What a great way to see the eastern coast of Canada and get a sampling of the area. Now I need to go back for more. Although Hurricane Fiona disrupted part of our trip, cutting two ports from our trip, HAL was able to add another port, Saguenay. I had no idea where it was but was happy to see some great maps in town. The town hadn't expected us but most of the shops opened for the tourism we produced that day.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Never had such a quick and simple process to board. Assigned a time but we arrived early and were immediately included in the queue to board. Whole thing from being dropped off at the port to boarding the ship was maybe half an hour.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Food was tasty enough. Disappointed that the dining room had the same menu every single day. Expected a rotation, as there was for dinner. On the other hand, buffet was always a delightful surprise, with items not on the dining menu, including one day a HUGE bowl of mussels. Delish!
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
The only activities I did were the morning cruise director chats, which were always good, as were Kimberly's presentations, and adult coloring. On my last HAL cruise (to South America in 2017) there were more options, like a computer photo-shopping class, food demonstrations, and towel folding.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
Comedian was okay. Dancers were . . . very amateur. The piano singers, Rachel and a gentleman, were pretty good. Didn't know about the blues singer until the last night but she was very good.
Children's Programs
no children
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Staff were lovely. The housekeepers for our room, Juli and Deri, were always cheery and kind. They really were the tops. All crew members with whom I spoke were pleasant and friendly. I also like Yada, think that's his name, who managed the food service on the Lido deck by the pool. He was so attentive and remembered my usual breakfast beverage request so that, after one time, he brought me m preferred juice.
Ship Quality
4 out of 5
I thought the cleanliness standards were quite high. I did not use the pool, spa, or gym though, as I was quite worried about communal contacts.
Cabin / Stateroom
4 out of 5
Overall, the room was fine. My roommate felt the cabin was quite small. It may have been slightly smaller than our last HAL cruise but that was on the Zaandam. There really wasn't any place to store luggage as the bed frame was too low to slide my clamshell suitcase under. It is a perfectly ordinary bag, not a huge one, so we had to keep our bags standing upright in the room the whole time.
Ship tip
A Mariner drinks coupon but set out for us before arrival but we only found it the last night. Maybe put it in a more obvious location.
AMAZING! We arrived 2 days early in order to spend a little more time in the city and wish we had come even earlier. A one-day port of call would have been such a disservice to this place. I have never been on a cruise where we boarded a ship one day and stayed in port, so this was an interesting experience. But there is SOOO much to do in Quebec City. We did not use any of the ship's excursions but planned our own at a much-better price. We did a city tour and went to Montmarency Falls. Also we did a wine tour of Ile d'Orleans. I was surprised at how hilly QC is so make sure you wear good walking shoes!
Halifax also has a lot to see and do and there just wasn't enough time for the tours. My non-HAL tour to Peggy's Cove was cancelled so I just stayed in town. Had a fab lunch and went to the Marintime Museum, where there are so many Titantic relics. I was impressed that the museum was free to those of us coming off a cruise ship! And then a lovely walk back along the interesting boardwalk.
I wasn't able to get a tour in Saint John and just walked around the city. The Loyalists cemetery was very interesting and I talked to a couple of locals there. Unfortunately, it was a holiday in Canada the day we were there and most of the shops were closed, except for gift shops and the touristy items near the port.
Needed way more time in Bar Harbor! The immigration process meant we lost 2-3 hours of our port time. I understand that HAL would give priority to its excursion patrons but I was disappointed that we lost so much time there. And since this was the only port where we needed tenders, that also cut down on our time. But Acadia is beautiful. The town of Bar Harbor is also a fun place I would like to go back to one day.
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