Dave’s Live from Veendam 14-day Canada-New England, October 3-17, 2015

[erewhon]

Thank you for reporting from your Veendam cruise.

 

I note that first dinner is at 5.15 pm, seems early.

[POA1]

Looking forward to your reports, Dave. They're always a highlight! A good friend of ours, who is a golf course superintendent in Kennebunkport, Maine, swears that this will be a stellar leaf peeper season, hurricane be damned. He's usually right, so I think that you'll have some good color. My dad's on vacation in upstate Vermont and he says that the color is excellent. Here's hoping that your visit coincides with peak fall foliage!

[RetiredMustang]

Saturday, October 3, embarkation day (Cont.)

 

The boat drill wsa at 3:15, with the now-standard three warning signals. At the third one, we went to our station. Roll was taken by the controllers shouting room numbers and us answering.

 

We sailed about 4 p.m. It seemed to take a long time to back down out of the port area to a place in the harbor where we could turn and head to sea. There was rain and quite a bit of wind, and the sailaway took a long time. Veendam dropped off the pilot while DW and I were at dinner. We had a good view of Boston skyline from the aft windows of the dining room, but it was overcast and gray, and nearly sunset, so the view was not as nice as maybe it would be on a bright sunny day.

 

As I mentioned before, for dinner, we both had the prime rib, although I was able to ask to have green beans instead of carrots, and DW got rice instead of the baked potato. For starters, DW had the salad and enjoyed the walnuts and cranberries it came with. I had the clam chowder. The description said it contained Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco, which seemed odd, but I tried it. It was different from the usual Boston-style chowder, but was actually pretty good – the additions were just hints and not overpowering. For dessert, I had lemon sorbet, and DW had the devil’s food cake with chocolate-orange butter cream frosting. She raved about the cake and especially the frosting. She shared a taste with me, and we agreed the frosting, in addition to orange flavor, also had some orange zest to add those great volatile oils from the orange peel.

 

Below are the dinner and dessert menus.

 

 

 

 

Thanks everyone for following and for your encouragement.

 

More later,

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Sunday, October 4, Bar Harbor

 

We are approaching the Maine coast as I write (about 6:30), and it appears we should have a pretty nice day. We have booked an excursion to tour Acadia National Park, and finish with a lobster bake. Looking forward to it.

 

Here are today’s On Location. The Explorer packet cover and the Bar Harbor guide pages will be in the next post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Sunday, October 4, Bar Harbor (Cont.)

 

Here are the Explorer packet cover and the Bar Harbor guide pages.

 

 

 

 

 

More later,

Dave

[cruz chic]

Glad you are making it into Bar Harbor. Sounds like you have a great day planned. Enjoy.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Glad you are able to get into Bar Harbor today.

[jimbri]

Looking forward to your review.

[missmishka]

Thank you for your continuing post! When you have a chance would you describe how you find the ship and what type of stateroom you have? The last time we sailed to Mexico was in 2005 on the Ryndam, and we have only sailed on Vista class ships since.

 

For our upcoming November Mexican cruise, we also booked during the Anniversary sale promotion and supposedly have the Dine Around and beverage card perks, but neither are noted in our on-line travel agency itinerary (the additional OBC is noted). Did you have anything in your stateroom about the Dine Around promotion that you took with you when you went to make your dining reservations?

 

Appreciate any information you can give us! Thanks again.

 

Have a fabulous cruise! We did the Canada/New England cruise on Cunard 4 years ago and had a wonderful time. We plan to do it next year on HAL.

[catl331]

Of course, I wasn't surprised that you had the Prime Beef. I will be interested in your beef choices.

 

I guess no one noticed on your first "On Location" that they had a special Seafood Dinner in the Lido: Shrimp, Salmon and Muscles. Really! Oh, maybe they were Dutch mussels.

 

Hope you see some colorful vistas. Try Poutine in Quebec. Adieu!

[RetiredMustang]

Sunday, October 4, Bar Harbor (Cont.)

 

We had a great day in Bar Harbor with glorious sunny weather! I will post more later, after I have prepared some photos and written some observations, but it is time to prepare for early dining for the first Gala night. We have early fixed dining, and it starts at 5:15 p.m. on this cruise.

