Cruising With Mike: The $399 Sailing (III)

Trip Report Contents 

Part One: Introduction & Planning
Part Two:  To Boston & Sailing Away
Part Three:  Bar Harbor, These Are Tender Times (This Installment)
Part Four:  Cloudy and Windy In Halifax
Part Five:  Seeing the Sun In Sydney
Part Six:  Sunny Charlottetown
Part Seven:  Down the Saint Lawrence, a Day “At-Sea"
Part Eight:  Québec City.  Again.
Part Nine:  Into Montréal; Out of Montréal

Part Three:  Bar Harbor, These Are Tender Times

Sunday morning we slept in a little and then went down together to the main dining room for breakfast before returning to the cabin to get ready to head ashore.

Tender Times

Bar Harbor is too small to be able to accommodate larger ships along its quay.  So, the Maasdam anchors offshore, about a football field’s length from the dock.  Passengers make the last leg of the journey to Bar Harbor via tender, small boats hanging from the mother-ship and doubling as life boats in, um, more trying times.

To get a spot on the tender, we had to go to the showroom to get a ticket and then waited for our number to be called.  We were called after about twenty or so minutes, which, given how long we’d waited to go down, was a bit of a surprise.  We packed into the tender and were ashore in about ten minutes.

 

In Bar Harbor

The town of Bar Harbor is quite small and easily explored in just a couple of hours, max.  We spent our time ducking into a few shops, picking up some souvenirs and small gifts, and eating.

Mike poses in Bar Harbor

Me in Bar Harbor

...and, we in Bar Harbor.  That sign gets a lot of camera time!

When Philip and I were in Bar Harbor a few years earlier, we happened upon the West Street Café and loved the lobster roll there.  Of course it made sense to return for more deliciousness.  Although the place was packed with people—to the contrast of our previous visit, when it was empty—the food was just as good.  We both had the chowder, lobster roll and fries, and house-made blueberry pie.  All delicious.

Incredible lunch:  lobster roll, fries, and seafood chowder.  Later there was homemade blueberry, warm blueberry pie

After lunch a band of mist and rain was moving in and offered us just the right amount of encouragement to cause us to head back to the boat.  The queue to get the tender back to the boat was short and we were back at the Maasdam within about fifteen minutes.

Reboarding

Back aboard Mike and I parted ways and met back up a little later for dinner in the main dining room.

The main:  Peppercorn steak

The dessert:  tiramisu

After dinner we went to the main show in the showroom, stopped past the piano bar for a few minutes, and then called it a night.

Up Next, Part Four, Cloudy & Windy in Halifax

Cruising With Mike: The $399 Sailing (II)

Trip Report Contents

Part One: Introduction & Planning

Part Two:  To Boston& Sailing Away (This Installment)

Part Three:  BarHarbor, These Are Tender Times

Part Four:  Cloudy andWindy In Halifax

Part Five:  Seeing theSun In Sydney

Part Six:  Sunny Charlottetown

Part Seven:  Down theSaint Lawrence, a Day “At-Sea”

Part Eight:  QuébecCity.  Again.

Part Nine:  IntoMontréal; Out of Montréal

Part Two:  To Boston and Sailing Away

Flying the same day the cruise sets sail is a tricky proposition:  it’s not really possible to build it too much time-cushion and what it is possible to build in can quickly melt away with even minor delays.  And, add to that the possibility of delayed or missing baggage, and these can be pretty stressful times.  Luckily for us our flight was on-time leaving and getting into Boston.  My bag was the first up on the carousel, followed shortly afterward by Mike’s.  Outside there was a nice queue of taxis and we were soon in a tunnel under Boston Harbor and in short order pulling up at the cruise terminal. 

Terminal A at Washington National:  like stepping back in time

Arriving at the terminal always seems like a bit of a circus:  vehicles are disgorging people, baggage is being hauled hither-and-fro, attendants are scooping up the suitcases and spiriting them away.  It all happens so quickly, so we scrambled a bit to get our HAL-issued baggage tags and such attached and get them otherwise ready to check.

In the check-in hall all went pretty smoothly.  New to me since I last took this cruise was the requirement to complete and submit Canadian customs forms upon embarkation.  It was also new to the cruise line, so there were some uncertain shrugs when we posed questions.   We had no trouble sorting through everything and, within a couple of minutes of checking in we were called to board.

