Maasdam 6/6-6/20, the good, the bad, the ugly

[nw gardener]

First, a little about us..myself and DH and another couple [nabors] just returned and I thought I'd share my thoughts and experience. This was our second HAL cruise [1st was last summer on the Westerdam to AK] and we have done several Ak cruises in the past on NCL and Celebrity. Since we live close to the BC border, we cruise out of Vancouver and Seattle, but this was the first 2 week cruise for us and the Maasdam is the smallest cruise ship to date.

So my title is a little incorrect, only bad was me! I put together a last minute M&G for our roll call in the Crow's nest on the second day and tried to make sure there was no conflicts. Turns out trivia was at the same time and that was difficult to compete with, apologies to my roll call members! Other than that, there was definitely no other bad or ugly to this cruise, had a fantastic time!! I saved all the dailies and would be happy to answer any questions, but I don't have great internet at home so won't attempt to post photos, etc.

Embarkation/disembarkation/ship - very quick and smooth on both ends but being the only ship in port and only 1134 passengers does help. The ship itself was wonderful, very good condition for an older ship and I like the decor of older ships. We had a lanai cabin and loved it, very easy to get out and enjoy the promenade and walk, no A/C or plumbing issues. I loved the size of the ship, and would cruise again on the Maasdam with no hesitation. The weather was unbelievable which certainly helps, we were blessed. Very calm seas besides all that sun!

Dining: We ate breakfast and lunch in the Lido a couple of times, Dive-in once, but the rest of our meals in the Rotterdam. A few minor misses but overall very happy with the meals, dining staff, and food offerings and my waist line proves it! We did anytime dining and usually went 5:30 or 6 to make it to the early show and never had to wait for a table. Our only specialty meal was at Canaletto and that was the only miss, the main course was served lukewarm.

Service: This is where the Maasdam shines, loved the crew and great service at every level.

More to continue later with ports, still playing catch-up at home!

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have done your 14 cruise a couple of times -- on the Amsterdam.

We do not care for the Canaletto -- did it twice -- the worse was on the Maasdam.

Looking forward to your port reviews.

Glad you had good weather.

[Crazy For Cats]

Thanks for sharing. I look forward to your future updates. We will be on the Maasdam July 4.

[oaktreerb]

What would you recommend as a good time for the meet and greet on the first sea day? Can you post the schedule for that first sea day? I hesitate to sign up for meet and greets because frequently they are held at the same time as another activity that I want to attend! I am assuming that the activity schedule will not change from cruise to cruise on this itinerary.

 

Thanks for reporting on your cruise.

[Clarea]

Appreciate the report.

[lazey1]

Which nights are the "Gala" nights?

[Bailey & Sophie]

First, a little about us..myself and DH and another couple [nabors] just returned and I thought I'd share my thoughts and experience. This was our second HAL cruise [1st was last summer on the Westerdam to AK] and we have done several Ak cruises in the past on NCL and Celebrity. Since we live close to the BC border, we cruise out of Vancouver and Seattle, but this was the first 2 week cruise for us and the Maasdam is the smallest cruise ship to date.

So my title is a little incorrect, only bad was me! I put together a last minute M&G for our roll call in the Crow's nest on the second day and tried to make sure there was no conflicts. Turns out trivia was at the same time and that was difficult to compete with, apologies to my roll call members! Other than that, there was definitely no other bad or ugly to this cruise, had a fantastic time!! I saved all the dailies and would be happy to answer any questions, but I don't have great internet at home so won't attempt to post photos, etc.

Embarkation/disembarkation/ship - very quick and smooth on both ends but being the only ship in port and only 1134 passengers does help. The ship itself was wonderful, very good condition for an older ship and I like the decor of older ships. We had a lanai cabin and loved it, very easy to get out and enjoy the promenade and walk, no A/C or plumbing issues. I loved the size of the ship, and would cruise again on the Maasdam with no hesitation. The weather was unbelievable which certainly helps, we were blessed. Very calm seas besides all that sun!

Dining: We ate breakfast and lunch in the Lido a couple of times, Dive-in once, but the rest of our meals in the Rotterdam. A few minor misses but overall very happy with the meals, dining staff, and food offerings and my waist line proves it! We did anytime dining and usually went 5:30 or 6 to make it to the early show and never had to wait for a table. Our only specialty meal was at Canaletto and that was the only miss, the main course was served lukewarm.

