Just Booked Our First Hal Cruise!!

[Retired 07]

... AND WE ARE EXCITED! We have only cruised twice before (both on Princess-and loved them both) and wanted to try something different- We are on the Maasdam for 10 days in Oct going from Montreal to Ft Lauderdale.

 

Does anybody have any Maasdam or HAL "secrets" they'd like to share? Or any Canada/New England "must-do's? From what I've read here, the people who have sailed on the Maasdam really LOVE it.

[magictam]

Congradulations on booking your cruise.

 

I haven't been on the Maasdam or on that itinarery, so I can't offer any advice.

 

I have been on 2 HAL cruises and fell in love with HAL and cruising.

 

Enjoy ourselves!

[CruiseBumm]

WE were on the Massdam from Montreal to Boston. It was great. Two things we enjoyed, the piano bar and Prince Edward Island. Try to tour the Green Gables. It was a beautiful place and a beautiful day.

 

If you rise early, you'll see the ship sailing under the Confederate Bridge. That is an 11 mile bridge that goes from New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island.

 

Have a great time.

[jhannah]

Good for you! We have sailed Princess and have been very pleased. They offer a fine product. But HAL, to us, is just something extra special. The crew make the main difference, IMO.

[ltsally]

Would love to do this itinerary some time!

 

If you make port in Halifax, be sure to visit the museum that tells all about the Titanic (H'fax was the nearest harbor to the disaster and many rushed to help) and the devastating explosion in H'fax Harbor. Also, there's a restaurant near the public dock -- think it's called McKelvie's -- where we had a scrumptious lobster lunch.

 

We did a trans-Atlantic in Sept. 06 that docked in Boston. From there, the ship went on up to Montreal...and encountered worse weather/seas (hurricane) than we had on our whole crossing. So be prepared. And enjoy!

[cp556]

You are going to love Holland America .... Maasdam is just the right size, IMHO ...

 

Have a great cruise....

[ILoveScotland]

After trying several lines we took our first HAL cruise in late January and decided we'd found our cruising home. We're already booked for our second cruise for next January.

 

If we didn't have a land vacation planned for this summer plus a chartered cruise I'm taking in two weeks that will be continuing education for me I'd book another for the fall.