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LIVE: Zaandam 6/4 - 6/11, Montreal - Boston


nyold
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Hello, I will be sailing the Zaandam on 6/4 for a 7D Montreal-Boston. I will be posting photos here. I am not great with words so the descriptions might be succinct, but hopefully my photos will more than make up for it.

 

If this is not the right way to do it in the forums please let me know and I will be happy to move it to the right forum. I see the live report section but not sure how to "post" there.

I will also be spending two days in Montreal beforehand, so photos might come as early as 6/2 😁

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1 hour ago, TheEmerson said:

I have done this cruse on the Massdam a number of years ago.  It was awesome.   If you can goto Notre-Dame Basilica, religion beside, is worth a visit.

 

 

Same here!  We loved that cruise and will dearly miss Maasdam.  We spent two days in Montreal before the cruise and could have spent 3 or 4.  Marvelous city.

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We are off to a great start. We flew Air Canada from Boston, which we booked using Flight Ease. It was $40 cheaper per person than expedia/orbitz, so totally worth it. The caveat was that we couldnt select our seats early, and due to some technical error we couldnt check in online either, so we got the last 2 seats. Literally the last row of the plane. Then for some reason, the flight attendant moved that whole row to business class, not sure why. So yeah, I am not complaining:

 

 

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We are staying at Marriott Residence Inn Downtown. The cab cost about 40 CAD and took about 20 mins. The room itself is alright, pretty good size considering that this is downtown. You cant beat the location. It is right on Sherbrooke and Peel, close to many restaurants and next to an upscale shopping center. It is within walking distance to the Dorchester square, which is where the boarding point for grayline double decker hop on hop off tour is. Guess what we are doing for the rest of the day 😁

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3 minutes ago, nyold said:

Literally the last row of the plane. Then for some reason, the flight attendant moved that whole row to business class, not sure why. So yeah, I am not complaining:

 

WOW!!!!  That's a great beginning to your trip!  

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The city itself is gorgeous. Reminds me somewhat of the downtown Manhattan, but wider and less crowded. All the restaurant names were in French which automatically made them sound upscale, even if it's just a random bakery.

 

 

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We had dinner at the dimsum place Ying Ji Chang Fen, even though it totally wasn't a dimsum hour. The porridge was excellent, even better than the one we had in Taiwan, although it's been years. 

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Thank you for doing this review!!! We are doing the same cruise on July 2nd, Montreal to Boston.  We are flying in a few days early too, can you tell me if you have to do 2 ArriveCAN and Covid test?  One when arriving in Canada and one to get on the ship???  Also another question would we need to get Canadian money or can we use American money?

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56 minutes ago, chuck/debbie said:

Thank you for doing this review!!! We are doing the same cruise on July 2nd, Montreal to Boston.  We are flying in a few days early too, can you tell me if you have to do 2 ArriveCAN and Covid test?  One when arriving in Canada and one to get on the ship???  Also another question would we need to get Canadian money or can we use American money?

You only need one test to get on the ship if you are fully vaccinated.   You should have some CAD and can get some at the airport 

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4 hours ago, chuck/debbie said:

Also another question would we need to get Canadian money or can we use American money?

 

It is wise to have a small amount of Canadian currency.  Most businesses in Canada will accept American currency, but, the exchange rate you receive will be poor.  Best is to use a credit card with no foreign transaction fees for most purchases.  

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6 hours ago, chuck/debbie said:

Thank you for doing this review!!! We are doing the same cruise on July 2nd, Montreal to Boston.  We are flying in a few days early too, can you tell me if you have to do 2 ArriveCAN and Covid test?  One when arriving in Canada and one to get on the ship???  Also another question would we need to get Canadian money or can we use American money?

Agreed with the other reply, I did the following:

 

1. ArriveCan to enter Canada. No need for test, just upload your vaccination info and pics of vaccination card if you are fully vaccinated. HAL does not require arriveCan for Montreal Boston. 

 

2. Covid test. The rapid antigen test costs 80 CAD per person and you get the results in 20 mins. Then upload this covid test to verifly. Within a few hours you get an email with a link to a pdf, then upload that pdf to verifly, and then do your attestations there. You use verifly to board the ship.

 

The "2 arriveCan" info is not correct. It might be the case for Alaska or if you are doing Boston Montreal, so I'm not sure abt that. 

 

I personally didnt exchange that much CAD, only 100 or so. So far we havent used it. My credit card works here and the rate is about 0.81 (I compared a few transactions against receipts) so that's pretty good. Just double check that they dont charge foreign transaction fees

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We started the day with more double decker tour, mostly going to the summit. It is actually pretty impressive from there but sorry the pictures cant fully capture. Then we went to the Notre Dame cathedral. We didnt go in as it costs money, but it was a really nice building from outside. 

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Sorry forgot to mention, our covid test place is called Go Test Rapide. The location in downtown Montreal is 2 blocks away from the Museum of Fine Arts which itself is an amazing stop. We didnt take pics there for obvious reasons 😬 .

You do have to buy it online first, and bring your passports (or pics of them) when you take the test. Then go to the clinic. It literally took 2 mins per person, very efficient and painless. I got a text within 20 mins, and later got the email within an hour

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And we had lunch at the Eaton center which is a medium-upscale shopping mall (think Banana Republic and Uniqlo but not Louis Vuitton or Prada). There is a food court there called Time Out which is pretty hip. The decor is nice but the food is so so... a bit too "fusion" for my taste. They do have a mocktail stall which is nice.

 

We had the poutine, but the meat is Portoguese Chorizo. Summer roll and banh mi from the Vietnamese place. Virgin mai tai and some lychee soda concoction.

 

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I’m on this cruise also, made it to Montréal yesterday evening, I’m doing the HAL hotel and transfer package. i purchased my own air transportation and made it from Colorado to Toronto through customs and then onto Montréal.  My flight into Montréal was 1 hour late and It was great seeing the HAL greeters there at baggage claim. They arranged the transportation via cab (included in package) to the Sheraton Le Central.

This morning HAL will get us to the dock. When I see the Zaandam then I know I will be in the happy zone. 

 

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Check in was fast and efficient HAL transport got us to the pier at 12:15 and I was in my cabin at 12:40.  Cabins were all ready at that time.  My ocean view cabin has been upgraded since 2019 with a whole new bathroom. It still has a tub though. New carpet in cabin as well.

Lido buffet is a mix of self serve and being served. (Mixed feelings about that) and the crew are very helpful.  

 

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