This was our 3rd HAL cruise and our 13th altogether. The Maasdam interior was almost identical to the Zaandam and the Statendam - pleasing and not over-glitzy like on Carnival. She is a small ship with approximately 1250 passengers. As on our other 2 HAL cruises most of the passengers were over 55, but there were more younger people than on our other 2.

The itinerary was mostly what appealed to us: Fort Lauderdale, Charleston, Newport, Bar Harbor, Halifax, Sydney, Charlottetown, Gaspe, Sept Isles, Saguenay, Quebec and Montreal. Late April and early May are perhaps not the best months for such an itinerary -- it was very chilly, windy and often overcast with some rain once we sailed into Canadian waters; temps in the 40's with mostly wintry landscape. Repositioning 2 weeks later would have been better, but so be it. We nonetheless enjoyed the cruise very much; we just didn't get off at every location, as we had intended. Lobster in Bar Harbor and Halifax was wonderful. The seas were extremely calm, so one hardly felt that one was on a ship, except for the engines and the vibration. You couldn't get seasick if you wanted to.

Our 4th deck mid-ship cabin had a full window so we could enjoy the outdoors in the warmth of our room. The river portion from Quebec to Montreal was especially pretty and interesting. On this particular cruise a lanai type or balcony accommodation would have been a waste of money. The room stewards kept our space clean and tidied up, with refreshed linens and towels every day. We had no special needs fortunately. There were two bouts of Noro-type virus on board which kept the special stewards extra busy. HAL took many extra precautions to keep the non-sick passengers healthy. Read more