Tell me about Veendam and the Boston to Montreal run

[go noles]

We were supposed to be spending a week in St Martin later this month. Looks like Irma is going to make that an impossibility (praying for all in harms way). So we are scrambling to make other vacation arrangements.

 

We've cruised extensively with Princess and Celebrity and are looking at taking the Veendam from Boston to Montreal.

 

Thoughts and advice appreciated.

[RuthC]

It's predicted this will be a very good year for foliage, so you are in luck on that score. Later this month should be good timing for some decent viewing at least in the more northern areas.

 

The Veendam is not my favorite HAL ship, due to the awful Retreat area on the Lido stern. That mound of hot tubs in the middle blocks the lovely views you would otherwise see while sailing down the St. Lawrence River.

However, her size, and especially her Lower Promenade outside deck, and a real plus. She is a small ship, so easy to get around quickly. You can spend hours sitting outside watching the world go by.

Service on the ship should be as on most other HAL ships---which is to say excellent. Food will be decent.

The itinerary is busy, but very, very good.

[Cruise_More_Often]

It's a great itinerary; we've done it four times. We did the opposite direction this May on the Veendam.

 

I found absolutely nothing to complain about regarding the ship itself. It's small, which makes walking from one end to the other super easy (we usually book aft, so that's a nice plus for us).

 

The ship never felt crowded anywhere, even in the buffet, and there were never more than a few people in the covered pool.

 

The buffet is excellent. I suggest a visit to the salad bar. Stop by the DiveIn (forward of the pool) for a delicious burger and fries/onion rings. One day on your itinerary they will serve poutine from the cart there, and the area will be decorated in a Canadian motif.

 

We thought the Veendam was in very good condition, and her interiors are quite bright and modern.

 

As for the ports, there are almost too many tours to choose from. If you like just walking around the towns, Bar Harbor, Halifax and Quebec City are great towns for that. In Halifax, we have visited Peggy's Cove a number of times and did the ship's tour to Lunenburg. In Sydney, you really need to do a tour. We've done tours there that took us along part of the Cabot Trail, and we've been to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum. My favorite tour, maybe of all times, was to the Fortress of Louisbourg. When we drove there while on a cruise (August 2015), the Fortress was in full swing, with all the reenactors there. Last May, knowing it would be shoulder season (as your time will be), we chose to go there on a HAL tour. We actually learned so much more about the place on the tour than we did going by ourselves. We have always rented a car in Charlottetown and driven along the northern or eastern shores--gorgeous! If possible, spend some time in Montreal, a beautiful and historic city.

 

If you want to see some photos of the areas you'll be visiting, click here and look for the albums that have "Canada/New England" in the titles. I didn't do one for our May cruise (my bad), but maybe I'll work on it this afternoon.

 

Whatever you choose to do, I think you'll really enjoy your itinerary and the Veendam.

Edited September 4, 2017 by Cruise_More_Often

[holacanada]

Hi go noles !

 

I did that cruise twice and I can assure you that you are not regret it !

For the port of calls, the regional food, the scenery, the people and the Canadian touch !

First, Welcome in the beautiful province of Quebec.

Actually they have some traffic problems in Montréal ! We have three major road construction in there. Expect some slow traffic.

In Quebec City the Fall Foliage thing begin in one or two weeks. You are lucky !

I don't like the Veendam for the same reason as RuthC.

Small ship who need a good retrofit without some of the highlight perks of cruising HA (no hydropool, some rust stains, a standard library and old concept crow's nest. Do not expect a large pool in the rear, no scenic elevators, smaller Pinnacle, etc).

Do not flame me please ! I was a little disappointed as you can see. — Holacanada

[cruisereaders]

Our daughter and son in law just returned from that cruise and loved it. They liked the smaller ship and thought the itinerary was amazing. A highlight in Halifax is the art gallery where you can see the home Maud Lewis ( the recent film Maudie) lived in and her art works and the Alexander Keith brewery.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[scluvsrain]

Has anyone done the Boston - Bermuda - Boston - Montreal trip?

[Sue from Canada]

It's predicted this will be a very good year for foliage, so you are in luck on that score. Later this month should be good timing for some decent viewing at least in the more northern areas.

 

The Veendam is not my favorite HAL ship, due to the awful Retreat area on the Lido stern. That mound of hot tubs in the middle blocks the lovely views you would otherwise see while sailing down the St. Lawrence River.

However, her size, and especially her Lower Promenade outside deck, and a real plus. She is a small ship, so easy to get around quickly. You can spend hours sitting outside watching the world go by.

Service on the ship should be as on most other HAL ships---which is to say excellent. Food will be decent.

The itinerary is busy, but very, very good.

\

 

I live an hour west of Montreal and the leaves started changing a couple of weeks ago. We've had a very rainy and cool summer and our night time lows are now dipping into the 40s some nights. A few trees are already yellow! Not our usual late summer.