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

[ACorgan]

*Sea Day*
Today was our one and only sea day of the cruise. I had grand plans to sleep in, but with the extra hour (time change last night) was wide awake and showered before 8am. Had a leisurely breakfast in the Pinnacle Grill. Tried the classic eggs Benedict and much preferred them to the crab version I had earlier in the cruise

I participated in the On Deck for a Cause 5k, which was raising money for Ukrainian refugees. It was a beautiful, sunny morning, so the 9 laps around the promenade went quickly. One note - I did notice one woman (not part of the 5k group) who was having a morning run on the deck, despite all the posted “no running” signs. Hopefully it wasn’t too noisy for the people in the cabins below 🙁 Not sure if she honestly didn’t see the signs or just thought they didn’t apply to her. 
We had lunch in the main dinning room and I went with the Dutch pancakes, which had apples and bacon in them. It took a little longer than everyone else’s food to make, so came out a little late, but I thought it was well worth the wait

The large pipe organ in the Atrium played today and I enjoyed watching the show. I’m trying to attach a brief video showing some of the mechanized characters moving in time with the music, but the internet is struggling, so not sure if it will upload.

I attended the mixology class in the afternoon, which had much lower attendance than ones I’ve been to on other cruises, only 5 of us signed up. I forgot to take any pics of the drinks (was too busy sampling 🍸), but they walked us through 4 cocktails, a Cosmo and a variant and then a Manhattan and a variation. Everyone thought that the “Metropolitan” was the winner out of the four

The rest of the day was filled with trivia competitions, time in the casino, and starting to pack away a few things in the room.

This was our final gala night and I went with the apple, pear, and cucumber salad for a starter, the club orange special of a lemon pasta with shrimp for my main, and the dulce de leche and coconut tart for dessert. They were all delicious, but didn’t have much of an appetite to do them justice. 

Tonight was also the chocolate surprise event, but I decided to skip it since way too full and tired. A friendly elephant towel animal and chocolates greeted me in the room when I returned

 

 

[sofietucker]

So no Orange Party? If not, I'm not bringing my Dutch togs.

 

 

 

[ACorgan]

5 hours ago, sofietucker said:

So no Orange Party? If not, I'm not bringing my Dutch togs.

 

 

 

Oh! Yes - might have forgotten to mention it, but the orange party was the night before (PEI day). It started at 10 pm in the crows nest. They had music, dancing, passed Dutch treats (sweets and sandwiches), and orange drink specials. We only stayed about 20 min, since very tired, but I heard the next day that several stayed to close it down at midnight 

[sofietucker]

30 minutes ago, ACorgan said:

Oh! Yes - might have forgotten to mention it, but the orange party was the night before (PEI day). It started at 10 pm in the crows nest. They had music, dancing, passed Dutch treats (sweets and sandwiches), and orange drink specials. We only stayed about 20 min, since very tired, but I heard the next day that several stayed to close it down at midnight 

Cool! Thanks so much. We have Rudi's on PEI night; might have to change that so we have room for bitterballen...

[ACorgan]

*Quebec City*
Had our last breakfast at the Pinnacle Grill 🥹 We’re planning to get up and get going early tomorrow, so will just hit the Lido. I went with the bread pudding and, since it was vegetarian, a side of an English banger. This was my favorite breakfast of the entire cruise. The bread pudding was very sweet, so be warned if you don’t care for overly sweet things, but it was just perfect for me

I had my spa credit to use up, so spent part of my morning getting a facial. After that we headed out for our self-directed foodie walking tour of Quebec. First up was Le Côtes à Côtes Resto-Grill, where we tried poutine with duck, an appetizer platter, including delicious pate, and a local rose wine

Next we stopped by Petite Cabane à Sucre (Little Sugar Shack) to buy maple syrup and try the maple taffy. The taffy is made by pouring syrup over ice; something I’ve always wanted to try ever since I read about it in the Little House on the Prairie books.

After that, we swung by Cidrerie Pedneault for iced cider. They have a complementary tasting and we came away with three bottles of hard ciders to enjoy at home. Our last stop was a nearby shop (forgot the name) for goat’s milk ice cream.

We were back on the ship in time for 4pm trivia and are now starting to think about seriously packing for tomorrow morning. This cruise has gone by very quick! 

[ACorgan]

*Last evening on the ship*
Our last dinner in the MDR featured dishes from the culinary council. I went with the tomato appetizer, the Halibut main, and the chocolate cream puff for dessert

It’s been a delightful trip and we’ll be sad to leave the ship tomorrow, but I’m also looking forward to sleeping in my own (non-moving) bed

[oakridger]

I loved reading your posts!  Thank you!

 

~Nancy

[ACorgan]

*Going Home Day*
We weren’t sure if there would be room service available on the last morning, but we put our order out on a door hanger the night before, just in case. We were pleasantly surprised to have our order arrive right before 8am. We started to eat it out on the balcony, but were soon interrupted by the crew cleaning all of the balconies and exterior windows.

