The thrifty cruisers Canada/New England review 4/29-5/6

[cgolf1]

1 hour ago, coldinerie said:

Thank you for taking the time to post your experience.  We sail in 4 days and love seeing the menus, the ship and your take on the ports.  Thank you again.

 

 

I am hopeful I will get to the end before you leave. This is going faster than expected, because everyone is engaged and it keeps me into it. On the Celebrity board my 11 day cruise review only went 3 pages.

[CGinMTL]

Yes, a lot of interest hihi

Love your pics

[sunviking90]

2 hours ago, cgolf1 said:

 

I am hopeful I will get to the end before you leave. This is going faster than expected, because everyone is engaged and it keeps me into it. On the Celebrity board my 11 day cruise review only went 3 pages.

Definitely interested here! Our Canada/New England repositioning down to Florida was one of our favourite itineraries ever, and I love the Zaandam. Your pictures of her are lovely. It is also nice to read a trip report of someone cruising without the advantages of Club Orange or a Neptune Suite, as this is closer to what most people will experience. 

[Haljo1935]

On 5/8/2023 at 11:10 AM, Dismomx5 said:

You can ask the hostess to seat you with a server that you've had and enjoyed. We did that last year on the Rotterdam. One server just seemed to 'get' us, and so we sat in their section all the time.

B2B on both Koningsdam in Nov/Dec and Nieuw Amsterdam in Feb, the host/ess asked us if we wanted the same server we'd had. We also asked to have a table at 7:15 each night. That puzzled them the first night as 7:15 is not a dining option, but when we told the Maitre D 5:15 was too early and 8:15 (or whatever time the late option is) was too late for us and that the 2 of us would be 4 people the 2nd week, we were all set.

Incredible service made up for the occasional iffy menu options.

As for the menu, we seemed to always ask for stuff that wasn't on the menu any particular night. So long as it was something that at some point was in rotation, we were obliged.

[Haljo1935]

21 hours ago, Mary229 said:

You did a great job photographing PEI.

Due to Fiona, PEI was canceled last Oct from our cruise, so both envious of your stop and thankful of the pictures. 

[cgolf1]

Day 5 Sydney Nova Scotia

 

Today we again grabbed a map in port and walked around on our own in the morning. If you notice my hands in the upper part of the photo, that was to protect the lens for the precipitation. We also walked the boardwalk which was a nice walk before we go back on the ship. I did add a few pictures that showcased the snow:)

 

The Muster Station signs on land crack me up. If you need to go to a muster station on land the stuff has really hit the fan:)

 

There is a nice little shopping area right at the port and we bought a few things. We also stopped at Tracy's Rolling Yarn Shop and bought some yarn from Nova Scotia for our daughter. The owner was incredibly nice along with a customer that was also there and between the two of them they helped explain what my daughter could make with what we would ultimately buy. My daughter said the prices were decent too.

 

Since the cider house didn't open till noon we went out after lunch and of course there was no precipitation then.

 

Later tonight I will comment on what I packed to stay warm and not take a lot of clothes, my influencer moment;)

Edited May 9, 2023 by cgolf1

[cgolf1]

Daily activities. Supper, Show, and some complaints

 

With going on shore twice we really didn't have a lot of time to do much during the day. One thing that we were starting to notice though is that they get really behind on keeping fresh food, or any food out in some cases. For example if you want a gluten free or sugar free desert, get there early, they fall behind quickly and the selection towards they middle of the lunch buffet time suffers. They often didn't have hot chocolate out, which on a colder weather cruise, my wife often looked for and had to ask for.

 

The biggest miss was when we went to the Dive In at 3:30, 2 hours before it closed because my wife wanted nachos. The had some nachos and no cheese dip. Further inspection showed that many things were either almost out or empty. I don't think you could have made a basic taco. Today was also the day I had to start eating my gluten free burgers without a bun and my wife overheard a lady being told it would be a one hour delay to get gluten free bread in place of the bun.

 

For those that like live music, there was one lady that played in one of the piano bars that had an amazing voice whenever we were in the area.

