It’s never a great start to the morning when you are half-asleep and then get startled by an animal – even if it is a towel animal. I was heading for the stairs to go to the Exploration Cafe for my latte when I was confronted by this elephant. I am used to seeing the traditional “Animal Zoo” on the Lido deck but this is the first time I have ever seen them escape the confines and appear in the hallways.
It was a very nice day but breezy. I walked a mile around the Promenade and then read for a while on one of the Promenade loungers. I was able to enjoy the sun but avoided the wind.
We skipped breakfast and then went to the Pinnacle Grill restaurant for our 12:30 lunch reservation. I have to say the lunch was much better than the dinner last night.
Later that afternoon, we attended the Comedian’s matinee show. She was very funny. I could especially relate to her frustration with all the medical “portals” we have to navigate today.
It was the 2nd dressy night of the cruise, but we were not that enamored with the main dining room menu and not that hungry after our Pinnacle Grill lunch. We opted for a light Lido supper.
We went to the Casino and I found a tiny duck sitting on one of the machines.
Then, we went to Breton Thunder’s second show – “Unleashed” where they do some songs other than traditional folk tunes. I especially liked their version of “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.”
After the show, we went to the late set of the Ocean Bar band and then called it a night.
Today was another early port day and it was sunny. We decided to treat it as a Sea Day. On previous visits, we have taken a walking tour of the town and visited the Anne of Green Gables House and Gardens.
I walked a mile around the Promenade deck. I took some photos of the port area. Chuck and I had skipped breakfast, so we had an early Lido lunch.
Chuck spent about an hour in the pool while I sunned on the side.
That evening, the Ocean Bar Band was performing an early set and then was going to be off until the 9:30 Orange Party. Once the set was over, it was time for our Pinnacle Dinner.
I have to say that this dinner was a disappointment. We each had the Atlantic Halibut. Neither of us thought it was very good. We usually love Halibut.
The Orange Party was held at the World Stage which I thought was a weird venue. I just popped in to take a photo of the stage set-up. It was 8:00, people were already staking out their seats.
We spent time in an uncrowded Casino. When Chuck decided to play cards, I got some hot tea and called it a night.
When I got back to the cabin, I found our Mariner tiles had been delivered.
We slept late and I ended up needing two lattes before we even made it to the Lido for breakfast.
The day started out foggy but the sun finally broke through to make it a very nice day. We decided to walk into town.
We took a new direction today from previous visits and walked to the park. On the way back to the ship, we walked the entire boardwalk. My watch recorded two miles.
I didn’t take a photo of the Big Fiddle this time but here is one from April 2023. Weather was WAY different.
We skipped lunch and spent the rest of the day poolside.
We had an excellent Canaletto dinner. Chuck had the beef short ribs and I splurged with an upcharge on two Main lobster tails (I did trade one tail for a short rib). 😊
We were treated with a full rainbow while we were eating.
We had seen the HAL singers and dancers show “Country Crossroads” on another ship and it was not one of our favorites so we skipped it tonight.
We listened to two sets of the Ocean Bar band and then spent some time in the Casino.
The guide gave us information about the Citadel on the ride back from Peggy’s Cove so when we arrived, we were free to explore the grounds and the museum on our own.
Our last stop was the Public Gardens. I love those gardens. We have wandered around the grounds on previous stops but this was the first guided tour. I enjoyed hearing about the history of the Gardens of Queen Victoria while I admired the flowers.
I thought it was very interesting that there are plants from every continent in the World, except Antarctica, represented in these Gardens. I am glad it was guided though because I would have kept wandering and missed the ship if left on my own.
One of the many Garden residentsDesert plants that are dug up before every Winter, stored in climate-controlled greenhouses, and then replanted when it’s warm enough for survival.Sunday concerts are held in the SummerReplica of the Titanic drawing the attention of a local sea gull.Never know who might be hiding in the flora.
While we were almost finished with the walk, the guide got a call from the port asking about our return as it was 5:25. He told them we were close to the bus. Then he kept talking as he said we paid for the full tour, and we should get it.
