Live: Zaandam Boston to Montreal 8/27 - 9/3

[Mr. Boston]

I just heard a ship’s horn from the direction of the cruise port, would that be you?  If so, bon voyage!

[ACorgan]

First dinner in the MDR went well. I had a ham croquette (forgot to take a pic), the Haddock with risotto, and a slice of Boston cream pie

While we were at dinner the room stewards got our room set up for night, making up the pullout couch

We also stocked up on a bunch of canned beverages to take advantage of our drinks packages

There were still quite a few people at the Ocean bar when we came back from dinner, but the time change, travel, and motion sickness pills all caught up with us, so we’re going to call it an early night. We should be in Bar Harbor by the time I get up tomorrow 

[CMDE]

Interesting to read about your cruise, I look forward to it! Question: what is that green book or ticket holder in the last photo?

[ACorgan]

5 minutes ago, CMDE said:

Interesting to read about your cruise, I look forward to it! Question: what is that green book or ticket holder in the last photo?

The green book is just a random journal I brought with me. Something we snagged off Amazon pre-cruise 

[REOVA]

Supposedly the new TVs were loaded in Boston. Are they installing them while you are there so you have on demand system or do you still only have the 4 channels to choose from? Enjoy the trip. 

[ACorgan]

26 minutes ago, REOVA said:

Supposedly the new TVs were loaded in Boston. Are they installing them while you are there so you have on demand system or do you still only have the 4 channels to choose from? Enjoy the trip. 

Hmm…I’ll have to check when we get back to the ship. We only turned on the tv for the safety video and haven’t touched in since 

[ACorgan]

*Bar Harbor*
We had proactively decided that this was going to be our “leisurely” day of the trip, so didn’t get an early start this morning. We tried out breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill and enjoyed the ambiance. Went with the dungeness Benedict

As we were headed out our cabin door to catch a tender to Bar Harbor (a little before 11), they were just making the announcement that tender tickets were no longer required and that it was open boarding.

We lucked out and got a normal boat instead of one of the lifeboats for our tender to shore. I think it was a crew that normally does whale watching tours (based on the logos on their fleece jackets). The ride was very comfortable, with lovely views on this sunny day. They even had a live, local lobster 🦞 on the boat that they brought around for people to pet and take photos of

One COVID related note - they had made announcements on the ship that masks were required on tenders, but they weren’t enforcing it. We wore ours (we’re rule followers 😉), but only saw three other people on our boat with masks. It wasn’t very full, so if anyone was concerned they would have been able to socially distance well; we had a whole empty row in front of us and plenty of room behind us. We weren’t bothered by the lack of masks, but thought I’d pass it on in case it’s an important topic for anyone else.

Now we’re off to find a lobster roll for our lunch on shore 😋

[janmcn]

If they put on lobster in Charlottetown (or before) and offer it for $35/pp..,do it!!!! Best lobster we’ve had in years…anywhere! Large (probably 1.5), steamed right and delicious! They had a steward (Ralph!) come around signing you up for it. Told him we never go to the MDR so we’d have to have it in the Lido…no problem! Tell Ralph you’re interested in doing it if they offer it …he’s in the Lido… can’t miss him.

[ACorgan]

*Bar Harbor Part 2*
We wandered around town a bit checking out the cute shops and then met up with a friend who summers in Bar Harbor for lunch. We told him we were interested in lobster rolls and he took us to Stewman’s Lobster Pound, which happened to be right next door to the HAL tendor dock. They were quite busy, so the service was a little slow, but we weren’t in a hurry, so didn’t mind at all. The food was good and couldn’t have picked a more convenient location, so I would recommend it.

We had one of the traditional lifeboat tenders back to the main ship. It felt a little claustrophobic to me, but I’m not a big fan of crowds. Very few masks in sight.

Made it back to the ship just in time for afternoon tea

Headed up to the crows nest for the trivia competition that coincided with sail away. We were pleased with our impressive (to us) score, but we were beat out by a team with a perfect score.

Tonight is our first gala night 

[madera1]

On 8/26/2022 at 8:32 PM, ambystoma said:

Oh my god HELP! We are vaccinated US citizens but completely didn’t know about getting a negative COVID test! What can we do now?! Its almost midnight. OMG.

Hoping you were able to obtain your tear and are on the ship.

[ACorgan]

At the Captain’s Toast tonight, he shared that there are 1207 passengers on board from 22 different countries. 

It was the first gala evening. I decided to go with the club orange special for my main entree, the jambalaya. It was the best dish I’ve had so far on this cruise. Very flavorful and well seasoned. For the app, had the prosciutto, manchego cheese, and port cherries. I had strawberries Romanoff for dessert and one of my table mates tried the chocolate soufflé 

When we got back to our room, we had a cute lobster towel animal and some chocolates waiting for us

[canadianbear]

Sounds like your cruise has been great so far.  Your meals look scrumptious!    I loved Bar Harbor and the small shops.  We also dined at Stewman’s when there years ago and it was delicious. 