 

For supper I had the Carpaccio of Beef Tenderloin and the New York Strip Loin. Both were excellent and the steak was 1000 times better than the one on the first night. My wife had the Crispy Thai Vegetable Spring roll and the Chicken Codon Bleu which she enjoyed both. The main dining room is putting out some really good food this trip.

 

We of course played some cards and saw Kelly Macfarland's second show. She was again hilarious and the crowd was really into it.

 

That's about it for Day 5. Thanks again for following along, this is enjoyable to do.

 

[cgolf1]

Now the dreaded post a picture of me lol. 

[cgolf1]

How I packed. 
 

when we first booked long term temps were running warm so in my excitement I packed right away. Knowing how WI can fluctuate this time of year I packed layers. 
 

3 pairs of Columbia pants that can be converted to shorts. 

1 Drees pant
4 T shirts

2 polos 

1 long sleeve button down

2 long sleeve shirts 

1 zip up hoodie

Swim suit with shirt 

Shorts and shirt for spin bike use that never happened. 

The heavier weight water resistant coat pictured 

tennis shoes

1 pair of canvas dressy enough shoes that could back up the tennis shoes if they got soaked. 

sandals

 

Once we got closer I did toss in a pair of comfy dress pants for the flight home. 

on the flight up there I wore shots and a zip up hoodie. 
 

Didn’t use the 2 long sleeve shirts, workout t shirt, dress pants and one of the Columbia convertible pants. I am ok with that, as that combo of clothes covered a lot of weather patterns. I never ended up getting cold. 
 

 

 

 

[BetsyS.]

cgolf1 - Thanks for all your reports and pictures. I liked the pictures of you and 

your wife.  Glad you had a good cruise.  You were smart to pack layers.

[cgolf1]

Here is the cost, got distracted catching up on the curse of oak island. 

[Angel75]

I'm enjoying your report, reliving our 2016 cruise on the Veendam.  We loved the itinerary and have several of the same pictures you do!  It was our first HAL cruise, and we realized then that we'd found our cruise line.  Thanks for taking the time to report.

[cgolf1]

Day 6 Halifax

My wife went to the maritime museum and I don't have those pictures and I did the iconic towns tour that covered Lunenburg, Mahone Bay, and Peggy's Cove.

 

One comment is that the ship always seemed to dock a little late which was weird and it impacted our tour which was supposed to be 7 hours long. We docked at least 20-30 minutes late and that impacted our time at each stop, specifically Mahone Bay where our plan was to visit the Mug and Anchor. When we pulled into town we saw the Mug and Anchor and we drove past it for what seemed like forever to park. Once parked we had 31 minutes at the stop. Thankfully a very fast walk got us down there in 8 minutes and we were able to purchase some shirts and hats and make it back to the bus in plenty of time.

 

My wife loved the maritime museum and the three towns we visited were nice, but most of the shops were closed, which ultimately was ok with us. Peggy's Cove was neat to see, but I would likely not go back. Our tour guide provided a ton of information which was really nice. We didn't see Oak Island, but saw a sign for the road that said it was 5 km away.

 

We made it back to the ship with 15 minutes to spare.

 

The rain held off and it just started to rain as we were boarding the ship.

[cgolf1]

Lunenburg

[cgolf1]

Mahone Bay

[lissie]

On 5/10/2023 at 11:05 AM, cgolf1 said:

Day 5 Sydney Nova Scotia

 

Today we again grabbed a map in port and walked around on our own in the morning. If you notice my hands in the upper part of the photo, that was to protect the lens for the precipitation. We also walked the boardwalk which was a nice walk before we go back on the ship. I did add a few pictures that showcased the snow:)

 

The Muster Station signs on land crack me up. If you need to go to a muster station on land the stuff has really hit the fan:)

 

There is a nice little shopping area right at the port and we bought a few things. We also stopped at Tracy's Rolling Yarn Shop and bought some yarn from Nova Scotia for our daughter. The owner was incredibly nice along with a customer that was also there and between the two of them they helped explain what my daughter could make with what we would ultimately buy. My daughter said the prices were decent too.

 

Since the cider house didn't open till noon we went out after lunch and of course there was no precipitation then.

