First Post - Questions About NE/Canada

[Gunters Oma]

Hi! DH and I are sailing on the Maasdam 05/19. We are sooooooo excited!! I have gotten a lot of helpful information lurking for the past few months. This is such a great place to gain cruising knowledge and a few good chuckles, too. Now I have a few "trivial" question!

 

Is the Pinnacle Grill open for lunch? Since it is so port intensive - I thought it might not be. I called HAL and they said "it depends". They didn't know on exactly what! :eek: But they did tell me one of the reasons they did not have that information is you cannot pre-book lunch.

 

Do they do a Dutch High Tea on this cruise? Again because it is so port intensive.

 

Are there any known areas of rough seas?

 

How many laps around the Maasdam promenade equal one mile? :)

 

Is that too many questions for one post??? I am grateful for any information - particularly from past NE/Canada pax...but hope all will respond.

 

Thanks!

Jayne

[MercedMike]

We loved our Canada/NE cruise on Maasdam! Check out our report and pics at

 

Cruising on Maasdam

 

But -- I'm afraid I can't answer many of your questions! As far as the Pinnacle Grill -- "it depends" is the right answer!

 

We didn't get any rough seas, but we missed Saguenay Fjord because of high winds.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!

[grannynurse]

Hi Jayne,

Welcome to the HAL board. We've done 2 NE/Canada trips on HAL, one on Rotterdam in 2002 and one on Maasdam in 2005. We love the itinerary.

I believe that 31/2 to 4 times around the promenade equals one mile.

We did have lunch in the Pinnacle Grill and it was $10 pp at the time. There is a Royal Dutch (high tea) once during the cruise in the afternoon, 3:15 to 4pm IIRC. If you can make it do so.

 

We especially like the Cadillac Mt. and Lobster bake shorex in Bar Harbor. It is offered twice, once in am with lunch last, and once in pm with lunch first. There are many wonderful excursions on this trip. Check the HAL website for early booking, it should be open now or within the next week.

 

Since the ship stays fairly close to land we didn't experience any rough water but since you're going in May just know that the north Atlantic weather is a crap shoot. Be sure to bring rain gear and sweatshirts, sweaters, or jackets as it still will be chilly.

 

I hope you'll like the Maasdam and this itinerary as much as we do.

GN

[jhannah]

We especially like the Cadillac Mt. and Lobster bake shorex in Bar Harbor.

A wonderful excursion, without doubt. We enjoyed this very much.

 

I don't recall any extraordinary sea action, even when swinging around the Atlantic. But Mother Nature can always throw a ringer from time to time.

 

This is a wonderful cruise with so much beauty and wonderful people ashore. You will love it!

[sail7seas]

Great, great cruise on a fantastic ship. We do it every spring/summer and are doing it again this June and also August this year. (June's itinerary is different than the usual one that we are doing in August.)

 

Another vote for the Cadillac Mountain and lobster lunch tour. We really enjoyed it and were so lucky to have a gorgeous, bright clear day with views that were amazing..... all the way down to the ship which was way far down below us!!! :)

 

Pinnacle Grill was opened for lunch last year on our back-to-backs on the one sea day.

 

Four times around Promenade Deck equals about one mile. We always wear pedometers (which we know to be accurate) and the distance is not scientifically exact to the foot but 'close enough' for our purpose!! We've walked many, many miles on that very beautiful teak deck. It's a real pleasure to get our exercise while walking with those pretty sea views.

 

Hope you love "My" :) Maasdam as much as we do. She's a wonderful ship with an awesome crew.

 

[lkmamom]

Great, great cruise on a fantastic ship. We do it every spring/summer and are doing it again this June and also August this year. (June's itinerary is different than the usual one that we are doing in August.)

 

Another vote for the Cadillac Mountain and lobster lunch tour. We really enjoyed it and were so lucky to have a gorgeous, bright clear day with views that were amazing..... all the way down to the ship which was way far down below us!!! :)

 

Pinnacle Grill was opened for lunch last year on our back-to-backs on the one sea day.

 

Four times around Promenade Deck equals about one mile. We always wear pedometers (which we know to be accurate) and the distance is not scientifically exact to the foot but 'close enough' for our purpose!! We've walked many, many miles on that very beautiful teak deck. It's a real pleasure to get our exercise while walking with those pretty sea views.

 

Hope you love "My" :) Maasdam as much as we do. She's a wonderful ship with an awesome crew.

 

 

Sail, we are also going in August! I cannot wait for this cruise, it has been my dream for a long time. I hope that we are on the same cruise, you have helped so much on these boards and your comments have made me all the more excited for our cruise!:)

Linda

[sail7seas]

Linda......

 

We're on August 18 and August 25, back-to-back.

 

I'd love to meet you aboard. Are you per chance on one of those weeks?

 

Thanks for your nice words. I appreciate them. :)

[Gunters Oma]

Thank you --- I knew you folks could help!

Jayne