Relaxed New England sailing
Zaandam Cruise Review to Canada, New England, New York
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 29
Review summary
Overall, we enjoyed the trip. It was a nice, slowed down pace from our busy lives. The people we sailed with were an older crowd and the activities and music section onboard reflected that. There was no kareoke or late night discos. The excursions offered were not strenuous activity (except for Bar Harbor biking). But we liked the tour guides who explained things to us & would recommend it to others.Embarkation
If arriving at Montreal airport or dropping off rental vehicle at the Montreal airport and you wish to get an Uber ride to the cruise terminal, you must wait for your Uber car at the departure level outside door 7. There are clearly marked overhead signs & road markings indicating you are in the correct area. (See picture) It’s about a 30 min drive to the pier where the ship departs in Grand Quay. But make sure to give yourself plenty of time as contraction work is a constant which makes traffic jams inevitable. (Our Saturday noonish arrival took about 55 mins) onboarding process was quick. We had filled out the “verifly” app and they just checked our passports & waved us right on thru. We arrived 1 hour before our scheduled check-in time and the terminal was practically empty. Very easy to get onboard.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard: lunch options were available when we boarded. Dinner servings started at 5:30 pm. Dinner at the Lido buffet is varied depending what side of the buffet you visit. One side is typically American cuisine & pasta stations. The other side is Asian & Indian cuisine. There is no need to dress formally for this eating venue. Each side changes daily & opens promptly at 5:30 pm. Make dinner reservations for the main dining before 4 pm if you want your own table (esp if u want to take extra covid precautions). Otherwise you will be seated with fellow passengers which is an interesting way to meet new people but makes for a very slow evening as service is typically slower for a larger table seating. Dining choices- pinnacle grill was a perfectly done steak although not very savory. Side dishes are big and shareable. Canaletto has very big portions as well. I really liked that you can order half portions of several plates and share. Great way to taste a little of everything. The ship in general was out of several things throughout the cruise. When we asked, we were told they only replenish in Boston and as we were on the return trip, things like Captain Morgan rum, calamari, Splenda, paper straws, & large coffee cups at the cafe shop.
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
1st night we went to the “show” after dinner which was a power point history of holland America interweaved with pictures, interviews, & the cruise director reading some of the interesting points from a monitor. It was different. But not great when we were kind of expecting a “show”. The dance company did put on a few shows that were interesting. The BBC night was a film accompanied by pre-recorded music enhanced by live musicians from several of the band players onboard.
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Side notes: Sugar substitutes are usually equal and sweet & low. On the 4th day, the cafe had some Splenda available. Straws - bring your own if you have a preference. Some bars were completely out of them the entire voyage. Others had the paper ones available. Indoor & outdoor pools are heated. also to note: “all inclusive” drink packages only include 15 drinks per day. Coffee, teas, & water cans count toward that drink count. & if you’re as forgetful as me and you accidentally go over, there’s no way to know until you see your statement for the day on the app. The wait staff explained they are unable to see amount of drinks you’ve ordered either. Water cans (soda-like cans) are provided at a cost. They no longer carry plastic bottles which makes it very inconvenient to carry these ashore on an excursion. So make sure to bring an empty, reusable water bottles for your day trips. Also - if you tend to sleep hot, make sure to bring a battery operated, rechargeable personal fan. There are no plugs bed-side and the rooms don’t seem to cool off enough at night. Another thought - everyone’s morning showers take all the hot water so you may be showering cold in mornings.
Thumbs up
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Ports of call
Lots of onboard activities and very little boat movement/swaying. Had a wonderfully relaxing day.
Quebec we walked an our own. Everything is walking distance. You can go to several of the tourist offices around town and get maps and they’ll sell you a walking tour of 2 hours for $6.00 Per person. You can also catch the finaculer up from the old part of the city to the newer one ($4 each way. Cash only. US $ accepted.) Lots of shops in both the older and newer parts of the city. Good area to get your daily steps in! Lots of quaint European styled streets great for photos. If you leave the shop early, you have a lot of areas to yourself for some truly unique photo ops. Our boat was here on Sunday and everything was closed until about 11. There were a few coffee and “dejanau” places open early.
