Trip Report Contents
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
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