Maasdam, Just Back from a Great Trip

[WeLoveCruising]

We just returned from a wonderful cruise on the Maasdam, from Montreal to Fort Lauderdale. The Maasdam crew continues to be our favorite, and we had a great time. I’ll start this thread, and make some multiple posts to it to take you through our trip the best I can, and as time allows (ugh, back to work tomorrow)…

Now for the disclaimer – I took some real flack on one of my reviews last year because my husband worked for HAL. Although several people here know that, I didn’t put it in the review. So the fine print - even though I never worked for them, he did, but doesn’t any longer. HAL continues to be our favorite cruise line and I don’t see us making changes any time soon.

We chose this itinerary for a very personal reason. I did the Canada / New England cruise with my aunt two years ago, and she just passed away very suddenly this summer. She loved that cruise, and her wishes are to have her ashes scattered in a few special places she and I saw together on the cruise. I’m going to do the scattering next year with family, and used this trip to figure out logistics of how to do it next year. DH and I were more than ready for a cruise this month, so it all just fell into place for us.

Embarkation –

Living in NY doesnt give us the option of flying to Montreal, but more a decision of driving or taking the train. Research into Amtrak showed that it takes about two hours to complete the border crossing, (in fact we met people onboard who said they were stuck there for three hours.) I was glad we chose a one way car rental. We drove up the night before, it was a breeze crossing the border and finding our hotel.

One thing we’ve never done before on a cruise is to bring on our own wine, but we did on this trip. The main reason is we’ve really taken up a wine hobby, we’re taking classes and have developed some very specific tastes, and wine we want to try. We've always found the HAL wine lists acceptable, but not great. I looked into taking our wine from home, but found that you’re not supposed to take it in to Canada (at least not 10-12 bottles, which is what we wanted). So, I found a SAQ outlet in Montreal, which is the Quebec shop for alcohol. We chose the SAQ“Selection” vs “Classique” or “Express” because it has a better selection of the specific French wines we wanted. It was very easy to find, buy, and carry on our wine.

We boarded around 1pm, which is our preference because we can typically walk right on and go to our cabin. No matter how many times I cruise, I still get soo exctied to see the ship, and walk onboard!

[WeLoveCruising]

We’ve been in all sorts of cabins, from the SA’s to a crew cabin, and for this cruise we had a Category C on the Lower Promenade, right off the atrium. We like that deck because we love to walk the wrap around promenade every night, but I wasn’t originally crazy about the location. It was convenient, sure, but I was worried about noise from the atrium and Ocean Bar. True, at night we could hear the Ocean Bar, but we had to be quiet and listen really hard. Turned out it didn’t bother us at all, and the convenient location of the room made up for it. I will say, though, that this cabin of “The Spotless Fleet” had more than a few spots of dust in the room. Other than that, our cabin steward was outstanding and took care of our few special requests.

The first thing we do on boarding is to check out our dining arrangements, and we had just want we wanted, which was a table for 2 upper level. I had heard they changed the dining times for this cruise, and fixed seating was 5:15 and 7:30. What I did notice was at least 4 people meeting with the Assistant Dining Room Manager asking to go from open seating to a fixed table, and one by one they were turned down. You can count me on the “don’t like AYWD” side of the debate, too.

The second thing we do after boarding is go to the Thermal Suite to buy our passes for the cruise. They were $150 for both of us, 10 days. I noticed a sign saying that they only sell 20 per cruise. The girls at the spa said they don’t sell nearly that many, but I can say there were many times we had a hard time getting a thermal chair (more on that later)

Our first dinner we were delighted to see some familiar faces, and spoke to our wine steward and the Cellar Master on how to best handle brining our wine to the dining room. We gave them our cabin number, and our wine steward, who was such a gem, went to our room the next morning and took the whole case for us. From there, he and the Cellar Master, Marcein, (and I hope I’m spelling it right) chose a bottle of our wines for the menu each night ahead of time. Each night they would have either a bottle of white chilled, or a bottle of red decanted. They would come see us, and we would offer them some wine. We all had fun tasting and talking about the wine. I was sure they’d not be pleased with us taking on our own wine, but Marcein told us he was thrilled when he saw our selections and couldn’t wait to meet us.

[WeLoveCruising]

A brisk (and cold!) walk a few times around the Promenade, and we were asleep early that night.

Day 1 Quebec City

I love the first mornings at sea, the vacation is still all ahead of us, all the lights on the map are green (if you know what I mean, I don’t like seeing them mostly red). We went to the Lido to have our breakfast, and horror of horrors for me….no Swiss Muesli!! (I’m probably not spelling that right either, but lets blame it on the trauma). Now, you have to understand something about me and my HAL muesli (or as DH calls it, my “gruel”). To me, being on a cruise without my muesli is like Ruth without her chocolate. When anticipating a cruise, my aunt used to email me each day with a countdown “5 days until gruel”...

