Live from Veendam; Montreal to Boston

[Scrapnana]

So glad you are getting to enjoy a cruise as a passenger. Enjoying your reports (although we will be missing your technical insight on the Juneau webcam).

 

Hope you and Maria have a fabulous cruise!

[Jolie_Cruiser]

Thank you for your live report and review. I learned some stuff about Montréal I did not know myself.

 

I have been posting the info about the temporary terminal since February on the "Anything Montreal" thread (Canada N/E forum). This is important information, so here it is again (for the future Montréal cruisers on the present HAL thread).

 

To have access to the facilities at berths 34-37 (for midsize ships), taxi drivers must use the entrance at the corner of Pie-IX (pronounced "pea-nuf") and Notre-Dame East. Once you pass the gate, the terminal is a short drive to the right. A lot of effort has been put to make cabbies aware of that, but it is good for cruisers to know about it.

 

Here is the link again:

"Access to passenger terminal":

http://www.port-montreal.com/en/access-to-passenger-terminal.html

[dibati2]

I'm currently sailing on this cruise also. I hope you don't mind if I chime in

 

We sailed this time last year on the Maasdam - same cruise, same time of year. We had such a good time we thought we'd do it again.

 

Sadly the Veendam is not the same experience. Worn and tired stateroom, limited activities, very average entertainment and the worst crime of all .....cafeteria quality food.

 

We had a great day in Quebec City and a fabulous off ship lunch. Thank goodness for that

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[mamaofami]

Following along with you, John. We did that cruise up and back a few years ago and loved it. Hope you have a wonderful cruise.:):)

[erewhon]

Good to hear that fellow passengers were attentive at the Passenger Safety Drill.

Hope that happens for our next cruise.

[JamesEM]

Following along.

[Copper10-8]

Day 2 – 07/03/16; Quebec City, Quebec, Canada; Quebec City or Ville de Québec is the capital of the province of Quebec. In 2015 the city had a population of 540,994 and the metropolitan area had a population of 806,400, making it Canada's tenth-largest city but Quebec's second-largest city after Montreal, which is about located about 145 miles to the southwest.

 

The narrowing of the Saint Lawrence River proximate to the city's promontory, Cap-Diamant (Cape Diamond), and Levis, on the opposite bank, provided the name given to the city, Kébec, an Algonquin word meaning "where the river narrows". Founded on July 3, 1608 by French explorer and diplomat Samuel de Champlain, Quebec City is one of the oldest cities in North America. The ramparts surrounding Old Quebec / Vieux-Quebec are the only fortified city walls remaining in the Americas north of Mexico, and were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985 as the 'Historic District of Old Québec'. Champlain, also called "The Father of New France", served as its administrator for the rest of his life.

 

According to the federal and provincial governments, Québec is the city's official name in both French and English, although Quebec City (or its French equivalent, Ville de Québec) is commonly used, particularly to distinguish the city from the province.

 

Throughout its over 400 years of existence, which were celebrated around the world, Quebec City has served as a capital. The City is located in the Saint Lawrence River valley, on the north bank of the Saint Lawrence River near its meeting with the St. Charles River. The surrounding area is low-lying and flat. The river valley has rich, arable soil, which makes this region the most fertile in the province. The Laurentian Mountains lie to the north of the city.

 

A portion of the city, as well as most of the Old Quebec area, is built on a plateau sometimes called the promontory of Quebec. Because of this topographic feature, the central and oldest area of the city is sometimes divided into upper and lower town. On the eastern end of the hill, upper Town lies on the top of Cap-Diamant (Cape Diamond) promontory. The Plains of Abraham are located near the edge of the promontory, on which high stone walls have been integrated during colonial days. On the other hand, lower town is located on the eastern foot of this plateau. It has been a working class area for most of its history unlike uptown, which for the most part, quickly became a place of choice for the local middle-class and bourgeoisie.