[ACorgan]

*Power Ports in Our Neptune Suite*
I had trouble finding info on this prior to our cruise, so thought I’d share here, in case it’s helpful. We brought some (non-surge-protected) extension cords and were glad we did, since there are minimal outlets in the room. 
There is one between the bed and the window with a US and a European outlet

There’s a second one in the dressing room (same US/EU pairing) and some USB ports nearby

Other than that, the only other outlets we’ve found is the shavers-only one in the bathroom

[ACorgan]

*Halifax*
Woke up to beautiful, sunny weather today. After our leisurely breakfast at Pinnacle Grill (tried the Full English today), we headed off the ship for our HAL excursion 

We had signed up for the “Halifax Gardens Walk, Panoramic City Drive, & Extended Peggy’s Cove” excursion, which was slated for 6 hrs.

First stop was the gardens, which were lovely 🌹🌸🌺🌷🌻🌼🪷 They had planned for a 30 min “guided tour” followed by 15 min free time, but ended up continuing the tour during the 15 min for those who were interested. 

Next up was the drive to Peggy’s Cove, via a pass by the Citadel National Historic Site. At Peggy’s cove, we had a brief (~15 min) walking tour and then 2 hrs on our own to grab lunch and/or look around. We tried the  Sou’Wester for lunch and it was ok, but not our favorite. Our table had the lobster nachos, fresh oysters on the half shell, lobster rolls, and the gingerbread with lemon sauce for dessert. Compared to the lobster rolls we had in Maine, these just didn’t fare well. The lemon sauce on the gingerbread was good, but there wasn’t a whole lot of ginger taste to the cake itself. Our least favorite was the lobster nachos, which had lobster pieces that were too dried out on it. The oysters were really good though! On the plus side, the price was very reasonable 

The town itself was very picturesque and has the most photographed lighthouse in Canada

Since our group was very good at staying on schedule, our tour guide added a “bonus” stop at the end to see the graveyard with the titanic burials. We spent about 20 min walking through with narration from our guide, which seemed like just the right amount of time to me. 
The tour bus was very comfortable, with an included restroom and power ports at every set of seats. I would definitely recommend this tour to others, especially if they luck into such a gorgeous day, like we did ☀️

[rkacruiser]

3 hours ago, ACorgan said:

our tour guide added a “bonus” stop at the end to see the graveyard with the titanic burials

 

A cruise guest who visits Halifax should not fail to visit this site to pay their respects to those who lost their lives and whose loss contributed to the safeness of our cruises today.  A visit is a sobering experience.  

 

3 hours ago, ACorgan said:

The town itself was very picturesque and has the most photographed lighthouse in Canada

 

Very much worthwhile.

 

3 hours ago, ACorgan said:

After our leisurely breakfast at Pinnacle Grill (tried the Full English today)

 

The "Baked Beans" looks closer to Bean Soup than Baked Beans.  

 

22 hours ago, ACorgan said:

. For the app, had the prosciutto, manchego cheese, and port cherries.

 

I recommend this.  The cheese is a Spanish cheese that is quite good, I have found.  I had a Cuban heritage table mate on a cruise that suggested I might like this.  I did.  

[ACorgan]

37 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

The "Baked Beans" looks closer to Bean Soup than Baked Beans.  

Yeah, they were a little soupy. Even more fun, I just had a fork and no spoon, so a little challenging to eat. They tasted good, though 

[ACorgan]

*Post-Halifax Evening*
After we returned from our excursion, I headed to a spa appointment. I had originally inquired about a Swedish massage, but got talked into booking a deep tissue one, instead. I was a little apprehensive, but I ended up enjoying it and would consider trying deep tissue again…which might come sooner rather than latter. Tonight, in my cabin, I received a notice that I could have $70 off any new spa booking on port days - right after I’d already had my appointment 😭

For dinner tonight, I ordered the salad app, but had food envy, so convinced one of my table mates to trade me their butternut squash soup instead (note: several croutons were devoured before the salad pic was taken)

I had a main all picked out before we went to the MDR, but was swayed by the club orange choice: spare ribs slowly braised in red wine. I was so happy with last night’s club orange (jambalaya), that I decided to roll the dice again 

The ribs were delicious, so I think I might be on to something with sticking to the club orange specialty. For dessert, I ended with a chocolate whiskey torte

[ACorgan]

*Sydney*
 

This morning for breakfast I decided to try the congee. The toppings were good, but I prefer a little more salt in my congee (I make mine with chicken broth and chicken thighs). It was fine for this morning, but probably not something I’d order again

After getting off the ship by the giant fiddle, we snagged a cab to Budget to pick up our rental car

We had a “manager’s special” and ended up with an SUV. Picking up the car was very quick and easy. Our first stop was Baddeck, where we went to the Alexander Graham Bell museum

Since we were efficient in Baddeck, we decided we had time to squeeze in a visit to the Fortress of Loiusbourg and spent a pleasant hour or so there 

If I were to visit Sydney port again, I would probably just focus on the fort. It’s a much closer drive and we thought there were more activities to do there.

