Canada Itinerary

We are looking at the Dawn itinerary to Canada & would like to get feedback & info on this cruise. Itinerary includes Boston, Portland, Halifax, Charlottetown, Gaspesie, Saguenay, & Quebec. Any info from anyone who has done these ports would be appreciated. We have never cruised the East Coast only Alaska & the Caribbean.

We are looking at the Dawn itinerary to Canada & would like to get feedback & info on this cruise. Itinerary includes Boston, Portland, Halifax, Charlottetown, Gaspesie, Saguenay, & Quebec. Any info from anyone who has done these ports would be appreciated. We have never cruised the East Coast only Alaska & the Caribbean.

That's an excellent itinerary to see some of the varying provinces of Canada.

Quebec City is a lot like old France, very scenic, historical. Saguenay is a whale watching area in Quebec. Gaspé is French scenic area along St Lawrence River. Charlottetown Prince Edward Is. is the seat of Canadian federation. Home of the Anne of Green Gables novels. Halifax is historical and maritime heritage and Peggy's Cove. When is this one? I would be interested. Did some of that area with Holland America.

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Thanks for the info. Looking at October 6 - 13 of 2017. Is that a good time to see fall foliage?

We are looking at the Dawn itinerary to Canada & would like to get feedback & info on this cruise. Itinerary includes Boston, Portland, Halifax, Charlottetown, Gaspesie, Saguenay, & Quebec. Any info from anyone who has done these ports would be appreciated. We have never cruised the East Coast only Alaska & the Caribbean.

We did the Quebec-Boston-Quebec as back to back(14 days) and would suggest that rather than the one way (7 days) if that is what you are intending as there is only one repeated port.

If you want to see the Autumnal colours then make it as late as possible, we did and they were not very good even as late as we did it!!

I have the trips we did on my computer, we do NCL ones, but am willing to send to you with some comments about them if you are interested.

My email is casofilia at xtra dot co dot nz. (Sure you can work it out)

Mike

We are looking at October 6-13. Thanks for the info - will email you.

Yes that is a great trip - we also did the 14 day RT in 2016 - loved every minute of it.

In Portland ME we booked a taxi tour with Maine Day Trip tours - had a wonderful day visited downtown, Portland Head, and the other lighthouses - fully custom tour.

Halifax we saw a maple sugar packing operation, Peggy's Cove, the Titanic graveyard and more on an all day tour with Halifax Cruise Ship Taxi Tours.

there is also a great boardwalk a crystal making shop and much more to see here - so it was nice to visit it twice :)

Charlottetown - we ended up renting a car and drove ourselves around the center of the island - used Toms Guides along with a tour book I got from PEI dept of tourism. There are also taxi tours here too.

Gaspe - we did not tour here taking a sea day in port. This area is not a developed for touring as the other ports and is also a tender port.

Saguenay we found this port to be the most enchanting - they go out of their way to make you feel welcome - we did a tour with a small company https://www.fjordenligne.com/new-page/english/

Quebec - what can I say - we did a tour through Viator on Friday that was well rated but was not a great as they made it out to be. On Sat we took a tour through NCL that showed us both old and new Quebec - lots of drive -bys and only a couple of stops. On a do over I would probably rent a car and DIY or perhaps do more research on the Taxi Tours.

Mother nature is not very predictable - we were on the last two week cruise - Sept 21- Oct7 and we were about a week early for max color.

on the return trip we enjoyed St Johns, and Bar Harbor as well as Halifax on a weekday (the first time was on a Sun) The crystal shop was working and were making crystal in the furnace and also etching and finishing pieces - you don't get to see this on Sun.

If you are going to use the taxi tours or rent cars you should be doing it now as they tend to book quickly. Also download Tom's Port Guides and read them for great tour ideas. I also studied Trip Advisor and ordered tourism brochures from as many town websites as I could find.

We actually booked the cruise in Dec of 14 and got serious after the roll call started in Nov of 15 - several people on this cruise had planned to take it in 14 but had to cancel so they had all their planning done and had most of their tours already booked.

This was the first time I have used either rental cars and taxi tours - this turned out to be a great decision - getting your own private tour with just your group is great.

Last year the DAWN made two cycles of the B2B Boston-Quebec-Boston in

early September and a late one into October. The DAWN's regular schedule

circuit is the Boston Bermuda 7 day round trip. After the New England-Quebec

sequence the ships sails the Bermuda route again before doing a granddaddy

of ship positioning to the Caribbean and Gulf.