 

The city's famous landmarks include the Chateau Frontenac, a hotel which dominates the skyline, and La Citadelle, an intact fortress that forms the center piece of the ramparts surrounding the old city. The National Assembly of Quebec (provincial legislature), the Musee national des beaux-arts du Quebec (National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec), and the Musee de la civilisation (Museum of Civilization) are found within or near Vieux Quebec.

After departing Montreal yesterday, Veendam proceeded down the Fleuve Saint-Laurent towards Quebec City and eventually picked up an additional river pilot. During the morning hours she had to get underneath the twin bridges; Pont Pierre Laporte and Pont de Quebec which connect Ville de Quebec City with Ville de Levis. This has to be accomplished exactly on time due to the rising tide of the St. Lawrence. Around 0630 or so, VEDM passed the Canadian Coast Guard base located below La Citadelle and then started making her approach to her assigned berth. This turned out to be north of the Terminal de Croisieres de Quebec at a location abeam a restaurant by the name of Café du Monde. A large shore-side gangway with two ramps was connected to Deck 5 forward by 0700 hrs. It turned out that, like in Montreal, there is some major port construction going on specifically in what used to be a parking lot, south of the cruise terminal building.

 

We took our time this morning since our plans consisted of “doing our own thing” by walking the lower and upper parts of the old city, catching a horse and carriage ride, and grabbing some lunch at one of the open terraces. So, once we got leisurely ready at around 0945, we had fifteen minutes left to have breakfast at the ‘Lido Market’. VEDM has followed in the footsteps of the brand new KODM, and has renamed her Lido Restaurant “Lido Market”. Unless a complete demo job in dry-dock takes place however, the physical layout of VEDM’s Lido has not changed; the uniforms of the Lido staff has. Eggs benedict are still to be had on the port side of the Lido Market however unfortunately, that side had closed at 0930 hrs. On the starboard side where we found ourselves this morning we chose scrambled eggs, a sausage patty, some potatoes and wheat toast. Also could not find the normally available yogurts anymore. The described food was good and hot with the exception of the potatoes who were semi-cold. Coffee and tea were good.

 

We then got ready to wander outside and explore one of our best liked cities. We picked up a couple of maps inside the adjacent, but not used, Cruise Terminal and followed Promenade de la Pointe-a-Carcy to Rue Sainte Antoine which eventually took us to the eye-catching fresco/mural below Côte de la Montagne in Basse-ville (lower town). This mural recounts the story of Québec City, weaving in visual allusions to its unique architecture and fortifications, and its larger-than-life personalities. In the ‘building’s’ windows there are some 15 historic figures and nearly dozens of Québec's leading writers and artists, plus my personal favorites; two kids playing street hockey with one wearing a Quebec Nordiques’ sweater with Peter Stastny’s name on the back. Truly an awesome piece of work!

 

From there we walked past the old Notre-Dame-des-Victoires Church. We turned stage right and looked up at the Old Quebec Funiculaire. There are basically two ways on foot to get from the lower town to the Haute-ville/upper town; take the funiculaire for Can $2.35 a person (each way) or start climbing the Ecalier ‘casse-cou’, literally meaning the “neck-breaking steps”. Easy decision; we took the funiculaire which took us up in about a minute/minute thirty. The funicular opened on November 17, 1879 and one trip on the line travels 210 feet at a 45-degree angle.

 

Arriving in upper old town Quebec, the first thing you notice is the magnificent Chateau Frontenac hotel built in 1893. The hotel is generally recognized as the most photographed hotel in the world, largely as it is the most prominent feature of the Quebec City skyline as seen from across the Saint Lawrence. Sign of the times; it now has a Starbucks on the exterior facing the statue of the Father of New France, Samuel de Chaplain. We wound up taking a 90-minute horse and carriage ride inside the huge ramparts of the old city seeing some parts of this beautiful city we’ve never seen before. After the ride down to Basse-ville, we wound up at Cotes a Cotes Resto-Grill and had an excellent lunch on their open air terrace, watching the Quebec world go by.