Aboard by noon, I was surprise that the staterooms were rooms were ready.  We went to the room to check things out a bit, and then headed to the returning-cruisers luncheon in the main dining room, for our first taste of the gluttony that was to come.

The Starter:  antipasto

The Soup:  cream of broccoli

The Main:  salmon, veggies, and potatoes

The Dessert:  fruit plate, a restrained choice.  Perhaps my last of the trip!

After lunch we headed to back to find our baggage already delivered, another pleasant surprise.  We decided we’d scout the ship out a little before beginning our unpacking.

Since I’d been on the same ship and cruise a few years earlier, and had also been on the almost-identical Staatendam, I felt comfortable that I knew the lay of the ship.  Experience also had taught me that making dinner reservations for each night was a must-do:   the prime times and spots are quickly snagged by savvy travelers and we wanted to be among them.

On Maasdam's sports deck, looking out toward the Boston skyline

A coffee break in the library

 

Back in the room we unpacked and unwound a little from the early-morning travels.  I even took a quick nap, which was nice.  For dinner that night we ate at the Pinnacle Grill, the up-charge dining venue, though at no charge, one of the benefits I got by booking through American Express.

The Amuse-Bouche:  scallop

The Starter:  a sea-sampler of salmon, prawn, and scallop.  I focused on the salmon and seaweed, which were both wonderful

The Salad:  A Caesar, made tableside.  It was okay.  The first time I had it at the Pinnacle was still the best.  A good Caesar Salad is like a drug:  no time is as good as the first time.  Alas ...

The Main:  lobster tail

The Dessert:  souffle

After dinner we went to the showroom, where they gave an hour-long sampling of the talent onboard and what to expect over the coming nights.  We closed out the night in the piano bar and then turned in.

Saturday night's town critter.  No clue what it was supposed to be.  (The critters got better as the week progressed.)

 

Up Next, Part Three, BarHarbor:  These Are Tender Times

Cruising With Mike: The $399 Sailing (I)

Trip Report Contents

Part One: Introduction & Planning (This Installment)

Part Two:  To Boston& Sailing Away

Part Three:  BarHarbor, These Are Tender Times

Part Four:  Cloudy andWindy In Halifax

Part Five:  Seeing theSun In Sydney

Part Six:  SunnyCharlottetown

Part Seven:  Down theSaint Lawrence, a Day “At-Sea”

Part Eight:  QuébecCity.  Again.

Part Nine:  Into Montréal;Out of Montréal

Part One:  Introduction & Planning

A Deal We Couldn’t Refuse

Ever since Philip and my first cruise with Holland America, I’ve been getting regular mailings for special prices.  In April 2013, I received one that offered seven-day Alaska or Canada/New England sailings for $399.  It certainly caught my eye.

Philip wasn’t able to go but a good friend, who is retired, could go and wanted to go.  (The retired part is key to me because being so free and easy brings out my jealous nature, but I digress.)  I had forwarded the promo email to several friends and family, including the retired fellow; the next night Philip and I had dinner with Mike-The-Retired.  He had the email with him and was ready to discuss travel.

When it comes to traveling, I don’t need too much encouragement, so we soon had a plan, then a booking, and soon a complete itinerary.  In the end, the decision to go was pretty spontaneous, but it wasn’t a hard one, certainly at that price.

Our Itinerary

Our itinerary would take us out of DC Saturday morning, on a non-stop flight into Boston.  We’d cab-it over to the cruise terminal, just a quick fifteen-minute ride from Logan International.  Holland America’s Maasdam would set sail at four o’clock that afternoon.  Over the next week we’d call at Bar Harbor, Halifax, Sydney (*THE* Sydney, in Nova Scotia, not that other Sydney, in Australia), Charlottetown, and Québec City, before ending in Montréal; we’d also have an “at-sea” day, when we would sail down the Saint Lawrence Seaway, between Charlottetown and Québec City.

Not Really $399

Although we could have had the cruise for the crazy price of $399, we splurged an extra $50 each for a room with portholes, as opposed to an interior room.  So, really, this was the $449 cruise, but who is counting?!

Up next, Part Two:  To Boston and Sailing Away