Left Boston 9/23 for Portland - then Halifax - Charlotte Town - Gaspe -

Labaie (Saguneay) and Quebec City arriving 9/30 - overnighting then -

Sydney - Halifax - St John - Bar Harbor arriving back at Boston 10/7.

The weather was perfect except for Sydney grey over cast raining in the AM

stopped by 10 am. Warm sunny photo perfect everywhere - due to global

warming the seasonal color change appeared to be delayed about a week.

If you can afford it do the B2B - 2 weeks of leisure cruising with something

to do and visit at every turn - lots of interesting shore excursions.

While in Halifax visit the port museum 2nd level of the port terminal.

Fascinating history of travel in the early 1900's from Europe.

These cruises sell out quickly - to keep the same cabin on a B2B book soon.

But it is not all that bad if you have to switch cabins on the return.

Also in Halifax (my home city), you can do tours of Citadel Hill, which is a massive fortress!

We booked this cruise out of Boston for mid September 2018. From what I have seen, these cruises tend to sell quickly, especially the first one of the season.

i live just outside of Boston. Its a very walkable city. i would not spring for excursions. you can easily see the entire city on your own via foot and via the "T" (http://www.mbta.com) you can buy a one day pass on T for unlimited subway rides.

i highly recommend doing the Freedom Trail. You see all of the major highlights and could easily spend most of your day walking this trail. If you want to be a tourist, grab some chowda at Union Oyster House.

I live in Halifax, on the boadwalk mentioned. Maybe it's my pride of place but it is worth a walk. Peggy's Cove is a little too popular with tourists but might be worth a look. In the same direction is Mahone Bay, a little town definitely worth checking out. If you rent a car, go as far as Lunenburg (town designated a world heritage site by UNESCO). Foliage should be lovely all the way down.

I grew up in Charlottetown and the downtown area is ok for a stroll but if you're going in October, a lot of things in the more touristy area in the North Shore near Cavendish will already be closed. Things start petering off after Labour Day and by October 1st it's pretty quiet. If you golf, think about spending the day at Crowbush Cove (top links course). Otherwise a car trip on the Blue Heron Drive is good -- hit Victoria on the South Shore and Cavendish on the North, just don't expect much to be open in October.

You will love Quebec City. Try to stay there a couple days post cruise. Learn a few simple phrases (if you don't speak French) and you'll be treated royally.

Thank you for all the tips. We are on the Dawn Sept 22 sailing to Quebec and return to Boston.

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I was on the same cruise as Don't use real name (aka DURN). Met him at the M&G - Hi DURN.

Agreed we had great weather - I took over 600 photos.

I was on the same cruise as Don't use real name (aka DURN). Met him at the M&G - Hi DURN.

 

Agreed we had great weather - I took over 600 photos.

Hi bonvoyagie !

YES we all had a great time and a M&G that was outstanding and ever more

so with LordDuck offering his top deck cabin for a crawl that was to die for !

And I am still processing my pictures - have to remember to take the camera

off of the motor drive video function - blasted thru 2 64GB chips.

That was some reception that the folks at Labaie (Saguneay) the 20 minute

performance on the port plaza while the ship was secured for disembark.

Everything was oh so awesome - and I want to do an instant replay !

Regards !

We enjoyed our B2B so much in 2013 we did it again in 2016. And I'm sure we'll do it again!

We enjoyed our B2B so much in 2013 we did it again in 2016. And I'm sure we'll do it again!

Hi Julie3fan:

Hail - hail the gang is all here to reminisce - what a cruise !

We enjoyed our B2B so much in 2013 we did it again in 2016. And I'm sure we'll do it again!

Hi Julie3fan:

Hail - hail the gang is coming together to reminisce - what a cruise !

Sort of a post cruise roll call !

Hi Julie3fan:

 

Hail - hail the gang is coming together to reminisce - what a cruise !

 

Sort of a post cruise roll call !

Yes, it is! Nice to see you and bonvoyagie posting here!

I am from Quebec city (now live in Montreal but my family is still in Qc city). Probably one of the safest North American city. Easily walkable from the old port and full of little shops and great restaurants. I wouldn't book a tour... English will be understood in museums, stores and restaurants catering for tourists.

Is the ship going up the fjord all the way to the city of Saguenay or does it stop at Tadoussac? If it's Tadoussac, that region is well-known for whale-watching. As for Gaspé, I never been but heard it's really pretty and if you like seafood, it's the place to be. English is not as prevalent in those regions than Qc city.

For foliage, the peak in Qc city is usually around September 25th. If it's not too windy and rainy, the colours will still be nice on Thanksgiving weekend (weekend of Oct 6).

Bon Voyage!