 

All Aboard today was at 4:30 pm and 30 min later Captain Eric took his big ship back into the Fleuve Sainte-Laurent to continue down river. Dinner was once again at 7:45 and our group of six were joined by one more couple from Washington, D.C. making our table of eight complete. Maria had the Apple Cider-Brined Pork Chop with Cherry-Raisin Chutney while I selected Bucatini Caponata. After-dinner drinks were up in the Crow’s Nest while listening to Karen and the HAL Cats perform ‘50s & ‘60s Sock Hop hits. At 10:00 pm we went down to the Showroom at Sea where Craig Diamond was performing his comedy magic. You know, a pax gives him a $100 bill, after signing his name on it which, btw, is a Federal offense, and Mr. Diamond promptly “burns” it. He is then able to produce that $100 inside an uncut lemon.

 

We lost an hour tonite so are now four hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time. Called it a night around midnight after some dancing back up in the Crow’s Nest. Tomorrow is the only sea day in this port-intensive seven-day voyage. Plus, it’s Independence Day! See y’all manana.

[Happily@Sea]

Glad to hear about Quebec City - have never been that far east in Canada and will be leaving from there on the Zuiderdam in October on her return to FLL.

 

Thanks for the report and I'm following along everyday.

[sppunk]

Thanks for taking us along!

 

Is it "weird" to sail as a guest? ;)

[Himself]

John:

 

I was in Quebec city in 1972 and I remember it fondly.

[geoherb]

Thanks for posting. We sailed on the Veendam from Quebec to Boston several years ago. Our cruise was in May, which apparently is too early for the ship to make it to Montreal due to higher water levels. We had an overnight in Quebec. Our embarkation day, however, was rainy, so we did not bother to get off the ship that afternoon. We spent the night in Quebec before boarding and had a full afternoon and evening to see many of the sights. The morning before we sailed, we had time to explore the river level. There's a nice market with local products near the port.

[Copper10-8]

Day 3 – 07/04/16; At Sea; sailing towards Charlottetown, PEI, Canada; Happy Fourth of July! Today is our only sea day of this seven-day voyage which, for the entire morning followed the big St. Lawrence and then the St. Lawrence Estuary towards the Atlantic Ocean.

 

The Saint Lawrence River or, as the French Canadians say it, Fleuve Saint-Laurent, flows in a roughly north-easterly direction, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean and forming the primary drainage outflow of the Great Lakes Basin. It traverses the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, and is part of the international boundary between Ontario, Canada, and the U.S. state of New York. The big river also provides the basis of the commercial Saint Lawrence Seaway. The estuary begins at the eastern tip of Ile d’Orleans, just downstream from Quebec City, around which it becomes tidal.

 

Though European mariners, such as John Cabot, the brothers Gaspar and Miguel Corte-Real and Alonso Sanchez in the 15th century and the Norsemen/Bloody Vikings 500 years still earlier, explored the Gulf of St. Lawrence the first European explorer known to have sailed up the St. Lawrence River itself was French explorer Jacques Cartier. As Cartier arrived in the estuary on St. Lawrence’s feast day, he named it the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The St. Lawrence River is partly within the U.S. and as such is that country's sixth oldest surviving European place-name.

Until the early 17th century, the French used the name Rivière du Canada to designate the Saint Lawrence upstream to Montreal and the Ottawa River after Montreal. The Saint Lawrence River served as the main route for European exploration of the North American interior, first pioneered by French explorer Samuel de Champlain.

 

Control of the river was crucial to British strategy to capture New France in the Seven Years’ War. Having captured Louisburg in 1758, the British sailed up to Quebec the following year thanks to charts drawn up by James Cook. British troops were ferried via the St. Lawrence to attack the city from the west, which they successfully did at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. The river was used again by the British to defeat the French siege of Quebec under the Chevalier de Levis in 1760.

 

An extensive system of canals and locks, known as the Saint Lawrence Seaway, was officially opened on 26 June 1959 by Queen Elizabeth II (representing Canada) and President Dwight D. Eisenhower (representing the United States). The Seaway now permits ocean-going vessels to pass all the way to Lake Superior.

