Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Maasdam Boston to Montreal Just off

Longhorn Cruiser

By Longhorn Cruiser,
in Holland America Line

 Share

Recommended Posts

fsdj1097

fsdj1097

Posted
Posted
I read in a recent review that there a cracked window in the MDR. Can you tell us if that is true?

 

I was on the same sailing as OP and there was a cracked window in the MDR. On the starboard side. It seemed to be (IIR) near the lower part of the window running from the bottom across one corner.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sail7seas

sail7seas

Posted
Posted (edited)
What's your opinion of the Cruise terminal in Montreal , using the Black Falcon in Boston as a comparison ?

 

 

The terminal in Montreal is old and not particularly passenger friendly. It gets everyone in and out but Boston is recently remodeled and more comfortable IMO

 

Montreal does not have that many cruise ships coming and going and they are more geared to cargo than passengers.

 

However, the people are helpful and friendly and do as good a job as anyone could expect. Very nice people.

 

Edited by sail7seas
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Copper10-8 "Live from...." Rare

Copper10-8

Posted
Posted

Montreal is one of the few ports where luggage can not be loaded/off-loaded to/from the ship's Marshaling Area (the routine location where the large shell doors can be opened and electric ship forklifts can be used to transport the luggage cages down the interior of the vessel). In Montreal they use an antiquated 'chute system' that drops the bags onto Boat Deck forward from where the HK guys have to use handtrucks to transport the luggage to drop off points, and then to pax cabins

Link to comment
Share on other sites
diann744

diann744

Posted
Posted

Hi Longhorn,

 

Welcome back!

 

I have two questions I hope you can answer:

 

Do you know the name of the Piano player in the Piano Bar?

 

And I know the Maasdam doesn't technically have a SeaView Bar but was there a smoking section on that aft deck behind the Lido?

 

Many thanks and I'm looking forward to hearing more of your thoughts on your Maasdam cruise. September will be my first outing on her and I've heard nothing but wonderful things.

 

(And since it was put in writing in July, it's good to know no one can blame me for the broken window)

 

Diann

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RuthC

RuthC

Posted
Posted
And I know the Maasdam doesn't technically have a SeaView Bar but was there a smoking section on that aft deck behind the Lido?

The smoking section is one deck down on Navigation Deck.

 

On the Maasdam The Mix suffices for the Piano Bar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
innlady1

innlady1

Posted
Posted
Montreal is one of the few ports where luggage can not be loaded/off-loaded to/from the ship's Marshaling Area (the routine location where the large shell doors can be opened and electric ship forklifts can be used to transport the luggage cages down the interior of the vessel). In Montreal they use an antiquated 'chute system' that drops the bags onto Boat Deck forward from where the HK guys have to use handtrucks to transport the luggage to drop off points, and then to pax cabins

 

That sounds like a hassle. Hope you're enjoying the Oosterdam, John!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TxnAquarian

TxnAquarian

Posted
Posted

I just completed the June 22 Boston to Montreal cruise on Maasdam, and I have to say that embarkation / disembarkation in these two ports were the easiest I have experienced on over 30 cruises. I don't know if this had more to do with HAL or the ports themselves, but we were on the ship within 20 minutes in Boston and off the ship, retrieved bags and in our limo within 15 minutes of disembarking in Montreal. We were extremely impressed.

 

 

 

 

 

Michael

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Longhorn Cruiser

Longhorn Cruiser

Posted
  • Author
Posted

To answer a couple of questions:

 

Hard to tell you about the cruise ports in Boston and Montreal because as TxnAquarian mentioned, they were the quickest I have ever experienced. Arrived at the port in Boston at 11:30 and was on the ship in 15 minutes (no special status). Our cabins were already ready and we went straight there. Luggage was there by 12:15.

 

Montreal was even quicker. They told us to have passports ready, but we walked off the ship and there was no customs in the terminal. Walked right over to our luggage group, grabbed our bags and went straight outside and got in a cab. Less than 10 minutes.

 

The piano player in Mix was Jeff Warren who is a very experienced Holland America/Carnival entertainer. Enjoyed him.

 

Smoking at the Aft pool was on the port side.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
rsmdude

rsmdude

Posted
Posted
Just completed last week's Maasdam cruise. Really enjoyed the staff....very friendly. Food was good especially Pinnacle/La Cirque. Ship is in good shape. Fantastic weather.