Service: This is where the Maasdam shines, loved the crew and great service at every level.

More to continue later with ports, still playing catch-up at home!

We were on this same cruise. LOVELY.

We tried to get to the M&G but were a little late. When we arrived Trivia was going on and thought I had mis-read the meeting time so we left. Thanks for all the work you put into it.

We also had a lanai room. It was so nice jumping out of bed and having a fabulous view with minimal effort! We would get one again in a heartbeat.

[Loreto]

I recommended this sailing to friends...I really talked it up, as I have done this itinerary 3 times and have sailed on the Maasdam twice. They returned...and...they had a fantastic time, coupled with great weather!:) I was greatly relieved!!! I asked what made it special, and they said, "The crew." Another happy sailing couple!

 

Karen

[nw gardener]

What would you recommend as a good time for the meet and greet on the first sea day? Can you post the schedule for that first sea day? I hesitate to sign up for meet and greets because frequently they are held at the same time as another activity that I want to attend! I am assuming that the activity schedule will not change from cruise to cruise on this itinerary.

 

Thanks for reporting on your cruise.

If you want to have your meet in the Crow's nest, 10 or 10:30 had nothing scheduled and the no host bar would be open then too [ship provided coffee,tea, and cookies]. Trivia was for an hour at 11:00, then nothing else until 2:00 for a dance class. Being a sea day, and first day, the ship did have a lot of things scheduled with most things starting at 10 am, with the least amount of things going on during normal meal times.

[nw gardener]

Which nights are the "Gala" nights?

3 Gala nights, first sea day, Tuesday; the next sea day - Sunday as we sailed toward Anchorage; then the last sea day, Saturday as we sailed toward Victoria.

[KirkNC]

Glad you had a great cruise! Never mess with trivia! :p

[nw gardener]

Entertainment: We went to all the shows featuring the Maasdam singers and dancers and enjoyed them, we thought quite good for a smaller ship. There were also a comedian John Joseph [did not attend], sax artist Craig Richard [did not attend], gymnast Lance Ringnald [very good], magician Fred Moore [did not attend], comedian Lee Bayless [very good], singer Bobby Brooks Wilson [very good]. We spent a lot of time in the Crows nest and Gen and the Hal Cats band played there almost every evening. The band was very good, Gen's voice was a tad off, but by the end of happy hour she sounded better :) ! There are of course your normal spa seminars, art auctions, computer classes, and culinary classes to attend. There was the Neptunes in the Ocean Bar, guitarist Jack in the Mix, Adagio in the Explorer's lounge, and Justin Abrams -piano, in the Mix as well, so plenty to do if you choose. But the best show on this cruise is the itinerary, looking out the windows to watch for whales and enjoy the scenery. Very good for the soul!

[nw gardener]

Ports: We normally DIY for ports for all our cruises unless there is somewhere we want to go that will be a time constraint. We did not book anything thru HAL this time although once we got on board and discovered the weather was going to be great in Anchorage, we were willing to bite the bullet and book the flight seeing tour to Denali but it was booked full with a long waiting list. 1st stop/Ketchikan. We shopped, we walked, we spent some time in the Arctic Bar and watched workers start fixing the damaged pier, and ate lunch in Burger Queen [great burgers, fantastic onion rings!]. Rather than repeat the weather for every port, sunny and warm for all but Sitka [overcast] and Icy Straight [clouds and sun].

2nd stop/Tracy Arm - or not due to too much ice - so went up Endicott Arm instead and we got close to the glacier, fantastic photo ops from start to finish that day- got a picture of a brown bear on shore and an eagle trying to take a new born seal pup from mom on an small iceberg.

3rd stop/Juneau. Not raining, so we jumped on the white bus and out to Mendenhall glacier to do some hiking and walked out to Nugget Falls as well. Came back into town to catch a late lunch at the Hangar and got a sunburn [who would have believed that? in Juneau!] while watching the sea planes land and take off. Then wandered around town and did a little more shopping and back on board for dinner.

4th stop/Icy Straight. We got off the ship early and 1st thing we saw were 2 humpback whales right by the ship dock and walking path that leads up to the shops and museum. We then grabbed the $10 shuttle up into Hoonah and walked around town and the harbor, then back to the cruise port through the fishing museum [very nice], shops, then took a hike along the beach. Very nice day.