 

Number One; we both really like sea days so this would be a good one! Started it off by taking advantage of being able to have breakfast inside the Pinnacle Restaurant. The PG offers a “Dutch breakfast” which is known by the Dutchies as an “Uitsmijter” (literally a ‘bouncer’) which are two eggs ‘sunny side up’, two thick slices of white bread, a slice of Gouda cheese and a slice of ham. The PG manager is Jonathan or “John” from Aruba in the Dutch Caribbean.

 

After that nice breakfast, and since this is the only sea, the Mariners Society reception was next up at 12:30 pm in the Explorer’s Lounge. There were roughly 17-18 of us, including a couple of ‘President’s Club’ members, one of them with 2,000 plus days at sea with HAL. Captain Eric and Hotel Director Henk Hoekstra handed out copper and silver medallions while CD Jeremy did the introductions. The reception was followed by the Mariners lunch in the Rotterdam dining room where the still somewhat new tiles were handed out, two per couple. We’re not huge fans of the Mariner’s lunch menu we declined politely and went on our merry way doing absolutely nothing which consisted of watching a movie and reading a good book on the balcony.

 

At 4:00 pm, Karen (vocals) and Nick (piano) gave a really nice concert of George Gershwin and Cole Porter music in the Mix. Great music by a couple of really talented performers!

 

This was a gala night so out came the pretty dress (I did shave my legs) and dark suit and tie. Dinner in the Rotterdam dining room was at the usual 7:45 pm. Maria had the Yellowfin Sole Fillet and I had the Baked Ricotta Stuffed Shells, pretty good stuff. Our restaurant steward is Stefanus and his assistant Yosep.

 

The entertainment tonight was the first production show by the cast called ‘Atlantic Crossing’ which was a succession of hits by British bands and vocalists like the Beatles, The Stones, Eric Clapton, Adele and Coldplay, to name a few. We both thought it was an excellent show with great music and dancing and lots of energy.

 

Took a gander up to the Crow’s Nest and then called it a night. Tomorrow, Tuesday, we’ll be in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

[Copper10-8]

Thanks for taking us along!

 

Is it "weird" to sail as a guest? ;)

 

It definitely requires some adjusting like just now (we're alongside in Charlottetown, PEI) when the alarms went off, we heard crew running past our door, and the Lido restaurant was evacuated due to "smoke in the pantry". That "evacuating part" would normally be my responsibility but not this week ;)

 

Anyway, communication by the OOW and subsequently, Captain Eric, was excellent with updates via the P/A every four minutes or so. Turned out to be an overheated valve in a cooling line to the pantry. They've isolated the valve and the "All Clear" has been given/Lido re-opened. Just a little exitement at 10:00 am

[taxmantoo]

Thanks for taking us along Copper.

 

Being from Eastern Canada, that cruise receives very little attention from us when booking (been there so many times) but we do like to hear about how that part of our country is perceived by visitors. ;)

 

Who is the piano player at the Mix on this cruise?

[Himself]

John:

 

Thanks for the report and History lesson. A point on the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway. The Queen travelled the Seaway and came down lake Michigan to Chicago. I saw her at that time. She looked beautiful. She actually did not sail all the way back to England.

It seems she was getting morning sickness. Early the next year Prince Andrew was born.

[kftw]

Enjoying your live report. Thank you for sharing your cruise with us.

[POA1]

Looking forward to your trip reports. Just found this thread now. Have a great trip.

[Copper10-8]

That's quite a change in personnel from 6 weeks ago, when we had Sarah as CD and Captain Noel. Who's the current location guide. On my cruise we had Jeremy who I thought was one of the best.

 

Roy

 

Jeremy is still here, Roy

[Copper10-8]

Thanks for taking us along Copper.

 

Being from Eastern Canada, that cruise receives very little attention from us when booking (been there so many times) but we do like to hear about how that part of our country is perceived by visitors. ;)

 

Who is the piano player at the Mix on this cruise?

