7 Day East Coast Cruise

Got on the ship in Boston it was a very easy embarcation very quick. I was on board in probably less than 10 minutes.. was on the seven day cruise from Boston to Quebec city with stops at Portland, Maine, Halifax, Sydney, Charlottetown, and then into Quebec city. The weather on the cruise was absolutely amazing. The temperatures were in the high 20 Celsius and it was definitely short weather. I am glad that I packed my shorts even through the bathing suit in at the last minute and got to play in the back pool, which was very very warm it was a good Cruise. Food was amazing, as usual have yet to be on a cruise that doesn’t have amazing food, but we had a good time. The entertainment was great. The Breton Thunder group was absolutely awesome. Could listen to them every day and the dancers and singers were very good. The comedian, George Casey , I believe it was, was really really funny. I would thoroughly recommend this Cruise to anybody who wants to have a taste of the East Coast. It wasn’t quite long enough, but I will take it again and again.

Zuiderdam NE/Canada Cruise

This was our first 'post-COVID' cruise, and fifth HAL overall. We were last on Zuiderdam in 2017 for a partial Panama Canal trip, an itinerary we truly enjoyed on a ship class we feel is perfect for us. We drove up to Boston from NJ two days prior so we could meet with friends for a visit. We stayed outside of Boston, at the Aloft in Framingham. It was a perfectly fine Marriott property (newly renovated, I believe) where for me the best benefit was not having to pay to park our car. Most all of the Boston hotels charge anywhere from $35-60/night and have much higher room rates. We paid $169/night and it was just a 25 minute drive to the port parking lot. As we were leaving dinner that first night, less than 48 hours from embarkation, I got a phone call from HAL with an upsell offer. I had called Ship Services weeks prior to inquire about any available upsells, but nothing was available at that point. They put my name on a list and said they would reach out if something became available. There was indeed a last minute cancellation and I jumped on it...turns out it was a corner-aft on deck 7 so we enjoyed a super-sized balcony for beautiful views. We left our hotel around 9:30am since we had the Neptune and could board at any time. Parked at the 'official' cruiseport lot at 93 Fargo Ave and hit the lot at just the right time to catch the shuttle with no waiting. Good thing - traffic to the port was a disaster even though the lot is not that far at all. The Majestic Princess was in Terminal 2 along with Zuiderdam at Terminal 1, so the volume of people and cars was just overwhelming. There was no space to part at Terminal 1, so the shuttle drove down to the very end of Terminal 2 (where everything Princess was happening) and we had to back-track on foot with all our luggage to where HAL was. No nice open space like Princess to absorb some of the crowds, and make clear where to drop luggage. By the time we got to Terminal 1, it was clear no one really knew what was going on. Boston embarkation was a mess, and I believe shoreside organization outside of HAL's control was to blame. There was a long line of people with bags, so folks naturally joined it believing this was the 'first stop'. Nope...finally a porter came over and told everyone with bgs to drop off had to keep walking further, to the very end of the terminal, to drop bags...then walk BACK and get in the long line again. We did that, got back in line, and it crept slowly until we were finally allowed to enter the terminal to go through security. It looked like they only had two screening stations so it went VERY slowly. Once we got through security, though, and HAL folks took over it went super fast to get through check-in and on the ship. We grabbed lunch at the Dive In and easily found a table in the Lido pool area. No sooner did we sit down to eat when the announcement that rooms were ready came over the speaker. The crew really did a fantastic job turning those rooms over after the long voyage that just ended. We finished eating and headed to drop our hand luggage and discovered that the keycard envelope was for the original passenger assigned that room - it was a single, so only one key card, plus it didn't have our name or dining assignment so we headed off to the Neptune Lounge to get new keys. Lorraine and Joel are the current concierge team in the Neptune and they are wonderful. Lorraine got everything changed so quickly, and ensured that all our other arrangements that might be room number dependent had the correct information. Returned to the room and found it in great shape. Met our room stewards Erik and Andre (who took wonderful care of things the entire trip - always a cheerful hello whenever we saw them, and clearly paying attention to our schedule. Our room was always made up while we were at breakfast, and always turned down after we left for dinner. My husband said they were like Ninjas, moving in stealth so we never saw them about...but knew they were there! We had main fixed dining at 7:30pm with the serving team of Romi and Triono. We ate in the dining room six of the seven nights and enjoyed all our meals very much. Portion sizes were just perfect, so we always felt satisfied but never too full. Beverage service was timely; we never waited long for our drinks. It seems pretty obvious that with HIA, hardly anyone is ordering bottles of wine anymore. We never saw a wine steward delivering anything to anyone. All nights dinner was paced nicely and we had no issues at all getting to the showroom in time for the 9pm show. Our Pinnacle dinner was also a 7:30 time, but this meal ran a bit longer and we didn't go to the show that night. We found the service wonderful and our meals very good. I finally got to have the clothesline bacon (it was