laverendrye

Pier 39 is a wonderful Immigration Museum. You should dock within easy walking distance.

The Canadian Museum of Immigration is at Pier 21 and is well worth a visit.

https://pier21.ca/home

There is no Pier 39, although Berth 39 is part of the South Container Port.

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St Lawrence Cruise Lines runs a number of cruises linking Québec, Montréal and Kingston on the St Lawrence as well as Ottawa on the Ottawa River

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I’ve cruised with Uniworld five times (2007 to 2016) and very much enjoyed them. My latest cruise, however, was on the Douro this summer with Emerald. I had cruised the Douro in 2012 with Uniworld so was able to compare the two. Emerald was considerably less expensive (several thousand dollars) from the Uniworld cruise at the same time this year and the only significant difference was that Emerald did not include bar charges (although one evening when things were particularly lively the CD declared an open bar!). Otherwise, beer and wine at lunch and dinner were included as were all gratuities. I thought that Uniworld’s excursions were marginally better, and there were optional excursions at extra cost on Emerald. However, this has also been the case on recent Uniworld cruises I have taken since that line became “fully” all-inclusive. All in all I found that Emerald’s service, including the meals, was comparable to Uniworld and overall much better value.

I have the impression that Uniworld has become significantly more expensive in the past few years since I last travelled with them and I am not sure that they represent the best value for money today. I do think that from my experience that Emerald offers better value than Uniworld. Although I have not travelled with their parent line Scenic, I don’t think I could justify paying their exceedingly high fares. River cruising has become quite an expensive proposition compared to other modes of travel, and although I have enjoyed my river cruises, I’m not sure that I would do it again in Europe.

That said, I am currently researching a Nile cruise and am looking at Uniworld and Emerald. I’m not interested in Viking, even though I enjoyed my Viking cruises in Russia and on the Mekong, and Scenic I really consider over the top.

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Gnome12 is right about Italy. You are trying to do too much in too little time. Stick to one or at the very most two cities. 6 days is not too much to spend in any one of them.

Getting from Budapest to Venice, for example, by train will take you a minimum of 10 hours with at least one change. From Budapest to Rome would add five or six hours to that with more changes. You should fly. There are lots of budget flights available.

There should be no problem flying into Paris and home from Rome. It’s call an “open jaw” and I imagine that Viking can arrange that.

Taking the train from Paris to Amsterdam is a good plan. Take the high speed Thalys and it will be about 3 hours. Just don’t burden yourself with too much luggage.

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Douro Azul indeed owns and operates most of the ships on the Douro and leases them to the various cruise lines. The exceptions are Scenic and its other brand Emerald, which do own their ships. I cruised with Emerald this past June and was quite impressed with the ship and the service. Unlike all the other lines, Scenic/Emerald have their berth in Porto on the north side of the river as opposed to Vila Nova de Gaia on the south. It makes it a bit more convenient for walking about town.

I had cruised the Douro back in 2012 with Uniworld on a Douro Azul ship (Douro Spirit) which was transferred to Viking at the end of that season. It was replaced by the newly launched Queen Isabel in 2013. I thought that the service on the Douro Spirit was certainly up to Uniworld’s standards, although a significant drawback was a noisy dining room on the lowest deck. Perhaps after 5 years’ service the Queen Isabel is becoming tired as some have noted.

I’ve been a steady Uniworld customer over the years, but it seems that they have become quite pricey now even considering that they are now mostly all-inclusive, and I have read reports of their service slipping. That has not been my experience, but my last Uniworld cruise was on the River Queen two years ago and things may have changed since then.

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Regarding Bruges and Ghent, I agree with the earlier comment that they are both very interesting, but if you’ve not visited either then Bruges should be your choice. I’ve visited them both a number of times Bruges especially since my first visit nearly 50 years ago and I’ve always regarded them as very special places. I understand that in recent years the streets (and canals) of Bruges have become choked with visitors, but I don’t think you will find those sorts of crowds in March.

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There are many interesting small museums in Amsterdam that are worth seeing. In addition to those mentioned, I can recommend the Amsterdam Museum (perhaps not that small) and the nearby Begijnhof. Rembrandt’s House has been completely restored with furnishings as close as possible to the originals and there are demonstrations of printmaking and paint mixing in the house. Two houses on the great canals of former wealthy merchants are now museums: the Van Loon Museum and the Willet-Holthuysen Museum. I’ve been to all of these on recent visits. Two museums which I have not yet visited in my many times in Amsterdam are the National Maritime Museum and the new striking Eye Film Institute across the harbour. I think it would be worth a visit for the building alone. Looks as if I’ll have to plan another visit to Amsterdam!

