Depart Boston and a Sea Day

The scene at the hotel on Saturday morning wasn't as bad as expected. Lots of people with lots of bags wanting to go to the ship. Somehow the young man loading the van with all of us and the bags made it all happen and we arrived at the cruise terminal about 11:45am. Our bags disappeared in to the system along with our box of a dozen wine bottles. Check in proceeded quickly helped by the fact of Deen's cane which got us in the disabled queue.

After we found our room we went up to lunch in the Main Dining Room (MDR) and by coincidence met two of the Roll Call couples that are the main organizers of the Meet and Greet. Instant friends.... After lunch and some unpacking by Deen and exploring by me there was the safety drill. Afterwards the Roll Call gathering wearing our Mardi GRAS beads and meeting more of the people that we only knew on-line. Very nice to be able to put faces to names. I also had my welcome aboard Mojito. It was very hot on the rear deck so the drinks went down very nicely.

More unpacking as the rest of our bags and the wine arrived in our room. Then off to dinner at 8 pm. We are seated at a table for 6 but our 4 table mates were no shows. It seems a lot of people skipped the MDR on the first night. After dinner we went to the showroom for the Cruise Director welcome then off to bed.

The first sea day started with a Meet and Greet in the Crows Nest . Well organized and attended and we all had name tags. The Captain and some of his key officers attended to welcome us all. A great opportunity to meet more people. There are 1183 passengers on board ,including it would seem lots of Texans.

We attended an Explorer series talk about the early Vikings explorations of Europe. It was very interesting including some aspects of their settlement of Yorkshire in the 864- 956 period. York was called Jorvik and some of the place names in Yorkshire have Viking roots.

Most of the day was spent off the coast of Nova Scotia and I emailed our friends there to ask if they could see us waving. For the most part it was foggy. Happy hour drinks in the Crows Nest . Deen was very happy that she finally saw a whale. It was also our first formal night and we were both appropriately dressed.

Also at dinner we met our other 4 table mates, all Canadians from BC and Alberta. Very companionable. After dinner we went to the Broadway show.








Pictured are Randy having his welcome aboard drink, a scene from the show, the formal Deen and Randy, and the Captain. The next picture includes 3 shots from the Viking lecture and a view of the ship' s swimming pool. With the ship's movement the pool has become like a wave pool.

From RCD's iPad

Location:Off the Coast of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia

Bahston

Day 1
We were a touch later leaving home than expected but quickly made it south to cross the border at Ogdensberg, NY. Beautiful day for a road trip. Upstate NY is very scenic but it took way too long to get to Vermont and the I89. Note to self: when we go home in August we're going through Montreal.

We had emailed our friends Ann and Jeri in Boston about finding a store to buy wine before we board the ship. They replied that there are stores on the I93 in New Hampshire and sure enough there is a big one at a rest stop on the highway. Now have 6 reds and 6 whites to take on board.

We arrived in Boston at rush hour and had to cross the city using the I93 and the tunnel. That took for ever... Then we arrived late at our hotel in Quincy (pronounced Quinzey by the locals) and got lost trying to get to the hotel. We could see it just couldn't get there.

Our two friends met us at the hotel and took us for a quick drive around town including the JFK Library and the cruise terminal. Very pretty. Back to the hotel for dinner then bed.

Day 2
Our plan for the day was take the subway in to the city then do the HOHO bus tour. We went past where our friends live on the Freedom Trail then saw Old Ironsides. Further on past the TD Garden (see in the picture below ) and the iconic Bobby Orr statue. We then got to Fenway Park and did the tour there. Lots more pictures some below.


We met up with a lady at Fenway who is a hockey fan from Nashville and had a great conversation with her. Deb from Nashville wanted me to put in a plea to her team GM to please hurry up and re-sign Shea Weber. She grew up as a stalker of hockey players in Pittsburgh.

Back on the bus we got off at the Public Gardens and then wandered through Boston Common. We then walked slowly over to Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market. Had to have a beer at Cheers- were surprised when Norm and Cliff sat with us. OK it was really Ann and Jeri then we went to dinner at a very nice Italian place in the north end. Finally back to the hotel and some much needed sleep.


From RCD's iPad

Location:Hancock St,Quincy, Mass.

No Deen You Can't Take The Kitchen Sink

The packing is 99% done with just a few last minute things to go. We expect to be out the door sometime after 8 AM Thursday morning for the big trip . You can see in picture below the many suitcases that we will be taking . I did have to tell Deen "no kitchen sink" but I don't know if she believed me. For a trip like this there are lots of things to take .We are going to be going for 38 days so that alone means a lot of stuff. I have no idea what her plan would have been if we were flying.


