AKR2011

Back on board, I found our last towel animal hanging from the ceiling. I also found our last laundry sitting with our eviction notice. I didn't want to think about getting off the ship and put that aside. I showered and changed and then headed to Maltings for an Old Fashioned with Jameson...Well, 5 or 6 Old Fashioneds I think. I was reading a book on my tablet and at peace. This was a perfect way to spend the early evening. Eventually, Alex came back to the ship and found me, and we headed to Summer Palace for dinner. We went to The Atrium after for Seaside Duo. The Billboard Top 100 was finishing up when we arrived, and we stayed for The Bee Gees Tribute. This is one of their best sets and not to be missed. They played an extra for us as well. We stayed long enough to grab a bag of popcorn before heading to bed. Tomorrow was our last day and last port. When we came back to the room, I saw that Alex had changed our towel animal, and the monkey was now strangling my beloved monkey! 😰 At least I have a sense of humor!

After the tour, Mom and Dad decided to go on a hunt for gluten-free clam chowder, and they did find some. Meanwhile, I wanted to relax on the ship. This was a very port-heavy cruise, and tomorrow was both our last day and a port day too. Everything was moving so fast, and I also longed for some time alone. I hadn't been walking in the morning the last few days and needed some quiet time for myself. Alex decided to explore Portland on his own, so I will share with you some photos that he took. He had a great afternoon!

Our one stop on this tour was Portland Head Lighthouse, but we only had about half an hour. The park where it is located is beautiful, do I really wish that we had more time to explore. Mom had her lighthouse passport and was excited to get her stamps in the little museum, but you could not walk to the top of this one. It had cleared up by now, so we had lovely views here.

Our tour today was the Portland City and Lighthouse Tour through Portland Discovery Land and Sea Tours. This tour operator also has tours of the city on antique firetrucks. Our tour was on a trolley, and we had a really enthusiastic guide that spoke about the history of the city and the many times that Portland burned down in history. It's a really beautiful place that I would love to return to someday.

It was raining down pretty hard when Alex and I made it off the ship around noon. We were supposed to meet for our tour at 1:30, and I had a few things I wanted to do before that. The first was lobster rolls. I was hoping to go to either The Porthole or Portland Lobster Company. We found The Porthole first, so that choice was made. This lobster was served buttered, but it wasn't hot. Alex and I agreed that we prefer hot and buttered, but we thought that the quality of this lobster was better. It also came with delicious fries. The waiter noticed that we had an agenda and was quick to drop off the check. Much appreciated! If you have been following along, you may remember that I had my heart set on purchasing a Sea Bag in Bar Harbor last week, but the store was not open while I was in the area. Portland has both an outlet (where the flagship store is located) and another shop downtown. The outlet was right down the street from The Porthole, so this worked out well. We were able to see them sewing the bags there, and I enjoyed looking at all of my options. These bags are made from recycled sails and are perfect for any lover of the sea. I was looking for a medium-sized handbag, but there were not many to choose from here. Luckily, the main store was just another block away. Here I found my bag, and I am in love with it! We also found my parents here and were able to walk to our tour together. We were a bit early for our tour, so we ventured across the street. I noticed The Holy Donut, which was on my list of places I wanted to go. They do potato donuts that are gluten-free, so I knew that they would be perfect for my mom. I bought one for all of us, and we enjoyed them once we boarded our trolley tour.

Portland Day! 😀 Also US Customs Day 😕 After doing this in Bar Harbor last week, Alex and I thought we were prepared for another round of customs. It was cloudy this morning and rained as the morning went on, but we were excited for a lovely day. The ship was scheduled for an 11am arrival, and we had a 2pm excursion with my parents. When I first started planning, I wanted to do The Real Portland Tour, which advertises seeing three lighthouses. Mom loves lighthouses, so I gifted her and Dad this tour for Christmas last year. It was scheduled to leave at noon, and I thought this would be ok. The tour operator emailed me in the spring to let me know that we likely would not make it due to customs. I was really bummed, but he refunded our money, and I decided to look around elsewhere. I found a Portland Discovery Tour that visited Portland Head Lighthouse and purchased tickets for this tour instead. Alex and I woke up together this morning and had breakfast in the main dining room again. We did the 10-Minute Mystery and Trivia with my parents and just hung out together, relaxing. Alex and I were Group B for getting off the ship while Mom and Dad had a while and were G. Once again, we walked a maze through the ship to get off. Deck 7 Theater down the stairs to 6, through the casino, through Indigo, down the stairs, and off the ship. It was the same as the week before in Bar Harbor, but it was much less organized and overall a big mess. There were a lot of angry passengers, and I now understood why our original tour operator advised us to cancel.