We grabbed a late lunch from the Dive-in and are putting our feet up before our Pinnacle Grill dinner reservation tonight

[PasadenaDave]

Louis burg looks a bit more developed than when I visited in 1971

[ACorgan]

The internet on the ship was non-existent last night, so will try to get caught back up 

 

*Post-Sydney evening*
 

This was the night we had our Pinnacle Grill reservation (from HIA package). The food was plentiful and definitely a step up from the MDR in terms of seasoning.

I had the lobster bisque to start and my table mates had the steak tartare and the crab cakes (not pictured). We decided the lobster bisque was the winner out of the three. We passed on the clothesline bacon because of dislikes of mustard, pickles, and “sweet meats” among some of our group, but the neighboring table ordered it and it looked appetizing 

For the mains, we went with the NY strip, the boneless ribeye (not pictured; also added a lobster tail), and the special which was the beef tenderloin with lobster dumplings. The ribeye came perfectly cooked, but the other two steaks were slightly over. All had a decent amount of salt, which is something I’ve found lacking in many of the MDR dishes

For sides, we shared the creamed spinach, the asparagus with hollandaise, the mashed potatoes, and one person got a baked potato. The servings were very generous and we could probably have done with half the number of sides

Finally, for dessert, we tasted the not-so-classic baked Alaska and the crème brûlée 

After our heavy meal, we headed back to the room, briefly admired the bright moon, and then all crashed early in expectation of our early morning at PEI

[ACorgan]

*PEI - Charlottetown Port*
 

Today was the big day - one of the primary reasons we booked this particular cruise. As a huge L. M. Montgomery fan, I’ve long dreamed of visiting the island that is the location for so many of my favorite childhood books.

We were fortunate to get a rental car, but we needed to pick it up from the airport, about a 10-15 min drive from the marina. Once we disembarked, we saw several people waiting for taxis, but none to be found. We got smart and directly called a taxi company. When “our” cab showed up, some other people wanted to grab it, but luckily the driver insisted that he was there for the airport group who reserved it 😉

Our first stop was the most iconic: Green Gables Heritage Place. The house was everything I had hoped 🥰 and the gift shop was quite large. The only piece I might recommend skipping is the trail through the haunted woods. It’s a nice little walk in the woods, but I didn’t think the information along the path was anything groundbreaking. We also encountered quite a few mosquitoes. Luckily I had an Off bug wipe in my bag with me

The Lover’s Lane path also looked nice, but we didn’t travel very far down it

Next up was LM Montgomery’s Cavendish National Historic site. It’s very close to the Green Gables stop and you’re able to buy a package that includes admission to both. This is the house Montgomery grew up in with her grandparents. The house is no longer standing, so not a ton to see. We thought the gentleman at the entrance was very informative and friendly, so that made it worth the stop for us

I have to store my phone for trivia, so will continue with our PEI stops later (internet willing 🤞)

[ACorgan]

*PEI part 2*
Our last literary stop was the Anne of Green Gables museum at Park Corner. I enjoyed this stop more than I thought I would. For those of you who’ve read The Story Girl - Aunt Rachel’s blue chest was based on a true story and the real blue chest and its contents (including the wedding dress) are on display here. The property also looks out on a body of water that L. M. Montgomery confirmed was the inspiration for The Lake of Shining Waters in the Anne of Green Gables books 

Since my traveling companions had been such good sports while I dragged them to all my “Anne” stops, we decided a treat was in order. We stopped by the Cow’s Creamery for ice cream cones and then hit up the chocolate shop next door. The ice cream was delicious 🍦(I haven’t tried the chocolate yet)

After dropping the car back at the airport, we grabbed a cab back to the ship (much easier to find cabs at the airport; several drivers were sitting around looking bored).

While the ship was preparing to depart, the captain announced that there are high winds expected tonight that results in lower speed limits for the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. With the lower speeds, we wouldn’t have been able to make Quebec City at a decent time, so we’re changing routes. Instead of circling the East of PEI, we’re going to cut across the West. This means that we’ll pass under the Confederation Bridge, which is something the Zaandam ship has never done. I’ll try to get some pics as long as I’m still awake. After the busy day, I’m feeling ready for a nap 😴 

[rkacruiser]

PEI is a genuine winner on a cruise itinerary!  There is so much to experience!  

[ACorgan]

*Post-PEI evening*
We ended up sailing under Confederation Bridge, but the fog had rolled in by then, so couldn’t see much of it

For the MDR dinner, went with the egg roll, the crab carbonara, and the almond fruit cake. The carbonara was my second favorite dish so far that I’ve had on board (right behind the shrimp jambalaya), but the almond fruit cake was a pass for me. It reminded me of the gluten free almond flour cookies I’ve had before; not my favorite 

[rkacruiser]

21 minutes ago, ACorgan said:

but the almond fruit cake was a pass for me.

 

Don't blame you.  This is not a dessert that appears appetizing.