We will be in variable weather. We start out in Ottawa at 33C then in Boston the same thing .As we head north temperatures start to drop ,for example In Newfoundland the next few days is between 21-24C. Reykavijk is between 15 and 17 C. Over in Oslo they're running between 14 and 16C. We're not sure what the weather will be like but we expect it to get cooler. It could be icy or windy. Could be rain. Just not sure. We have to plan for all eventualities . I even have gloves . Of course on board the ship you want to dress nicely so that means nice clothes according to my wife.

The car is at the garage today getting windshield wiper transmission arms replaced. While we haven't had much rain lately you can't make a trip like this without planning for the eventuality of rain. Tomorrow morning the van will be ready and the Captain will say " Engineer all ahead full". Not sure how the Co-Captain will respond to that as Deen is driving the first leg.


From RCD's iPad

Location:Home

Panic and Excitement

Well here we are 3 weeks away from our sailing date and one of is experiencing a certain sense of panic while both of us are excited and anxious to get going. This trip has been a long time in the planning as we started to think about it in 2010. We were on another cruise in May 2011 with my brothers and their wives when we actually booked it. We even paid for it over 2 months ago.

The clothes are getting ready and all the other stuff seems to be ready too. The many suitcases will be packed in the days before we leave home. No airline restrictions here- just the size of my van and the number of suitcases we have.

Deen has been very active on the Cruise Critics website Roll Call for this cruise (me too but not as much). It's been a great way to meet some of our fellow travelers and we' ll get to actually meet many of them at the first Meet and Greet. At the first such event we're all encouraged to wear Mardi Gras beads to aid in identification.One of the Roll Call people , a lady from Vancouver named Bonnie, helped with some of this blog creation. Shore excursions have been arranged ,some through other passengers on the Roll Call,others through Holland America, and some places we are doing on our own.

I sometimes joke that this trip will be like a Technology Noah's Ark ie two of everything : cameras, cell phones, computers, Kindles, and all the associated cables and chargers. The ship's Engineering Dept. will have to keep extra generators active just to power all my electronics.

When we arrive in Boston on Thursday July 12 we are meeting friends from Barbados who live in Boston. Jeri and Ann will be taking us around a bit and we' ll be having dinner with them both evenings.

Not sure when the next posting will be. Could happen while we are still in Boston or maybe after we've left port. After that I'll be looking for free or inexpensive wi-fi places to transmit. The ship can be expensive to use their system although I will be buying time on board.



From RCD's iPad

Location:Home

The Cruise Map

I'm  adding two gadgets to the blog at the top. One of them shows the route we will be taking from home to Boston , north to Newfoundland and Labrador, then east across the North Atlantic with the turnaround point in Amsterdam. Back via the UK and Ireland, then north and back west,eventually arriving in Boston.

The other gadget allows you to sign up to the blog and receive emails whenever I post to the blog.

Our Little ship

Deen and I think our ship, the MS Maasdam, at about 1200 passengers is quite big. However when compared to other ships like the Oasis of the Sea at about 6400 passengers the Maasdam ( pictured below with the dark blue hull) is relatively small.



From RCD's iPad

The Trip Preview

As you the reader can see from the date of this posting we are still some time away from actually taking this trip. We leave home on Thursday July 12,2012 and return on Saturday August 18. So 18+ weeks from today. As we had to forgo our trip to Barbados this winter we are very much looking forward to this adventure.

The cruise is on Holland America Line MS Maasdam and departs Boston,MA on Saturday July 14. It is a Trans Atlantic return going across the North Atlantic both ways. Stops are in Newfoundland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, The Netherlands, then return via England, Ireland, Faroe Islands, different ports in Iceland, Greenland, and Newfoundland, then finishing in Bar Harbor and Boston. 35 days altogether. As the old joke goes "you get on as a passenger and get off as cargo."

The Maasdam does this trip most summers and has lots of repeat clients. It is an S class ship launched in 1993 with 1258 passengers and 557 crew. The ship is 720 feet long and 55,500 gross tons. The bookings to date are very high and we've joined a very active Roll Call on the Cruise Critics website.

We'll be driving from home back and forth to Boston,about a 7+ hour trip. Our hotel in Boston has a good deal for parking the car and a shuttle to and from the ship. So we'll have 2 nights and a full day to explore Boston.

I expect to post regular updates of the trip as we go including photos. Access to Internet service will be an issue in many places. For my non Canadian readers I'll be using the Canadian dollar as my reference point for currency and liters and meters for other things. You'll have to do your own conversions.

Next posting should be sometime in July as we get ready to go. No airline limitations for baggage so I expect my van to be full.


From RCD's iPad

Location:Brightside Ave,Ottawa,Canada