Anyway, I searched high and low for that cold, creamy, oatmeal-ly, fruit concoction (and not a bit low fat as their sign says, you have to read the recipe), and found it was simply not there.

It showed up the next day and every day after that, so I will have to thank my Swiss Muesli guardian angel.

[sail7seas]

I'm totally glued to your reports, Joanne. Oh pleaaase, keep them coming. :)

 

[WeLoveCruising]

Quebec City is a very good port for walking. We took the funicular up to the high town, and then did the “Governor’s Walk” to the Citadel. The Governor’s Walk has signs that say there are more than 300 stairs, but they’re spread out and you can take it at your own pace. It's well worth the climb if you can do it. The walk climbs pretty high and the views are incredible. It was a picture perfect Sunday morning – crisp and sunny. We spent the day poking around shops and walking the streets, and talked about going back at some point for a long weekend since it’s drive-able for us.

Day 2

At Sea - or more accurately, At River J

My DH’s Lido secret for eggs is to ask for plain poached eggs from the Eggs Benedict station. He loves his eggs, and gets them every morning. Thank God we don’t eat at home like we do on a cruise. But, the fried egg station uses a lot of oil, and they never do seem to come out the way we want them. The poached eggs are exactly what we want, and he’ll have two with toast every day, bypassing the “Eggs Your Way” part of the line and heading over the Eggs Benedict guy. For those of you who like Eggs Benedict, they offer 5 or 6 different types, eggs florentine, curry eggs, salmon eggs Benedict etc. I spent a lot of time getting to know the Eggs Benedict guy in line with my DH.

TomC’s review of his Maasdam cruise had me craving that cup of tea he talked about enjoying, and I found the Maasdam has a pretty wide variety of black, herb, and green tea bags. I’m a tea drinker, so I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, but thank TomC for pointing it out.

Today was the day we did the iPod art tour. I found it a little harder to follow than on the Vistas, but still manageable. The theme on the Maasdam is “treasures found in the East by Dutch explorers” – or something close to that. Anyone who’s been onboard the Maasdam should be familiar with the collection of Asian teapots and chests outside the Explorer’s Lounge, it was interesting to learn more about them.

We made it up to the Lido pool on the iPod tour. The dolphin sculpture at the pool is a trick question on the tour – How many dolphins are there? If you count them you’ll say 5, but the artist intended it to be just 1. The sculpture is meant to show the movement of one leaping dolphin in various stages of the leap.

Our iPod tour was cut short by the wonderful aroma of grilled meat coming from an outside buffet on the Lido. They were preparing a Greek and Middle Eastern lunch buffet. I have to say, it was sooo good! We had grilled lamb, beef kabobs, all types of hummus and dips, salads, and roasted veggies.

After lunch, we finished our art tour and went to the thermal suite.

[RuthC]

Love the send-off. Can't wait for the rest of the sail.

[sail7seas]

Our iPod tour was cut short by the wonderful aroma of grilled meat coming from an outside buffet on the Lido. They were preparing a Greek and Middle Eastern lunch buffet. I have to say, it was sooo good! We had grilled lamb, beef kabobs, all types of hummus and dips, salads, and roasted veggies.

 

 

OMG...... WE LOVE that lunch buffet. We ask the first we board to see which day they are doing it. We'd be miserable if we missed it. That buffet is one of the most amazing displays we have ever seen on any ship for lunch. I don't eat rice but that rice so delicious even I eat a little.

[WeLoveCruising]

OMG...... WE LOVE that lunch buffet. We ask the first we board to see which day they are doing it. We'd be miserable if we missed it. That buffet is one of the most amazing displays we have ever seen on any ship for lunch. I don't eat rice but that rice so delicious even I eat a little.

 

Oh, it was incredible. Do they normally do it on the 7 day itinerary? I recall having a salmon bake on the 7 day I was on in 2006. That was good, too - but this was something really special.

[maninmontreal]

I'm loving your posts WeLoveCruising. Keep them coming as I am really looking forward to hearing about the rest of your cruise. I did the Ft. Lauderdale- Montreal cruise in early May, love the Maasdam and crew, and reading your posts is like coming home. Great writing too.......:)

[sail7seas]

Oh, it was incredible. Do they normally do it on the 7 day itinerary? I recall having a salmon bake on the 7 day I was on in 2006. That was good, too - but this was something really special.