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Charlotte, PEI. Boat got into dock on “island time”. We were 2 hours behind scheduled docking time but we still made it on time for the tours. The terminal itself is very quaint with souvenirs for sale at reasonable prices and some local artistry to purchase. We did the “Best of PEI: top 10” tour. Meet time was 9:15 am. Take off time was 9:30. About 10:40 am we had our first stop at the confederate bridge with a quick 10 min stop for pics and restroom break. Around the corner, we stopped again at a store called “shop & play” for 20 mins. Souvenirs, snacks, & Knick-knacks for sale at this place. Small potatoes chips bags handed out as we made our way to the lunch stop. (11:25) keep in mind to either purchase a drink or bring a bottled water with you as none are provided on this tour. 12:15 arrived at lunch site at fisherman’s wharf. Everyone is seated at long communal tables. The lunch choices are lobster rolls, chicken salad sandwich, veggie wrap or gluten free roll. All are served with potato salad & strawberry shortcake for dessert. Beer & wines available for purchase for about $4 each. Gift shop & RRs also available at this stop. 1 hour allotted for lunch. 1:45 arrive Anne of green gables visitor center. 1 hour to walk about. We did the stroll of lovers lane, the walk thru the house, a quick sprint thru the exhibits, & a few moments to pick our souvenirs. 3:30 was a 30 min stop at the icee cream shop for a kid size cone & an invitation to buy one of their funny t shirts. About 25 min back to ship from here.
Sydney, NS & Baddeck, NS, Canada - tour “beddeck on your own” was about an hour drive to Baddeck. Our tour guide Audrey was very informative and talked interesting points for the whole ride. Only 2.5 hours to walk on your own. We’re allowed to leave bus at 10:20. Expected back at 12:30. Many lunch places open at 12:00. We found “Fisherman’s Wharf” which was open for breakfast & lunch. They serve locally caught seafood & draft beers including a selection for flights. Bell museum costs $8.50 per person. We arrived as soon as the bus let us out and left about an hour later just as 3 school bus tours were arriving. The town itself has many closed shops as they didn’t survive the pandemic. There are a few boutique type souvenir shops, a coffee shop & a pharmacy store. The waterfront walking/sitting area are a few benches along the piers with nice views of the water. And a statue of Mabel & Alexander Bell you can photo with. Once back on the bus, & after a brisk walk, you may find it a bit warm so we suggest you bring a hand fan if you tend to get warm. Arrived back to ship about 2:00 pm. Again, there are no snacks or drinks provided on this tour so make sure you bring your own waters.
Halifax - Peggy’s cove & hop on/off bus. It was About an hour bus ride each way to the lighthouse. Bring your passport if you’d like to get it officially stamped at Peggy’s Cove. They have $25 lobster roll “to go” at the Sou’ Wester gift shop. We had 1 hour to roam around on our own at the lighthouse and surrounding Peggy’s Cove area. Funny - McDonald’s sells lobster rolls beginning July 1 for a few months. After 2 hours sitting and someone talking pretty fast & non-stop, we were ready for some relative quiet so we skipped the Hop on-off bus and walked the boardwalk at the pier. It was so great. Lots of shops and local places to eat. Cows ice cream has a place with lots of options. Souvenir shops were open and some local breweries had flights for $11. The fog lifted after lunch and the weather warmed a bit. Good way to spend the early afternoon.
Bar Harbor - bicycle ride in Acadia park. Scheduled time for excursion booked through Holland was 7:45 AM and departing at 8:30. But… just like all the other stops, we seemed to be running on some sort of warped “island time”. The line for customs & immigration started forming around 6:00 am and wrapped all around the 5th floor. (Although we were advised multiple times to not form lines because they weren’t ready for us.) The officials boarded the ship around 8:10 am & we joined the line then. We went thru about 8:40 am. At 8:45 we were in another line at the theater to join our excursion group. At 9:05 we took a tender boat that had been pre-arranged for our excursion to the shore. We liked that the tenders were very big hired local ferries instead of the small sometimes rocky lifeboats used by other lines. We arrived at shore about 20 mins later. At 9:40 we had arrived at the bike place after a short bus ride from the pier. After picking out bikes and adjusting seats & getting a briefing on the tour, we started the trail about 10:00 am from Hulls Cove entrance. Although parts of the trail were indeed strenuous there were stops along the way to learn a bit about the wildlife and history on the building of the park itself. Alison was a great tour guide. We made sure to keep our guides pumped by shouting out “woohoo!” On the down hills & “we got this!” & “feel the burn” on the way up. Fun times! In total about 7 miles round trip. About 12:00 we were on vans headed back to port so had the rest of the afternoon for lunch on our own & shopping in town.
Disembarkation
Disembarkation- all clear was given at 7:20. We did “self-assist” and were out from waiting for Uber to airport (15 mins away) to get rental car for our return drive home. The Uber car was not at the taxi stand but around the corner on the Main Street across from the long term parking lot. No passport or security check required when we came off ship.
Traveler Photos
10 Comments
LMSchmidt 2 years ago
culturecruiser 2 years ago
Thanks for sharing. We are taking the reverse of this cruise from Boston to Montreal. We are excited and our only small concern is that we follow a plant based diet and concerned that we won't have many options in the main dining room or our one night in the specialty restaurant (included in package)