For Canada, which ship?

[flahagan]

I have friends who were thinking of taking RCL Anthem in Oct. for a 9 nt. cruise out of Port Liberty. However, we live in central Florida and I saw that the Zuiderdam will be doing a 12-nt leaving Quebec City and repositioning to Ft. Lauderdale. It also stops in Port Canaveral, where they could disembark and get a ride home!

To me, I would definitely choose the Zuiderdam based on the itinerary but I've never sailed on her. I've seen conflicting reviews, but the Anthem isn't boding so well either.

Any suggestions or opinions?

[sail7seas]

I would choose Zuiderdam but I'd never sail a ship as large as Anthem.

They are two different cruise lines and two very different ships.

Without knowing anything about your friends, it's hard to say which they would like better.

 

We don't know age, how active, tastes, preferences, needs........

 

[SilvertoGold]

As Sail notes, you are comparing two completely different cruises lines and two completely different ships.

 

RCL is a theme park, HAL is a gracious hotel.

 

This should actually be a clear choice if you know these people well.

[flahagan]

They are mid-to-late 70's. I just don't see them on a ship like Anthem and am trying to be diplomatic. She's the one who picked it, for reasons I don't understand. Before I recommended the Zuiderdam sail instead, I was just trying to get views from you veterans.

[Krazy Kruizers]

JMO -- I would do the Zuiderdam.

Nice itinerary.

[SilvertoGold]

They are mid-to-late 70's. I just don't see them on a ship like Anthem and am trying to be diplomatic. She's the one who picked it, for reasons I don't understand. Before I recommended the Zuiderdam sail instead, I was just trying to get views from you veterans.

 

I would agree about the Zuiderdam. I wonder how the pricing compares?

 

Your role is a difficult one! I never advise friends or relatives on cruising. SO hard to know what people will like or not!!!

[g&gtravel]

I agree with "Sail", I would never consider the megaships that have their own zip code. When last on the Zuiderdam, we had a great cruise.

 

Another thought would be the reposition on the Maasdam to Ft Lauderdale, which stopped a Port Canaveral the last time we did that Cruise. The Zuiderdam would have to start in Quebec City and getting there can be harder than getting to the Maasdam, which would sail from Montreal.

[flahagan]

The Maasdam is in the Pacific this year.

[g&gtravel]

Good point, flahagan. Veendam is doing the NE/Canada this season. There reposition leaves the day after Zuiderdam's 12 day cruise with a 13 day. Zuiderdam goes to Saguenay, which Veendam does not. Love Saguenay. However, Veendam stops in NYC and the sailaway from there is unforgetable.

[3rdGenCunarder]

I would definitely vote for any HAL ship over Anthem. That ship is too big!

 

One thing to check before you suggest the change is about leaving the ship at Port Canaveral. Check with HAL to see if that's possible, since the "official" disembarkation port is Fort Lauderdale.

Edited March 7, 2016 by 3rdGenCunarder

[3rdGenCunarder]

As Sail notes, you are comparing two completely different cruises lines and two completely different ships.

 

RCL is a theme park, HAL is a gracious hotel.

 

This should actually be a clear choice if you know these people well.

 

(changes in font are mine)

Where's that LIKE button when you need it????

[OCruisers]

Any HAL ship with that itinerary offered would be our choice in a heart beat! :)

[ellieanne]

I did a very similar repositioning cruise on the Eurodam in 2013, and I know several passengers disembarked at Port Canaveral.

 

It was a bit of a nightmare because they had to do self-disembarkation and there was a delay with that because there was a medical emergency that had to be cleared before they got off, and then at least 6 of the disembarking passengers didn't really want to be up and out that early and they had to be cleared before the rest of the passenger could get off for their shore excursions/personal days ashore. Those 6 passengers were paged for well over an hour before they finally decided to get off the ship while everyone was trying to get off for shore excursions -- making the busy gangway busier. Many people trying to get off for excursions would not let the disembarking passengers cut in line.

 

I would't think there would be any issues with disembarking at Port Canaveral, but my experience indicates that they need to be willing to self-disembark and be ready to get off the ship before 8:00 am.

[madda]

Regarding disembarking before the official cruise finishes, my husband and I disembarked two days prior to the official end (we wanted to disembark in Copenhagen to catch up with friends) and the cruise fished at Ijmuiden. We only had to get a letter from HAL to confirm that it was okay to do that and hand it into the office. The day we disembarked we could have stayed on the ship until nearly it was time for it to depart. We stayed until about 2ish. We were advised that as we had paid for the cruise we could stay as long as we wanted. (BTW if you decide to disembark earlier there is no reduction in costs but we thought it worthwhile).

[ellieanne]

Regarding disembarking before the official cruise finishes, my husband and I disembarked two days prior to the official end (we wanted to disembark in Copenhagen to catch up with friends) and the cruise fished at Ijmuiden. We only had to get a letter from HAL to confirm that it was okay to do that and hand it into the office. The day we disembarked we could have stayed on the ship until nearly it was time for it to depart. We stayed until about 2ish. We were advised that as we had paid for the cruise we could stay as long as we wanted. (BTW if you decide to disembark earlier there is no reduction in costs but we thought it worthwhile).

 

I think it may have something to do with when Customs/Border Control are available in each port.

[sapper1]

The Anthem is scheduled to make four visits here in Saint John this season and, while I would not relish sailing on her, I certainly will head uptown to have a look out of curiosity.