 

But, here is a quick note to update the Dine-Around info. Yesterday we received two notes, with almost identical phrasing. To paraphrase, they said we will receive dinner for 2 in the xxx Restaurant. Please make your reservations. Kindly sign the below acknowledging receipt and return this voucher to the xxx Manager on the night of your reservation.

 

So, basically, these are coupons for free dinners for two at the date/time you reserve – bring them and you won’t be charged. That sounds like a much more sensible way to do the Dine-Around than giving everyone reservations they probably don’t like and they all line up to change them.

 

More later,

Dave

[islandblue]

I'm enjoying reading your posts so much! We too will be boarding the Maasdam on Oct 17, sailing from Montreal to Ft Lauderdale. Your descriptions are just adding to the excitement around here. I'm keen to hear how you liked your excursion in Bar Harbor today, as we have booked the same one! Enjoy every minute, and thanks so much for sharing with us.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cruz chic]

Thank you for your continuing post! When you have a chance would you describe how you find the ship and what type of stateroom you have? The last time we sailed to Mexico was in 2005 on the Ryndam, and we have only sailed on Vista class ships since.

 

For our upcoming November Mexican cruise, we also booked during the Anniversary sale promotion and supposedly have the Dine Around and beverage card perks, but neither are noted in our on-line travel agency itinerary (the additional OBC is noted). Did you have anything in your stateroom about the Dine Around promotion that you took with you when you went to make your dining reservations?

 

Appreciate any information you can give us! Thanks again.

 

Have a fabulous cruise! We did the Canada/New England cruise on Cunard 4 years ago and had a wonderful time. We plan to do it next year on HAL.

 

I know you didn't address this to me but my dine around package was listed right on my Hal confirmation that I got from my PCC. That said, I don't have this perk anymore as I decided to take the lower price on my cruise instead. Hope that helps.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Dinner at 5:15!!

We like to eat early, but not that early.

[RetiredMustang]

Sunday, October 4, Bar Harbor (Cont.)

 

What a great day! I had posted earlier that we were approaching the Maine coast in what looked to be good weather. A bit later, the sun rose and burned off the bit of haze that was around, and the blue skies, green trees and brown mountains shown in the early sunshine through crystal air.

 

We had feared a gray, rainy and windy day, based on forecasts from a few days ago. But, the hurricane and the nor’easter both went somewhere else, and we had a special day. It was clear, crisp and cold, with a breeze making me raise my jacket collar as we boarded the tender ashore about 8:30.

 

We had a shore excursion that met at 10:15 ashore, but the weather and views of the shore were so inviting, we went ashore early. We walked about the town of Bar Harbor and looked at the myriad T-shirts for sale, and blueberry anything you could think of, and some I never had.

 

We stopped for a double-shot latte at the Coffee Hound on Main St. (it’s on the Explorer map, but closer to the port than the map indicates). We took our coffees to the Agamont Park on the waterfront and found a bench facing east in direct sunlight and enjoyed the view and the brew. It was about 50 degrees F/10 C, but it was warm in the direct sunlight.

 

This is a very pretty town, which I imagine becomes impossible in high season. But, even though we were in with a Royal Caribbean ship (possibly Grandeur OTS, but bifocals were not much help), we must have been early enough not to encounter very many fellow passengers.

 

Bar Harbor and the Desert Island has mostly evergreen trees, but there are also a good bit of hardwoods. Some were just starting to turn, and we hope to see more when we return on the sailing back to Boston.

 

Below and in the following post are some photos from our walkabout:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dave

[DeeniEncinitas]

Love reading your posts.

Nice photos too!

Thank you!

Denise:)

[RetiredMustang]

Sunday, October 4, Bar Harbor (Cont.)

 

More photos from our Bar Harbor walk:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Sunday, October 4, Bar Harbor (Cont.)

 

We returned to the shore excursion marshalling area in the pier at 10:15, and checked in with the stick-holder. Then we waited a bit. And then a bit more. And some more. About 15 mintues after our scheduled departure of 10:30, a company rep told us that we were delayed a bit because of 1) our ship’s arrival a bit late and 2) a couple of people on a previous tour were late. But, they rustled up a bus, and we left about 20 minutes late. No big, since we warmed our bones in the direct sun.

 

The tour was the ship-sponsored Acadia National Park and Lobster Bake excursion. Basically, it took the Park’s loop road, stopping once at the Thunder Hole, and then returned to town for the lobster lunch.

