Live from and life on ms Zaandam on her 7-Day Canada-New England cruise - Bos to Mon

[Copper10-8]

Day 1 - 08/13/22 Boston, Massachusetts; Embarkation

 

So, the game plan this morning for us after breakfast was to take the complimentary Embassy Suites shuttle to Logan Airport, an approx. 15 min ride, and more specifically, to Terminal A, the Delta AL terminal, where we had a 11:00 AM reservation for one of the HAL buses to Black Falcon Terminal where the Zaandam was waiting. Our boarding time was 12:00 Noon. Once inside the Delta Terminal lower level/baggage claim, it was easy to find the blue blazer clad HAL shoreside services with their clipboards. We were checked off their list and asked to find and take a seat among other embarking “Zaanie” passengers.  We were advised however, that Zaandam returned to Boston today from her 35-day “Voyage of the Vikings” run to Europe (via Newfoundland/Greenland/Iceland) and back and that there might be a delay in boarding because not all of her disembarking pax had left the ship. No worries! We found two seats and broke out our phones to do some heavy internet surfing.

 

Around 11:25 or so (only 25 min late) one of those sane shoreside ladies came looking for us and advised us that the games (the bus ride) were about to begin. Grabbed our luggage and rolled outside that terminal building where our ride was parked and where our driver was already loading bags in his luggage compartment. Loaded up the hooptee and off we went on an approx. 20 min drive to Black Falcon. That ride turned out to be uneventful. Lots and lots of construction happenin’ in Beantown!

 

Boston is the capital and largest city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The city proper covers 48 square miles with an estimated population of 667,137 in 2015, making it the largest city in New England and the 23^rd largest city in the United States. The city is the economic and cultural anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area called Greater Boston, home to 4.7 million people and the tenth-largest metropolitan statistical area in the country. Greater Boston as a commuting region is home to 8.1 million people, making it the sixth-largest combined statistical area in the United States. Boston is the county seat of Suffolk County, although the county government was disbanded on July 1, 1999.

 

Zaandam was eagerly waiting for her embarking pax parked in front of one of Princess’ shopping carts, that being Caribbean Princess today. In 2010, the Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport), which owns and operates Cruiseport Boston, invested $11 million to renovate its main terminal, also known as Black Falcon Cruise Terminal. Cruiseport Boston is less than two miles from historic Faneuil Hall and the Freedom Trail, and only three miles from Boston’s Back Bay, which includes trendy Newbury Street and Copley Square shopping areas.

 

There was a bit of a hiccup upon arrival when our driver asked us all to remain seated until a HAL rep boarded to give us instruction as to wazzup. Problem was that rep never arrived but the Boston longshoremen with their luggage carts did and promptly began offloading luggage, incl. carry-ons that had been placed in the luggage hold due to limited space inside the bus apart from assorted laps but was not tagged for Zaandam. After all, those were carry-ons! So, some of the pax, I was one of them, then exited post haste to ensure that those untagged carry-ons did not get loaded on the carts only to disappear to where tagged luggage was being hauled into Zaandam’s innards/marshaling area to present beaucoup problems for the ship’s housekeeping crew trying to decipher who all those untagged bags belonged to and which cabin(s) to take them to.. OK, problem averted! Everybody once again a happy camper!

 

Next up was the presentation of the mandatory docs inside the terminal, which being (the main ones) passport, boarding pass, Covid vaccination record, Covid negative test result within 72 horas, ArriveCAN properly filled out and proof thereof. We found ourselves across the desk from a nice young lady shoreside agent with an electronic notebook which she soon brought online after inputting our booking # and/or last name, only to advise us that nada came up on her trusty electronic doohickey! Say what? No need to worry as her next-door neighbor agent came to the immediate rescue like the US Cavalry in a John Wayne movie. It turned out the nice young lady’s notebook was not registering properly but his was and there was our registration for both of us1 We were good to go, could pass “Go”, and collect $200 greenbacks to purchase a hotel on the Boardwalk! #2 problem averted and onward we went to the actual check-in via facial recognition! Peace of Cake! Life id good! Ugly pic however, only a mother would love!

