ms MAASDAM.... Random Thoughts and Comments; August 18 through September 1, 2007

We returned yesterday from two truly wonderful weeks aboard Maasdam. These are my thoughts, my personal observances and experiences and no one need agree with them. ;)

Because we have done this cruise so many times, I won't list each day, each thing we ate, saw, said, heard etc Hopefully some of my and DH's experiences may be interesting or helpful in some way to some people.

Here goes:

We live about 30 -35 minutes from Black Falcon Cruise Terminal. We arrived just before 11:00 and went into the terminal very shortly after arriving. We were handed a health questionnaire to complete asking if we or anyone in a group with which we might have been traveling had been ill in the last some odd days.....if we had any gastrointestinal distress. Thankfully, we were well and our responses were negative.

We proceeded upstairs for check in and were processed immediately in a non-suite priority line though we are Suite guests. There was a couple in that line but an agent at another window near her was available and we went to her window. Pictures taken, ID's in hand, we took a seat and waited for embarkation to begin.

Within a few minutes, three folks in wheelchairs were helped aboard and we were next to board. A quick no thank you to the photographers and our ID's were scanned by security. We were aboard! :) We were delighted to see a few crew friends who happened to be at the gangway as we boarded and after a warm welcome aboard we were happily back in our 'home away from home'.

We had lunch with our dear friends and our cabin was ready.

We love roaming around the ship to see who is working which bar, which stewards we recognize in Lido and the like. A visit to Neptune Lounge and a warm welcome from Claire.....a very sweet and able Concierge with whom we have cruised before. A delight to see her again (as well as her assistant, Diana.) Our Concierge from June named Franz was working night shift at the Front Office these cruises so we barely saw him. We did have a quick visit so at least got to say hello and hear about the new baby he and his wife are expecting.

Luggage was delivered promptly. We started unpacking. Did LifeBoat Drill. Went to Sailaway and our cruise was underway. No feeling like that sailaway on embarkation day. Suite Cocktail party in Neptune Lounge had a nice group. Any choice of drink (for the most part), hot and cold nibbles, Captain and Hotel Manager attended as well as GRM, and other officers and we greatly enjoyed ourselves. Then, we were off to our 8:00 dinner.

We were assigned our usual table and what we came to discover was a fine dining team of Dining Steward Bobbie, Asst. Tigah, Supervisor Isman and Dining Room Manager Gildus all took excellent care of us. Wonderful wine steward Ernesto and Cellarmaster James shared some wonderful suggestions for us. We tried some new reasonably priced wines we had not had in a very long time. James was really helpful in guiding some of our selections. (We enjoy a costly wine from time to time but we don't spend $150 per bottle or such very often. We order the more conservatively priced bottles but still want something decent and palatible. ) We generally found the food in the dining room to be very good and we enjoyed most of our dinners . With James suggesting a reasonable wine, our dinners were a high point of each day.

We think the menu selections have become a little less extensive, the grouping of appetizer, soup and salad tends to hint at ordering fewer courses though I am sure we all know we can still have a five course dinner if that is what we wish. I could never eat that much food. I order an appetizer or a soup and an entree. Once in a while a dessert but usually not.

Of course, to say most of us at most have a salad and an entree in our homes isn't relevant as on vacation many folks splurge and want to be treated to things we don't have at home.

I carefully read several of the menus even though I saw immediately the choice I would be making. I think the food offerings are a little less luxurious, less costly items than I remember from past years. Though I personally don't eat some of these things, I know some folks used to enjoy seeing prime rib more than once in a 7 day cruise. Pasta, chicken, pork chops, salmon, cod, tofu........ moderate priced ingredients prevail. Canada/New England cruises are a somewhat higher per diem than a typical seven day Caribbean cruise. I wonder if average per diem paid effects food budget per person per day? It's a question I didn't ask but wonder about.

In any case, we think Chef is doing an excellent job and we greatly enjoyed our dinners. The food was hot and cold as appropriate, served at a nice pace between courses, well prepared and attractively plated.

