Live from the Zuiderdam - August 24 to August 31- Maine and Canada

[Rubyfisch]

Closer still ...

 

[Sharon in AZ]

8 hours ago, Rubyfisch said:

On to more important things - we are going to Pinnacle Grill for the first time tomorrow night. Which would you recommend between the following and why:

 

• The crab cakes or the mushroom soup
• The salmon or the halibut 
• The asparagus or the spinach or the beets 
• The key lime pie or the chocolate souffle

 

Inquiring minds want to know ....

Hi!  I am on this cruise also!  Returning to Boston on the following cruise making this a B2B. In answer to your question:

*Crab cakes, I didn’t care for the soup— not enough mushroom flavor for me 

*Haven’t had either in the PG but HAL does make good salmon 

*Asparagus or spinach, I didn’t like the beets when I ordered them two years ago 

*Chocolate soufflé!

Looking forward to following along with your “Live From”!
 

 

[Rubyfisch]

It's cruise day!

 

Zuiderdam is in dock:

 

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us.  Looking forward to reading all about it.

I hope you have a great time!

[Lido deck main]

Crab Cakes, so very good.  They make great Halibut. Key Lime Pie, but ask how big is the slice as sometimes it is so big of a slice big enough for two people.   

[unclerich]

Have a great trip!  We'll be joining you August 31

Kathy and Richard

[Rubyfisch]

13 minutes ago, unclerich said:

Have a great trip!  We'll be joining you August 31

Kathy and Richard

Sadly we get off in Quebec - but we'll try to keep her in good shape for you!

[Rubyfisch]

Pre-cruise breakfast - clearly the height of luxury....

 

Underripe banana that nevertheless needs to be eaten and homemade yogurt:

 

 

 

Trader Joe's Irish Breakfast Tea (made with two tea bags) and milk in a mug that used to say Portland (the writing washed off the first time it went in the dishwasher):

 

Edited August 24 by Rubyfisch
Typos

[unclerich]

3 minutes ago, Rubyfisch said:

Sadly we get off in Quebec - but we'll try to keep her in good shape for you!

Our Navigator app has our port arrival time in Charlottetown changed from 9a to 11:30am. I'm not sure if yours has changed as well.

[Rubyfisch]

2 minutes ago, unclerich said:

Our Navigator app has our port arrival time in Charlottetown changed from 9a to 11:30am. I'm not sure if yours has changed as well.

Ours is still showing 9:00 am. I wouldn't be shocked if your change has to do with speed restrictions in the St. Lawrence - we'd end up later to Quebec (as leaving early from a port is hard). When we went in May, we were an hour late to Quebec due to speed restrictions and currents. Although I would think the currents would help you in the way out.

[Grandmaanne7]

Thanks for doing another live report. I enjoyed your last one and got great information for our Volendam cruise. We're booked on Zuiderdam in 2026 so will appreciate your comparison of the 2 vessels. Enjoy your cruise! PS. Crab cakes all the way although DH loved the mushroom soup.

[Crazy For Cats]

Something to be aware of during sail away today.  The whales have been very active in the harbor.  Keep your eyes open as there is a chance we can see some today.

[Rubyfisch]

1 minute ago, Crazy For Cats said:

Something to be aware of during sail away today.  The whales have been very active in the harbor.  Keep your eyes open as there is a chance we can see some today.

Boston is my hometown (well, okay, I grew up in Waltham, but still) - so I might be a bit biased, but I think the sail away from Boston is spectacular.

[Crazy For Cats]

2 minutes ago, Rubyfisch said:

Boston is my hometown (well, okay, I grew up in Waltham, but still) - so I might be a bit biased, but I think the sail away from Boston is spectacular.

It is a nice sail away.  We live a little bit south of you.

 

[Rubyfisch]

2 minutes ago, Crazy For Cats said:

It is a nice sail away.  We live a little bit south of you.

 

We're in Cambridge, now. Normally, we can just take the MBTA to the cruiseport, but the infernal track repairs and associated busing mean that is not in the cards today ....

[Rubyfisch]

Okay, I think we are almost to vacation mode. I woke up really early (well for me, on a Saturday), because I had a 40 page report I had to edit that I didn't have the heart to last night. But it's been sent off and my out of office is up. It's about time to turn my work notifications off and actually be on vacation.

[Rubyfisch]

I am not a clothes person. Most of my clothes are from Old Navy, Lands End, or LLBean. I'm also not the world's most festive person. But I do like breaking out some relevant tee shirts for embarkation day. I have a Royal Caribbean shirt I wear that I wear on Royal cruises. But this was my pick for today (or will be, when I motivate myself out of my pajamas):

 

[seagarsmoker]

Bon Voyage and I hope your onboarding process is seamless. 😀

[Rubyfisch]

Time for a cup of coffee and a half hour long French lesson on italki, and then it's time to do those last minute tasks of running the garbage out, washing the breakfast dishes, etc.

[Crazy For Cats]

We are all checked in and waiting to board the ship. 

[Rubyfisch]

In our Uber to the port. I'm normally a rule follower, and we were told delay our arrive because of a Coast Guard inspection, but after a very tense trip to South Station last weekend when we were worried we'd miss our train (we had planned on taking the T, but there was an accident), we moved up our Uber. Hopefully we can get into the terminal, but if not, we'll just walk around a bit.

[Rubyfisch]

Sitting in inexplicable traffic on the Pike ....

[Rubyfisch]

I lived in the Seaport (okay, the abyss between the Seaport and Southie) from 2015 to 2020, and worked on the Seaport until December 2021, but every time I come down here now I'm like "where did THAT building come from ..."

[Rubyfisch]

Just dropped off our bags and in the queue 

[Huskerchick]

14 hours ago, Rubyfisch said:

On to more important things - we are going to Pinnacle Grill for the first time tomorrow night. Which would you recommend between the following and why:

 

• The crab cakes or the mushroom soup
• The salmon or the halibut 
• The asparagus or the spinach or the beets 
• The key lime pie or the chocolate souffle

 

Inquiring minds want to know ....

The crab cakes are very good. Love the beets and you can't go wrong with either dessert. 

Thanks for your live from. We last did the Zuiderdam in 2018 and she is one of our favorites.