NapTown Jim
May 22nd, 2006, 08:46 PM
I have just returned home from my first ever cruise and for the Cliff Notes version of the cruise let me just say it in 3 words...Ahh-May-Zing!
Ahh...because it was just the relaxing honeymoon the wife and I were wanting.
May...because it was in the magic month of May
Zing...because it was so much fun it went by too fast!
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Now for the meat and potatoes of the review.
About us.
I'm 36, the wife is 36+ a couple years. We are college educated professionals who like vacations that are at the same time relaxing and culturally enriching. When I called my travel agent and informed her of our desire to take this cruise she told us that HAL caters to a more older crowd. I told her that didn't bother us because we were not interested in a party atmosphere and told her to book us anyway.
Pre-cruise.
I LOVE the city of Montreal. This was my second visit to the city, the wife's first. We arrived 3 days beforehand and stayed at a bed & breakfast on Sherbrooke street. During our stay there we visited the Basilica de Notre Dame, Montreal Botanical Gardens, Chateau Ramezey, Notre Dame de Bon Secours, Margarite de Bourgouis Museum, Bon Secours Market and the Pointe a Calliere Archeology Museum.
Embarkation
Since this was my first cruise I had nothing to compare it to, but it seemed a disorganized mess to me. There were two doors to the waiting room and only one of them had a person handing out embarkation numbers. Guess which one we entered? It was several minutes before I realized that there were a bunch of people with these little red tags with numbers on them that we didn't have. Finally someone came by to check on us and gave us a number. When they started calling out numbers, everyone was mobbing the entrance and the room was too noisy to cleary hear the numbers being called out. After our number was called and a few minutes of being herded through the cattle pens our embarkation photo was finally taken and we were on the gangway.
The Ship.
I thought the Maasdam was marvelous. The wife thought it was a bit small. She had sailed twice before, once on the Carnival Triumph and the second time on the Pride of Aloha. Still, she was most impressed when we got to our cabin. She told me it was the largest she's ever had. We were in cabin 174, a Verandah cabin. I must say that my most favorite part of the ship was by far the Explorations Cafe.
The Food.
I was most impressed by the food. The presentation and taste in the main dinging room was fantastic. We never tried out the Pinnacle Grill so I can't comment about that. We had early upper dining seating and our waiter, Amil was friendly and gave us first rate service. I ran into him at the Lido during lunch a couple days into the cruise and asked him about the legendary 'Shy' I read so much about here. He told me that Shy got off the boat during the refit and was taking a couple months off before returning to work. Can't say I blame him. These guys bust their tails for us every day and I reckon they deserve a AT LEAST a few months straight off work. I've read that some people have complaied about the portion sizes but I found them to be just right. I never walked away from the dinner table hungry. If I were to make a suggestion about the food it would be to allow the guys at the Asian stir fry station in the lido to have hot pepper sauce to add to dishes for those of us who like spicy food, or a bottle of Frank's Red Hot on the condiment tray. The desert extraviganza was awesome I must say.
The Ports.
Quebec City was my favorite followed closely by Halifax, Bar Harbor and Charlottetown with Sydney being a distant last. We signed up for only two excursions. The walking tour with tea at Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City was fabulous and the Peggy's Cove excursion at Halifax was good and would have been great had it not been so foggy. We decided to wing it at Charlottetown and Bar Harbor. We nearly took the Cadillac Mountain excursion but ended up glad we didn't because it was so foggy in Bar Harbor we wouldn't have been able to see anything.
Entertainment.
The two production shows we went to were great. We went to the movies at the Wajang theater 3 times. That was neat and the popcorn was good. It would be great if we could order that stuff for room service for those who decide to take in an in cabin movie. I never got to play blackjack in the casino like I wanted to so I can't comment about that.
Overall thoughts and impressions.
1. Why, oh why do some of my fellow passengers feel they need to treat the service staff like slaves? When you snap your fingers to summon someone to take the stack of empty plates away from you is it too much to ask to thank them when they do so with a smile?
2. The service was fantastic. Our cabin steward Alus was great and always kept the ice bucket full. The bar staff was freindly and un-obtrusive. You only need to tell them no once and they'll leave you alone. The wife tells me that on Carnival and NCL they prowl the decks like sharks trying to sell you a drink every 5 minutes.
3. We were invited to a VIP reception the day after the Captain's reception. Turned out it was because we were there for our honeymoon. Anyway, I was chatting with the first officer of the Maasdam and I learned some interesting things. First...Holland America is the only major cruiseline to sail to Montreal because the Maasdam and her sisters are the only ships small enough to turn around in Montreal's harbor. Second....HAL's Canada-New England itenerary is very popular. He tells me they always sell out and that the company is looking at deploying larger ships in the area. This will mean that Montreal may be dropped from the schedule in '08 if they deploy the S class ships elsewhere.
4. The last day of the cruise was a sad day for me because it meant that I had to go home. I'm already planning the next one now. We're looking at doing Alaska sometime in '08 and Holland America is at the top of the list. After showing my photos of the Maasdam and the Canada New England cruise I think I've got a few of my friends who are now interested in joining me. The more the merrier!
