Live from Veendam; Montreal to Boston

[Copper10-8]

Day 0 – 07/01/16; Los Angeles to Montreal, Quebec, Canada;

The alarm clock sounded bright and early at 0500 hrs. We both got ready since we had a scheduled 0700 pick-up by Yellow Cab. Time to say aux revoir to Stiv, our cat who was not a happy camper. Luckily for him, Maria’s Mum will spend the nights and give him some needed attention.

 

We arrived at LAX’ Terminal #2 around 0740 and encountered long lines for check-in at Air Canada which had chosen the Fourth of July weekend, always one of the busiest travel weekends of the year, to ‘man’ their ticker counter with a grand total of three agents! Awwwwrighty then! Luckily for us the Business class counter had one of those agents and we only had three fellow travelers in front of us. Through security and “TSA” and we had an approx. one hour to wait for boarding. Up to the ‘Maple Leaf’ Lounge for a continental breakfast.

 

Boarding Air Canada’s Airbus A320 went as scheduled and we were ‘wheels up’ at 1015 hrs. and ‘feet wet’ shortly after. After the 180 turn, the route would take us just north of Vegas, Nevada, over Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, across some of the Great Lakes, crossing the border into Canada on Canada Day :), and then eastbound to Montreal in four hours and forty-five minutes. Had some bumps, rain and gray skies on the way down, as it appears a thunderstorm had just preceded us. As a matter of fact, once on the ground we had to wait for about 35 min on the tarmac as the captain announced that Montreal-Dorval Pierre Trudeau International Airport was still on a complete ‘ground stop’ (all outbound flights going nowhere from their gates) until the storm had passed. Once that stop was lifted, the outbound aircraft at our gate was pushed back and we could park.

 

Immigration check at Pierre Trudeau was a breeze with automated machines that scanned your passport and Canada Borders immigration form, followed by spitting out a printed copy. That was followed by a short question/answer session with a friendly Canada Borders agent. We picked up our luggage after a short delay, again having to do with the ground stop and we’re off on a search mission to find the shuttle that would take us to our hotel in Dorval. 20 min later we were standing at the front counter of the Hampton Inn by Hilton Montreal-Dorval and got checked in. Tomorrow is embarkation day for the good old Veendam

[Cruising-along]

Will be following! Have a great cruise. :)

[heron45]

Looking forward to reading future posts. We will be on the Veendam in October.

[Cruise_More_Often]

Following along, too. We'll be doing this cruise next May.

 

Thank you for taking the time to do this. :)

[Mtn2Sea]

Looking forward to hearing all about your cruise. Hope the two of you have a fantastic time!

[canadianbear]

Have a great time!

[TiogaCruiser]

Following too. Have a great time!

[chefestelle]

Thanks for doing this review! I'll be eagerly awaiting each instalment.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[jnc411]

Look forward to following your trip. Out daughter and friend are on the ship also, also from the LA area. They left on Wed. to spend a little he in Montreal. Have a great cruise.

Cori

[bphman]

Keep me posted. We sail on July 9th.

[erewhon]

Kia Ora,

Looking forward to your next posts.

We have always experienced friendly polite agents at the Canadian borders.

Wishing you a superb cruise.

[ger_77]

Welcome to Canada and Bon Voyage !!

 

Smooth Sailing ! :) :) :)

Gerry

[RMLincoln]

Thanks for bringing us along John! Bon Voyage, m--

[KNOT2L82SAIL]

Have a great cruise, Copper 10-8. Veendam is nice ship, just not a favorite for me. LOL

Hopefully you will not be too 10-6 and can do some posting. :)

[calteacher]

So glad to read about your experiences as we hope to be on the Veendam one year from now cruising from Montreal to Boston. Would love to see some pictures. Bon Voyage.

[puppycanducruise]

Looking forward to reading all about your cruise.

Thanks for taking us along.

Hope you have a great time.

[jbhcw]

Thanks for taking us along:) Have a wonderful cruise:)

[Copper10-8]

Day 1 – 07/02/16; Montreal, Quebec, Canada; Montreal is the most populous city in Canada’s province of Quebec as well as the second most populous municipality in Canada. Originally called ‘Ville-Marie’, or "City of Mary," the city is named after the most prominent geographical feature on the namesake island, the triple-peaked hill in the heart of the city called Mount Royal, topped at 232 meters above sea level.