 

Next up the obligatory Welcome Aboard pic but we were not obliged because we did not want to fracture any camera lenses and moseyed right by that position and up the jetway that connected Black Falcon to Zaandam’s boat deck where we encountered the third hiccup. Upon presenting my paper boarding pass to the always hardworking trusty Zaandam security guard from India who promptly scanned the barcode and made it hum like a fine-tuned Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale however, when he tried the same on the child bride’s boarding pass, it made an ugly noise like Quint/Robert Shaw scratching his fingernails on that blackboard in the original “Jaws” movie. Maria’s boarding pass was not registered in the ship’s computer, so she could not pass Go, and could not collect her $200. Options? What options? But today is our wedding anniversary! No panic! The quick acting guard overcame that obstacle by manually inputting our stateroom # in his laptop computer and there popped up Maria’s smiling face on his screen! We were Good to Go! 3^rd problem averted! Happy Days are here again!

 

Took the elevator to Deck 7 and our cabin for the next seven days and dumped our carry-ons and made it post haste to the famous Lido Market where Maria got herself a lovingly made green salad while I had a nice turkey sandwich hand made by Mr. Putu from the very nice Indonesian island of Bali. On the way back, we met Neptune Lounge concierge Christine A. who had been in the same position on Koningsdam 2021-2022 new year’s cruise to Mexico. Good to see her again!

 

Back to the humble abode where we met our room stewards, Budi (the sr.) and July (his asst.), pronounced “Julie” who promptly brought our checked luggage for us then to start unpacking (didn’t take long). 

 

(To be con't.) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[LouChamp]

Happy Anniversary!  We love the suites and service on HAL and especially the Neptune Lounge. Enjoy 

[Andi Land]

I’m supposed to be on this cruise on the 27th but just tested positive for COVID. So, I’m really looking forward to your report so I can live vicariously through you. Enjoy and happy anniversary. 

Edited August 14, 2022 by Andi Land

[Copper10-8]

1 hour ago, Andi Land said:

I’m supposed to be on this cruise on the 27th but just tested positive for COVID. So, I’m really looking forward to your report so I can live vicariously through you. Enjoy and happy anniversary. 

 

 

Hoping you get healthy soon! 

[zelker]

@Copper10-8  Happy Anniversary, "Kids"!  Wishing you many more. 🥂

 

We'll be cruising on Zaandam for a month (two 16-night B2B's) starting December 20th and are looking forward to sailing on one of the smaller ships again.  We opted not to spend the money for a Neptune on the first segment since it's very port intensive (and VERY expensive since it's over the holidays) so are in a Deck 6 Vista suite for the FLL-FLL segment but will then move up to 7031 for the FLL-SAN segment.  We especially love those oversize verandahs on this size ship but disappointed to see they still have the small TV on the desk rather than the large flat-screen over the couch.  😞  Does that mean it's still not an interactive system?

 

Enjoy your cruise and as always, thanks for taking us along!

 

Barb

[Copper10-8]

5 minutes ago, zelker said:

@Copper10-8  Happy Anniversary, "Kids"!  Wishing you many more. 🥂

 

We'll be cruising on Zaandam for a month (two 16-night B2B's) starting December 20th and are looking forward to sailing on one of the smaller ships again.  We opted not to spend the money for a Neptune on the first segment since it's very port intensive (and VERY expensive since it's over the holidays) so are in a Deck 6 Vista suite for the FLL-FLL segment but will then move up to 7031 for the FLL-SAN segment.  We especially love those oversize verandahs on this size ship but disappointed to see they still have the small TV on the desk rather than the large flat-screen over the couch.  😞  Does that mean it's still not an interactive system?

 

Enjoy your cruise and as always, thanks for taking us along!