Thank you for following, and I hope you have a great cruise! I had no idea that the water could cause swollen ankles. I do drink a lot of water. I do not drink coffee and only have juices if they're cocktails. Bottled water, unfortunately, gets so expensive! I may have to look into a package on our next cruise. Thank you for the tip. Thank you for being here! I always appreciate your posts and really want to give back to others who have helped me along the way.

Thank you so much for taking us on your cruise with you, Megan! I was horrified to hear how you were treated by those kids, though. You definitely seem to be having much better experiences with Virgin. You seem very busy, but I would also guess that a longer itinerary on Carnival might also be a good option. I always find that longer cruises have less kids - at least during the school year.

Thank you for following along! Ornaments were not hard to find except for on the ship itself. We collect the ship ornaments, and they did not have any. Now I need to scour the internet for one. Bar Harbor has many souvenir shops, so they are easy to find there. In Charlottetown, I found one right in the building in port that is a simple anchor. Syndey was a handmade one in port with the fiddle on it, and I bought two in Halifax. The gift shops at The Citadel and Maritime Museum had nice ones that I felt like we needed to have, but there were others on the boardwalk back too. Coming up in Portland, you will see the lighthouse, and we bought one there. Lots of shops in town to get them too. Then we went back to Bar Harbor, we went to Acadia, and each stop had a souvenir shop. We decided that we needed another ornament here too. Thank you for being here! Most of the clothes were pressed. That shirt on top is just naturally wrinkly, unfortunately. They did a really nice job overall. Actual pressing does cost more I believe but free laundry is such an awesome perk. A lot of people enjoyed the Anne of Green Gables tour. I am a bookworm but was never into those books. We loved this itinerary overall and would not mind doing it again. PEI was a great stop!

I will be back either later today or tomorrow to post Portland. In the meantime, I will leave you with the Day 5 Freestyle:

My parents stayed in port longer than we did, because they had some Canadian money to spend. Alex and I were looking for treats to take back to our co-workers this entre trip and could never settle on anything, so we headed back to the port on the boardwalk. There is a lighthouse not far away and the company that runs the buses also does a ferry there. If we come back again, we want to look into doing that. We also need to go to The Public Gardens. There just wasn't enough time since we had a late start and spent so much time at the two museums. Back on board, Alex and I decided to play a board game. He packed a bigger one, Empires at Sea, and we had not taken that out yet. It's quite large, so we set it up at a table on the pool deck. I had a hard time getting bar service at first since Topsider's was one of the few places open (Still dealing with that Canadian rule), but eventually someone came over and I gave him a couple of bucks. I did not have an issue after that. We weren't sure where my parents were, but we told them about the Throwback to 1969 show earlier. Alex returned Empires at Sea to the room and I went to Spinnaker to grab seats. I was able to get a nice booth up front, but my parents never made it to join us for the first show. They ended up getting dinner and then coming in for The Eagles with Seaside Duo. We played some cards while watching and then Alex and I left to get dinner too. My parents stayed for the second 1960 show instead. We all loved this show and agreed that it was a highlight of the week. The Spinnaker is a great spot for the show, and they were doing the Win-a-Cruise Bingo in The Theater. That to me is a waste of a night in the theater, so I'm really glad that we snagged the good seats for 1969 and The Eagles. Alex and I had mojitos after dinner, and I ended up bumping into someone that I worked with about 15 years ago. The world is so small sometimes. The bartender up at Sugarcane was fabulous as always, and Alex and I enjoyed a game of Mystic Vale on my tablet. We never met up with my parents again, but we all had another tour together tomorrow.

Once outside of the museum, there are a couple of ships that you can tour. That would have been cool, but we were very hungry. It was now mid-day and well past lunchtime. My parents found a cafe right next to the museum and went there, while Alex and I ventured down the boardwalk a bit. I really wanted some poutine and found a shack specializing in that. Alex and I split this, which was a very good idea. It was a lot of food! We then went over to Cow's Ice Cream and split a small cup. Dave's Lobster is in this port too, as well as Beavertails, so it's nice to know that you can have these Canadian treats at multiple stops.

I should mention that NCL offers two Hop-On-Hop-Off tours. One does not include any admission, but ours included the Citadel and Maritime Museum. This worked out very well for us. The ticket line at The Citadel was a bit long, but we just walked in with our stickers on. The same was true at the Maritime Museum, which is where we went next. I absolutely love maritime museums and have been to many. The one in Halifax is huge and has tons of smaller ship models, as well as full-size ships. There is an exhibit featuring Cunard Cruises and another focused on The White Star Line. There is also a big section of the museum dedicated to Titanic with a bunch of artifacts from that. We were here for over an hour and enjoyed our time. I also found a really nice ornament in the gift shop.

