Catch Holland America's MS Maasdam From Montreal Starting May 31, 2014

Living in Eastern Canada and don’t want to stray too far from home to experience a world class cruise ship? No problem. MS Maasdam of Holland America Line will spend from the end of May, 2014 to mid October, 2014 calling Montreal, Quebec its home port.

Currently, the lowest price to get on board MS Maasdam at Montreal is from $699.94 per person for a seven night cruise. This price applies to an inside stateroom on the May 31 sailing from Montreal to Boston, Massachusetts. This is the first sailing of the year out of Montreal.

The Cruise

 

The seven night Canada / New England cruise on Holland America’s MS Maasdam embarks from Montreal, Quebec at 4pm on Saturday, May 31, 2014. The ship arrives at Boston on Saturday, June 7 at 7am. Along the way, the ship makes five port calls, four in Canada and one in the United States.

The first stop is on day two at Quebec City. On Sunday, June 1 from 7am to 5pm, Maasdam is docked at one of Canada’s most historic cities. After a day leaving the St. Lawrence River and entering the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Maasdam arrives at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on Tuesday, June 3. She stays at the PEI capital from 8am to 5pm.

Next up is Sydney, Nova Scotia on Cape Breton Island from 8am to 4pm on Wednesday, June 4. The following day, Maasdam heads down the Nova Scotia coast to the provincial capital of Halifax. She docks at Halifax from 8am to 4pm on Thursday, June 5.

The only U.S. port of call is visited on Friday, June 6. Maasdam is docked at the summer paradise of Bar Harbor, Maine from 8am to 5pm.

Why is this cruise so inexpensive? Normally, the same cruise runs anywhere from just over $1,000 per person to over $5,000 for just an inside stateroom. However, May 31 can still be a little unpredictable weather wise and the leaves may not even be out on the trees yet for some stretches of the journey. However, you would get a chance to visit five great ports just outside of the busy summer season.

The Price

This cruise can currently be had for as low as $699.94 per person for an inside stateroom. Government taxes and fees are a little steep at $240.08 per person. After all, Canada is still doing its best to be the highest taxed country in the world. Total for two, including taxes and fees, for an inside stateroom starts from $1,880.04.

Other rates include Ocean View staterooms starting at just $819.66 per person. The lowest priced suite on board the MS Maasdam starts from $1,901.90 per person.

The Ship

MS Maasdam and MS Statendam are the oldest active vessels in the Holland American Line fleet, both put in service in 1993. Maasdam is one of four Statendam Class ships, along with MS Ryndam and MS Veendam.

Built by Fincantieri in Italy, Maasdam is a small ship with a gross tonnage of just 55,575. The ship is 220 metres or 722 feet in length. There are nine passenger decks accessible to the capacity 1,258 guest. 580 crew members are on board to make things run smooth.

The Small Print

·Because of the nature of last minute deals, the pricing printed here is fleeting and could change at any time.

·Prices are in Canadian dollars.

·Most meals are included in a typical cruise price but DRINKS ARE NOT!

·Also not included are gratuities.

·Cruise pricing does not include air fare, ground transfers and hotel accommodations before and after the cruise.

Jacksonville: The Other, Other Florida Cruise Port Alternative

Jacksonville, Florida – not just a city you drive through on the way to Spring Break anymore. In 2012, 195,000 people embarked on cruises out of the JAXPORT cruise terminal. The only major ship that calls Jacksonville home is the Carnival Fascination. On January 11, 2014, Fascination embarks on a five night Bahamas cruise. You can be on that boat for as low as $199 per person.

The Cruise

The five night Bahamas itinerary embarks from Jacksonville, Florida at 4pm on Saturday, January 11, 2014. Over the cruise, Fascination makes two port calls. After a day at sea, sailing parallel to the Florida coast, the ship stops at Key West, Florida on Monday, January 13 from 7:30am to 3pm.

The following day, Fascination arrives at Nassau, Bahamas. The ship stays docked at the largest city in the Bahamas from 12pm until 8pm, before starting the journey back north to Jacksonville. She arrives home at 8am on Thursday, January 16.

Why Jacksonville? With just one major cruise ship calling the port home, passengers miss out on the massive crowds found further south at ports like Ft. Lauderdale and Miami where more than a handful of large cruise ships can all be pulling out at the same time. For those from Southern Ontario who aren’t so keen on flying, Jacksonville is around 17 hours of drive time by car. A long time, yes but still doable compared to the extra 5 or 6 hours to the Miami area.

Note: Carnival Fascination will add Little Stirrup Cay as a port of call on the five night Bahamas itinerary in the spring of 2014. Little Stirrup Cay is a private island belonging to Carnival Corp.

The Price (note: Carnival prices are in U.S. Dollars)

For this cruise, Carnival has a Super Saver fare and Canadian Residents fare that both start from $199 per person for an inside stateroom. The difference is that if you qualify as a Canadian Resident, you have a limited choice of stateroom. With the Super Saver, you are stuck with what they give you at the time of check-in.

Choices of staterooms for the Canadian Residents deal are limited to the Riviera Deck. The Riviera Deck is deck number four of 14 on this ship and the lowest of ten decks accessible to passengers.

