Day Three -- Monday -- June 7, 2010 -- Halifax, Nova Scotia

7:00 am -- Patte and I walk our thirty minutes around Deck Six for two miles -- chilly morning.

8:00 am -- During breakfast we map out our day deciding to hire a taxi at the dock for a tour around town dropping us at the Citadel -- from where we can walk back to the Maasdam.

Our cab driver’s name is “Bubbles”.  He is quite the talker with lots of knowledge about the city and surrounding area.  He takes us all around the city and gives us a sense of the neighborhoods.  After about an hour Bubbles drops us at the Citadel on top of a hill overlooking the city.  The Citadel is full of scottish calvary dressed in period garb -- some in kilts.  We troll around the fort and stay for the cannon firing at Noon.  It is quite the process to get that cannon ready and in position for firing.

After a steep walk down from the Citadel lunch is at the The Old Triangle Irish Alehouse.  The bartender, Alec, is a delight -- we have a great lunch and good beer.  We walk back down to the river and poked our heads into the Nova Scotia Crystal Factory to watch the glass blowing operation.  We see lots of sights on the way back to the ship --  including lighthouses and a tug boat named Theodore.

3:00 pm -- Cellar Master’s Navigator Choice Wine Tasting --- In a weak moment at dinner we allowed the wine steward to talk us into attending this Wine Tasting.  We rushed back to the ship so we wouldn’t miss it.

Laurence, the Wine Steward, is most full of himself as wine stewards tend to be. He talks for at least thirty minutes while we sit with four glasses of wine and cheese and bread in front of us.   Once we start tasting the wine -- he disappears saying he has to get ready for another event.   And -- for this “privilege” we pay $15 each.

To top it off we get phone calls the next day confirming reservations (we did not make) for the Premium Wine Tasting.   It seems that they were not getting the turnout they expected.

7:00 pm -- Dinner in the Lido which is the buffet dressed up at night.  It was just ok. We had to ask the waiter to change the tablecloth -- since it had been used by somebody else.

Phil and I are disappointed in the service on the Maasdam.  It is not as good as the last time we sailed with Holland America.  There is a lot of inconsistency and rigidity.  It appears that the training these servers receive does not include a section on using  common sense.

But -- we are having a wonderful time --- we ended the evening in the Piano Bar with our new best friend, Nate.