5th day/cruising toward Anchorage. In Anchorage itself the next day, went to the Anchorage museum [very nice, great native displays], grabbed some lunch, then did the red trolley around town which is nice to get a good overall lay of the city.

6th stop/Homer - our favorite stop, great place to shop ladies [and gents :) ] Took the Homer hop on/hop off trolley, driver very knowledgeable about Homer too, then back to the spit. Saw the Fisherman's memorial, and finished up walking some of the harbor to look at boats -the Time Bandit was not in port :(.

7th stop/Kodiak - we had a semi-private tour with Janet of Kodiak Island Van tours, and she drove us all over! to see wildlife. At this time of year, I was not expecting to see bear, but did see deer, bald eagles, salmon, and sea otters. Saw quite a bit of the drive able part of the island during our too short stay!

8th stop/Hubbard glacier - have not had the luck on 2 previous visits to see it in sunshine but this time it did not disappoint!. The captain got us close and we were in front of the glacier for well over 1.5 hours, just breath taking! Saw some calving and the loud cracks and noise from the glacier was outstanding.

9th stop/Sitka - we had another private tour with Gary Downey, a young captain and local who just started his business last year. 27' alum. boat and he took us all over in and out small bays and saw deer, eagles, salmon by the fish hatchery, and sea otters. Very nice guy and will go with him again whenever we go back, he does fishing trips as well so that might be the next thing we try in Sitka. We walked around town after our 3 hour boat ride.

10th and final stop :( Victoria. We live close and visit a lot so we just walked around town a bit and the sea wall. Loved the itinerary and stops overall, and most ports had plenty of time to do what we wanted, we will try to do this again in 2018.

[nw gardener]

For my final thoughts/opinion- We met a lot of wonderful people on the cruise, discovered we LOVE longer cruises, and feel re-charged and energized after our trip. Really enjoyed this cruise in particular, only one better for us was our extended family cruise several years ago, but this one was great! Fantastic crew, unbeatable weather, great ship = vacation to remember. Don't sweat the small stuff, relax, and enjoy your cruise folks - we are blessed that we able to do this!

[cvpends]

Thank you for your review!!!

 

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

[EbayCruiser]

Thank you for the nice review!

 

We are anxiously awaiting our upcoming cruise on her in August. :)

[joekerstef]

We were on this same cruise. LOVELY.

We tried to get to the M&G but were a little late. When we arrived Trivia was going on and thought I had mis-read the meeting time so we left. Thanks for all the work you put into it.

We also had a lanai room. It was so nice jumping out of bed and having a fabulous view with minimal effort! We would get one again in a heartbeat.

 

We also got there a little late and trivia was happening. Couldn't tell who was meeting and greeting and who was playing trivia so we grabbed a couple cookies and listened to the rest of trivia. Wound up meeting a couple playing trivia who became buddies during the rest of the cruise though. :)

 

for oaktreerb -- whatever time your m&g happens on your cruise, name tags might be helpful to be able to identify other people.

Edited June 24, 2016 by joekerstef

[JimAOk1945]

Thanks for your review. We are looking forward to being on the Maasdam in August!

[SightCRR]

nw gardener,

Thanks for your great review. Do you remember what time was the earliest you could get off the ship in Anchorage. We are thinking of a trip out of town. The schedule says 0700-2300 but in the past it seemed that we arrived later. Thanks, sightcrr.

[nw gardener]

nw gardener,

Thanks for your great review. Do you remember what time was the earliest you could get off the ship in Anchorage. We are thinking of a trip out of town. The schedule says 0700-2300 but in the past it seemed that we arrived later. Thanks, sightcrr.

This captain seems to go by the old adage , early is on time. We got in early or on time to every port [although a couple ports by the time ramps were ready and ship was cleared it was up to 30 minutes before we could actually disembark]. Only one port we left 15 minutes late due to waiting for a tour, all other ports left early as well. I admit I did sleep in :) at Anchorage but got a little after 7 and saw that folks were just starting to get off. Back on board time for all stops was 30 minutes before departure.

[Shebba]

Thank you so very much for this review. We will be leaving July 4th for our cruise on the Maasdam. So excited!