I particularly enjoyed the salmon which is offered every night. I had it a few times and found it delicious. DH always enjoys the osso bucco which is still offered.

We were in Pinnacle both weeks on 'lobster night' so can't comment about that. We also skipped Master Chef Dinner on our second week and went to Pinnacle. It wasn't offered the first week perhaps because there were so many children aboard?? I'm not sure the reason but the first week there were about 130 plus or minus children but under 30 the second week. (Some schools opened and even where schools not yet opened, kids needed school clothes, haircuts, dentist appts etc)

We dined alone in Pinnacle some mights and with friends on other occasions.......especially on our 38th wedding anniversary.

What a special Anniversary Dinner we had in Pinnacle that night with very special Maasdam friends. Our host had ordered an incredibly delicious special appetizer for us, our meal was luscious and a highlight was when we were presented with a huge bouquet (dozens) of roses which were a gift from special friends on the ship. I was speechless when they brought them to us in Pinnacle. That was followed by a luscious chocolate (my favorite) torte cake that was wonderful. We had a very, very special evening. The Manager of Pinnacle saw to it the massive bouquet was delivered to our cabin so we could enjoy it the whole rest of our cruise. I took fabulous pictures of it and would love to share if I can figure out how to scan.

We dined, as I mentioned, numerous times in Pinnacle these cruises and each and every time, Roger was our steward. We knew him well from previous Maasdam cruises in June as well as last year. It is always so special when a much enjoyed crew person remembers us from the past and 'we pick up from where we left off' when last we met. We very much value the great service Roger has always provided and we always enjoy some chats and laughs with him. He is meticulous in his attention to giving everyone a top rate Pinnacle experience.

Pinnacle Manager Ricco is new to Maasdam and we took to him immediately. Very obliging, so pleasant, so able and such a nice man. We always received a warm welcome when we arrived in Pinnacle and he always had a wonderful table for us. A chat, a laugh, and always checking to be sure everything was to our liking.

Chef in Pinnacle is a very, very nice fellow. When we and others with whom we were dining ordered steaks, they all came exactly as ordered. Thick, juicy and rare or medium rare.....just as we requested. Delicious. As good as we have had in any Pinnacle and we have had many, many Pinnacle dinners. The tomato salad was particularly good last week with yellow and red fresh from the garden tasting thick sliced tomatoes. Northwest clam chowder is soooo good. I limited myself to only one chocolate volcano for both cruises and the one I had was Perfect!!! If it is cooked a minute too short, it is watery and not good. A minute too long and it is dry and not tasty. Mine was Perfect! :D

More about food......

Room Service: EXCELLENT. Not one mistake in 14 room service breakfasts. Our steward was Ari daily and what a pleasure to wake to Ari rolling our breakfast into our Suite on the new carts Maasdam has used since our cruises in June. A rectangle shaped cart has two sides which lift and form a round to which it is comfortable to pull up chairs and eat comfortably. These are a fantastic addition to the Suite Life. If one wishes to dine en suite but not use the veranda, these carts make it great.

We met the Officer in Charge of Room Service at the VIP party both weeks and complimented him highly on the great job he is doing. A very nice fellow we were happy to pass compliments along to him about how much we were enjoying our egg white omelettes and DH's eggs over easy and whatever else we were ordering. Never once did we have to have an error corrected. Our orders were perfect.

Think I'll take a break now. More later.

Welcome home, Sail! It sounds like you and DH had a very nice anniversary cruise-congratulations on your anniversary! Well Done!

I look forward to reading the next "chapters"!

Welcome home S7S!

We really enjoyed meeting you and Robert, even though we couldnt stay on to sail with you.

I'm glad your anniversay was so special.

Joanne

Welcome home Sail! And a very, very Happy Anniversary! I'm enjoying reading all about your wonderful 2 weeks. :)

PS You must have gotten married 1 month before we did. :D

Glad you had such a good cruise, Sail. Anxious to read the rest of your review. Happy 38th anniversary. What a wonderful way to celebrate.:D

My mouth is watering at the thought of that chocolate volcano dessert.mmmm.