 

Any questions let me know.

 

 

I was on this cruise as well and agree with Longhorn on most points, overall it was a great cruise.

 

Ship condition:

The ship is older but overall in great shape. It has typical battlescars such as the cracked window in the MDR and we had a minor plumbing issue that was fixed quickly and without incident. The ship is updated in the MIX area as well as in the Crow's Nest and all the public areas were in excellent shape. The cabin carpet was new and all over the ship things were being kept in good condition. The tub/shower was a bit of a step-up which could be an issue for older persons or anyone with limited mobility so keep that in mind.

 

Weather:

We only had a little rain in Halifax but at least it was light and not too hot there. All during the cruise the weather was very warm, a good bit hotter than I had actually expected given how far north we were but it was mid July after all.

 

Food:

I was very pleased with the taste and quality of the food in the Lido, MDR and most other areas. In fact I was extremely pleased with the overall quality and tastiness of the desserts, something that usually is overlooked on most cruises these days.

 

The food in the Pinnacle was good but not enough to justify the upcharge especially with the poor service and lack of attention we received there.

 

The service and pace of serving in the MDR was slow and inattentive which I heard from several other cruisers as well (we had open seating).

 

The best service we received the entire cruise was at the Embarkation Luncheon for Mariners on the very first day, everything after that was downhill.

 

The Lido suffers the same layout and congestion issues I found on the Zaandam, not enough servers and not enough stations to support the crowds especially at breakfast. They need quite a few more toasters, omelet stations and waffle/pancake makers as they were usually backed up 8 to 10 deep waiting on a single machine and blocking the walkway.

 

Entertainment:

Overall I thought the entertainment was very good. The comedian and magician especially were great. The ship has a small group of entertainers but they were good and some were exceptional. The cruise director was just average and not as friendly or engaging as the one on my previous cruise on the Zaandam, he was very approachable and eager to help out, always greeting us by name once we had met.

 

Cabin stewards:

Hard-working and eager to please, always kept our room in top shape and always ready to assist with any issue.

 

We did have some less than helpful experience with the front desk which was a bit troublesome but otherwise it was great.

 

The Boston cruise terminal/embarkation process went fairly smoothly and quickly. The only issue was how incredibly hot it was standing in line but again it was 96F outside!

 

Our cabin was ready as soon as we boarded and so we dropped off our things and headed to the MDR for the Mariner Embarkation Lunch which was actually the best food and service we had for the entire cruise...

 

The Montreal cruise terminal/debarkation process went smoothly as well. I was surprised at how little checking they did when we exited the ship actually. The Montreal terminal is old and they seemed to have a rather cumbersome setup for getting people into taxis so there was a huge line waiting when we exited. Luckily we had small roll-aboards so we walked to our hotel.

 

HOWEVER, there is no elevator to the ground level and you must walk through taxi traffic to get to the steep stairs so anyone with more luggage would have been in real trouble getting down to street level.

 

Ports:

We enjoyed most of the ports although Halifax and Sydney were probably the least enjoyable since we didn't book excursions and there was not so much to do within walking distance.

 

Any questions let me know as well!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RuthC

RuthC

Posted
Posted
The piano player in Mix was Jeff Warren who is a very experienced Holland America/Carnival entertainer. Enjoyed him.

Thank you for the answer; never heard of him.

From watching the clip, I'm glad I was on the Maasdam when Stryker was in The Mix.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Louise sail

Louise sail

Posted
Posted

We were there for both piano men and preferred Stryker we were not the only ones he had a bigger,later audience then Jeff.Jeff was better then some of the piano men we have encountered and the violinist with Adagio was superb.This was the first cruise we had no turndown and no chocolates one night.We still tipped extra but felt the room stewards were overworked especially our 2nd week when there were more children on board.This was the first cruise we had no interaction with our room stewards.

We ate in the dining room when it was open and always had good service.We were treated very well in the Pinnacle Grill and the food on the whole ship was better then the Oosterdam and the Westerdam both of which we have been on within the year.

 

We enjoyed this cruise and highly recommend it

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • Cruise Insurance Q&A w/ Steve Dasseos of Tripinsurancestore.com June 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...