We were the last bus to arrive at the port at about 5:40. We left Halifax at a little after 6:00. The Captain warned us to expect rougher seas than last night. I took a Bonine to be on the safe side.
We had the New England Themed dinner in the Lido that night. It was excellent. We each had the crab mac and cheese, haddock, and shrimp.
We finished the evening listening to one set of the Ocean Bar Band and then going to the 9:00 show of Breton Thunder “Heritage.” Breton Thunder has different members sailing on the different HAL ships that stop in Canada. Each group sings the same songs for their performances. The You Tube video below is a group from 2025 singing one of the songs from the “Heritage” show.
After some time in the Casino, we called it a night.
We’ve been to Halifax before, but we had never seen Peggy’s Cove, the inside of the Citadel, or walked through the Titanic Cemetery. We decided to take a HAL tour that would include all those places and a guided walk through the Public Gardens. Even though we had to set the clocks forward one hour last night, I still managed to get up at 6:30 and we had room service breakfast delivered at 8:00.
After breakfast, we decided to go to the Sea View and watch the sail-in to Halifax. As we neared the elevators, I spotted a rubber duck on the railing. If you have never heard of the cruise craze of hiding and finding rubber ducks, it is a real phenomenon. Some people bring a suitcase full of rubber ducks to hide around a ship. You can even upload your finds to a Facebook Cruising Ducks page.
I have found very tiny ducks before, but this one was the first standard one I have seen. I’m a card-carrying AARP member so did I smile and just leave it on the railing for a child to find? Nope. I grabbed it like it was solid gold.
Once we got to the Sea View deck we saw how foggy it was and learned that rain was in the forecast. I knew we needed to pack our rain jackets as it was a long tour.
Our tickets said that we should meet our group on the pier at 10:15. I prefer to meet in the World Stage. You wait for your tour to be called and then disembark as an orderly group. But we’ve met on the pier before. You just have to look for the HAL representatives once you disembark the ship. The problem with today was that we weren’t even supposed to get to the port until 10:30.
Apparently, everyone else got the same notice to be out on the pier at 10:15 so when the announcement came that we could disembark at 10:30, it was chaos in the halls and exit to the gangway. One of the worst port disembarkations that I have ever experienced.
It was so poor that I cancelled the other HAL shore excursion that I had booked because it too had us meeting on the pier 15 minutes before our docking time. I wasn’t going to fight my way through another crowd like that. I definitely noted the mess in my exit satisfaction survey.
The tour today was Best of Halifax – 7 hours
ABOUT THE EXCURSION: Experience Halifax’s top things to see and do, all in a short time.
Head out of town to Peggy’s Cove — Nova Scotia’s most authentic fishing village to see the well-known lighthouse — the most photographed one in Canada. Take time to visit and explore the rugged, sea-sculpted granite shores.
Sit down for a group meal at a local restaurant.
Visit the Fairview Lawn Cemetery, where 121 victims of the Titanic disaster are buried.
Escape to the lush oasis of the Halifax Public Gardens — an authentic Victorian garden nestled in the city’s busy downtown.
See the busiest street east of Montreal — Spring Garden Road — voted the “best place to people watch” with its many restaurants and boutiques.
Finally, explore Citadel Hill, one of Canada’s most visited National Historic Sites, with a fantastic city view. Step into the buildings, see the cannons and watch the 78th Highlanders regiment on site.
Notes: At Peggy’s Cove, visitors are asked to stay off the rocks and away from the shoreline. Terrain includes gravel pathways, paved areas, wooden decking, cement sidewalks, inclines, steps and rocky areas. Wear sturdy, comfortable walking shoes. Bring a warm sweater; bring an umbrella and a rain jacket. Tour sequence may vary.
Once we finally made it to the tour bus, I was happy to find that it was comfortable and we could hear the tour guide easily. We didn’t leave until 11:00 so if we were really going to be gone for 7 hours, we would not be getting back at 5:30. Oh well, that was HAL’s problem.
