Maasdam Review

4.0 / 5.0
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Entertainment was not good, ports were unusual sometimes, food was very good.

Review for Australia & New Zealand Cruise on Maasdam
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suziehugo
2-5 Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Dec 2016
Cabin: Large Interior Stateroom

I cruised on the Prinsendam last year which is a similar class as the Maasdam. The Maasdam was in New Zealand and Australia. The same entertainers were on board this ship. Wish I'd known. There was a difference though. The good performers were gone and only the mediocre ones remained.

Like the Prinsendam, we stopped at a lot of ports. Some were unusual in that I didn't understand the draw. Could be something about stopping often that was saleable, maybe they were cheaper docking charges.

The food was very good and so was the service. The inside room was very nice.

Cabin Review

Large Interior Stateroom

I find an interior cabin to be a good choice for me as I am near the ocean when onshore and looking at the ocean when on deck. I like the extra storage space in place of a window and it's usually a few hundred dollars less expensive too.

Port Reviews

Auckland

We stayed at Airbnbs and they were interesting. The city was nice enough with some rough spots in the Chinese sections. The Maori were interesting. Very much liked to sing and dance and got everyone else watching or dancing or drinking.

Tauranga

Here is where you are expected to take a bus for 1 hour to get to Rotorua where they have a Maori village and geyzer that goes off daily at 11am. A little too manufactured for me. I'd rather wait and go to iceland and watch videos of Maori war dancers.

Rotorua is the most touristed place in New Zealand.

The port was large and we enjoyed walking around.

Napier

The art deco city. We enjoyed walking up the steep hills to see how locals lived. The downtown was pretty dead while we were there. So many art deco buildings that were built after a great earthquake destroyed the town.

Wellington

Wellington Cable Car to the botanical gardens. Nice and hilly. This is the capitol of New Zealand even though Auckland is a bigger city.

Picton

Across from Wellington on the south island we saw a lot of shipping activity. After all, this is where the south island takes in supplies.

Lots of ferries dock here to transport people from the Northern Island which is more populated. Hills and tiny town with a beach.

Christchurch

There was a bus that would take you to Christ Church but the harbor was destroyed in many earthquakes so it has yet to be rebuilt. From people I talked to who went into that area, they saw a container mall. Shopping made out of cargo containers. The church is forever gone. Sad.

We stayed by the shore and went to the Giant's house which is a wacky creation of broke ceramic covering cement sculptures. A woman owns it and has people there building more art on the grounds. It's amazing how wild an imagination she has. It was a lot of fun to look around. This was an excursion so some people came on a bus but it was really a short walk to the place. We stopped at another house that was being built as a bed and breakfast. Also somewhat unique.

Dunedin

Nice train station and you could take the train across some wide, scary expanses. The gardens were beautiful too. Lots of shops too. A beautiful place you could see was important at one time.

Burnie

Before we arrived, we had just gone through fiordland national park which was spectacular. We had a clear day for it.

Arriving at Bernie on Tasmania, we took a shuttle into town. The main draw was the museum. Fun fact: Tasmania is the area where the most legal heroin comes from. Also it has the most illegal drug use too as seen from testing sewage. We didn't see this.

We saw places they were trying to breed tasmanian devils. They are becoming extinct because of an inherited disease which is made worse by their small numbers.

This is the island named after Abel Tasmin, the Dutch explorer who met Maoris and decided not to go back to. Several of his crew members were killed.

Melbourne

Nice place. Walking to town was a long stroll. I couldn't believe all the flies on us near the port. It wasn't until we got into town that we had freedom from them. Others took the train. We were there before Xmas in the warmth. Beautiful old victorian buildings and a real city with large buildings and elevated trains.

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