So, not only would I love to sail Holland America again, I would most certainly do the Canadian cruise again in a heartbeat!
Ahh...because it was just the relaxing honeymoon the wife and I were wanting.
May...because it was in the magic month of May
Zing...because it was so much fun it went by too fast!
-----------------------------------------------------
Now for the meat and potatoes of the review.
About us.
I'm 36, the wife is 36+ a couple years. We are college educated professionals who like vacations that are at the same time relaxing and culturally enriching. When I called my travel agent and informed her of our desire to take this cruise she told us that HAL caters to a more older crowd. I told her that didn't bother us because we were not interested in a party atmosphere and told her to book us anyway.
Pre-cruise.
I LOVE the city of Montreal. This was my second visit to the city, the wife's first. We arrived 3 days beforehand and stayed at a bed & breakfast on Sherbrooke street. During our stay there we visited the Basilica de Notre Dame, Montreal Botanical Gardens, Chateau Ramezey, Notre Dame de Bon Secours, Margarite de Bourgouis Museum, Bon Secours Market and the Pointe a Calliere Archeology Museum.
Embarkation
Since this was my first cruise I had nothing to compare it to, but it seemed a disorganized mess to me. There were two doors to the waiting room and only one of them had a person handing out embarkation numbers. Guess which one we entered? It was several minutes before I realized that there were a bunch of people with these little red tags with numbers on them that we didn't have. Finally someone came by to check on us and gave us a number. When they started calling out numbers, everyone was mobbing the entrance and the room was too noisy to cleary hear the numbers being called out. After our number was called and a few minutes of being herded through the cattle pens our embarkation photo was finally taken and we were on the gangway.
The Ship.
I thought the Maasdam was marvelous. The wife thought it was a bit small. She had sailed twice before, once on the Carnival Triumph and the second time on the Pride of Aloha. Still, she was most impressed when we got to our cabin. She told me it was the largest she's ever had. We were in cabin 174, a Verandah cabin. I must say that my most favorite part of the ship was by far the Explorations Cafe.
The Food.
I was most impressed by the food. The presentation and taste in the main dinging room was fantastic. We never tried out the Pinnacle Grill so I can't comment about that. We had early upper dining seating and our waiter, Amil was friendly and gave us first rate service. I ran into him at the Lido during lunch a couple days into the cruise and asked him about the legendary 'Shy' I read so much about here. He told me that Shy got off the boat during the refit and was taking a couple months off before returning to work. Can't say I blame him. These guys bust their tails for us every day and I reckon they deserve a AT LEAST a few months straight off work. I've read that some people have complaied about the portion sizes but I found them to be just right. I never walked away from the dinner table hungry. If I were to make a suggestion about the food it would be to allow the guys at the Asian stir fry station in the lido to have hot pepper sauce to add to dishes for those of us who like spicy food, or a bottle of Frank's Red Hot on the condiment tray. The desert extraviganza was awesome I must say.
The Ports.
Quebec City was my favorite followed closely by Halifax, Bar Harbor and Charlottetown with Sydney being a distant last. We signed up for only two excursions. The walking tour with tea at Chateau Frontenac in Quebec City was fabulous and the Peggy's Cove excursion at Halifax was good and would have been great had it not been so foggy. We decided to wing it at Charlottetown and Bar Harbor. We nearly took the Cadillac Mountain excursion but ended up glad we didn't because it was so foggy in Bar Harbor we wouldn't have been able to see anything.
Entertainment.
The two production shows we went to were great. We went to the movies at the Wajang theater 3 times. That was neat and the popcorn was good. It would be great if we could order that stuff for room service for those who decide to take in an in cabin movie. I never got to play blackjack in the casino like I wanted to so I can't comment about that.
Overall thoughts and impressions.
1. Why, oh why do some of my fellow passengers feel they need to treat the service staff like slaves? When you snap your fingers to summon someone to take the stack of empty plates away from you is it too much to ask to thank them when they do so with a smile?
2. The service was fantastic. Our cabin steward Alus was great and always kept the ice bucket full. The bar staff was freindly and un-obtrusive. You only need to tell them no once and they'll leave you alone. The wife tells me that on Carnival and NCL they prowl the decks like sharks trying to sell you a drink every 5 minutes.
3. We were invited to a VIP reception the day after the Captain's reception. Turned out it was because we were there for our honeymoon. Anyway, I was chatting with the first officer of the Maasdam and I learned some interesting things. First...Holland America is the only major cruiseline to sail to Montreal because the Maasdam and her sisters are the only ships small enough to turn around in Montreal's harbor. Second....HAL's Canada-New England itenerary is very popular. He tells me they always sell out and that the company is looking at deploying larger ships in the area. This will mean that Montreal may be dropped from the schedule in '08 if they deploy the S class ships elsewhere.
4. The last day of the cruise was a sad day for me because it meant that I had to go home. I'm already planning the next one now. We're looking at doing Alaska sometime in '08 and Holland America is at the top of the list. After showing my photos of the Maasdam and the Canada New England cruise I think I've got a few of my friends who are now interested in joining me. The more the merrier!
So, not only would I love to sail Holland America again, I would most certainly do the Canadian cruise again in a heartbeat!