The guide decided to go to the Titanic Cemetery first to try and beat the predicted rain. I was under the impression that the cemetery was only for Titanic victims. No. Its name is Fairview Cemetery and only one section is dedicated to the Titanic.
I also hadn’t realized they couldn’t identify everyone that they found from the Titanic. The gravestones were numbered that corresponded with the body that was rescued. It was sad to see the markers that only had a number and there were many of them.
Some people were identified and their families were able to provide a descriptive marker (but it still had a number on it) if they declined or couldn’t afford to bring their loved one home.
At one point, some years ago, a company got permission to exhume some of the graves of the unknown victims to see if DNA matching could be used to find relatives. Only one body was identified – a young child. They were able to use trace DNA to match relatives from England. The other graves either didn’t have enough trace DNA or no relatives were found. Our guide said that was the only time it was tried and won’t be tried on any more graves.
The marker below became famous in 1997.
People would flock here and leave so many flowers every day that the grounds crew would have to clear them out each evening to make room for the ones coming the next day. The guide said that this person was not the real “Jack” but nobody could convince the thousands of fans. Even today, people still leave trinkets and some flowers.
The cemetery also has markers for the victims of the 1917 Halifax Explosion which was the largest human-made explosion ever recorded until Hiroshima.
Once we boarded the bus again, we began the drive to Peggy’s Cove. The drive takes about an hour. The predicted rain came in torrents, and I thought it would last the rest of the day.
However, by the time we reached Peggy’s Cove and our destination – the Sou’Wester Restaurant, the rain had stopped. The guide had already called ahead with our order. It was a fixed menu – non-alcohol drink, either the seafood chowder or a spicy Thai vegetable bowl, and a slice of warm gingerbread with either a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream.
Chuck and I both opted for the seafood chowder and gingerbread with ice cream. Chuck was dismayed to see mussels in the shells resting on top of the chowder, so I was happy to take them off and put them in my chowder.
My only complaint was that the seating was very tight. There were 8 of us at a table for 6. The restaurant and its store were packed with people.
We had time to wander around enjoying the ocean view, but we didn’t venture close to the lighthouse. As I mentioned, the rain had stopped but it was still foggy. Despite the signs all over the property warning about slippery rocks and saying stay close to the lighthouse, there were parents letting their children scoot down the rocks close to the breaking waves. Scary.
Some people opted to go farther into Peggy’s Cove for shopping, but I had found a lighthouse ornament at the restaurant store so I wasn’t interested in looking at the other shops.
Everyone was back at the bus at the correct time, so we were now heading back to Halifax to tour the Citadel.
I was glad we have been here twice before because I would not have wanted to jump up early for an excursion as today was a 7:30 am to 12:30 pm stop.
We got our coffee at 8:00 at the Explorer’s Cafe and then had a leisurely breakfast in the main dining room.
Once we finished, since the weather was pleasant and kind of overcast, we decided to walk along the waterfront. We found a swing that we could sit and people-watch. There were a number of people jogging, walking their dogs, or getting ready to take their boats out.
I wandered over to a food truck that advertised pastries to see if they had any Maine blueberry items. Nope. The early crowd had wiped them out of blueberry pastries. They offered me a cinnamon bun. I passed. Oh well, that’s what I get for being too lazy to leave the ship at 7:00 am.
Once we were back on the ship, we skipped lunch and spent the rest of the day reading on the Sea View area. It was soon time to get ready for our first dressy night.
Being dressy night, I was pleasantly surprised that the line was not too long for the main dining room. We were able to get a table for 2 but we were so close to another table it might as well have been a table for 4.
Filet of SoleBeef Tenderloin with Shrimp
We enjoyed the conversation with two women from Colorado. In another it’s a small world scenario, they were both retired from college technical education, and we knew some of the same people in that field. We may have attended the same conferences back in the day.
After dinner, we went to the first set of the Ocean Bar band. I’m pretty sure the lead female singer was the same one from our 2025 Volendam cruise to Canada.