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I have cruised the Moselle at the end of September and it is a beautiful time of year to do so. Places are far less crowded than in August and given recent trends in weather in Europe, temperatures should be much more comfortable by then. I always try to avoid travel in Europe in July and August.

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We didn't get to the hotel until almost 11 pm in the lower old town and there was nothing open and

no place to eat.

I’m sorry to hear that you couldn’t find a place to eat after 11PM. Many restaurants do close before then, but there are dozens in Old Québec that do stay open late, some to 3AM. I’m surprised that your hotel didn’t suggest where you might find one.

Certainly someone looking for a late meal would have a much better chance in town than at an airport hotel, many of which don’t have restaurants or even snack bars open that late, if at all.

My recommendation would be to stay in town for the reasons Twickenham has noted.

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Of course it’s possible to drive the whole way from Toronto to Vancouver but I wouldn’t recommend it—it’s far too long and much of the route is monotonous.

Your idea of flying to Calgary and driving to Vancouver is a good one. I would not be in a rush and try to take several days to do it. The Trans-Canada Highway takes you through some of the most beautiful of the mountain National Parks—Banff, Yoho, Glacier and Revelstoke. You could follow the Trans-Canada all the way to Vancouver through the Fraser Canyon but my recommendation would be to go via the Okanagan Valley with its lakes, vineyards and orchards. If you have the time, I would stop in Lake Louise and take a trip to Jasper on the spectacular Icefields Parkway, overnight in Jasper, and then return to Lake Louise, continuing from there to Vancouver.

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Dunno why the packages involving the whole Canadian route are Vancouver-starting only; probably just down to them choosing to market only a relative handful of routes on the 'home page' and it just so happens right now that only includes one Vancouver-Toronto Canadian trip (almost all the ones I see, even having selected the 'long trip' options, are 7 days or less).

 

NB: that everything included with VIA packages can be booked by you independently, and a lot of the included things (like HOHOs) don't even get you a saving booked in advance compared to doing them ad hoc. A trip this long, the odds of it being on time the whole way are slim - though with so many big stretches to play catch-up, I can't recall the train failing to arrive the same day it was meant to though there have been delays long enough that the train back was also delayed as they needed more time to prep than they had available.

 

I'd definitely price up all the inclusions of the packages, verify hotel rates and included sightseeing prices, and see what sort of padding is being added - if it's not much more than booking it all yourself then you may find comfort in buying a package so that if the train is delayed you don't lose a separately-booked excursion for example - but the packages with overnight hotels are in cities that have tons of things to do, so the odds of what they include being the same things you'd pick as the best things to prioritize, and the length of time spent in each city, are not likely to line up well.

 

As to routing, Lavendereye is correct that there is no single coast-to-coast train trip, but getting to Halifax from the UK involves flying to Toronto (or less frequently to Montreal) then flying backward. Plus the actual eastern-most part of Canada is train-free as Newfoundland has had no railway service since 1988, so you can no longer use rail to truly cross the whole country.

 

The other thing to consider with VIA is that ever since the daytime routes through the Rockies were sold off to private concerns, you will be asleep during the most spectacular mountain scenery. There's a reason that the Rocky Mountaineer charges several multiples of the VIA rates for their services, and it's not down to the food being THAT much better - it's because they can get away with charging obscene amounts as there is no competition! So if you are really keen, you need to budget for taking the Canadian only as far as the Rockies - if you get off in Jasper you can connect directly onto RM services to Vancouver, but frankly I find the value incredibly poor compared to doing it by car or bus where you can actually stop and take pics rather than shooting from a moving train through glass.

It’s not correct that you must stop in Toronto or Montreal en route from London to Halifax. In the summer (roughly beginning of May to the end of October) both Air Canada and Westjet offer direct non-stop flights, AC from Heathrow and WJ from Gatwick.

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Yes indeed. The Canadian runs both ways between Toronto and Vancouver.

https://www.viarail.ca/en/explore-our-destinations/trains/rockies-and-pacific/toronto-vancouver-canadian

You should realize however that Toronto is far from the east coast. To get from the east coast you need to take the overnight Ocean from Halifax to Montreal and then a train to Toronto.

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Where is a good place in Montreal to purchase wine by the bottle to carry onto the ship?

(if this has already been answered, please forgive me...a search yielded no results).

The closest full service liquor store (SAQ) is at Place d’Armes, just a couple of blocks from the Old Port. If you are satisfied with inexpensive wines you can find them at a dépanneur (convenience store) of which you can find several close to the Port.

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I know, it is an old family joke. It comes from "baie qu'appelle" which mean " how is this berry called' or 'what is this berry called'? So if you say Baie qu'appelle (bay-ka-pelle) you get bake apple!!