If I were offered a free cruise on the Anthem as opposed to a full fare cruise on the Zuiderdam, I would choose the Zuiderdam. :eek:

[esimon]

I love the comparison of theme park and luxury hotel !!!!!

[SilvertoGold]

I love the comparison of theme park and luxury hotel !!!!!

 

Thanks to you and 3rdGenCunader for saying so.

Once in a long, long time something like that pops into my head!

[Alberta Quilter]

I think it may have something to do with when Customs/Border Control are available in each port.

 

That shouldn't be an issue with this particular cruise as it stops in several US ports prior to Port Canaveral.

 

I, too, would choose the Zuiderdam itinerary.

[Winters in NZ]

Zuiderdam goes to Saguenay' date=' which Veendam does not. Love Saguenay. [/quote']

 

The Saguenay fjord is a beautiful sight, but I could never understand why all ships which sail through it, do it while most passengers are sleeping.

 

While sailing with the Eurodam 2 years ago, in order to get a good view of the tremendous scenery, we hopped aboard an Air Saguenay float plane, which cost us about $50 Canadian, which was a good investment.

[3rdGenCunarder]

The Saguenay fjord is a beautiful sight, but I could never understand why all ships which sail through it, do it while most passengers are sleeping.

 

While sailing with the Eurodam 2 years ago, in order to get a good view of the tremendous scenery, we hopped aboard an Air Saguenay float plane, which cost us about $50 Canadian, which was a good investment.

 

That sound great! It seems that a lot of ships (other than HAL) just cruise the fjord and don't make a stop. For our cruise on Maasdam, it was a port stop. We did the hoho bus and discovered a cool art museum in an old paper mill. Most of the mill buildings were ruins, and with the stream rushing over rocks it made for pretty photo ops.

 

But if Veendam is sailing into NYC, that could sway my choice of cruise.

[Hlitner]

We have been on all size ships (from 20 passenger boats up to many thousands of passenger ships) and always prefer the smaller vessels. And when it comes to the typical Canada/NE itineraries we would always opt for the smaller ship over a monster like the Anthem. Do we want to be at a nice quaint place like Bar Harbor fighting with thousands or other cruisers? Nope. Many of the Canada/NE ports do not have the infrastructure to handle the hoards from these huge ships. Consider that the normal population of Bar Harbor is about 5000 souls! The Anthem literally doubles the local population. Not my idea of a quaint port. Folks visit these places to see a charming part of the USA/Canada.....but doing it on a mega ship does little to preserve the charm.

 

Hank

[ellieanne]

We have been on all size ships (from 20 passenger boats up to many thousands of passenger ships) and always prefer the smaller vessels. And when it comes to the typical Canada/NE itineraries we would always opt for the smaller ship over a monster like the Anthem. Do we want to be at a nice quaint place like Bar Harbor fighting with thousands or other cruisers? Nope. Many of the Canada/NE ports do not have the infrastructure to handle the hoards from these huge ships. Consider that the normal population of Bar Harbor is about 5000 souls! The Anthem literally doubles the local population. Not my idea of a quaint port. Folks visit these places to see a charming part of the USA/Canada.....but doing it on a mega ship does little to preserve the charm.

 

Hank

 

My first cruise was intended to be able to go to Prince Edward Island. That was the whole reason we chose this itinerary. Unfortunately, at the time, PEI was limiting calls by cruise ships and HAL was on an every-other-year route for PEI so we missed calling at Charlottetown that cruise. I kind of wish they would go back to limiting calls.

 

I can see the amount Sydney, NS has pumped into tourism in how different it has become from that first visit in 1998. It's REALLY changed in 18 years!

 

I am sorry they built new cruise ship facilities in many of the ports along the itinerary. There really aren't too many small, not-ready-for-prime-time ports left along the route as far as I can tell. But there are many I would really enjoy if HAL went back to -- Sept Iles and Baie-Comeau among them.

[BJzink]

I would choose Zuiderdam but I'd never sail a ship as large as Anthem.

They are two different cruise lines and two very different ships.

Without knowing anything about your friends, it's hard to say which they would like better.

 

We don't know age, how active, tastes, preferences, needs........

 

Another consideration-When we went on a Canada cruise in fall, 2013, we were on the NCL Dawn, sort of a mid-sized ship. There was at least one other ship in each port with us, and these ports are not large towns by any means (maybe Halifax is a little bigger). The impact of one of the behemoth ships on any one of them, I think, would be detremental to enjoying the ports. Take La Baie - the townspeople came out to the dock in local costume, did regional dances, and gave each passenger a regional flag, and slices of blueberry pie. I'm thinking that it would be overwhelming for them to do this for 5000+ passengers. In Charlottetown, we took a horse-drawn wagon for about 20 people for a wonderful tour of the town, and a HoHo bus in Halifax that was very slow to reload. I'd definitely take the smaller ship.

[GotThatCruisingFeeling]

As Sail notes, you are comparing two completely different cruises lines and two completely different ships.

 

RCL is a theme park, HAL is a gracious hotel.

 

This should actually be a clear choice if you know these people well.

 

I've sailed on both the Anthem (Jan 2016) and the Zuiderdam (about 7 years ago), and the quote above is right on. (I am 70.)

 

If on the Anthem, your friends will need to make reservations for dinner each evening, as well as for the main shows. If they are not tech-savvy, they may feel a bit lost. Also, the Anthem only goes to two ports in Canada (Halifax and St. George).

 

Suggest you check how many ships will be in each port, as well.