Maasdam Review

4.0 / 5.0
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Canada and New England, Eh?

Review for Canada & New England Cruise on Maasdam
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lettersman
2-5 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jul 2013
Cabin: Large Ocean-View Stateroom

We chose this cruise for it's itinerary since we are native Californians. I had always wanted to see a baseball game at Fenway Park and neither of us had been to Montreal. So we left San Francisco on Thursday leaving us two full days in Boston. As I had insisted only on carry-ons, we took an MBTA shuttle from Logan and after a simple transfer we found ourselves one easy block from the Bed and Breakfast we had booked in the Back Bay District.

Boston was in the middle of a heat wave which was a not too unpleasant change from our much cooler SF Bay Area weather. We took the T to Copley Place, took in a few sites and had dinner at Legal Seafood which serves one mighty fine cup of Clam Chowder. Sue managed to overcome my reluctance for observation decks and bought us a couple of tickets to the 54th(?) floor of the Prudential Tower and I am glad she did. The 360 degree tour and headset audio tour showed and told us about everything from the the distant JFK Library to the nearby architecture of the Back Bay. The next morning we visited the Boston Public Library. A guy feels pretty smart just setting foot in the main reading room. There wasn't time to see the John Adams papers since we wanted to take in the museum of Fine Arts. Wow, what a collection of Egyptian Artifactsthe best I've seen. No way to see everything in one afternoon so we chose a couple galleries. The Hippie Chic exhibition of sixties and early seventies couture was particularly well curated with white monocolor mannequins that showed the contemporary hairstyles while keeping the emphasis on the clothes. We walked back through a park called "The Fens." Through the magic of Wikipedia, we now know the area was named for some English wetlands and hence Fenway Park. That yard is most certainly a Cathedral. Sweet Caroline! Although it was 95 degrees at first pitch, G-d was in his heaven that night and the Sox beat the Yankees 4 to 2.

Saturday, we made our way to the Black Falcon Cruise terminal by theway of the silverline T which left us within a hundred feet of the boat. Within a few minutes we found our stateroom and were relaxing on the Lido where we enjoyed the sailaway out of Boston Harbor. The Maasdam isn't new, but it was in fine enough shape for our taste. And just our speed. Big enough to find quiet spots yet with just enough multiple activities. I loved the exercise machines. I only found the Sauna on the last day. I recommend the Ocean View pool after a day of walking in a port. Sue enjoyed one of the enrichment classes about computer photo retouching and management. Holland America has a some really nice touches, like an onboard version of the New York Times to enjoy with breakfast. We completed the Monday crossword puzzle but by Wedsneday we were stumped.

Cabin Review

Large Ocean-View Stateroom

Cabin D

No complaints. Bigger than we expected, but still a little small to dress in without bumping into each other. Tiny crack in bathroom sink, but nothing unpleasant.

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