How quickly you posted a report! I'm impressed. :) And enjoying every word of it, too. Looking forward to the rest when you can get to it.

Our day the first week in Halifax was wonderful. In the morning, we walked the boardwalk and enjoyed it immensely. We walked as far as the Casino and back so that was at least 4+ miles. We walked back via the business street and did some window shopping and DH and I found a few things to purchase. Fun.

We've been to Halifax many times but had never visited the Maritime Museum or Cemetery where many Titanic victims are buried. We decided it was time we did that tour and are happy we did.

What was very good about this Halifax tour was the guide we had. The bus and driver picked us up at the front of the terminal. There were about 25 or so of us and the guide provided a lot of information about the Halifax explosion about which I was very vague prior to his talk. I knew our City of Boston and the City of Halifax have a strong tie but did not know the reason they send a magnificent Christmas Tree to Boston every year. It is in thanks for the immediate aid Boston sent when Halifax suffered that terrible catastrophe in 1917 when a Belgium Relief Ship collided with the Mont Blanc, a ship loaded with heavy munitions and explosives in the narrows of the harbor. The resulting explosion was so dramatic and extreme, it demolished a huge section of the City of Halifax. Our bus took us through this area which, of course, has long since been rebuilt.

While I wasn't awed by the Museum, I did enjoy seeing some of their wonderful ship's models. They have a few pieces representative of Titanic but not much. There are two vessels behind the museum that are included in the admittance and can be viewed. DH toured one but I didn't bother.

I found the cemetery where the Titantic victims are buried to be very interesting. Aside from the victims, whose graves are placed in the shape of half a ship's hull, there are other old, interesting shaped and inscribed gravestones. It was demonstrative of how diverse the population of Halifax is. There are folks from all religions, all langauges, all corners of the world with large representative populations. Our guide again provided interesting information including that DNA tests were being done on some remains about which there is still less than definitive identification.....all these years later.

Loads of university buildings, hospitals/medical facilities. Nice city.

Another day we particularly enjoyed was our day on the St. Lawrence River and Saguenay Fjord.

Two naturalists/speakers boarded and remained most of the time on the bridge giving commentary. DH and I wandered out to Aft Pool (though it was a bit chilly and grey) but it was soooo worth it. In the span of 20 -30 minutes, we saw a large number of minke whales and harbor porpoises. Some said they saw dolphins but we never did..... What I find so interesting is the St. Lawrence is 2.8% salt water where the Atlantic is 3.5%. It's depth goes from 300 to 1,000' as it approaches the Atlantic. This causes the salt to surface and enables plankton (which whales feed on) to swim these waters. For a number of miles, the St. Lawrence is an Estuary and the whales and nature are studied and protected. We saw a few beluga whales n(idientified by white underside) but mostly minke. While we saw some last year on this same cruise, we saw far more this year and the naturalist mentioned that sometimes happens on a grey or drizzly day rather than a bright sunny one. So, there was an upside to the less than perfect weather.

It was, once again for us, very moving to view the statue of the Virgin Mary and listen as the ship played four versions of the Ave Maria. We always find this a highpoint of this cruise. It is a magnificent experience in our opinion.

But, speaking of weather.....we had wonderful weather for most of our 14 days. Our first visit to Quebec was rainy and miserable most of the day and the day on the river was cool and wet. Some really heavy fog going into Bar Harbor one of our visits and Halifax morning fog one of the days. Which made the better part of 11 days were magnificent weather. In Canada/New England, that's glorious. DH got in his pool/sunning time and got a great tan.. It was wonderful for walking and touring and doing most anything anyone wanted.

Thank you Bill, Carolyn and Ruth. I'm having fun gathering my thoughts about our two weeks. It went by so fast and seems we did so much. I have loads more comments coming. ;)

Joanne....... We soooo enjoyed our visit with you and DH. We're really happy it worked out for us to meet. Hoping so much we have the opportunity to sail together.