 

Montreal is located in the southwest of the province of Quebec. The city covers most of the Island of Montreal at the confluence of the Saint Lawrence and Ottawa Rivers. The port of Montreal lies at one end of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, the river gateway that stretches from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. Montreal is defined by its location between the Saint Lawrence river to its south and the Riviere des Prairies to its north.

The city is at the center of the Montreal Metropolitan Community, and is bordered by the city of Laval to the north; Longueuil, Saint-Lambert, Brossard, and other municipalities to the south; Repentigny to the east and the West Island municipalities to the west. The Anglophone enclaves of Westmount, Montreal West, Hampstead, Cote Saint-Luc, the Town of Mount Royal and the Francophone enclave of Montreal East are all surrounded by Montreal. It has a distinct four-season continental climate with warm to hot summers and cold snowy winters.

 

French is the city's official language and is the language spoken at home by 56.9% of the population of the city, followed by English at 18.6% and 19.8% other languages. Montreal is one of the most bilingual cities in Quebec and Canada with 56% of the population able to speak both English and French. The city is also the second largest primarily French-speaking city in the world, after Paris, France.

 

Historically the commercial capital of Canada, it was surpassed in population and economic strength by Toronto in the 1970s. It remains however, an important center for commerce, aerospace, finance, pharmaceuticals, technology, design, education, culture, tourism, gaming, film and world affairs. Montreal has hosted multiple international conferences and events throughout its history, including the 1967 International and Universe Exposition (World Expo 67) and the 1976 Summer Olympic Games. Currently, the city hosts the Canadian Grand Prix of Formula One and the Montreal International Jazz Festival.

 

We took advantage of the complimentary breakfast at the hotel, got packed up again and took a cab from Dorval to the vieux port of Montreal, passing the very impressive and huge Roman Catholic Basilique Notre-Dame de Montreal/Basilica Notre-Dame. Our cabbie was a very talkative ex-pat from Lebanon, via the Bronx in New York. Once we arrived at the old port it was obvious there was no cruise ship, and definitely no blue hulled dam ship named Veendam in sight. So, wazzup with that?

 

Well, apparently Montreal’s “regular” cruise ship berth at Quai Alexandra/Alexandra Pier (more than 100 years old) as well as the co-located Gare Maritime Iberville/Iberville Passenger Terminal (last renovated for Expo 67) are under complete restoration and renovation. Both are still functional as they are, but have been described by the Montreal Port Authority as “bordering on operational obsolescence.” The overhaul will include lowering the terminal, adding a green rooftop terrace that the citizens of Montreal will have access to, and building a public space on the riverfront. A new observation tower looking over the St. Lawrence River is also part of the project, though it will only be built by 2019. The other faces are supposed to be completed sometime in 2017.

 

Consequently, they are out of business for the entire 2016 cruise season and cruise ships are now berthing at an industrial pier east of the Jacques Cartier Bridge. We, well our cabbie, found this out by asking a couple of security dudes. Taxis are actually allowed into the temporary location (Berth #34-35) however a second option is to get dropped off in front of Quai Alexandria where an “airport rental agency-style” passenger van will drop you and your luggage off at the temp. pier east of the bridge. We chose that option and it was painless.

 

Once inside the temporary “tent terminal” (kinda like the tent terminals in San Diego and San Pedro), we were handed the standard medical questionnaires to fill out (one per passenger, unless there are kids under eighteen) and we were then checked in by a friendly shore ops agent. The obligatory, though not mandatory, “welcome aboard” pic was next, followed by a trip up VEDM’s gangway, handshakes of some familiar and new faces in the ship’s security department, and a trip to Deck 10 where our home away from home for the next ten days is located, right smack across from the Neptune Lounge; life is still prima!

