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Eastern Canada - New England May 2006
Eastern Canada - New England May 2006 |
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Reviewed By: Holloway, Victoria Canada on 17th Mar 2010
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| Cruise Line: Holland America Cruises |
Times cruised before: 3-5 |
| Cruise Ship: MS Maasdam |
Sailed:
May,
2006 |
| Destination:
Canada
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Age: 56-65 |
| Cabin: Balcony |
Occasion: Getting to a destination |
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Maasdam by Rob Holloway , Eastern Canada , Sail Date May 20, 2006
Itinerary: Boston, USA to Montreal, Canada
Age: 63 , Number of Cruises: 4
Cruise Line: Holland America, Ship: Maasdam
Cabin Category: Balcony Cabin Number: 165. Cruise length, 7 nights.
Pros: Ports and Staff
Cons: Slow debarkation, probably due to Port of Montreal staffing
Our vacation was to spend a week with one daughter who worked in Boston, then take the seven (7) night MS Maasdam cruise from Boston to Montreal and visit our other daughter in Montreal, and her family. We wanted to take a cruise with less people onboard (1,266) instead of the 2,600 type ship. It worked out well as we celebrated a daughters birthday in Boston, then our grandson\'s in Montreal.
We flew from Victoria BC (Vancouver Island) Canada to Ottawa instead of Toronto (less hassle with USA Immigration) then to Boston for a week prior. We stayed at Hotel 140 for $149 US a night.
Hotel 140 is located just off Cobley Square and is a renovated YWCA. Very clean room , small and the price and location in heart of Boston at graduation time cannot be beat.
Boston Logan airport is very busy and old but the taxi service was fine and rate was about $25 US which included an Airport tunnel and Airport access fee.
When we left the Hotel a few days later the Taxi to the pier itself in the south end was about $15US including tip.
Dockside Porters took our bags about 11:30am, swift check-in after we were assigned number 3 group and onboard around by noon with rooms available by 1pm. They take you to Lido deck to wait and a buffet is available.
The cruise itself was one tender to Bar Harbor then pier stops each day for Halifax, Sydney, Charlottetown, a sea day to Saguenay Fjord , then pier stops for Quebec & Montreal). All our tour tickets were pre-booked and pre-paid.
The tickets were in our cabin when we arrived. Holland America does a very good job in selection and tour operations.
First tours normally start at 9am, a more decent time when on a vacation.
Our dining room service was excellent, table 64 (1st seating). The table was set for 10 and only about 7 folks showed up, which dropped down to two couples and one single lady. Next time we might stay with the 6:15 seating or later as it is too early when you return from a tour to relax. Additionally, we will request a table for 6, as it is easier to get to know people.
We did have a good time with our table mates. We used room service for breakfast most days and tipped $2 US each day, those trays are really heavy to carry from the dining room and down a very long hall. The room service was always on time with excellent food choices.
We used their laundry service and it was returned same day even though we selected normal laundry service instead of dry cleaning , what a surprise to us when it came back pressed and in wee straw baskets. Our room steward (ASEP) for room 165 Balcony V deck was excellent.
The entertainment was a good mix, though they could have had more local talent bought onboard. We are in our early sixties and were in the younger group but who cares? Lots of energy and at night the younger folks held court.
The ship had been recently renovated and those beds were wonderful and comfortable. Internet service though is expensive at $0.75US a minute with a set-up fee though they offer plans to a lower rate. The speed was very slow, not like a true ADSL/CABLE connnection at home. The Internet room and computers though were excellent.
What was missing, a moot point , was not knowing the order of colors departing the ship on the last day. We did arrive late by about an hour, but as we were one of the last groups, we were off by 10-10:30am in Montreal.
May is a wonderful time to take this cruise and not a lot of tourists to impact your enjoyment at the ports.
We took some walking tours and an inland tour, wonderful countryside.
Halifax Pier21 was a must see for me as that was the port of entry for myself when I left England to come to Canada, a long time ago. If you search for Holloway Robert , you will find a writeup on me.
In Quebec the ship cannot leave until low tide in order to get under the bridge to cruise to Montreal.
Holland America offers a bus between ports to allow you to go by Air to Boston then bus to Montreal to pick up the ship on its return trip or viceversa. Great way to see the countryside.
Cheers
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| Quality of Food |  |
| Dining Room was all our suppers with Breakfast in the cabin and the buffet for lunch and tea | | Entertainment |  |
| | Shore Excursions | |
| Bar Harbour and Quebec City were the best tours with The City of Charlottetown
Quote: which is a flourishing community of over 32,000 people located on the south shore of Prince Edward Island.
Charlottetown is the capital city of Prince Edward Island, and is called the \"Birthplace of Canada\'s Confederation\" after the historic 1864 Charlottetown Conference which led to Confederation.
| | Staff |  |
| Our Cabin and meal staff | | Children's Facilities | n/a |
| | Onboard Activities | |
| Best we could tell but with an older group the ship seemed quiet after 11pm | | Cabins | |
| Excellent as it had just been renovated with its Signature program, Even had an LCD TV and DVD | | Overall Rating | |
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