Winters in NZ

It's been proven !

A newly constructed USN ship, made in Buffalo of all places is now stuck in ice in Montreal awaiting the spring thaw.

Apparently, the Little Rock miscalculated that leaving Buffalo in December was not a really great idea.

More geography lessons ahead for the Navy perhaps ?

So far, no discrimination against Scots for sporting a kilt...with or without undies.

However, agitated individuals may toss the bagpipes overboard if they find the distinctive sound 'offensive' during the more quite breakfast hours.

I'll probably be looked down upon for posting this, but, if we are going to pay $60 (plus expected tip) for dinner, I would prefer to do it on a night when I would otherwise be the one cooking dinner. We can easily afford to eat at the specialty restaurants every night (or even book a suite!). Instead, we occasionally book inside cabins (never had a balcony), and only eat at the PG when it is a TA gift. We still enjoy our travels immensely since luxury is not a priority for us. To each his/her own.

I agree with you, 100%.

As Canadians from provinces other than Quebec, we were a little bummed out when our tour guide in Quebec for the UNESCO sites tour, thought she had a busload of Americans and proceeded to complain that French Canadians were still considered second class citizens. Not true. Talk about a huge chip on her shoulder!

Tour 'guides' as you have described make themselves look utterly foolish...they should be reported after exhibiting such hostility. But, c'est la vie.

Having been on this ship on 5 previous Canada/New England cruises, I found your report to be quite thorough and informative. Great job !

When sales and profits fall it becomes a problem and only then will the problems be addressed.

So true !!

My husband and I cruise more for the 'together time' that often escapes us due to his busy work schedule...and as KK mentioned above, we're just not interested in the extras like slot pulls and cabin crawls.

 

We have found that on every trip, we meet fascinating people without needing the roll call.

Open seating is a great way to meet a variety of interesting people with so many unique stories and personalities.

We disembarked from the Veendam this morning in Montreal at the alternative dock east of the Jacques Cartier Bridge, while the main cruise terminal is undergoing a much needed renovation, which has been taking place for almost a year now. Hopefully the much anticipated end-product appears soon for this emerging Canada/New England cruise season.

Now, about following rules :

Various colored luggage tags are given to all passengers, and passengers are required to follow the proper disembarkation 'rules' which are constantly repeated that Guests must only disembark when their colored tag is called.

HAL bends over backwards to make this process as civilized as possible.

Guests are permitted to remain in their stateroom, and upon having their color announced for disembarkation, guests proceed to the gangway and disembark.

A relatively simple and uncomplicated process, but ONLY if guests follow the rules.

The PA was constantly reminding guests to avoid the gangway before their color was called.

When Purple was called, we proceeded as requested....only to be met by a varied assortment of pink, green, brown, purple color luggage tags etc....and yes, guests with no color tag whatsoever.

We enjoyed the cruise , as we usually do aboard HAL, even with rain and cold for most of the days since we had left from Boston on April 25.

But there must be some other method that can be devised to avoid this type of needless frustration and anxiety of the herds converging at the gangway. Send non-co-operating guests to wait in the engine room perhaps ? A stern lecture from the captain ?

The Veendam is a small ship. Aboard the Eurodam 2 years ago, we did not encounter this similar uncomfortable disembarkation experience.

For folks with mobility, strength and balance issues, this can become not only uncomfortable, but dangerous as well.

Perhaps the suits in the back rooms in Seattle will come up with a better idea.

In the 1980's, when we began cruising, I was a 'youngster' approaching my 40th birthday.

I had some trepidation about encountering older folks, particularly if I foresaw that there were going to be possibilities of actually ( GASP !! ) being seated next to one, or sharing a table with an old fossil.

As I discovered, most of the older crowd possessed a wealth of oral history, and as it turned out, the majority was a lot of fun to be with.

So I will be 70 this summer and as time has shown me, a book can sometimes be judged by its cover, but reading the 1st Chapter, rather than flipping through the pages, always gives more insight.

When we met the Yum Yum Man on the Zuiderdam in 2003, he introduced himself as such. We grabbed him by the epaulettes, shook him and screamed, "Gosh darn it, man! You have a real name. Use it! Some point, roughly 14 years into the future, people are going to say that it's demeaning."

 

He then slammed the door to the mint cart down on our hands, both depriving us of mints and/or candied ginger, and smashing our fat little fingers.

 

"No yum yums for you, pasty white tourists!" he admonished us with an unexpected harshness.

 

Frightened, we fled into the night. hat day forward, we had to be on guard during pre dinner cocktails in the Ocean Bar. The Yum Yum Man would sneak up behind us, striking our noggins with his little mallet to play part of his little melody. (Most of our heads were D#, but some of the ladies were a B. It really depended on the amount of hairspray in use on a particular evening.)

Absolutely Hilarious !! :') Peter

Yes. You can change bills for coin at the Front Desk.

Thanks for the answer RuthC.

Are quarters still being used ?

HAL...please keep baking those delicious breakfast raisin buns which I savor each cruise, so that the tradition continues aboard the Veendam next month.

In the words of Mick Jagger, "You can't always get what you want."

Also in the words of Mick Jagger in the same song, "we're gonna vent our frustration" and also " you just might find you get what you need ".