 

 

We've also had the salmon bake and agree it was GREAT. We had the Middle Eastern/Med Buffet both our 2007 August cruises and both 0ur August 2008. August 2006, we had the Salmon Bake. June 2006......hmmm, I don't remember.

[Toad]

Loving the review.... who was the Maitre D" on your cruise?

[sail7seas]

I don't know if Joanne has finished for the night, Toad, but I think she mentioned Gildus was back aboard. He was not there when we were aboard in August.

 

(Sorry for answering, Joanne, if you are still 'around' tonight.)

[Cqis]

You can't be finished !!!!:eek: Where is the rest. I want more, I want more!!

Do you want me to have a temper tantrum. I am leaving in 9 days on the Massdam.

 

Cely

[WeLoveCruising]

I don't know if Joanne has finished for the night, Toad, but I think she mentioned Gildus was back aboard. He was not there when we were aboard in August.

 

(Sorry for answering, Joanne, if you are still 'around' tonight.)

 

Hi there,

Still here, typing and unpacking :)

Yes, Gildus was there. We just opened a little souvenier bottle of ice cider we picked up in Quebec City for a little night cap before bed. If you thought my spelling was bad before wait a few minutes...hee hee.

[WeLoveCruising]

We’re big fans of the thermal suite, and like to take a book in to read and relax in the ceramic loungers. Something we’re increasingly seeing, though, is that the spa staff doesn’t maintain the room as well as they should. The thermal suite has some very comfortable (they don’t look it, but oh they are) heated tile ceramic loungers, as well as scented steam rooms, and cool misting showers. There are two steam rooms, (3 on the Vistas I think?) One will usually have a eucalyptus minty type smell, and the other a lime ginger type smell. I say usually because the spa staff on the Maasdam wasn’t keeping up with the scents on this cruise. I had to ask them many times to come in and do it. I’m sure those girls hated to see me at the desk. But they did finally get it right after a few days.

Maybe it was the cooler weather itinerary, but this trip the thermal suite was more crowded than we’ve seen. There have been Caribbean cruises where we’re literally the only ones in there for the whole time – but this trip there were many times we couldn’t get a seat. Truth be told, there were people who stayed in those chairs for hours, and I really felt like booting them out (did I say that out loud?)…

Also, not part of the thermal suite, but for public use at no charge, there are mens and ladies dry saunas in the locker room area. The one on the Men’s side was out the entire cruise, so they would alternate locker rooms each day so that men and women could take turns having the working sauna.

I’ve rambled enough about the thermal suite, but it is a key part of our cruise experience. One of my favorite things to do is to lay in one of those heated chairs, swaying along with the rocking ship, along with the soothing spa music and spa scents. A few minutes in the steam room, breathing in the scent, followed by the icy cool mist...just a piece of heaven to me ;)

[WeLoveCruising]

Our first formal night was a special one for us; we were invited to dine at the Hotel Manager's table. Along with three other lucky couples, we met Hotel Manager Firmin van Walle for cocktails in the Explorer's Lounge, and then followed with a wonderful dinner in the dining room. Great food, wine, and conversation, I'm very thankful for the experience.

 

A while back I read in a travel guide how to get selected to dine a the Captain's (or Hotel Manager's) Table on a cruise. It said something like this:

 

#1 Be a tall slim Swedish model

#2 Be a travel writer

#3 Be a tall slim Swedish model travel writer

 

We're not close to #1, #2, or #3, so we really must be lucky to have been invited :)

[sail7seas]

Ahhh, Hotel Manager Firmin van Walle. ONE OF THE BEST OF THE BEST!!! :)

 

[WeLoveCruising]

Day 3

Charlottteown, PEI

The last time, two years ago, when I was in Prince Edward Island it was a magical day. It was springtime, and there was just something about how the light made the sky the bluest of blue, the grass the greenest of green, and the clay the ruddiest red . It looked like a painting – truer than life color. On this day, the sky was overcast and it didn’t have that magic, but it was still an enjoyable day. It was cold, overcast, and raining (what did we expect on an October Canada New England cruise?). DH is just not an Anne of Green Gables guy, so we walked a bit around the town, and ended up taking one of those double decker tour buses. Truth is, DH really isn’t a tour bus guy either, but he did it for me because I was cold and protesting walking any further in the rain. It made for an interesting hour, and I learned that PEI is also known as Spud Island, as famous for their potatoes as for their mussels. Hopefully that will be a Final Jeopardy question one day and I can impress my friends with the answer.

While on a cruise, we fall into our normal cruise routine. We’re early risers, and like to tour places on our own early. We have lunch ashore if we’re interested, and if not, we’re back on the ship. I would have been very interested in a seafood lunch in PEI, but both the weather and my mood werent cooperating so we went back to the ship and warmed up. Oh, I do love the Lido stir frys for lunch. I had Sesame Beef and DH had Vietnamese Lamb. He broke our Cruise Rule #3 which is No Desserts at Lunch and had one.