We’d chosen to do self-disembark, so gathered up all our bags a little before 9 and strolled right off the ship. 
There was a distressingly long taxi line, so we just hopped out of the port, across the street (about a normal block worth of walking) and called for an Uber. Although Uber estimated 2 min, by the time we finally connected with a driver, it upped the estimate to closer to 10 min. Still far, far faster than the snaking taxi line, though.

The airport was just over a 20 min drive away. We’re flying West Jet home and there was absolutely no one in line for the checkin/luggage drop line, so that was easy breezy.
The security line was a little more robust, so that took awhile. I have pre-check in the US, which doesn’t work in Canada, so had to get back into the swing of taking out liquids, computer, etc. They did let us keep our shoes on, which was nice. It was a little unusual though, that no one checked your passport (just boarding passes) until after your stuff was on the belt and you’d walked through the metal detector. Luckily, I noticed all the other people carrying their passports through the metal detector, so didn’t stash mine in my bag, like I normally do. 
The line for the Tim Hortons post-security moved at a glacial pace, but most the other shops and restaurants looked to have quick lines. The line at the Starbucks might have been the shortest one I’ve ever seen at an airport. Now we’re just cooling our heels at our gate for another 2+ hrs until our flight, but I much prefer being early to the airport than running late and stressing 

[canadianbear]

Have really enjoyed your posts.  Funny you’re looking forward to your non moving  bed-I sleep like a baby on the ships especially when it’s rocking! 
 

Safe travels home! 

[sansterre]

Thanks for a nice report with lots of photos.  We will board the Zaandam in October for the Grand Africa cruise.

[rkacruiser]

9 hours ago, ACorgan said:

Now we’re just cooling our heels at our gate for another 2+ hrs until our flight, but I much prefer being early to the airport than running late and stressing 

 

My thinking as well!  I have had the experience of having to run from one gate to another and arriving just after the door to the aircraft had closed as well as one time when I was the last person on the plane and a Flight Attendant was "barking" at me to get seated so the plane could back out of the gate.  

 

I hope your flight home went well.  Great photos and reports!  Thank you so very much!  

[oakridger]

Thanks again and I'm very happy to hear that debarkation day breakfast room service was offered!  I had heard other reports in the last few months that it wasn't being offered any more.

 

Have a pleasant trip home,

~Nancy

 

 

[Mtn2Sea]

29 minutes ago, oakridger said:

Thanks again and I'm very happy to hear that debarkation day breakfast room service was offered!  I had heard other reports in the last few months that it wasn't being offered any more.

 

Have a pleasant trip home,

~Nancy

I think it depends on the ship.  We got off the N. Statendam one week ago and a day or two before the cruise ended we got a letter explaining room service would not be available on disembarkation day.  I don’t know if it mattered, but we were in a veranda.

[JacksGal]

Thank you so much for this live thread!  We embark on the Zaandam in 6 days so this was great.  As I have an allergy to a sulfate in liquid smoke, I'm a little concerned about the menu seeming to be heaving on the smoke flavors but I'm hoping it will be ok.  I've lived on rolls and fruit before.  lol  🙂

[BetsyS.]

11 minutes ago, JacksGal said:

Thank you so much for this live thread!  We embark on the Zaandam in 6 days so this was great.  As I have an allergy to a sulfate in liquid smoke, I'm a little concerned about the menu seeming to be heaving on the smoke flavors but I'm hoping it will be ok.  I've lived on rolls and fruit before.  lol  🙂

I got off the Niew Statendam on 8/27. Because I have a peanut allergy, the waiters

in MDR gave me the next night's dinner menu after I finished eating. I circled 

what I wanted on the menu.  HAL wants to know about food allergies before you board. If I ate dinner at a specialty restaurant, I mentioned my allergy before I ordered.

The wait staff were aware of it.  Have a great cruise!

[AFNavigator]

On 9/1/2022 at 9:10 PM, ACorgan said:

I did notice one woman (not part of the 5k group) who was having a morning run on the deck, despite all the posted “no running” signs. Hopefully it wasn’t too noisy for the people in the cabins below 🙁 Not sure if she honestly didn’t see the signs or just thought they didn’t apply to her.

I may be wrong but I assume the "no running" rule on the promenade is more due to safety than it is for noise.  The promenade is often wet due to salt spray, lifeboats dripping or crew hosing down the deck.  There are also lots of obstacles such as the chaise lounges, hoses, etc. that a runner could trip on.

 

At least the Zaandam's promenade is wide.  I definitely wouldn't want to run on any of the Pinnacle ships' promenade.  It is so narrow on the aft sides that I would be worried about going overboard if I was in mid run stride when the ship hit a big wave!  That area can't be much more than about 4 feet wide.

