Maasdam Review

4.0 / 5.0
0 reviews

7 HAL cruises - 6 great - 1 disappointing

Review for Canada & New England Cruise on Maasdam
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G'sYaYa
6-10 Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Jun 2014
Traveled with children

As usual, the cabin stewards and dining stewards service and food were excellent. I enjoyed visiting Montreal, Quebec City, the maritime island ports and especially Bar Harbor, Maine. There just wasn't enough time to enjoy most of the locations.

The itinerary for the cruise lists port departures, but the Captain seemed too often to move the time up and we left earlier than 4:00. There was a hurricane working it's way up the coastline and was in North Carolina on July 4th when we were in port at Bar Harbor. Several of the excursions were cancelled because the Captain announced we would leave Bar Harbor at 1:00 to go on to Boston. The Captain said services would be limited, ride would be a little rough, but passengers would be safe. My son who used to be in a Coast Guard was with us and was watching the weather reports and didn't want any of the family to ride on to Boston. He said the ship would be safe, but there are a couple of us who get sea sick easily so we weren't looking forward to the evening trip to Boston. My son made arrangements for us to leave the ship at Bar Harbor and we found a local waterfront hotel to stay for a couple of nights. We cancelled our tours with HAL in Bar Harbor. More on that below.

All the shore excursions were for the most part, an over-priced disappointment. The visit to Peggy's Cove was a big disappointment. Upon arrival, we were told the bus would be leaving in 20 minutes to return to the ship. While we stayed in Bar Harbor, we learned that buses run every 30 minutes up to Cadillac Mountain and other locations into the Arcadia National Park for free. I think the HAL tours on the same routes were over $50 per person.

Cabin Review

Center of ship not too bad for people who get sea sick but requires a hike to elevators. The balcony is always a nice addition. The Maasdam is an older ship and the tub/shower combo shows it's age. My 87 year old mother shared a cabin with me and I was concerned she would slip or fall getting in and out of the shower because it has high sides and it is quiet a step up or out. Ask for a rubber mat for the shower to prevent a fall if you don't have good balance. My family of five members do not drink alcoholic beverages, participate in art auction charades, or gamble, or buy those pictures taken at the gangways. We usually get massages and take shore excursions. The on-board bill for seven days was approximately $1800. I have been a big HAL fan for my Mediterranean, New Zealand, Panama Canal, Caribbean cruises, but the disappointment of poor value for several shore excursions and early port departures has encouraged my family to book with another cruise line that offers a one price plan that includes the shore excursions.

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