 

We were originally scheduled to visit Cadillac Mountain when we booked the excursion online several weeks ago. But, a couple of weeks ago, HAL emailed us to tell us that the trip to the mountain was cancelled, and we could cancel the tour if we wanted. We discussed it, and decided to keep the reservations.

 

It was a very pretty drive, and the stop at Thunder Hole allowed us to stretch our legs and get some very nice views of the island’s coastline. (There were also restrooms, basically glorified outhouses, but welcome.)

 

The Thunder Hole is called that because it booms when wave and tide conditions are right. They were pretty close today, as we heard quite loud thuds and booms when the waves rushed up the narrow channel and crashed into the rocks.

 

We then continued the loop drive and went to a restaurant/resort in Bar Harbor for the lobster bake. Afterwards, we walked the 100 yards or so to the tender pier and came back aboard.

 

Here are photos of the Thunder Hole, coastline, and my plate from the lunch:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More later,

Dave

[Mtn2Sea]

That lobster sure does look good!!!

[regencypark]

Long range weather here in Halifax looks very nice, so hopefully you will have sunny blue skies for your visit to our city.

[cruz chic]

Love the pics! Acadia national park is my favorite place to visit on this cruise. Thx.

[scluvsrain]

Hi Dave!

 

So nice to follow your blog of your cruise. I sailed this itinerary a couple of years ago and loved it, so your descriptions bring back nice memories.

 

I'll be joining the Veendam on October 17 in Boston when you complete your cruise. Sailing it all the way to San Diego.

 

Cheers,

[RetiredMustang]

Sunday, October 4, Bar Harbor (Cont.)

 

We changed into our Gala Night clothes (which are the same as our old Formal Night clothes), and went to Happy Hour in the Ocean Bar for wine before dinner. The bar had extra staff on hand, and while they were busy, the bar was not as crowded as we had seen for Happy Hour on other ships.

 

I took a photo of the dinner menu which they had at the Ocean Bar, and it appears below. When we went at our table, however, our Dining Room steward handed us a fancier version – a photo of the cover is also below. The menu was the same, just printed more elegantly.

 

I had the shrimp cocktail for starters, followed by the sole. DW had the soup – chicken with soba noodles, followed by the baked pasta. She enjoyed both dishes, and said the soup was a miso-like broth with bits of chiken, penne pasta, tofu and seaweed. I enjoyed the shrimp, and the sole was tasty, but the sauce of fresh diced tomatoes and capers had dampened the lightly-sauteed fillet. I am not a fan of capers, so avoided the sauce as much as I could. The fish was delicate and cooked well, moist and flaky. We both had the chocolate soufflé for dessert, which was excellent as ever.

 

After dinner, we returned to the Ocean Bar and had an after-dinner liqueur and listed a bit to the Neptunes dance band.

 

Here are the dinner menu and the cover of the menu presented to us at the table:

 

 

 

 

 

 

More later,

Dave

Edited October 5, 2015 by RetiredMustang

[RetiredMustang]

Monday, October 5, Halifax

 

Today we visit Halifax, Nova Scotia. We have been three times before and enjoyed our visits, but have never gone to Peggy’s Cove. So, this time we decided to take a shore excursion to view the famous lighthouse and village. We set our clocks ahead one hour last night.

 

I appreciate all your comments, and will answer your questions as well as I can, but I may not get to all of them right away; this is a very busy cruise so far.

 

Dine-Around – like Cruz Chic, we also had it listed on our receipts from HAL. We did not see anything in the room when we arrived, but the dining reservations person said he could see in his computer that we were listed as having the benefit. As I mentioned above, later that day we got the two notes in our mail slot that basically said to make our own reservations and bring the cards when we went to the dinners.

 

Thoughts on Veendam – We like the smaller “S” class ships, and Veendam looks a lot like Maasdam and Ryndam, which we have been on recently. She is clean, well-maintained and comfortable. We don’t think we like the addition to the aft, because it breaks up the classic lines of the ship, and the Retreat is not to our taste. We are in a Vista Suite on the Verandah Deck, port side, and we find it very comfortable. I am taking photos around the ship and will post some now and then as I can.

 

Here are today’s On Location:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dave

[RetiredMustang]

Monday, October 5, Halifax (Cont.)

 

Here are the Halifax guide pages from the Explorer:

 

 

 

 

 

 

More later,

Dave