 

Kevin, the main concierge dude in the NL came over to introduce himself, as did Abdul. our room steward a bit later. We had a pre-made “non-soggy” Turkey and cheese sandwich (tasty) as well as a cup of Asparagus soup in the Lido for lunch, followed it up with a self-guided tour of the vessel (yep, the aft pool is still gone and the hot tubs still present aft), and returned to floating homestead 021 to find our luggage already delivered. Unpacked those bad boys and got ourselves ready for the mandatory (if you don’t attend, you don’t sail, do not advance past “go” and do not collect $200) passenger emergency drill and our assigned boat station #3.

 

Now, I gotta tell ya, Boat #3 has probably one of the best, if not the best, boat commanders I have encountered in 24 years of sailing cruise ships. Gotta to get his name to give him an Atta boy in one of the LUK cards. The guy took charge in a loud voice, got everyone assigned to Boat #3’s attention, gave very precise instruction “when I call your cabin number, I need your sur or first name plus how many persons in your cabin. Nothing else”. He retained that attention from everyone during his part of the drill. It was simply awesome to observe! No lallygagging, no grab a$$ing, no stupid jokes about the Poseidon Adventure, just 150 passengers paying attention and doing what they were told. Brilliant! Captain Eric came on after this, gave his instructions (no need for ‘silence on deck’), followed by CD Jeremy with his schpiel. The whole thing was over within 30 minutes! What else can you ask for?

 

VEDM’s departure from Berth #34/35 was uneventful despite the always present strong currents of the Saint Lawrence and accompanying (today) strong winds. We did have two local tugs assisting Capt. Eric in making his 180 in order to sail down the big river in the direction of Ville de Quebec. Spent the remaining of the time “jelling” (as opposed to yelling) as the very green Quebec Province landscape on the port side went by. Some very nice, and big, homes, beautiful churches and an ugly factory.

 

Our dinner time is 7:45 pm (main seating, fixed table of eight, at table #64) so we mosied up there to meet two other couples (the third couple was AWOL tonite) from the states of Virginia and Florida and pleasant and good dinner conversation followed. Out restaurant steward (forgot his name, sorry) and his assistant introduced themselves. Dinner was served prompt and hot; Maria had the fish and yours truly the pork medallions and we both had one of Uncle Julius’ salads. Finished the whole affair up with a cup of tea, thank you very much.

 

After dinner, we trekked ahead to the bow of the ship, the so-called “Showroom at Sea” where we took in the opening show/meeting of the entertainers “Listen to the Sound of, scratch that…………Listen to the Music”. Great to see HAL Cats lead singer Karen from Scotland again! (worked with her on two contracts on SADM and MADM; awesome and talented young lady!). Around 10:10 or so, we partook (I think that’s a good word) in some libations inside the Ocean Bar as the Neptune’ Trio played dance music from the American Songbook Btw, is there a Canadian songbook? A Russian? A Chinese? A Papua New Guinean songbook?

 

Our last trip was up to the Crow’s Nest to listen to Karen and the HAL Cats do their thing after which we called it a night. Tomorrow, le ville de Quebec awaits us and we’re gonna do the town, old and new, grab a bit of lunch on one of its quaint outside terraces, and pretend we’re in Paris, France. See y’all later!

[sail7seas]

sail safely and enjoy thosse 9MOTLYfabulous ports. ;0 Great cruise.

Edited July 3, 2016 by sail7seas

[gigianne]

Have a great cruise - looking forward to your posts!

[DarkCrystal]

Will be doing the Montreal to Ft Lauderdale trip in October on the Veendam, looking forward to your observations.

[Ine]

Goede reis en geniet!

 

Safe trip and enjoy.

Edited July 3, 2016 by Ine

[Vict0riann]

Sounds like you're off to a great start, looking forward to hearing all about it. When we lived in Montreal, I would have said the Anglophone community was much larger than it is now, but at least they are staying part of Canada, and we all get along!

[SilvertoGold]

YAY! Been a while since we have had the pleasure of one of your "Live from threads..." Many thanks for taking on the chore.

 

I like your table location. It is a lovely DR on the Veendam!

 

Any time you want to give your typical "Who's who", please go right ahead.

 

Enjoy the your cruise!

Edited July 3, 2016 by SilvertoGold

[rafinmd]

That's quite a change in personnel from 6 weeks ago, when we had Sarah as CD and Captain Noel. Who's the current location guide. On my cruise we had Jeremy who I thought was one of the best.

 

Roy