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I travel much the same way - the planning is a large part of the fun. I've got a Google Sheets doc where I keep various lists, calendars, tracking of costs and reservation details, to-dos for before I go. I set it up as soon as I book (which means that the Jan 2024 Cunard Panama Canal transit doc was set up in November 2022!) This trip is on HAL - it's a New England/Canada 7-day out of Boston - but my preferred line is Cunard, where dressing for dinner is expected.

You can almost certainly hit an ATM in your first Canadian port and get some Canadian currency without paying the fee for multiple small purchases.

I'm just under 3 weeks away myself, and also starting to think about getting things together. I need to pull my suitcase out this weekend and start putting things in it. My partner is going to be away next week, so I can use their office as a staging area while they're gone, thankfully. This cruise doesn't have a formal night (which is weird for me), but I am doing dinner at the specialty restaurant, so I'll be taking something nice to wear for that, but also something nicer to wear for dinner the rest of the nights - part of the fun for cruising for me is dressing for dinner.

Especially in 'tourist towns', USD will likely be acceptable for tips of that nature, although CAD is generally preferable. You just don't want to be buying things with USD cash - the exchange rate you get will be abysmal (some places even take it at par, which, given the current exchange rate, is practically highway robbery), hence the recommendation to use your card or CAD cash for general purchases.

I'm doing the reverse (FLL - San Francisco) in January on QV, and quite looking forward to it!

My parents stayed at the BnB next door to the complex in May, and when they got back after the opera on Saturday evening, there was a lineup out the door and down the street to get into the Maddy, and the noise was apparently quite impressive. (They actually announce on their website that they're adjacent to the Maddy, so apparently it's a feature rather than a bug?)

You're right, it's the Novotel. And yes, the former Interconty in Yorkville has been renamed to the Royal Sonesta. If you're travelling in early September, I'd avoid the RS, though, as it's next to UofT, and students are loud. Another counter-recommendation is the B&B on Madison, as it's next to the Madison bar complex, which is ridiculously busy all the time.

A proper poutine doesn't have a heavy gravy - it's a brown gravy, yes, but it's quite thin.

Poutine is classic - it's not haute cuisine, but it is definitely a classic. But you've got to have proper, fresh, squeaky, cheese curds (that haven't been refrigerated) - this is why it's so hard to find good poutine outside of Quebec/eastern Ontario (and potentially the dairy-producing states in the US.) There is NOTHING better than picking up a bag of fresh cheese curds from beside the caisse at the dep.

The Toronto Cruise port (which I didn't even know existed, despite living here) is out in an industrial district. Still very close to downtown, but there's a lot of construction down in that area as they rebuild the mouth of the Don River, which can make getting down there somewhat difficult - you will absolutely want to take a cab, and make sure you have the street address (Cherry & Unwin - it's close to Cherry Beach.) The UP Express (Union-Pearson Express) will get you into downtown Toronto from the airport VERY quickly, and that is probably going to be your best bet, both to get a nicer hotel (but the closer you are to right downtown, the more expensive it will be - $500 is not even the highest I've heard for a single night at a downtown hotel on a regular weekend,) as well as to have more options for food and sight-seeing. (My father came into town in May for the Toronto Bach Festival, and the hotels downtown were asking $700+ per night. He ended up staying at the Intercontinental up at North York Centre, which is directly on the subway line.) Toronto has a vibrant downtown core - there's a lot to do, and a lot to see.

I'm also going to be sailing out of Boston this fall, and have rough plans to walk from the Yotel to the cruise port, which is only about a mile, according to Google Maps. I'll also probably be walking into 'downtown' Boston that morning to visit Newbury Yarns (gotta get that souvenir yarn somehow!), so I'll get a bunch of walking in before getting on board.

It sounds like you're having an incredible trip to London, Anita! It's one of my favourite cities. If you've got the time, I can highly recommend Dishoom for breakfast - it's an Indian restaurant chain, and their breakfasts are INCREDIBLE, plus bottomless chai. There's one in Carnaby, and there are another 4 or 5 around London.

There are a number of things to see at the Citadel - https://parks.canada.ca/lhn-nhs/ns/halifax/activ/decouverte-tours/visite-auto-guide-self-guided-tour

Having driven through Montreal, I would strongly advise against renting a car, especially if you are not at least somewhat familiar with French. Montreal drivers are notoriously aggressive, the rules of the road are different, and traffic in and around Montreal is a nightmare. The train should be very convenient, will get you right into downtown Montreal, and especially if you buy early, shouldn't be too expensive.

We had a similar experience last Thursday night, except we were camping! The rain was so heavy that we couldn't hear each other talk inside the tent, and the thunder & lightning were basically simultaneous. Luckily, we had tarped the tent above & below, so we stayed completely dry - I've had enough camping where it ended up raining inside the tent to be grateful for that.

Apparently she also came "quite close" to the super yacht shown in the photo above (with the bunkering barge beside.) (There was a random YouTube video that popped up on my recommended feed which mentioned this.)

I expect there will be quite a few bugs, but that's what the gazebo is for!

We're going to a nearby conservation area, only about an hour away from home. It's glamping, really - car camping, with massive tent, gazebo for sitting without getting eaten by bugs, only a 20 minute drive from a grocery store, and running water available nearby.

Time to start counting down, Lois! I'm at 43 days until my next cruise, but my next vacation starts in 2 - camping for a week with my partner.

You can also frequently find free wifi - airports and hotels generally have wifi available, and I think many ports do as well, which mean you don't need your phone data at all.

I'll be doing this trek (SFO-Toronto) next February, and I ended up booking the 10PM (ish) Air Canada flight, which gets in at 6AM (ish) the next morning. Less stress than trying to get to a flight before noon. (Although I probably could have made the 11.40AM flight, as we're doing an overnight in SFO, so will have already cleared customs & immigration.)

My next cruise is in 51 days (had to check the app to make sure), and so far, I haven't purchased anything specifically for it, but the one after that is in 187 days, and while I haven't purchased anything specifically for that one yet either, I've got a list of maybes, depending on which excursions I end up doing. I did, however, buy a tomtoc Urban Sling during Prime Days last week - not specifically for cruising, but not *not* for cruising, either.

I'm not sure what Zevo is, but Borax seems to work for ants (although it won't last through rain.)

You can't go wrong with Montreal bagels. They're iconic for a reason (and there's a reason that anyone who is coming to Toronto from Montreal is generally asked to bring home a few dozen for their friends.)

In central Canada, they're called Bunny Hugs.