 

Later tonight I will comment on what I packed to stay warm and not take a lot of clothes, my influencer moment;)

I noticed that the ciders are listed in oz? Did you notice that a lot? Canada was a metric country the last time I was there and I'm hoping to minimize the number of translations I need memorized - I've got the important one (F to C) sorted out but otherwise as we are cursing Canada/Greenland/Iceland I was hoping for all metric 

[cgolf1]

And we turned away from Oak Island:( We did not get eyes on the island at all. Sail out was very foggy.

[cgolf1]

5 minutes ago, lissie said:

I noticed that the ciders are listed in oz? Did you notice that a lot? Canada was a metric country the last time I was there and I'm hoping to minimize the number of translations I need memorized - I've got the important one (F to C) sorted out but otherwise as we are cursing Canada/Greenland/Iceland I was hoping for all metric 

 

Honestly I didn't notice it at all. We just ordered up the flight with the flavors we wanted. Good Catch

[lissie]

Just now, cgolf1 said:

 

Honestly I didn't notice it at all. We just ordered up the flight with the flavors we wanted. Good Catch

The flight looks very nice- I'm a Cider addict - we are hiring a car and driving out to Louisburg  on our Sydney stop - but I hope to have time for a flight on the way back! 

[Blackduck59]

1 minute ago, lissie said:

The flight looks very nice- I'm a Cider addict - we are hiring a car and driving out to Louisburg  on our Sydney stop - but I hope to have time for a flight on the way back! 

Hi @lissie, my brother in law lives on Cape Breton Island. Louisburg was hit hard by the storm and hasn't really recovered. Just a heads-up that Louisburg may be a little raggedy.

[CGinMTL]

12 minutes ago, lissie said:

I noticed that the ciders are listed in oz? Did you notice that a lot? Canada was a metric country the last time I was there and I'm hoping to minimize the number of translations I need memorized - I've got the important one (F to C) sorted out but otherwise as we are cursing Canada/Greenland/Iceland I was hoping for all metric 

Canada is fluid btw imperial and metric.

I think it is because we are close to USA

Ex as a 50 yr old Canadian 

I know my height and weight only in imperial

Temp. Work both ways

Groceries . More likely to order in lbs 

Liquid . We go both ways 

I think you will be fine in metric eveywhere

[cgolf1]

Peggy's Cove

[cgolf1]

13 minutes ago, lissie said:

The flight looks very nice- I'm a Cider addict - we are hiring a car and driving out to Louisburg  on our Sydney stop - but I hope to have time for a flight on the way back! 

 

These were probably the best ciders to date that I have had, I was very impressed.

[cgolf1]

Daily activities. Supper, Show, and and sadly some more complaints

 

Well the activities were easy, we played cards and skipped the dance show after not liking the second one as much. I was more on the fence and would have went to the show, but my arm was pretty easily twisted. We did do happy hour again and the night before in Sydney they had run out of amaretto. Now running out of some food items I can understand because it has a shelf life. Booze there is no excuse in my eyes because it doesn't have a shelf life and there is no reason to run out. I highly doubt there was a crazy rush on amaretto. So we all had Brandy old fashioneds the rest of the trip.

 

To get the other complaint out of the way, the buffet was pretty repetitive each day. Food was good and we didn't go hungry, but the repetition was surprising for us.

 

For supper I had the shrimp cocktail and not the Escargot, but a small shrimp and scallop in a cheese sauce in the excargot plate and the cracked pepper tenderloin with grilled shrimp. Everything was excellent. The escargot was replace and I forgot my camera at dinner. The menu outside of the dining room when I went to grab a picture for the review still showed the escargot and not the delicious replacement.

 

My wife had the cheese tortelloni and I don't remember the appetizer, but she enjoyed her food as well.

 

Overall another great day despite a couple of hiccups:)

[lissie]

19 minutes ago, cgolf1 said:

 

These were probably the best ciders to date that I have had, I was very impressed.

I worked in British Colombia in the 80s - as a 20 something year old I discovered Cider there. I'm looking forward to the eastern Canada version 🙂