Live from the Zuiderdam - August 26 to September 2 - Maine and Canada

[cunnorl]

@Rubyfisch Thank you for a wonderful report and pictures. We appreciate your taking us along on your journey.

   Safe travels home.

[Haljo1935]

Happy to hear you enjoyed HAL and will be back. Safe travels. 

[Rubyfisch]

We made it home around 7:00 pm. Laundry has been started, and I just got back from the grocery store. 

 

I will say, the HAL bus to Montreal Airport is a very good way to get out of Quebec City, if there are no direct flights from Quebec.

[canadianbear]

11 minutes ago, Rubyfisch said:

We made it home around 7:00 pm. Laundry has been started, and I just got back from the grocery store. 

 

I will say, the HAL bus to Montreal Airport is a very good way to get out of Quebec City, if there are no direct flights from Quebec.

Wow that seems quick!  Welcome home!

[Rubyfisch]

2 minutes ago, canadianbear said:

Wow that seems quick!  Welcome home!

 

It's only a 40 minute flight from YUL to BOS, and without traffic, we are 25 minutes from the airport. It helped that I booked a car service. It's about 2.5 times the cost of an Uber, but it is such a nice way to end a trip with loads of baggage.

[canadianbear]

7 minutes ago, Rubyfisch said:

 

It's only a 40 minute flight from YUL to BOS, and without traffic, we are 25 minutes from the airport. It helped that I booked a car service. It's about 2.5 times the cost of an Uber, but it is such a nice way to end a trip with loads of baggage.

Oh, that’s great!  Yes, why not end on a high note-worth it for sure.  

[neeuqdrazil]

How much was the formal/dressy dress code observed? 

[chas]

Thank you again for taking us along on your trip!

 

On the morning that we leave the ship in Quebec, we need to be at the Quebec airport by 9AM.

Looking at the transfer option offered by HAL ($24 pp) for the airport shuttle it does not specify departure times from the ship.

 

Any opinions on using UBER, Taxi, or HAL's shuttle to get to the airport that early with 4 people?

 

I see that you have mentioned that the ship is in a secure area in Quebec. Do they allow the transportation options to pick you up right at the ship, or do you need to walk out of the secure area to your shuttle, cab, etc?

[chefestelle]

On 8/27/2023 at 8:38 AM, Sea42 said:

Because I thought HAL's charge for the excursion would be much higher than what booking directly with a provider would be. To me, that wasn't a very big mark up in price by HAL.

I was surprised by that on our Mexican cruise with HAL. The prices were very similar. I

[chefestelle]

On 8/28/2023 at 2:57 PM, Rubyfisch said:

There is a cute little shopping area at the port area. They also randomly had little blueberry tarts they were giving out to celebrate Holland America's 150th anniversary.

 

 

 

I love Halifax and want to add for your followers who haven't been that the boardwalk is very walkable and you can see sights (including a ship that survived the Halifax explosion and two world wars) and enjoy little shops and eateries (beavertails, bacon with anything) along the way. The rest of the sights are up steep hills. It is such a beautiful city and is renowned for its fantastic restaurants.

[BetsyS.]

In Halifax I took an Independent Taxi. They take credit cards. They also take US dollars, but the Security guard at the pier told me that the exchange rate is better if you use a credit card. All the stores took credit cards.

[Rubyfisch]

16 hours ago, neeuqdrazil said:

How much was the formal/dressy dress code observed? 

Honestly - not at all. I saw zero tuxedos/gowns, and almost no suits. Some blazers, but not that many.

[Rubyfisch]

1 hour ago, chas said:

Thank you again for taking us along on your trip!

 

On the morning that we leave the ship in Quebec, we need to be at the Quebec airport by 9AM.

Looking at the transfer option offered by HAL ($24 pp) for the airport shuttle it does not specify departure times from the ship.

 

Any opinions on using UBER, Taxi, or HAL's shuttle to get to the airport that early with 4 people?