Government taxes and fees for this cruise are $85.56 per person, regardless of stateroom. For two, an inside stateroom can be had for as low as $558 with taxes and fees included. Keep in mind that although there is a Canadian Residents special rate, all Carnival pricing is in USD.

I often pat Carnival on the back for having the lowest rates for present and former Military. However, on this cruise the rates listed above are actually lower than the Military rate.

The Ship 

Carnival Fascination is the only major cruise ship that will call Jacksonville, Florida home in 2014. She is based in the North Florida city through the end of 2014 and beyond. Fascination has the sole duty to alternate between four and five night Bahamas itineraries.

Fascination has been in service since 1994 and is one of eight Carnival Cruise Lines Fantasy Class ships. The eight ships per put in service between 1990 and 1998. All were built by STX Finland in Helsinki.

The ship is small by today’s standards with a gross tonnage of 70,367. Fascination is 855 feet or 261 metres in length and has ten decks accessible to passengers. Capacity is for 2,056 guest with 920 crew members.

If you’d like to find out all the dirty details of what happens below the Riviera Deck, Joshua Kinser is a former Carnival and Princess crew member that wrote a tell-all book about his experience. Check it out – the Kindle version is just $2.99 – the price of a 2 litre bottle of Pepsi. More info here: Chronicles of a Cruise Ship Crew Member.

The Small Print

·Because of the nature of last minute deals, the pricing printed here is fleeting and could change at any time.

·Prices are in Canadian dollars.

·Most meals are included in a typical cruise price but DRINKS ARE NOT!

·Also not included are gratuities.

·Cruise pricing does not include air fare, ground transfers and hotel accommodations before and after the cruise.

Have Cruised? Will Be Cruising? Must Read This.

Depending on perspective, a 950 foot long cruise ship that fits over 3,000 passengers and around 1,200 crew members can be both very large and very small. For a guest on board for a seven night itinerary with 3 or more port calls, the vessel almost always seems like a vast floating city. For a crew member that spends eight months at a time living out of a crawl space in the bowels of the ship, it can seem like floating on a rubber dingy. Joshua Kinser wants to tell you all about it.

Chronicles of a Cruise Ship Crew Member

The full title to Joshua Kinser’s tell-all about life as a cruise ship employee is Chronicles of a Cruise Ship Crew Member: Answers to All the Questions Every Passenger Wants to Ask. I think he does a pretty good job of it. If you’re a Kindle owner, you can find out for yourself at the ridiculous low price of just $2.99 for the 258 page book. That’s the total price, including taxes. It’s a little less than a bottle of water from a vending machine at the cruise port... Not a Kindle owner? Why the hell not?

Kinser worked for five years on cruise ships on the high seas as a drummer. He worked in the lounge bands. He worked in the show bands. Most importantly, Joshua lived the life of a cruise ship employee. His Kindle book came out in 2012 in the spirit of Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly, although not quite as racy. Perhaps, Carnival Corporation has a few more high priced lawyers to keep ex-employees in check than Les Halles restaurant in New York City.

The story is unique in that it gives the straight story of the process Kinser endured to get his first job on a cruise ship. It also gives a pretty descriptive view of life below the waterline, as well as, above. Joshua really leaves his mark with what the cruise ship life does to a person in a philosophical way and how it changed him forever.

What you’ll see through Josh’s eyes when reading ‘Chronicles of a Cruise Ship Crew Member’:

·         Living conditions for the crew members (cramped living spaces and poor air quality).

·         Enduring Red Alerts when passengers start getting sick (Norovirus).

·         The crew bar, mess hall and crew deck – the best on-going party on any cruise ship.

·         The vast difference in pay and work hours depending on the job and nationality.

·         Rules. Rules. Rules. How life on a cruise ship resembles the strictest private school.

·         The love/hate relationship between crew and passengers.

Joshua Kinser

Kinser worked for Carnival Cruises Lines and Princess Cruises, both under Carnival Corporation. A talented drummer from Florida, Joshua first made his way onto a cruise ship as a replacement drummer for a lounge band. Unfortunately, that gig ended soon after with the band all getting fired because of the actions of the drummer that he had replaced.

He has now moved on to become an author, as well as a musician. A Travel Guide to Florida’s Gulf Coast is among his portfolio. Kinser has also written fiction books based on life aboard a, you guessed it, cruise ship.

My Take

This book is a must for anyone that has cruised and anyone who is thinking of cruising. Does it give an inside view on how to better enjoy your next cruise? No. What it will do is give you a new appreciation of your Filipino room steward that is working up to 16 hours each day without seeing the sun and getting paid a fraction of the minimum wage for a citizen of the United States or Canada. It will give you a sense of just how much effort is put forth to make the onboard service look effortless.

For me, Joshua went too deeply into the music industry for my liking, but that’s just personal. Others, including my son, would be still asking for more. Also, I felt that Kinser could have gone into some racier details of life down below. As I mentioned above, I felt he was trying for a ‘Kitchen Confidential’ feel but the story was a bit too clean cut for that. Perhaps, there’s more to come?

Seriously though, for $2.99 you’re getting a book that would sell for upwards of $30 in hard cover and at least $10 in paperback. This is a great book and it really does answer the questions that I’m sure everyone that has set foot on a cruise ship has wanted to ask.