Veendam and/or Canada & NE cruise

[ksqueak]

I second that... we love history ourselves and are interested in finding out more about what to do Quebec City.

 

Karen, assuming this is your son and not a grandson it sounds like we are probably close in age.

 

 

Actually I'm traveling with my niece. She's pretty excited.

 

I think I'm a little older than you are. But probably in "that range" where I'd consider us the same age. Did I see a post where you're a few years short of 50? I'm just on the other side of 50. Of course, friendship has no age complications so it doesn't matter how old we are.

[sherilyn70]

We took this cruise on the Veendam in August. Our cabin was booked last minute and we were assigned CA331, one of the hc cabins on the Lanai deck. Wonderful room. You should do well with your scooter there.

 

Thanks! That's great to know. :) From the deck plans it looks to be spacious enough.

 

Actually I'm traveling with my niece. She's pretty excited.

 

I think I'm a little older than you are. But probably in "that range" where I'd consider us the same age. Did I see a post where you're a few years short of 50? I'm just on the other side of 50. Of course, friendship has no age complications so it doesn't matter how old we are.

 

Yeah, mid 40s here. So fairly close. :) And age really doesn't mean much I agree... some of the people my husband and I have loved the most and hung out with on cruises were retired british couples in their 70s. :D

[sherilyn70]

And more specific to your planned sailing, a fellow Cruise Critic member posted an excellent blog from the Veendam this past August, complete with menus and On Location programmes:

 

http://getawaysfrom21044.wordpress.com/2013/08/18/day-1-saturday-august-17-board-ms-veendam/

 

I just got a chance to read through this. HAL just earned bonus points with me because of something else mentioned (not cruise specific)

 

"Holland America partnered for a number of years with Susan G Kohmen foundation with “On Deck for the Cure”. That program ended about 6 months ago with plans for a more inclusive cancer event teaming with agencies from several countries, but the revised program was slow getting started"

 

This is something as a sarcoma patient I have been pushing companies to do a lot. We need a cure for all cancers and not just one type. There are still a lot of cancers out there that have no real cures (like mine) and high death rates that need the research money but do not ever see it because everyone gives to breast cancer groups instead.

[MississippiMom]

We just started talking about the possibility of cruising this Summer, but DH has requested that we try something "different." So . . . I started looking at the New England/Canada cruises. I am really liking the Boston to Montreal itinerary, but I have some concern that our children will not find cruisers their ages on board - 20, 13 & 11.

 

What experiences have you had with the age demographics on this route during the Summer school vacation months?

[Heartfruit]

We did the Montreal to Boston on the Maasdam as a B2B last July. Our daughter is 9 and had no trouble finding kids on board to play with. Not a huge sea of kids but enough. The Club HAL normally had about 15 or so in her age range most evenings. I'd have guest there were more in the teen age group. They often used the kids space during times of day when the kids camp was closed so I'd see them arriving while I was picking up my daughter.

 

For the original poster... Quebec City is fantastic but it is a very up and down sort of city. Built on a cliff for defense. So long as your scooter can take hills well I'm sure you will enjoy it. If the weather is awful or you don't feel like tackling hills there is an interesting museum right across from the cruise ship terminal that is worth checking out. Halifax, Bar Harbor and Charlottetown shouldn't be an issue at all. I'd recommend booking some sort of excursion out of Sydney as Sydney itself is pretty much a coal town that ran out of coal.

 

As for regional touches to the menu, we had Quebec Cheese and Sausage one week and crepes the other. We have a poutine bar both weeks (some instructions for American guests would have helped here a lot). In Charlottetown there were fresh muscles served on the lido at lunch both weeks.

[sail7seas]

We just started talking about the possibility of cruising this Summer, but DH has requested that we try something "different." So . . . I started looking at the New England/Canada cruises. I am really liking the Boston to Montreal itinerary, but I have some concern that our children will not find cruisers their ages on board - 20, 13 & 11.

 

What experiences have you had with the age demographics on this route during the Summer school vacation months?

 

 

We have done that itinerary repeatedly, summer after summer, Boston to Montreal to Boston, and the number of young people varies widely from cruise to cruise. There is no predicting for a specific week.

 

However, it is such a busy itinerary with six ports in seven days that everyone is usually busy all day in the various ports and the activities aboard become less important. It's a wonderful cruise and I think it one of HAL's best short cruises.

 

The chances are very good your children will find at least a few new friend aboard. :)

 

[cbr663]

Our very first HAL cruise was on the Veenedam and we loved the ship, but that was back in 2006. It was so wonderful and we are looking at the same Canada/New England cruise that you have booked. Our biggest decision right now is trying decide what room to book. As others have stated, it is a port intensive cruise and we are wondering whether we will spend much time on the ship.

 

We know that we will do a lot of exploring in Quebec City. Old Quebec City is beautiful. Charlottetown and PEI with its red beaches will be beautiful and if you rent a car you can see most of the island during the excursion.

 

Halifax has a wonderful waterfront with lots of walking. It can be hilly in places, so you may wish to plan for that. I expect Bar Harbour, Maine to be just as beautiful as the rest of the North England States. And what's not to love about Boston?

 

Sydney, NS is the only port that has not peaked my excitement, yet.

[sherilyn70]

Our very first HAL cruise was on the Veenedam and we loved the ship, but that was back in 2006. It was so wonderful and we are looking at the same Canada/New England cruise that you have booked. Our biggest decision right now is trying decide what room to book. As others have stated, it is a port intensive cruise and we are wondering whether we will spend much time on the ship.

 

We know that we will do a lot of exploring in Quebec City. Old Quebec City is beautiful. Charlottetown and PEI with its red beaches will be beautiful and if you rent a car you can see most of the island during the excursion.

 

Halifax has a wonderful waterfront with lots of walking. It can be hilly in places, so you may wish to plan for that. I expect Bar Harbour, Maine to be just as beautiful as the rest of the North England States. And what's not to love about Boston?

 

Sydney, NS is the only port that has not peaked my excitement, yet.

Prices just dropped so now is probably the time to book. I just had our cruise fare adjusted yesterday. We have a small roll call going so far if you care to join us. Now that excursions have been officially posted we just have to finalize a few choices. I know for PEI we're going to do the photography tour and in Bar Harbor the whale watching. The rest is still up in the air. In Quebec I think we'll try to find a nice restaurant to have dinner at on Saturday and then Sunday do something more formal since that's when the tours are offered.

 

My husband and I love port intensive cruises and I'm really starting to get excited about this now. I'm still a little nervous doing this the first time with a leg issue and hopefully I will not be back on chemo yet in June so I won't have to worry about my immune system. :)

Edited January 3, 2014 by sherilyn70