delicious!) and thank goodness they had the key lime pie, one of my favorites. I know there has been some commentary about the 'half baked potato' rather than a whole, but I didn't mind at all. My half was huge...too big for me to finish...so a whole certainly would have been a waste. We took full advantage of breakfast in the Pinnacle most mornings, and Yulia was there each morning to greet us with a big smile and kept our coffee cups full. The Neptune was our go-to for afternoon snacks most days and having the honor bar was nice to grab a glass of wine to enjoy on our balcony as we prepared for dinner. We greatly enjoyed the entertainment on board. Along with the HAL team of singers and dancers, comedian George Casey performed two nights, and the group Breton Thunder did two nights as well. Let me say, if Breton Thunder is on board during your cruise, don't miss...they were fantastic! Jose was the most entertaining Trivia master I've ever seen. If you are sailing with him and he mentions he's doing a special Movie Music trivia, it is not to be missed. The Casino is a spot we enjoy very much when cruising, and we spent time there each night. For a change, my husband opted to stick primarily with the slots and to our surprise did quite well. I usually played three-card poker and had modest success. Dealers and managers were very friendly and added to the fun atmosphere. We did two ship excursions. In Halifax, we chose Views, Vines and Vino and visited three different wineries. There were only six of us on this excursion and we enjoyed each others company very much. Wonderful driver/guide who added some great commentary along the way and even stopped a few times in areas with great views, or local interest. In Saint John we did the Maple Sugar Farm excursion to learn how sap is collected and processed to make maple syrup at a small batch farm about 50 minutes from the port. The owners have a nice setup that involves a short walk through the woods to show both the history behind maple farms and what is done today, including a look at their processing 'sugar shack'. This is not the time of year sap is collected, so not much activity but we still found it very interesting. At the end, we were provided with 'brunch' that consisted of two huge pancakes and a large sausage link with some of their maple syrup, and a choice of beverage. This was all included in the excursion price. In Portland, we walked on our own. There was a yarn shop I wanted to find and visit (success!) and we did a little shopping at some of the other unique spots. We did not get off the ship at all in Eastport, a tender port. This was planned all along for us as a ship day, and considering the weather (cool and rainy) we were very happy with our choice. Some folks came back on board pretty drenched. In Sydney, we got off and walked the Boardwalk area by the pier and then came back to the ship through town, stopping at yet another yarn shop we discovered along the way. Other than the rain in Eastport, the weather was (in my opinion) truly perfect. Very different from our usual cruising destinations in the Caribbean, and quite welcome to be able to walk extensively without the heat and humidity. On disembarkation day, we had mandatory face-to-face immigration in the main dining room. I have always done customs/immigration returning to the US face to face, but always with luggage in our possession and a completed customs declaration form. Not this time...we were called by groups to the main dining room and only needed to have our passports and keycards (the keycard to get a sticker so when we got scanned off the ship, they would know we went to customs first). The problem here was that the lines were long with folks likely going before they were called, because we were late getting in to port...not due to anything in HAL's control. A cargo ship was late leaving Boston port and if you've every been there, you know how narrow that channel is by the terminals. The Majestic Princess was also delayed - we both circled outside the main harbor area just waiting. Grabbed our luggage and headed out to wait for the parking lot shuttle, and back to our car. We did stay in the Boston area another two nights - took advantage of the opportunity to see a Red Sox game on Sunday and were treated to an absolutely gorgeous day and Red Sox win. Perfect way to end the week! We found the overall condition of the ship to be just fine - didn't notice anything that seemed to need repair or replacement. We had no issues with plumbing at all, no noises that disturbed us. No unusual shaking that is sometimes noticed when having an aft stateroom - just the gentle rocking of the ship, perfect for a great night's sleep for us. Speaking of rocking, Hurricane Erin had just passed to the north of Boston when we departed. Thought the seas were just fine despite the possibility of hurricane effects. Wouldn't hesitate to sail Zuiderdam again - great ship and great crew!

Canada/New England Holland June-July 2025

The immigration process in Portland was smooth compared to others that I have read. It was on the 4th of July 2025 and, in my opinion, the process went pretty smoothly mainly because people followed the instructions. We went on a non-HAL excursion later and at 9:15pm enjoyed the fireworks from the comfort of my veranda cabin. Leaving Quebec was a bit cold. The cruise boarding process went very smoothly even after coming from an excursion. This is our 3rd HAL cruise and considering a repositioning with HAL although we are not loyal to any cruise line in particular. We wish we had another stop in NE, but still enjoyed our cruise. I was surprise to see many young families with children on a cruise line and itinerary that is relatively adult oriented. I received some feedback from families from casual conversations and, it seems that the children activities were adequate.