Maasdam Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Because our vacation time was limited, the Canada/New England cruise worked well, eliminating the need to travel a long distance (e.g. Europe) to start the cruise. Our meeting point a day before sailing was the Sofitel in Montreal, a 15 minute cab ride to the port.
Embarkation: We arrived at the port about 12:30 p.m. for a 5 p.m. sailing. I had checked in online, although I am not sure how much time that saved during the in-person process. One minor matter was that despite including my nieces (who were in a separate stateroom) on my charge account, there was no record of it. Other than that, embarkation was a breeze.
Staterooms: My mother and I had a deluxe verandah suite which was very spacious with a huge balcony, large bathroom, and separate dressing room. Although the Maasdam has been nicely refurbished, some telltale signs of age remain, such as a broken sliding door on our closet (we called to have it fixed four different times during the week) and an old whirlpool bathtub which did not look inviting to sit in. My nieces were in a verandah suite, a slightly lower category than the deluxe but half the size (although they had a nice balcony). The oceanview rooms appeared to have more inside space than my nieces' stateroom, so if you don't need a balcony, an oceanview might be the way to go. We like a balcony, even in a temperate climate.
Cabin Review
Neptune Deluxe Verandah Suite
Our deluxe verandah suite lived up to its name. Spacious, lots of windows, ample closet and drawer space, huge balcony, nice bar area. The living room area had a long couch and cozy easychair. Bed was not Westin, but still quite comfortable. We were on port side, and on this particular cruise (Montreal to Boston) we faced away from the port when docked. Our room was a few doors away from the Neptune Lounge; a good location. Some of the plumbing, as well as the bathtub, did not look refurbished.
My nieces had room 220 on Deck 9, completely aft on the port side. Just outside their room was the exit to the deck, with the housekeeping station across the hall from their room. They didn't complain about noise, but I probably would have. The room seemed small, perhaps bec. the large balcony took up much of the space included in the square footage. For two young women, there didn't seem to be enough storage and they partially lived out of their suitcases.