Welcome Home and Happy 38th Anniversary!

Thank you for writing the review. I wondered after so many cruises if you got tired of writing them.

Also interesting that you ate room service brekfast each morning For some reason I thought you went to the Pinnacle. I also love the room service breakfast each morning. It is so great that HAL offers hot breakfast (if you want) to all passengers.

Welcome Home Sail , and a very Happy Anniversary :)

So glad you and Dh had such a great time. I'm enjoying your reports very much . Thank you for sharing them

Welcome home Sail.

I have a quick question for you. Are there very many graves of Titanic victims? I would have thought most of the victims would have been lost at sea. I suppose those with life jackets on could have had their bodies recovered for burial though. That's one aspect of the disaster I've never read or heard much about.

Holly

How wonderful your journey sounds. Glad you're home safely. I've been looking at the Peggy's Cove webcam almost every day and the weather has looked great. We hope to do that itinerary again some day.

How wonderful your journey sounds. Glad you're home safely. I've been looking at the Peggy's Cove webcam almost every day and the weather has looked great. We hope to do that itinerary again some day.

I didn't know there was a Peggy's Cove webcam! I just googled it, however, and spent the last five minutes watching it :D

Welcome home S7S and how wonderful to spend a fortnight aboard the beautiful and elegant Maasdam. (Still my favorite ship).

Cheers

Mark

I knew our City of Boston and the City of Halifax have a strong tie but did not know the reason they send a magnificent Christmas Tree to Boston every year. It is in thanks for the immediate aid Boston sent when Halifax suffered that terrible catastrophe in 1917 when a Belgium Relief Ship collided with the Mont Blanc, a ship loaded with heavy munitions and explosives in the narrows of the harbor. The resulting explosion was so dramatic and extreme, it demolished a huge section of the City of Halifax.

Welcome home, sail! Seeing the Tree has become more meaningful to us after our first visit to Halifax in 1999, when we saw the Halifax Explosion exhibit in the Maritime Museum. (Did you see it? The pocket watch stopped at the time of the explosion was so powerful.) I do wish the City of Boston was more appreciative of the history and this most generous gift. When the Tree was at the Prudential Center, there was a small plaque commemorating the event. Ever since the Tree was moved to the Common, there is absolutely no mention of the Halifax Explosion, nor the fact that the tree is a gift from Nova Scotia. I have written to the Mayor's Office numerous times, but have never received a response or seen any action, even when including a Boston Globe article on the Explosion last year.

Anyway, pardon my ramble, but this gets to me.

In any case, welcome home from your favorite ship! I watched her leave Boston two weeks ago, not realizing you were onboard.

Welcome home Sail and Happy Anniversery.

I agree with your hypothesis that the average/median cabin rate is the principal driver of the onboard experience, food and entertainment.

Holly.... If memory serves me correctly, there are about 90 graves of victims at the Halifax Cemetery. White Star refused to pay for their burials/headstones. Many bodies that were recovered were transported at the expense of their family. Our guide told a story about one of the dead, a musician, who had been given his uniform mere days prior to the sinking. White Star wanted his family to pay for it.

Jade..... It is a rare time that DH and I have breakfast in Pinnacle. Last August on Maasdam we did a few times as we were traveling with friends who enjoyed it and we joined them. The Pinnacle breakfast is very nice but we prefer Room Service. We had Room Service everyday..... except on the day we did Immigration Inspection in Bar Harbor, DH wanted an omelette after we were finished with Immigration so we went to Lido.

Thanks for the nice comments Jim, Hammy, Mark, Holly. (I sincerely hope I didn't miss anyone. )

Lisa..... I definitely agree with you that more should be publicized about this contribution from Halifax. I think it wonderful you have been making the effort to bring this to the Mayor's attention. I hope he listens. Every year, they send such a magnificent tree at great effort and expense to them and have done so for so many years.