We went to the World Stage to watch the HAL singers and dancers show “Solid Gold” – songs from the 70’s. They performed well but how do you do a 70’s tribute without a Bee Gees song? The 1977 film Saturday Night Fever is an icon of the 70’s and all those songs were overlooked in their performance. Pitiful.
I had a restless night. I didn’t hear any noise from planes or the concert, but I couldn’t get the temperature right. I was either too hot or too cold. I also got a leg cramp. Frustrating. I got on up at 6:00 am.
The hotel free breakfast had some very nice options and the lobby was crowded with people taking advantage of it. We found a couple of seats with a view of the concert venue across the street.
UBER was there within 10 minutes of selecting it and it was only a 5-minute drive to the port drop-off area. We were told you could walk the route in about 20-25 minutes, but it would have been a struggle for us with the luggage.
Security at the Boston port is tougher than the airports. Laptops out, belts off, hats off, pockets completely emptied, etc. It’s best if you get all that done and stored in a backpack/purse/bag before you enter the security line as they really hassle you to get finish up and get moving.
It was 11:15 and priority boarding had already started. One worker with a bullhorn was going through the rooms telling people to be sure to complete the Canadian Declaration Form, found on tables in the waiting area, prior to boarding. She was very loud. Typically, the forms are waiting in the cabin to be completed but I guess they were trying something new. I didn’t care for it.
Once we were finally on the ship, we relaxed on the Sea View area to wait for the announcement that the cabins were ready. That announcement came at noon and once we got to our cabin, we found that 2 of the 3 pieces of luggage had been delivered.
Chuck went back to the Sea View area while I had to go to the Internet help desk area to find out why I was not getting the Internet I had already paid for pre-boarding. They gave me the dreaded words “You’ll have to go to guest services.” Damn. The guest services line on embarkation day is always long and filled with frustrated passengers. As we stood there, a HAL rep came down the line asking what our issue was to see if she could help. Most of the time, she would say “they will have to help you at the desk.” Sigh.
When I finally got the desk, their solution was for me to pay for Internet again and they would figure out what happened and then take the charge off. Wow. Now I would have to monitor the account to be sure they took off the charge.
I then went to the Dining Reservations desk and was able to make our two complementary meals for this week. I already had a Pinnacle dinner reservation through the Have It All Package so I made a Canaletto dinner reservation and a Pinnacle Grill lunch reservation for this week. I would have to wait until we reached Montreal to make our complementary reservations for next week.
We were finally ready to eat some lunch so we had sandwiches from the Lido. I prefer getting sandwiches from the NY Pizza and Deli station on the larger ships but these were okay.
Came back to the room to find our final piece of luggage delivered and was able to get everything stored with space to spare before time for the muster drill.
Yes, we had to participate in a full muster drill instead of just being able to be scanned at the lifeboat site.😒 Every ship has to have a full drill periodically and today was our lucky day. We all lined up at our lifeboat station and listened to the instructions. At least we didn’t have to wear life jackets. We also had to listen to the safety information on the cabin television which we had done earlier in the day.
Afterwards, we had the sail-away party which is always fun. It was also fun to watch the planes landing and taking off so close to us.
Eventually, the Casino opened so we spent some time there before going to the Mariners Welcome Reception at the Lido pool. I recognized the Captain as the one who was in charge of the Oosterdam when we went to South America/Antarctica in 2023 (my favorite cruise). I didn’t recognize any of the other officers. We did recognize two servers from previous cruises which is always fun. They called us by name. I don’t know how they remember.
We ate dinner in the Lido and then went to the Ocean Bar hoping for some dance music. Nope. The band was off tonight and in their place was two singers from the group Breton Thunder who performed some bluegrass and folk music. I always enjoy the Breton Thunder shows and planned to go to the ones this week but I was not really in the mood to sit and listen to the music tonight.
Chuck went back to the Casino to play some cards. I got some hot tea from the Lido and called it an early night.
I’m never a fan of traveling to the airport on the same day of the flight. I much prefer to spend the night at an airport hotel and take an early flight out. Today was one of those days that I really wished we had done that scenario.