[RuthC]

44 minutes ago, AFNavigator said:

I may be wrong but I assume the "no running" rule on the promenade is more due to safety than it is for noise. 

On the Zaandam (and her sister, the Volendam). There are cabins directly under the Lower Promenade Deck. People in those cabins may be sleeping, or napping, or just trying to relax quietly, and the running overhead definitely disturbs any of those activities. 
If the 'no running' rule isn't for noise as well as safety, it should be. 

[JacksGal]

5 hours ago, BetsyS. said:

I got off the Niew Statendam on 8/27. Because I have a peanut allergy, the waiters

in MDR gave me the next night's dinner menu after I finished eating. I circled 

what I wanted on the menu.  HAL wants to know about food allergies before you board. If I ate dinner at a specialty restaurant, I mentioned my allergy before I ordered.

The wait staff were aware of it.  Have a great cruise!

HAL did that the last two cruises, but it was tough the first two days even though I, like this time, gave them the info in advance.  Once we got settled with a waiter and the nightly menu, there was rarely a dish they couldn't fix for me without bacon, ham, smoked cheese, smoked paprika, etc.  It's an odd allergy and while a chef gets it immediately, it takes awhile of playing Q&A with the wait staff to get a chef involved and then it always seems to work out.  🙂  Same on Celebrity and RC, eventually I get the menu and it all goes well.  I just see a lot more "smoked" mentions than I have in the past so it always concerns me.  Is eating dessert for dinner bad?  😉 

[rkacruiser]

6 hours ago, RuthC said:

On the Zaandam (and her sister, the Volendam). There are cabins directly under the Lower Promenade Deck. People in those cabins may be sleeping, or napping, or just trying to relax quietly, and the running overhead definitely disturbs any of those activities. 
If the 'no running' rule isn't for noise as well as safety, it should be. 

 

I have had one of those staterooms as a result of a guaranteed category booking and got an upgrade.  Well, I wouldn't book such a stateroom on that deck on my own.  

[boatmad]

We have been on Zaandam 5 times, our favorite ship, and in those cabins under promenade.  There will always be jerks running despite the signs.  The worst was the man who loved to run at 2 a.m.  still we loved that deck enough to put up with it.

Thanks, Ruth, for explaining it.

[fieldsofclover]

On 9/4/2022 at 1:58 PM, JacksGal said:

  Is eating dessert for dinner bad?  😉 

Hey, doctor’s orders! There has to be some upside to medical-diet life 🧁

[kh76sp]

Thanks for the report!  The older HAL ships seem so much better than the new ones. I'm wondering if you saw (or participated) any ballroom type dancing during your cruise? The addition of BBKings seems to have eliminated nice, easy listening and dancing type of music in the lounges. There's no way my husband and I could dance in BB Kings! It's WAY TOO LOUD!  During one cruise (pre covid) we asked about fox trots and rhumbas and the cruise director arranged for recorded music in the brightly lit lounge early in the evening. We danced, but it wasn't the same ambiance as a cozy cocktail lounge with a small combo playing. 

[albingirl]

On 9/4/2022 at 12:52 PM, RuthC said:

On the Zaandam (and her sister, the Volendam). There are cabins directly under the Lower Promenade Deck. People in those cabins may be sleeping, or napping, or just trying to relax quietly, and the running overhead definitely disturbs any of those activities. 
If the 'no running' rule isn't for noise as well as safety, it should be. 

And to add my two cents, why do people deliberately ignore signs?  It's constant.

[Dr.Dobro]

5 hours ago, kh76sp said:

 any ballroom type dancing during your cruise? 

On Nieuw Statendam now. Today there is a "Ballroom Dance Hour" in BBK's at 7 p.m., with the house band starting its sets at 8:30. So maybe they're making room for classic dancing.

[ACorgan]

7 hours ago, kh76sp said:

Thanks for the report!  The older HAL ships seem so much better than the new ones. I'm wondering if you saw (or participated) any ballroom type dancing during your cruise? The addition of BBKings seems to have eliminated nice, easy listening and dancing type of music in the lounges. There's no way my husband and I could dance in BB Kings! It's WAY TOO LOUD!  During one cruise (pre covid) we asked about fox trots and rhumbas and the cruise director arranged for recorded music in the brightly lit lounge early in the evening. We danced, but it wasn't the same ambiance as a cozy cocktail lounge with a small combo playing. 

On a few occasions, I noticed some couples dancing to the evening live music in the Ocean bar. I had just stopped by to grab a post-dinner can of water on my way to the cabin, so didn’t stick around long. There was also a line dancing class one day - can’t remember if it was in Mix or the Ocean bar. I had just finished the On Deck for a Cause 5k, so didn’t stick around for it, but it was a decent sized group and they all looked like they were having fun