My husband and I decide to take the first New England/Canada cruise (POC Boston, Bar Harbor, Halifax, Sydney, Charlottetown and Quebec City) of the season for the Veendam that departed from Boston. First off let me advise you to watch the taxi cab drivers if you are departing from any Airport Hotel properties or catching a flight from Boston after your cruise. The cost should not be more than $25.00 (that includes the toll fees the driver must pay for entering and leaving the airport) So be sure to ASK how much they will charge you and make sure they start the meter.

We received an e-mail a few days before our cruise advising us that there has been an GI illness breakout during the cruise of South America and that the ship would be doing a complete CDC required cleaning of the ship before our departure so they asked we not arrive before 1 pm. The ship was supposed to arrive in Boston by 7 am. However, while going up to our room we could the ship arriving to the dock around 10:30 am (please note: we were advised that the ship was delayed due to very bad weather while sail from Florida) and my husband and I figured there was no way the ship would be able to leave by 5 pm that evening.

I wont go into all the details about the embarking because not all the issues were due to HAL staff but more towards the Boston Port Authority staff not being prepared to the first cruise ship of the season. Once we got to the check-in area, it was a breeze. We entered the ship on the main deck (level 5) and we were able to go directly to our room 676 (inside cabin ALT area). The room in our view was very spacious for an interior room and plenty of closet space and desk area. The bathroom was a good size with a shower only that had a soap/shampoo/conditioner dispenser. There were shelves and plenty of counter space in the bathroom for our items. Read more