The piano dude is Warren

[Copper10-8]

Day 4 – 07/05/16; Charlottetown, PEI, Canada; Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, queen consort of British King George III, Charlottetown was originally an unincorporated town that incorporated as a city in 1855. It was most famously the site of the Charlottetown Conference in 1864, the first gathering of Canadian and Maritime statesmen to debate the proposed Maritime Union and the more persuasive British North American Union, now known as Canadian Confederation. From this, the city adopted as its motto “Cunabula Foederis” – "Birthplace of Confederation".

 

The population of Charlottetown in the 2011 census was 34,562; with the Province of PEI coming in at 140,204. Charlottetown is situated on its namesake harbor, which is formed by the confluence of three rivers in the central part of the island's south shore. The harbor itself opens onto the Northumberland Strait. The city is roughly V-shaped (pointed to the south) and constrained by the North (Yorke) and the Hillsborough (East) rivers to the west and east.

 

The city's streetscape with a centrally planned downtown core containing many Victorian-era houses and buildings is an attraction, as well as the waterfront redevelopment project in recent decades which has seen walking trails and parks developed on former industrial lands. A new cruise ship terminal was opened by the port authority in September 2007 which, proponents hope, will make the city a more attractive destination for the growing number of vessels operating in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Popular attractions within the city include the provincial legislature at Province House, which hosted the Charlottetown Conference, as well as Founders Hall, a recently redeveloped railway maintenance building which now houses an interactive trip through history tracing the development of Canada as a nation.

 

The Confederation Center of the Arts provides live theater, including the Charlottetown Festival during the summer months, as well as a nationally ranked art gallery. The Charlottetown Festival itself is headlined by Canada's most popular and longest-running musical, ‘Anne of Green Gables’, which is an adaptation of Island author Lucy Maud Montgomery’s novel of the same name. Several other small theaters and galleries can be found immediately surrounding the Confederation center including the Mac (MacKenzie theater), the Arts Guild, and Pilar Shepard gallery.

 

During the early morning hours (around 0415), VEDM passed underneath the big Confederation Bridge which spans the Abegweit Passage of the Northumberland Strait and has been linking the province of Prince Edward Island with the province of New Brunswick since 1997. The pilot was picked up and a course was set for the Hillsborough River and Charlottetown harbor where a 180 was performed by the bridge team after which Captain Eric “parked” his ship starboard side to alongside the city’s cruise ship terminal building. A gangway was established from A-Deck by the “Boatmen” supervised by Security Officer Ajay, and by 0700 the ship was in business for the early risers.

 

We were definitely not part of that group as our alarm clock did not activate until 0730 since we had no local tour booked. The plan was to have a leisurely breakfast (regular eggs benedict, no sauce) in the Lido Market before 0930 hrs., get our thoughts together, and then around 1100 hrs. walk down to A-Deck to “re-explore” downtown Charlottetown on foot. Before that could all happen however, the ship’s alarms (the first two) went off at 10:10 and right away, we heard running outside our door so we knew something was up. The OOW (Officer of the Watch) came on the P/A system almost immediately to report “smoke detected in the Lido Restaurant pantry on Deck 11” and for “Emergency teams and 1st responders to head that way”.

 

For the next fifteen minutes, Capt. Eric came on the P/A in a calm and professional voice to update us about the investigation in what turned out to be an “overheated valve in a cooling line located within the Lido pantry” That valve had produced smoke, but no fire which caused the bridge to be notified by Lido staff and the ship’s alarms to be sounded. As a result, the entire Lido restaurant was evacuated and isolated which it remained during the subsequent investigation by the first responders/fire teams. The incident lasted lasted approx. twenty-five minutes during which continual updates were given by the captain letting his passengers know what was happening, lessening any anxiety on their part while putting them at ease. A job well done by the 1st responders and those in charge!

 

So we did get out around 11:00 and took our own walking tour which brought us to Queen Street, the main “drag” in town with lots of restaurants, a convenience store, a Starbucks, the Ann of Green Gables store of course, and a photo shop which came in very handy later on (my camera’s disk charger had decided to go on permanent leave). Our main quest this morning was to find the Dutch “Poffertjes” store on Richmond Street we had visited when last in Charlottetown which was in 2012. Unfortunately, (for us) we learned from a friendly local that the store had since closed and that “poffertjes” could nowadays only be had at the Farmers Market which met on Wednesdays and Saturdays (today was Tuesday, so out of luck!). What is a mother to do?

