too high for the ship to pass under the bridge. The cruises ended/began in Quebec City, with HAL furnished transportion to/from the original turn-around port.

When the water level went down the cruise itinerary returned to normal.

[sail7seas]

Now I'm curious. Was the Maasdam scheduled to go to Montreal? I guess what I mean is, did HAL bus guests because Maasdam was prevented from reaching its disembarkation port?

 

Yes. A few years ago the first several cruises could not make it to Montreal as the river was too high for the ship to pass under the bridge. The cruises ended/began in Quebec City, with HAL furnished transportion to/from the original turn-around port.

 

When the water level went down the cruise itinerary returned to normal.

 

 

We had really heavy snowfall and then lots of spring rain 2011 season and the St. Lawrence water level was too high to permit Maasdam to sail under the bridge for about two or three cruises that spring season.

 

The clearance is very close.

 

[SF49erfan]

This is a great cruise. We have done it a few times. The Maasdam is our favorite ship. It begins in Boston and ends in Montreal (because of the high waters in 2011 it ended in quebec and we were bused into Montreal) The return from Montreal to Boston is the same itinerary. All in all, scenic cruising, great ports and lots of things to do.

We are on the Maasdam in 16 days and can't wait!

Enjoy!

Terry

[geoherb]

We're sailing next month on the Veendam from Quebec to Boston. I was amazed that we were able to get affordable airfare from North Carolina. (I booked each portion separately--U.S. Airways to Quebec and Southwest back home from Boston.) Several folks on our cruise will have been on from the week before. I'm looking forward to having them onboard as a resource for the ports.