Some more comments:

Maasdam is in beautiful condition. She is not a brand new ship and one knows that but she has been lovingly and well maintained. Housekeeping has her in spotless, shiny condition and Hotel Manager Firmin van Walle does a great job IMO His eyes are everywhere and he sees everything. But is still always available for a quick chat, to answer a question, to help........

Not one time during our two weeks aboard did I hear any horror stories of awful toilet problems, or any other major problems of any sort. If they happened, they escaped my attention and after what was written here earlier, I was listening and looking. IF any of that happened, it was not evident.

The seas (and St. Lawrence) were so calm this entire two week stretch that it unlike anything we have ever seen before. We have never really had very rough seas on this itinerary but this was truly remarkable. I seriously doubt Captain ever needed or used stabilizers. I never saw so much as a white cap.

One night in the dining room, we were seated just after sunset but it was still light out. As dusk set in and it became dark, I spotted the full moon shining bright. I was so appreciative they dining staff had left the drapes open knowing it would be such a beautiful sight. The reflection of the bright 'moon-light' on the water was magnificent. I thought they had 'specially hung the moon' just for us. :D

This cruise we experienced nice touches we have not always had offered. Just about every sailaway was something special. One time it was a wine and cheese party in Crows Nest. Another was Oktoberfest by Lido pool. This was REALLY good. :) We enjoyed the saurkraut, several wursts (sp?), potato salad, cucumber salad, and they were slicing a beautiful huge pork roast with crusty skin coating. That looked fabulous but I used my best willpower and resisted.

We enjoyed sitting at Lido Bar (Dolphin Bar) chatting with the bartenders, having a cold drink and eating our snack. It made for a great sailaway.

Another time, they ran a barbeque at lunch. Can't remember which port but it was delicious. I was so happy to see there was salmon on the grill and was it good!!!

We had many lunches ashore in ports as there were so many wonderful places to have great New England seafood that we wanted to sample a number of them. We had wonderful lobsters, mussels, clams, smoked meat in Montreal......but I'll get to that later. :)(

They ran a cocktail party each week for folks who had sailed often with HAL or were so-called VIP for whatever reason. It surprised me that so few gentlemen put on a jacket when attending a party hosted by Captain and Hotel Manager. I know there is no requirement for Informal (jacket) anymore but no one would ask a gentleman to remove it, I am sure.

Some more comments later.

S7S- Sounds like you had a perfect cruise on your Maasdam. Happy Anniversary to you and DH, what a lovely surprise you received onboard!!

Looking forward to sailing the Eurodam on a similar itinerary in Sept 2008!!

mistake, never mind!!!

Sounds like you had a wonderful time Sail and Happy Anniversary to you and DH. HAL crew are so very special and how wonderful to be able to spend that special day with all of them:) These cruises are the type that give us wonderful memories for the rest of our lives.

Hi Sail - Good to see you again - missed you on the boards. Always enjoy reading your comments & this Maasdam review is no exception. :)

Would have loved to have seen that wildlife! Whales & dolphins are so beautiful & graceful. But I'm curious - the naturalists/speakers come on & off the ship during the cruise as needed? They don't stay on for the whole week? What an odd job to have. I wonder how the speaker arranges transportation between ports. :confused:

Hi Susan......

The only day Naturalists are needed on this itinerary is the day of scenic cruising from the St. Lawrence River to Saguenay Fjord. This cruise is not like Alaska where the whole purpose of the cruise is scenery and wildlife. Canada/New England itinerary does not focus primarily on nature. There definitely are whale watching and kayak and the like type tours but also touring of Citadel and Anne of Green Gables House and Peggy's Cove etc

The speakers we had this time were particularly good. I found them interesting and easy to listen to.

```Naturalists?'' Aren't they nude? Did u do a RSVP cruise Sail?

You're so bad, Mariner.......

Moi......and DH ???? :D

Then again, sounds fun!! :D