HAL Maasdam Out of Norfolk

[AdamOfCanaveral]

Does anyone have any experience with the Holland Ammerican Maasdam sailing out of Norfolk? Interested in information about the ship, the Caribbean itinerary and the Norfolk port. Thanks.

[Darrell6t]

You will find several threads about the Maasdam on the Holland America Cruise Critic Board.

[AdamOfCanaveral]

Darrell - Appreciate the response. Do you have any personal observations on HAL or the Maasdam?

[Darrell6t]

My partner & I have been on Holland America several times and we are very fond of their cruises. We were on the Maasdam maybe 5 years ago for an RSVP cruise. It is a bit older and smaller than most of the HAL fleet, but we liked it. I would not expect a lot of gay people on the Maasdam out of Norfolk, but it should be fun all the same.

[AdamOfCanaveral]

I'm kind of leaning toward it because of the Norfolk port. We hate to fly and there is so little choice out of Baltimore. It looks like the Maasdam does a New England/Canada itinerary in the summer months which might be a nice change from the Caribbean.

[Darrell6t]

We did the Rotterdam out of NYC to New England and Canada in 2003. It was a wonderful trip. To me, those ports are far more interesting than most of the islands in the Caribbean. In fact, we did the QM2 last September and went back to a couple of the same ports and had a great time, all over again.

[AdamOfCanaveral]

Darrell - Sounds like you guys have had some wonderful cruises. Bob and I would love to get together with the two of you some time to compare notes about cruising. We're just starting to get back into cruising after a number of years of other priorities.

[BEAV]

If it's any help, an acquaintance of mine just returned from the Maasdam on a Norfolk-Montreal sailing. Here is his mini-review....

 

"The weather was cool and damp but we only had half a day of real rain

in Bar Harbor, Maine. The scenery was beautiful, with wildflowers

blooming and the trees coming to life, plus there were magnificent

water falls. We were the first cruise ship of the season and none of

the ports were crowded, because of the poor weather, all the places we

visited were empty of other tourists which was nice. The bad part of

going this early in the year was that some of the sites and attractions

(like Louis-burg) were not yet opened.

 

The Maasdam is over ten years old and is showing her age with some

mechanical problems. One of my table-mates had no air conditioning for

over a day. A water pipe broke on the verandah deck at 4AM flooding

some staterooms, the water went down the aft elevator shaft causing

those elevators to be down all morning.

 

I liked my inside cabin. It was a good size with lots of closet space.

Plus Holland America has real beds, much nicer than the cots on

Celebrity, but not quite good as the softer beds on Crystal.

 

The food on the ship was very good (Celebrity's food is better). The

service from the mostly polynesian staff was excellent.

 

Not surprisingly the average age of the passengers on the Maasdam was

quite old, it was even older than my Crystal cruise. I did not see a

single child on this cruise and only a handful of passengers were

younger than me. Most the passengers were Mariners who have cruise

with Holland America many times before.

 

In my opinion, the entertainment and activities were below average

because all of it was targeted for their older clientele. For example,

in the Name that Tune game, all the songs were over 50 years old. For

the line dance class, you did not even have to be able to stand up, you

can just learn the upper body parts while sitting down. In Holland

America's variation of the Scavenger Hunt, instead of having the guests

running around looking for stuff, they have young cruise activity

staffers running around among the passengers looking for stuff. Even

the trivia contests had no recent pop culture questions.

 

My favorite port was Quebec. Enjoyed walking around the Old City and I

purchased a painting from a street artist there. I also loved the

picture postcard beauty of Prince Edward Island and my visit to the

farm of Anne of Green Gables. When a cruise ship is in port, you will

find many craft fairs where Canadians sell the wares that they have

made during their long winters. I bought some beautifully decorated

chicken and quail eggs from a craft fair in Sydney, Nova Scotia.

 

In summary, I enjoyed my cruise and would go with Holland America

again, if the price is right, and the itinerary is port intensive. I

would avoid Holland America if there were a lot of sea days, unless I

was going with a large group."

[Darrell6t]

Adam, it would certainly be possible to meet someday to discuss cruises. Is there any way to privately trade emails?

[AdamOfCanaveral]

Darrell -My email address is adamkreps@comcast.net

 

Feel free to write. Adam

[AdamOfCanaveral]

If it's any help, an acquaintance of mine just returned from the Maasdam on a Norfolk-Montreal sailing. Here is his mini-review....

"

 

Beav - Thank you so much for the very informative mini-review. It certainly contains a lot of food for thought.

[backes]

We've sailed out of Norfolk, but on Celebrity, not Holland America. It is a very interesting port since you spend about the first hour or so sailing through the Naval base. There are dozens and dozens of Navy ships which were neat to see. The pier is located right downtown, so there are several hotels very close by. We flew into Newport News and stayed in Williamsburg for a few days before the cruise. When we returned, we had no trouble finding a cab to take us to the airport (I think that is was around fifty dollars).

 

We have not been on the Maasdam, but we have sailed on Holland America several times, and we like them very much. Their ships are lovely and well maintained, and their service is terrific.

 

Have fun!

[AdamOfCanaveral]

Thanks for the information, backes.

 

What interesting profiles you guys have - chef/lawyer and cardiologist/musician. Bob and I would love to run into you two some day - we share a lot of the same interests.

[backes]

Adam,

 

You're welcome! We really enjoyed our cruise out of Norfolk, and I'm sure that you will, too, if you decide to go.

 

Thanks for the compliments. I used to practice law...I come from a family of lawyers, but a number of years ago, I decided to follow my passion, which is food and cooking. I trained to become a chef, and I've loved every minute of it! My partner works insane hours as a cadiologist, but his real passion is music. He and a couple of other doctors perform at hospital charity events and retirement homes as a way of having fun. Our fantasy is to one day have a little club/restaurant where I cook and he entertains. Of course, our shared passion is for traveling and cruising!

 

Good luck deciding upon your cruise! What is the itinerary for the cruise that you're considering?

[AdamOfCanaveral]

What is the itinerary for the cruise that you're considering?

 

I read about some Caribbean cruises coming up this summer which is what caught my attention. But we're already overspent on cruises for this year.

 

When I started looking for more information on the Maasdam I discovered that it also has been doing New England/Canadian itineraries and that shoulds like a nice change from the Caribbean. But I haven't been able to find any 2006 schedules yet. I order the catelog from HAL, so maybe that will be of help.