The day started out great. The weather was clear. Pumpkin was not meowing to go outside (he did go hide under the couch when the suitcases came out😿). Traveling to the shuttle office was uneventful. We left for the airport on time. That’s when the wheels ran off.
We had to make two auxiliary stops on the way to the airport to pick up people. Those stops always adds time to the trip. Then we hit the stop-n-go traffic. We got to the airport 30 minutes late. To add insult to injury, the driver had to drop all of us off at the North Terminal even though most of us were flying out of the South Terminal. “Construction at the airport.” I don’t think the construction is ever going to end.
We schlepped all the way over to the South Terminal and then went outside to use the Delta luggage drop-off. Typically, it is less congested than using the ones inside. Not today. Today, there was a line and only one person was at the counters taking bags. And, it was very hot outside. We were not in a good mood. Finally, two more people appeared at the counters and the line started moving faster. We were able to check all 3 bags.
Once we went to Security, Chuck had trouble getting the CLEAR TSA scanner to recognize his face. He kept having to move forward and then back. Finally, it gave him the green light to proceed. But, he was then “randomly” selected to go through the full-body scanner. Not helping anyone’s mood.
I was happy that we were going to be at ‘A’ gate but then saw the change that we were at ‘D’ gate. Just love being jostled and crowded on the underground train. By the time we got to our boarding area which was at the end of gate D (of course), we had less than 30 minutes to boarding so no time for lunch. Glad I had packed some Powerbars in my backpack.
The flight was full and the pilot said we should arrive earlier to Boston than scheduled. Yay! I started on the movie Hoppers and Chuck put his earplugs in and started on a nap.
About mid-way through the 3-hour flight, the pilot announced that there were storms on the East Coast and we were being directed to go out into the Atlantic to avoid them. As we got closer to Boston, he then announced that we would have to circle for a while before being allowed to land. We ended up being 30 minutes late on the landing. People with connecting flights were very agitated because when we did land, the weather was gorgeous. Not sure where the storms were but they weren’t here.
We had to walk a long way from our gate to the Luggage pick-up and then we had to back-track to find the UBER pick-up area. I was missing the underground train now.
The last couple of times to Boston we have used the HAL hotel and transfer option. Since we have seen most of the downtown Boston tourist attractions, this time we opted to do our own transportation, and I found us a room at the Hyatt Place Boston Seaport which is very near the port.
The UBER pick-up was pretty quick once we found the right spot at the airport. Very efficient system they have in place. Even though it was a Friday night, the ride to the hotel was fast. The hotel check-in was easy, and we were soon in our fifth-floor room. There was a sign at the desk that we may experience late-night noise because of the outdoor concert that was being held next door at the Leader Bank Pavillion. We were encouraged to go up to their roof-top bar and restaurant and listen to the concert for free. Tori Amos was performing that night. We had never heard of her.
View from the barConcert pavillion
We did enjoy the rooftop bar. Chuck had spicy chicken wings and I had a bowl of excellent clam chowder. We split some eggrolls. We had a pleasant conversation with a mother and daughter while enjoying the view. The daughter lived in Boston and was just starting law school and the mother was visiting from California. In the small world category, when I mentioned I grew up in Kentucky, the mother said she had relatives that lived in Cadiz and had I ever heard of it? Well, yes I did know Cadiz. Only a stone’s throw from my hometown. So weird.
We did not stay for the concert. Our long, exhausting day was catching up with us, so we decided on an early night.
We were offered a good deal on back-to-back (B2B) seven-day cruises out of Boston for August. We decided to take them (1) hoping the weather would be cooler and (2) to celebrate Chuck’s birthday. We didn’t mind that we had been to all the ports before nor that we would have the same itinerary going to and from Montreal.
The ship was the Volendam, one of the two Holland America (HAL) smallest ships. We had sailed the Volendam once before to Canada and we’ve sailed its sister ship – Zaandam for 4 different sailings. We knew what to expect in terms of pros and cons (in our opinion) from the larger ships.