So perhaps some of Umbarger's fellow passengers, as she stated, will be giving Celebrity another look next time.....and perhaps they will get what they want.

We have greatly enjoyed 2 Christmas cruises in the past, one being aboard Celebrity while the other was with HAL.

Anticipation of encountering mobs of children running amok had caused us concern, but the actual number of these pint-sized passengers were very few and far between.

Enjoy your cruise.

Cruises during the holiday season are generally more expensive, so most families will probably be seen at Disneyworld, rather than cruising.

We enjoyed the B2B, 5 years ago, aboard the Maasdam, along with other Canada / New England cruises which we have taken previously.

Leaving from, and arriving into Montreal will certainly be much better for your experience since the work to refurbish the cruise terminal is scheduled to be completed this year. So that is a real bonus .

The only disadvantage for the B2B is that you will only see Boston once, but since we drive to Boston each summer for Red Sox games anyways, we enjoy other aspects of Boston when we dock there.

I always carry a cheap 'dollar-store' wallet in my back pocket, filled with ID, showing that I'm the Prime Minister of Canada along with a few Monopoly bills.

I could use Canadian bills, but it would probably be found strewn on the street anyways.

Only taken once, but heck, I missed out on the entertainment when I finally noticed that it has been removed .

Bon Voyage!!

Boy -- I sure hope that they don't have to be bused from Montreal to Quebec City.

Taking a 3 hour bus ride has an advantage since you would spend the overnight in Quebec City, which translates into more time to enjoy and explore the City.

Also, it's called San Francisco, not San Fran. And never call it Frisco!I certainly would not rent a car if you're planning on staying within The City, after it's only 7 sq. miles. There is a great municipal transit system, the muni. I'd hop on a bus, trolley/street car just to see where it goes. Don't worry, you really can't get lost. I agree with the recommendation of the Best Western, Tuscan Inn, near Fshermen's Wharf, but understand that everything above Motel 6-type places are going to be expensive. Also, there's a neat Italian restaurant attached to the Tuscan Inn.

Excellent suggestion regarding the public transit system, which we took every day.

Familiarize yourself with the transit maps and fare info.

Take the bus to the Golden Gate Bridge. Walk on it for a great experience, similar to what everybody does in NYC for the Brooklyn Bridge .

Forget about renting a car, unless your plan is to get out of the City.

Port Montréal says for the entire 2016 season. The list of ships and berths shows that right up to the end of October berths 34-35 and 36-37 will be used for the larger ships.

 

http://www.port-montreal.com/en/cruise-vessels-schedule.html

 

The Alexandra Pier should be rebuilt by 2017.

 

http://www.port-montreal.com/en/project-iberville-terminal-community.html

 

There are many interesting illustrations on the bottom link of the above site: "to learn more about the project."

Thanks for your excellent research....I'm only an hour an a half drive from the Port, and this stuff was quite informative.

Ugh....... the temporary berth the cruise ships will use is by the Olympic Stadium? That is more than a little distant from city center and all the great shopping, restaurants, Notre Dame Basilica, Old Montreal etc

 

Disappointing.

 

We always were in Montreal on Saturday and used to really enjoy the Old Farmer's Market with the costumes and fun presentation. It is a short walk up from the ship and we would always stop there for a while before proceeding on our way. That's a shame folks won't get to enjoy it.

 

I agree with your descriptive," Ugh ". It is also unfortunate that the passengers will not have the opportunity to sail beneath the Jacques Cartier Bridge.

The temporary cruise ship berth is quite a distance from the touristy Old Montreal but its location does have some redeeming features.

Directly north of the berth on Pie-IX Blvd there are : Insectarium, Biodome, Planetarium and the Olympic Stadium. Bus #139 travels north and south on Pie-IX every 10 minutes.

Zuiderdam goes to Saguenay' date=' which Veendam does not. Love Saguenay. [/quote']

 

The Saguenay fjord is a beautiful sight, but I could never understand why all ships which sail through it, do it while most passengers are sleeping.

 

While sailing with the Eurodam 2 years ago, in order to get a good view of the tremendous scenery, we hopped aboard an Air Saguenay float plane, which cost us about $50 Canadian, which was a good investment.

Best way to compare cruise lines is to go on lots of different ones.

 

I enjoyed this thread a lot. Nothing like differences of opinion!

I agree with your two comments. We began cruising in the 1980's, and for the most part, quality seems to have improved in the industry since then, but there will always be glitches which are encountered. Fortunately aboard 25 cruises with HAL, we were lucky, fortunate or simply thankful that we dodged major problems.

Back in the 'old days' having been aboard a couple of Epirotiki ships, there were some things, such as food which were excellent, but there were other issues with which to contend that convinced us not to return to that line.

Giving http://www.translink.ca a look could give you more info regarding the Skytrain.

Not sure why CruiserBruce feels the need to be sarcastic, but experienced cruise passengers were also very frightened that morning. My idea of vacation does not include three hours of terror so I guess cruising will no longer be in our future. Happy sailing to Cruiser Bruce and others who enjoy that sort of thing.

CruiserBruce's comments seem factual and well informed, but I do not detect any sarcasm in that.

JanetDeV...thank you for the info about your extremely worrying experience at sea. Very happy that you survived the troubling situation.