Our normal cruise routine is to go back to our room after lunch to read and watch a little TV. We both work hard and travel on business frequently, so we are pretty low key on vacation. We bring a backpack of books and things we’ve saved to read since our last cruise, DVD’s we want to watch, and silly book games we like to do together, like the game book “If”. So, it was back to the room to read our books and rest a bit.

[WeLoveCruising]

Being a low key trip for us, and because we were glued to CNN watching the news on the election and economy, we didn’t see any of the entertainment on the ship. That’s pretty normal for us anyway. I’ll go out of my way for a few shows I like, especially Joel Mason (the Elton John impersonator), but more often than not we’ll be found in the Ocean Bar before dinner, and Crows Nest after. We’ll also spend lots of time in the Piano Bar if we like the entertainer. The one thing I noticed on this cruise is that the Explorer’s Lounge, yes the Explorer’s Lounge, was hopping busy every night. They had a trio of very talented young ladies in there…oh boy I cant remember the name, I want to say Palmyra Strings? Something like that. They drew a big crowd every night. I’ve never seen that many people in the Explorer’s Lounge. Years ago, it was one of my favorite places to be, so it was nice to see it full of people in the evenings.

Speaking of walking around the ship, one thing I don’t like is the Art Auction stuff all over the atrium. It’s just crowded, clunky, and a hazard for tripping. But I’ve learned to live with it. But now, we have something else to deal with – a perfume sprayer. Yes, just like in the department stores. Beware, as you’re walking on the Upper Promenade, that shop that I remember having liquor and sundries in it (but who knows when it changed, I don’t always notice these things right away), that shop is s now a perfume shop, complete with girl standing outside trying to spray you as you walk by. Not just once, every night she’s there trying to spray you. We all know why the push for onboard revenue is so important, it's interesting to see what they'll come up with next.

Another night in the Crow's Nest. DJ Matt is a super guy and has an eclectic taste in music way beyond his years. Not that he plays it in the Crows Nest, but ask to see his personal iPod. Gary and Jason behind the bar are great to talk to, and we had fun getting to know them better, and look forward to seeing them on another ship.

[WeLoveCruising]

Day 4 Sidney

Everyone says the big attraction in Sidney is the Cape Breton Trail. It’s supposed to be one of the top ten scenic drives in North America. I’d love to see it one day, but not on this trip. It’s a bit of a ride, and really, this trip was all about relaxation for us, so we decided to lay low, read, eat, and catch a movie. It was just what we wanted. We had a perfect day made up of the thermal suite, Exploration’s Café, and some movies in our room.

The Exploration’s Café is one of my favorite areas, it is just like a comfortable coffee shop with the best view. I could spend hours there, at the listening stations, browsing the books and magazines, and surfing the NY Times on the Internet which is free (the NY Times page that is, but slow).

Some notes on dinner in the dining room – Our service team was top notch, anticipating what we wanted after the first night or two. Our water glasses were always full, which isn’t easy because I drink a ton of water each night, and we had our cappuccino served with our dessert every night without asking. On this cruise, they repeated a few of the menu items, something I’ve not seen on a ten day cruise before. I wonder if it was because it was a repositioning cruise and they need to settle into their Caribbean menus? It was fine by us, just something out of the ordinary for me.

[rebeljohn]

Enjoying your review............We loved our cruise aboard the 'Beautiful & Elegant' Maasdam..............

[Krazy Kruizers]

Am enjoying your review.

 

Will be looking for the rest.

[Comptech]

Excellent review, curious though... What are some of your other rules...:)

 

He broke our Cruise Rule #3 which is No Desserts at Lunch and had one.

[Travalerie]

Day 4 Sidney

 

 

The Exploration’s Café is one of my favorite areas, it is just like a comfortable coffee shop with the best view. I could spend hours there, at the listening stations, browsing the books and magazines, and surfing the NY Times on the Internet which is free (the NY Times page that is, but slow).

 

Can someone explain the listening stations to me? Do they have music, audio books for you to listen to??

[COLLEYBERRY]

Thankyou for sharing your cruise with us. I am really enjoying hearing about all the delights of the Maasdam.

I have never experienced the thermal suite, after reading your description it is now a 'must do ' for our next Hal cruise.

DH is a huge fan of muselii(msp I am sure :D ) We have tried to make it at home but we are not quite getting it. Muselii and cruising go hand in hand as far as he is concerned.

Thanks again for taking us with you, I am having fun.:)