Pros – easy to navigate around the ship, large staterooms, large promenade deck, and fewer people. Cons – fewer dining venues, fewer music venues, few outlets in stateroom, and no balcony stateroom category (the balcony rooms on the Volendam and the Zaandam are considered Vista suites – one step below the Neptune Suites).
This cruise we had an inside cabin. On the larger ships, I find the inside cabins to be a little claustrophobic (Chuck does not) but the inside cabins on the Volendam are big – roomy enough for a small couch, table, chair and desk along with the bed and two bedside tables.
However, there were only 2 regular outlets and 2 European outlets at the desk. There were none beside the bed. I was glad I brought my European outlet converter and my portable charger. Still felt like I was playing musical outlets.
We were on the 3rd deck aft which made it very easy to walk out the door at the end of the hallway right onto the Promenade deck. However, we always knew when we were either picking up/dropping off the pilot boat captain or docking because the vibration/noise from the thrusters was powerful. Earplugs helped.
As usual on 7-day cruises, the ship was full both ways. In Montreal, the Cruise Director announced that 153 passengers were staying on to go back to Boston. I was happy that we did not have to change staterooms for the 2nd leg of the cruise.
For the most part, we had very good weather. Didn’t see much of the cloudiness from the Canadian wildfires nor did it rain very much. The weather on many days was in the 80’s. I was hoping for the 70’s but 80’s were better than the high 90’s and low 100’s we left.
We took one organized tour during the 14 days. Some days we just wandered around the port area. Some days we stayed aboard.
I always say that the worse thing about cruising is getting to the cruise and then leaving the cruise. Today was a perfect example of that belief.
When our bus got to the airport at noon, the other bus was unloading. We had to sit and wait for the other bus to finish and pull out. We then had to wait for the employees to unload the luggage. We were finally allowed to get off and get our luggage. I was glad that we were right next to the Delta entrance.
The first line was the luggage weigh-in and drop-off. It went pretty well. The next line was very long – security. It didn’t help that I forgot to take off my wrist brace, so I got pulled out of line to be wanded. The last line was Customs. It wasn’t as slow as I expected but I was glad we got there as it started filling up behind us. I really need to complete a Global Entry application for us.
Once we got to the gate, I went to the Subway vending machine. I have seen a lot of vending machines, but this was the first Subway. Next up was the Coke vending machine. Now we had lunch.
The flight boarded on time. Unfortunately, the Captain came on and said there would be a “slight” delay for a continued maintenance check. One hour later, we were finally taking off. Not my idea of “slight.” But it could have been worse. We have gotten on flights before only to be told to get back off with our luggage.
I couldn’t really find anything I was interested in watching, so I chose a soothing instrumental music channel and read during the flight. It was a bumpy flight too.
We were an hour late getting to the airport. We landed at the domestic terminal but because this flight was our final destination, we had to ride the underground tram to the international terminal to pick up our luggage.
I called our shuttle service to tell them that we might not make the reserved shuttle so she told me she would go ahead and put our names on the next shuttle just in case.
If you are at the international terminal but need to go back to the domestic terminal, you have to ride the shuttle bus or pay for a taxi – that is how far they are apart. You cannot ride the underground tram back because you could get off at one of the domestic gates without going through security which, of course, is a no-no.
Typically, there are two shuttle busses but today it must have been just one because we waited for 30 minutes before it arrived. We were at the front of the line, so we made it on to the shuttle. There were many people who did not.
It was another 20 minutes back to the domestic terminal and another 5 minutes to get to the shuttle pick-up area. We missed our shuttle by 10 minutes. We now had a 45-minute wait for the next one. We were exhausted but I was glad that at least it was not raining.
Our shuttle arrived on time and I was surprised that the driver was someone I used to work with at the College. I asked him if he had retired but he said “no” he just did this job on the weekends. Small world.
The van was full and we headed for home. Next thing I knew we were in the middle of a torrential rain. So glad I was not driving. I just closed my eyes and put my head on my backpack.
We made it safely back to the shuttle office. Restroom break and then the drive home. Met by an unhappy cat who let his displeasure be known all night long.