 

Well, we went back to the Starbucks on Queen and Dorchester to grab a cold (Maria) and a hot (moi) one and use their free Wi-Fi. After the aforementioned visit to the nearby photo store where I was able to pick up a universal Canon Sure Shot disk charger, a bit of window shopping and some pics, lunch time came around and we decided on a nice outside terrace of the Fishbones Oyster Bar & Grill back on Richmond. Everyone on Richmond street was entertained by a fifteen-year old local girl singing hits while accompanying herself on her guitar. The weather was great with blue skies under a nice warm sun. Great day to be in Charlottetown, just another one of these really cool Canadian town on the Canada/New England itinerary! Different than metropolitan Montreal or very French Quebec City, but just a nice place to spend some time in, wander around, partake in a nice lunch, and be among the very friendly locals for which greeting visitors in passing on the street with a “G’day, how are you” appears to be a perfectly normal thing to do. Try that in L.A. and you’ll be lucky to get acknowledged! Just another reason to like places like this!

 

After lunch, we took a peek inside the Anne of Green Gables store (Danger Will Robinson!) and then took Queen Street all the way to the waterfront where the Delta Prince Edward Hotel is located. We hook-shanked a left and followed the historic Charlottetown waterfront path until we ran smack down into a blue painted building with “Cows” painted on the side and guarded by a Dutch-looking black & white cow in front. Well, everyone who has been to Charlottetown simply knows that Cows PEI serves the best ice cream in Canada, eh, so we each got ourselves a cone, found an outside bench seat in the shade overlooking the marina and did our thing!

 

By this time, it was about 3:30 so we decided to head back to the nearby cruise ship terminal building (free Wi-Fi inside that place!) and back to Mum. All Aboard was at 4:30 and we almost left on time, were it not for two ladies who showed up at 4:41, loudly apologizing profusely as they headed from terminal building to gangway while followed by Ajay. Once again, it pays to know and be on time! As it was, the gangway was pulled and we were outtahere by 4:52 pm.

 

We had received an 8;00 pm dinner invitation for Canaletto from Karen (HAL Cats vocalist) and her significant other, Nick (HAL Cats piano player) so what followed was an extremely enjoyable almost three hour dinner plus conversation to catch up with this fascinating young lady (wait ‘till you hear her background which includes fine-tuning the English language skills of Italian Air Force helicopter pilots, about to go off to war in Afghanistan in 2007, from an air force base near Naples) and her talented boyfriend.

 

Unlike today, tomorrow is an early rise in Sydney, Nova Scotia, since we’ll be retracing part of the Cabot Trail in our first shorex. See y’all manana!

[catl331]

Thanks for the update: Free Wi-Fi, Ice cream and oysters. I will write this down in my to do list!

 

Enjoy!

[Himself]

Your reports are terrific. I look forward to your reports each day.

[forwardho]

We are enjoying your blog and history lessons of Canada. We will be cruising on the Boston to Montreal trip in August.

[Sir PMP]

Can you get 'een uitsmijter rosbief' in the Pinnacle?

[Shih-tzu]

Thanks for taking us along Copper.

 

Being from Eastern Canada, that cruise receives very little attention from us when booking (been there so many times) but we do like to hear about how that part of our country is perceived by visitors. ;)

 

Who is the piano player at the Mix on this cruise?

 

Enjoying the review. I am from the Canadian Maritime so much like "taxmantoo" this isn't an itinerary I would book but also interested in how our piece of the planet is perceived.

 

Of course from my signature block you can see where I do sail on the Veendam out of Boston.......but to somewhere with palm trees.....

 

And isn't Cows ice cream to die for?

 

Some say she's small or old but I loved the ambience on the Veendam....and the fewer number of passengers. If Putu is still a steward on deck 5 aft starboard, say hi to him...he was wonderful.

Edited July 6, 2016 by Shih-tzu