The double-decker buses used by the tour company were from the 50s and seemed cool at first. We went on top and sat in front for a nice view. However, that diesel smell was not good, and Mom and I were not feeling great. We hopped off when we reached The Citadel. This is a historic battleground site that has been transformed quite a few times. Alex and Dad love these kinds of places. Mom and I can only handle them for a while. There were modern exhibits inside, and many people dressed in character and were walking around talking to the guests. We stayed for over an hour and grabbed some cold drinks at the snack bar before getting on a different bus. There are many buses in the fleet, so you don't have to wait long for another bus to show up. This was a very well-organized tour and had guides talking and explaining the sites as we drove through the city.

Day 5 was Halifax, and we were scheduled to do the Deluxe Hop-on-Hop-Off Tour all together as a family. With the Free at Sea and Latitudes Discount, Alex and I repaid $108 through NCL for this. I have heard great things about these kinds of tours but have never taken one. My parents were excited as well and did one in Boston many years ago. We were scheduled to arrive at 8am, and our tour was supposed to leave at 8:30. Unfortunately, we were delayed once again. We all had breakfast together in O'Sheehan's and watched out the window as the captain was trying to dock us. The Escape was already there and docked, but we were taking forever. I really have no idea what happened, but it took over an hour to get us docked and tied up, and of course, everyone was lined up at Deck 7 (im)patiently waiting to get off the ship. We eventually got into line too, and it was a hot mess. We were backed up passed the atrium jewelry shop, and it only became worse around the elevators. We didn't get off until after 10am. Luckily, there was a fleet of double-decker buses in port ready to take us around Halifax. Halifax is a very industrialized city, and there is a lot to see. We decided to ride the bus most of the way until we were ready to get off. We hoped to do The Citadel, Public Gardens, Maritime Museum, and Brewery. My family is not into cemeteries, but there is a Titanic Cemetary and they offer tours there that you can join in on if you want.

Back on the ship, I went back to our room to shower and change, and I found our latest towel friend waiting for me. I then went to the coloring activity and hung out with Crew Member Zoran, one of my favorite people on The Pearl. He spoke about customs and how hard it is for the crew to get cleared. Once a month they release the names of those that can go ashore in Bar Harbor, and even though Zoran has done all the paperwork needed, has not been cleared yet. He was hoping to get cleared in Sept. Otherwise, it would be another month again. That being said, he was looking forward to tomorrow in Halifax, when we would be in port with The Escape. Friends were on that ship and they could hang out together. It was really nice to just color and hang out for a bit. The ship was really quiet since most passengers were still ashore. Canada has a rule about bars and only one per deck is allowed to be open. As the afternoon went on, it became pretty busy at the bars that were offered. Luckily, they added extra staff at those for support. We had Magnums/Shaker's on Deck 6, The Atrium Bar on Deck 7, O'Sheehan's on Deck 8, and Topsider's on Deck 12. After 5:00, more bars were opened up. I grabbed some pretzels from O'Sheehan's and played Scattergories after coloring, then attended the Music Lyrics Game Show. Bar service at The Atrium was busy, but the crew always took care of me there. My parents and Alex then found me and joined in the Norwegian Pop Quiz, and then we played Ring Toss together. We were trying to rack up signatures this week and looked forward to finding out what prizes we could get at the end of the cruise. I wanted another try at the Bamboozled Tabletop Escape Game, so we convinced my parents to join us. Now remember, Alex and I did this last week with Emilie and Luca. We should know how to complete the challenge. Unfortunately, we could still not get through everything. We did get all 6 locks unlocked, but we couldn't figure out what to do with what we found in the box. No one else completed it either, but we still had fun. We headed to dinner in the main dining room together after the game and then went to the Elton John show. We all enjoyed that one and agreed that this was a great show. However, Jason Ostrowski got off the ship after this week, so that's the end of this one. We all headed to bed after the show since tomorrow was another day in port.

When our driver returned - right on time, I will add - we asked him to drop us at the end of the boardwalk. The boardwalk in Sydney is not nearly as long as the one in Charlottetown, but it is still nice. They have a sign for photos, and there are plenty of shore birds that Alex was excited to see. I was ready to return to the ship, but he wanted to stick around and count birds. Once at the port area, I found the world's largest fiddle and had a kind fellow passenger take my photo with it. I also popped into a small shop in port that was a drugstore. The couple that owns it are cruisers, and they told me that they noticed in their travels that passengers always need OTC meds and affordable American snacks, but there is never a shop right in port. This is how they decided to open their shop. There were many snacks, candy bars, cold and flu meds, aspirin, first aid, etc. I grabbed some lozenges for Alex, who was feeling a lot better but still waking up with a scratchy throat. The price was right and they made a difference the next few days.

