Maasdam - Canada/New England

[cruising2006]

We are currently booked on Maasdam for May 19th (Montreal to Boston) cruise. I have been reading some old posts regarding the problems with Maasdam. I am having second thoughts. We have cruised before with Princess (3 times), NCL and NCLA (3 times) and I am beginning to wonder if we made a mistake.

 

If you have a recent experience with Maasdam, please share your on board experience with us. Thanks.

[senator6]

We did this cruise last year on the Maasdam, did Boston to Montreal and truly enjoyed it. The Maasdam is in fine shape and we have back to backs scheduled next fall. I am sure you will have a great time the only caution is the weather can be cool in New England and eastern Canada in mid May

[DixieCaribe]

I found my three cruises on board Maasdam to be quite delightful. We had a Deluxe Verandah Suite on the Navigation deck once and a Verandah Suite on the Verandah deck twice. I cannot complain about this ship. I'm in my twenties, and enjoy the quieter, more refined Holland America Ships (Ryndam, Maasdam) over the glitzy (and bigger) Zuiderdam. The decor on the Maasdam is excellent, the artwork is amazing - and with the art auction aboard I got to take a painting that we saw hanging in the Queen's Room.

What I really liked about the Maasdam was its size - it has a capacity of 1250 and is about 720 feet long - it's smaller than Vista-class ships and in my opinion seems more spacious since its only 230 feet shorter but carries 600 less passengers than the Zuiderdam. You really do feel pampered aboard, and it seems that there are even fewer people aboard - we had the Sea View Pool to ourselves for 2 hours while docked in Nassau!

The rooms are spacious and inviting - my wife can get claustrophobic - but it was never an issue, since the staterooms were larger than comparable ones no other lines.

The entertainment was great, we danced in the Crows Nest and enjoyed the casino. The formal entertainment was alright, don't expect Bob Seger, but you may get an up-and-coming act on board.

 

Finally, the ones that are disgruntled about this ship are probably operating under the guise that since she is an older model (1994) and is smaller than the mega "Fun Ships" with Carnival, then she must not be worth anything.

A cruise is what you make of it. If you enjoy formal dinners, a relaxed setting, a decided lack of children on board, and enjoying the cruising life without a climbing rock wall or a mini golf course on the sports deck - if you enjoy reading a book at 10 AM in the Crows Nest or gambling at the Blackjack tables in your tux at 11 PM after the late show, then you will absolutely enjoy your cruise.

[sail7seas]

"My" :) Maasdam is a fabulous ship with a great, great, great crew. We adore that ship and have sailed her a great many times. We do the Canada/New England Itinerary every year and usually back-to-back, as we did last August.

 

We are booked for b-to-b's for June and again for August on Maasdam this year (slightly different itinerary each time) and can't wait to return to that wonderful ship.

 

Clearly if that ship had problems, we would not continue to sail her.

 

Good advise about paying attention to weather forecasts before your cruise in terms of clothing you will want/need. You may find it can be quite warm or a little chilly so as the time approaches go to one of the weather sites for long range forecast.

 

Hope you love Maasdam as much as we do.

[music lady]

We are booked on the 5/19 cruise too. We were wondering if there are excurstions available when you dock instead of ordering them from the ship. Thought it might be less expensive.

 

Mary

[sail7seas]

You can sometimes make plans for private excursions when you go ashore but it isn't like the Caribbean with loads of taxi drivers perstering everyone as they disembark. You probably should think about pre-booking any excursions before you get there if there is something you really want to do. It would be disappointing if you couldn't get to see/do something because you didn't pre-plan.

 

There are taxis available at the dock in some ports but not tons of them.

 

HAL's shore excursions for this itinerary are really quite good IMO and we hardly ever do organized tours anymore. Very unusual for us to have booked several like we did last year. They were what we expected of them.

[Gsel]

We have also done this itinerary on the Maasdam and loved the ship and the itinerary. Found the Maasdam to be perfect size, her crew to be attentive and much to HAL standard. As Sail says, it is not like a Caribbean itineray, so look at HAL's excursions closely and if you see one you like consider booking. You won't find taxis just waiting for you at every corner. This is a wonderful itinerary and easy to do on your own if you prefer.

[ltcTN]

We are going on the Maasdam on the Montreal to Boston route in August 25, 2007 with two other couples.

 

Any suggestions on excursions?

[grannynurse]

We really liked the combo cadillac Mtn and lobster bake in Bar Harbor and the high tides and fine wines in Halifax NS. We took those two on our last NE/Canada in 2005. We really like the Montreal to Boston itinerary on the Maasdam. We also took the 10 day Rotterdam NY to Montreal in 2002. All the shorex on this wonderful itinerary are very good.

GN

[sail7seas]

We are going on the Maasdam on the Montreal to Boston route in August 25, 2007 with two other couples.

 

Any suggestions on excursions?

 

DH and I will be aboard for that sailing. It is the second part of our b-to-b.

 

I very much agree with GrannyNurse about the Cadillac Mountain Tour and Lobster Bake. We cruised with another couple last year on Maasdam and the four of us really enjoyed that tour. Another good tour, IMO, is the Amphibious Vehicle in Halifax. It isn't very long but is fun and takes you around the city a bit.

 

We repeat this cruise every year we love it and the Maasdam and her crew so much.

[eldercruser]

Just returned from a 10 day S. Carribean cruise aboard the Maasdam. This was our third cruise on this ship and our perspective was that the ship has never looked or operated better. Of our 13 HAL cruises I would rank it amongst the top three. All ship systems were operating well. The A/C was almost too good! The crew seemed to be operating well and morale was high. I was particularly impressed by the ship's aggresive efforts at hand sanitizing. Sanitizers were everywhere and crew members agressively (but politely) urged passengers to use them. There was no outbreak of illness during the cruise.

 

Both the Captain and CD appeared to be highly thought of by both passengers and crew (although both may rotate off the ship by mid-May).

[Sea King]

Maasdam remains IMHO one of the premiere ships in the HAL Fleet

 

having sailed on her numerous times, she seems to "get better with age"

 

like any ship, though, she can have mechanical problems .. from what I've read recently, coupled with the last several times I was aboard, it appears many of the annoyances have been addressed

 

the Vistas are special in their own way but there is something about the S class that makes each ship so special

 

the Boston-Montreal itinerary is, IMO, wonderful with a highlight being a day sailing the river into the fijord

 

if at all possible, don't pass on the New England cruise and certainly, don't pass up sailing Maasdam

[CCaroleAnn]

We are currently booked on Maasdam for May 19th (Montreal to Boston) cruise. I have been reading some old posts regarding the problems with Maasdam. I am having second thoughts. We have cruised before with Princess (3 times), NCL and NCLA (3 times) and I am beginning to wonder if we made a mistake.

 

If you have a recent experience with Maasdam, please share your on board experience with us. Thanks.

 

We may have read the same negative reviews as yourself last year before our May Maasdam cruise (Boston to Montreal). We too worried if maybe we made the wrong choice. Please know everything was perfect with the Maasdam. No engine troubles, no backed-up toilets, no bad smells, everything was clean, fresh and wonderful. I'm beginning to think all the negative talk about the Maasdam is just propaganda from people who love the Maasdam so much they want her all for themselves. :p

 

Have a great time!!!