 

I see that you have mentioned that the ship is in a secure area in Quebec. Do they allow the transportation options to pick you up right at the ship, or do you need to walk out of the secure area to your shuttle, cab, etc?

There are multiple shuttle times - you'll get information onboard about it.

 

There are plenty of cabs as well. They meet you right at the terminal door.

 

Also, several people mention that the check in counters for Delta and United didn't open until two hours before flight time. Air Canada was reportedly open earlier than that.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for sharing. 

[C 2 C]

2 hours ago, chas said:

Thank you again for taking us along on your trip!

 

On the morning that we leave the ship in Quebec, we need to be at the Quebec airport by 9AM.

Looking at the transfer option offered by HAL ($24 pp) for the airport shuttle it does not specify departure times from the ship.

 

Any opinions on using UBER, Taxi, or HAL's shuttle to get to the airport that early with 4 people?

 

I see that you have mentioned that the ship is in a secure area in Quebec. Do they allow the transportation options to pick you up right at the ship, or do you need to walk out of the secure area to your shuttle, cab, etc?

Because you are overnighting in Quebec and because there are no immigration procedures, you can leave as early as you want.  Independent travel arrangements such as Uber or a taxi may be a better way to travel to the airport.  You can be picked up right at the terminal.  We cruised out of Quebec last year and will do so again in 2 weeks.

[BetsyS.]

C 2 C - Bon Voyage! 🥂😊  Have a great cruise!

[AroundWithMAPTravels]

On 8/31/2023 at 5:37 PM, Rubyfisch said:

Tonight's menu:

 

 

 

 

 

This is somewhat “amazing” to me…. I was on Zaandam last week, with (almost) identical menu for Gold Gala.   Reason I say “almost” is that NONE of entree items had the GF designation…. I am a GF diner and was told that ONLY item I could get was the beef, without sauce.   I really wanted the salmon,  but was told that it was NOT GF!   I would think that the preparation would be done to HAL recipes, rather than variations from ship to ship… or is that a bad assumption?
that was my first HAL trip, and due to the lack of GF items (many other nights also had NOTHING listed as GF) opted for salads in Lido instead.   
somewhat of a disappointment to me.   Also somewhat concerned about the apparent inconsistency between ships  in “consistent “ fleet wide offerings.

anyone have any experience with this?

[Rubyfisch]

13 minutes ago, AroundWithMAPTravels said:

This is somewhat “amazing” to me…. I was on Zaandam last week, with (almost) identical menu for Gold Gala.   Reason I say “almost” is that NONE of entree items had the GF designation…. I am a GF diner and was told that ONLY item I could get was the beef, without sauce.   I really wanted the salmon,  but was told that it was NOT GF!   I would think that the preparation would be done to HAL recipes, rather than variations from ship to ship… or is that a bad assumption?
that was my first HAL trip, and due to the lack of GF items (many other nights also had NOTHING listed as GF) opted for salads in Lido instead.   
somewhat of a disappointment to me.   Also somewhat concerned about the apparent inconsistency between ships  in “consistent “ fleet wide offerings.

anyone have any experience with this?

The only thing I can think of is that galley on Zaandam might be significantly smaller, with less prep space for gluten free cooking.

[AroundWithMAPTravels]

I still hold that the recipe should be same between ships for same menu offering.   If it is normally prepared GF on one ship, should be same for all during same time period. ( in this case, fish should have been breaded on both or NOT breaded on both).  

 

[chefestelle]

8 hours ago, AroundWithMAPTravels said:

I still hold that the recipe should be same between ships for same menu offering.   If it is normally prepared GF on one ship, should be same for all during same time period. ( in this case, fish should have been breaded on both or NOT breaded on both).  

 

That had to be a terrible experience! Did you happen to address this with the maitre d? I ask because with vegetarians, vegans, food allergies and gluten intolerant they will usually have you view your menu the night before and order then so there is time to prepare a special meal. I'm told that this system works quite well. 

[WisconsinFan]

Thanks for sharing. On this next August.