Eastern Canada and Panama HAL cruises
This item appears on page 28 of the July 2016 issue.
I took a sailing adventure, the “14-Day Historic Coasts/Canada & New England Discovery,” aboard the ms Veendam of Holland America Line, or HAL (Seattle, WA; 877/932-4259, www.hollandamerica.com), Aug. 29-Sept. 12, 2015.
The cruise embarked from Boston, sailed up the New England and eastern Canadian coastlines, entered the St. Lawrence River and ended in historic Québec City. As a single in a partial-ocean-view stateroom, my total cost for this trip was $5,637.
In my first year of retirement, I had begun studying the Seven Years’ War (also known as the French and Indian War), which, in so many ways, gave birth to the American Revolution. The area where that war took place was one I really wanted to visit, and, while cruising does present limitations on one’s time and on access to some locations, I found the cruise to be fun and informative.
Some days, HAL provided films on the areas we’d be visiting: Saint John, New Brunswick; Halifax, Sydney and Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Every day had a planned excursion, a new adventure.
We visited the Bay of Fundy (where the tide rises and falls as much as 50 feet in one day), explored Peggy’s Cove, sailed on Bras d’Or Lake, visited the Alexander Graham Bell Museum in Baddeck, cruised the St. Lawrence River and toured Canyon Sainte-Anne outside Québec City.
An additional two days in Québec City allowed time to explore the historic Old Town and walk upon the Plains of Abraham in Battlefields Park.
• This was the second year in a row I had joined a HAL cruise.
As a young girl, I studied the building of the Panama Canal, and on numerous occasions I announced to my family that someday I would travel to that far-off land. My lifelong dream was finally realized in 2014, Oct. 10-25. Not only did 2014 mark the 100th anniversary of the completion of the canal, it was the year I retired.
In preparation for my “14-day Panama Canal” voyage, for which I paid a total of $3,893 (interior stateroom, single), I began to read David McCullough’s “The Path Between the Seas,” immersing myself in all things related to Panama.
McCullough’s dramatic storytelling added to my excitement as I boarded the ship in San Diego. It was my second cruise aboard the ms Westerdam, and I was familiar with the ship from stem to stern.
On this cruise, shore excursions took me to colonial San Sebastián in the mountains above Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; bird-watching in Huatulco; motoring to panoramic Antigua, Guatemala, and León, Nicaragua; to Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica, to photograph scarlet macaws, and to Cartagena, Colombia.
But the transit through the canal was the highlight of the trip. HAL’s pre-transit lecture explained the history of this modern engineering wonder and informed us about what to expect. It was an immensely rewarding voyage, transiting the canal toward the Atlantic Ocean, visiting Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas and disembarking in Fort Lauderdale. It’s a trip I’ll never forget.
As a solo traveler, I’ve discovered a safe and enjoyable way to travel and have yet to be disappointed with the service of the gracious crew members on HAL cruise ships.
CAROL A. VANDERWOUDE
Everett, WA