 

Barb

 

 

Hi Barb; Yes Ma'am, those TVs are fortunately NOT interactive! Enjoy your cruise on Zaandam. She's looking nice and has an excellent crew!

[zelker]

5 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

 

... those TVs are fortunately NOT interactive! 

Assume you meant "unfortunately"?

[Copper10-8]

5 minutes ago, zelker said:

Assume you meant "unfortunately"?

 

I sure did, but the brain obviously was in neutral when I wrote it..............

[zelker]

@Copper10-8  Forgot to ask - who's the current CD and do you know how long they are scheduled to be onboard?  Thx.

[Copper10-8]

9 minutes ago, zelker said:

@Copper10-8  Forgot to ask - who's the current CD and do you know how long they are scheduled to be onboard?  Thx.

 

Zaandam's current CD is Glenn Askew, an Aussie, onboard until 10 Oct

[zelker]

39 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Zaandam's current CD is Glenn Askew, an Aussie, onboard until 10 Oct

Not familiar with him.  Any chance you can find out who will replace him and if that person will stay on after the Africa Grand Voyage (i.e., through the holidays and on into January)? 🙏

[KAKcruiser]

Someone reported recently that the new TVs were ordered but had not yet arrived.  

[zelker]

3 minutes ago, KAKcruiser said:

Someone reported recently that the new TVs were ordered but had not yet arrived.  

By any chance, do you remember where you saw that?

[KAKcruiser]

It might have been on a live report first sailing of the Zaandam from Fort Lauderdale to Montreal but it could have been a later sailing.  All I remember them saying was that someone said that the wiring had been done in drydock but the TVs had not arrived yet.  

[zelker]

26 minutes ago, KAKcruiser said:

It might have been on a live report first sailing of the Zaandam from Fort Lauderdale to Montreal but it could have been a later sailing.  All I remember them saying was that someone said that the wiring had been done in drydock but the TVs had not arrived yet.  

Now that you mention all of that, I do seem to remember reading something about that as well.  Fingers crossed that it happens in the next few months.  Thx.

[Copper10-8]

4 hours ago, zelker said:

Not familiar with him.  Any chance you can find out who will replace him and if that person will stay on after the Africa Grand Voyage (i.e., through the holidays and on into January)? 🙏

 

Will see what I can find out

[Copper10-8]

1 hour ago, KAKcruiser said:

Someone reported recently that the new TVs were ordered but had not yet arrived.  

 

Affirmative and confirmed. All the cable work / connections / cyber stuff is in place. Just waiting for the actual TVs to arrive and be installed

[Nieuwuser]

Hope they have the TV's installed by October 1st.🙂

[rkacruiser]

19 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

A very Happy Anniversary to my lovely wife of 34 years, my rock to lean on, my compass in life; Maria del Carmen! Love ya Babe! Always have, Always will! 😍

 

As the Indonesian Stewards would say:  "Happy Anniversary Lovely Couple!"
 

[rkacruiser]

19 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

A very Happy Anniversary to my lovely wife of 34 years, my rock to lean on, my compass in life; Maria del Carmen! Love ya Babe! Always have, Always will! 😍

 

As the Indonesian Stewards would say:  "Happy Anniversary Lovely Couple!"
 

[Copper10-8]

On 8/14/2022 at 11:50 AM, zelker said:

 

Top of the mornin' to y'all from Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, Canada

[canadianbear]

Loved Peggy’s Cove!  We had hired a taxi out from of the terminal to give us a tour-was a great way to see the area.  
 

 

[VMax1700]

On 8/14/2022 at 12:55 PM, Copper10-8 said:

a fine-tuned Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale

I really wanted one of those, but ended up with an Alfasud 😭

But an Alfa is an Alfa (when it goes 😉)

[SUESEABE]

Happy Anniversary! Enjoy your cruise and thanks for posting so we can all tag along.

 

[hotzej]

Can anyone tell me if they have a whirlpool on the balcony of the Pinnacle Suite (7001).  Thank you.