Today Alex and I planned to hike the Baille Ard Nature Trail. My research said that it was a great place for birding and an overall nice hike. Getting off the ship was messy again, but we eventually made it. Were we cleared to leave at 9am as scheduled? I don't believe so, but this was a bit better than yesterday. I will give them that I guess. The port area does not have a lot to offer, but there are a few shops outside and a big building that plays some of the sea music I love. That building houses a huge room of crafters selling homemade goods, and I found a really nice ornament there. Before our tip, I tried to set up a cab ride to the trail, and I was messaging a cab company, but we were never able to fully connect. Luckily, once we left the building, there was a lot full of Taxis. They do city tours and such, so if you don't have something booked, you can just hire a driver to take you around. I asked about the Baille Ard Nature Trail, and the first person that I spoke to was unfamiliar with it, but then he asked another driver who knew exactly where it was and agreed to take us. Our driver actually went to school for forestry and worked on maintaining the trail. He has his degree now, but his family is in India and he has to travel home for lengths of time, so a permanent job in forestry doesn't work. Instead, he drives cabs during the tourist season and has the flexibility to go home in the winter months. We were charged about $8.00 American according to my credit card statement to get to the Baille Ard Trail, and we arrived around 10:45. Our driver wanted us to call him when we were ready to go back, but I am cheap and didn't want to pay for data, so we just asked him to come back at noon. Research told me that this was not a long hike. The Baille Ard Nature Trail has multiple loops and has some parts that are closed as they are working to improve it. It was not very crowded and felt very familiar to us. The woods were very much like those in The Catskills where we are from. Alex did not find any exciting birds, but of course, there were plenty of birds there overall. We bumped into some friendly locals and just enjoyed being on a hike together. This was the perfect spot for us.

Hi all. I am so sorry for not getting back here sooner. Life has gotten the best of me the past couple of days, but I am going to try and finish the Canadian ports today. After being up late playing cards the night before, I actually slept in today. Alex and I woke up together and had breakfast at the buffet. We really enjoyed eating in the Great Outdoors area and this was also a good place to fill up our water bottles before heading into port. When researching Syndey, I didn't find a ton of exciting things to do. My parents originally signed up for some kind of bagpiping excursion that was canceled a few weeks before. They ended up doing a concert of some kind instead, but they reported that it wasn't really worth the cost. If you chose to stay on the ship, there were of course many things to do:

Thank you for your feedback! It always helps to have multiple opinions. Our room was also a bit smaller, but we're pretty easygoing with that. I definitely agree that entertainment showed some sad cuts. And yes, getting off the ship was ridiculous! It was completely different the second week vs. the first. I have no idea what happened there, but I cannot get over how messy it was. They should have at least extended time in ports. We make the most of every vacation, but we are also hoping that some things change before we go on another sailing in 2025. I feel bad that this was my parents' first cruise experience. They still had a good time, but it could have been a lot better too.

The Sun was my husband's favorite, but we went in 2014. The size was great and the crew was absolutely fantastic. Our biggest complaint was that the sports bar had limited hours instead of the 24-hr. O'Sheehan's. Maybe this has changed?

The ship itself is pretty average, to be honest. Most of the smaller ships are similar, so we are looking at a bigger one in 2025. That being said, The Pearl crew is pretty special. That was a stand-out for us. Entertainment-wise, we definitely noticed a lack of bigger shows in the theater and that was disappointing. Luckily, Seaside Duo was always great and we made our own fun with games and drinks from our favorite bartenders.

I will post the next port tomorrow, but here is the Freestyle for the day. As always, lots to do:

Alex and I rested at the cabin for a bit and then eventually went to O'Sheehans for small bites. It was a beautiful sunset as we headed out to our next port. Then I went to Pure Variety while Alex hung out with my parents. Pure Variety was again very enjoyable with the dancers being the highlight to me. I met the rest of the family down in the Maltings are after and we played cards for a few hours while enjoying some drinks. I love a good Old Fashioned, but with Jameson of course. The bartenders at Maltings made some great ones for me. We went to bed after our cards since tomorrow was another port day. What started as a hot mess getting off the ship ended up being pretty great after all.

Back on the ship, we arrived back at our room with a new towel animal friend, and clean laundry. This was our third free load of the cruise and we had one left. I love getting my clothes back in the cute little basket all pressed. My white pants from the week before had gotten stained in Bermuda, and they returned white as new. And of course, you get all those yellow laundry tags that never seem to go away. We continue to find them all the time now that we are home.