 

 

 

Safe and happy cruising.

I have to chime in on this one. Charming as the story may be, “bakeapple”, known elsewhere in English as the cloudberry, is not derived from “baie qu’appelle” (which literally means “berry that calls”). It is most likely derived from the Inuktitut word “appik”. BTW the French had no need to ask what the berry is called as there are two words, “plaquebière” and, especially in Québec, “chicoutai”. Whatever the origin, it does make delicious jam!

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A previous thread discussed potential problems with the Montreal Triathlon scheduled for August 23-26. This thread addresses similar potential problems with the Montreal Marathon scheduled for September 21-23.

 

 

 

My wife and I are disembarking from our cruise on the Oceania Insignia on Sunday morning, September 23, which is the date for the half-marathon and marathon races. I have confirmed that the disembarkation will take place at Terminal 3, several miles downriver from the main Port of Montreal because of road closures resulting from the race route.

 

 

 

We scheduled an early morning flight on Monday, September 24, from YUL specifically to enable us to see the sights of Montreal on the day of our arrival. We have a hotel reservation at the Marriott In-Terminal Hotel. Thus, we are trying to figure out how to get from Terminal 3 with our luggage, take a tour to see the sights of Montreal, and then end up at our hotel at YUL late that afternoon.

 

 

 

One independent tour operator informed me that he was choosing to cancel all tours on that Sunday because of the road closures related to the marathon. Another tour company indicated that all of their tours would proceed as scheduled. My tentative plan is to get a taxi from Terminal 3 to the Notre-Dame Basilica (where the tour begins), store our luggage a block away at a BagBnB, take a 2-hour walking tour of Old Montreal beginning at 10:30 am, enjoy lunch and further strolling of Old Montreal, pick up our luggage, and get a taxi to our hotel at YUL later in the afternoon after all roads have reopened.

 

 

 

Is this doable? My biggest question is whether or not a taxi can get us from Terminal 3 to the Basilica in light of potential road closures. The race route is found on the www.runrocknroll.com/montreal website.

 

 

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

You should have no problem getting to Notre Dame Basilica from T3 by taxi on Sunday morning. Your plans for a walking tour of Old Montréal and lunch are quite doable.

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Do you care about location for the stay?

 

Because to me downtown Montreal is not worth the hotel price. It's still a hassle to get in and out off with traffic.

 

If you're just overnighting I'd get something close to the T3 access road. So north Montreal.

Or something close to how you're planning to leave. Airport?

 

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I couldn’t disagree more. There are few if any decent hotels anywhere near Pie IX and Notre Dame (entrance to T3). As you had booked a hotel in Old Montréal you presumably want to see something of the city before you leave. Downtown is a much better place to base yourself and as you will be there on a weekend the traffic should not be a problem. Traffic in Old Montréal will still be a problem because of the Triathlon and street closures, and I see that the first races begin at 7AM on Saturday. Furthermore I fail to see the point of staying at an airport hotel if you want to se anything of Montreal.

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Yes, the Veendam will be docked at T3. Since it is too far to walk especially with the thousands of people there for the triathalon which area should I be looking to find a hotel in that will not be too affected by the road closures? Thanks for any help.

Look for a hotel in downtown Montreal.

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On August 25th I will be debarking from a cruise and staying at the Springhill Suites. I booked this hotel months ago because it was walking distance from the port. Will I still be able to walk to the hotel from the cruise port with luggage on August 25th or will the roads be closed? Now I'm worried. Any suggestions?

Check to see what at what terminal your ship will be berthing. If it is T3 it is definitely not walking distance.

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In Portugal, at least, Scenic/Emerald have their own fleet of buses. They are quite comfortable and certainly air-conditioned but I can’t recall whether or not they have charging outlets. They are comparable to most European long distance tourist buses.

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I would not stay at a hotel in Old Montréal as the triathlon routes will be all over it.

According to the Port of Montreal website, your ship will berth at the T3 terminal which is in the industrial port downstream from the main passenger terminal in the Old Port. The entrance is at Boul PieX and Norte Dame well away from any of the triathlon activities.

Find a nice hotel in downtown Montreal and you should be fine.

Check the Port of Montréal website for all the details

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Why wouldn’t you take a cab? The pier is close to central Basel and a cab ride from your hotel might take 5 to 10 minutes.

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I laughed so hard when I started reading this thread. The things we all seem to get really upset about - we’re all talking about VACATION time here. [emoji23][emoji23]

Just an FYI: In the maritime industry it is considered bad luck to re-name vessels while you own them. Honestly - the world didn’t panic when Pacific Princess suddenly started sailing in the Atlantic. ‘No, Get back in your proper Ocean, you naughty ship!! How dare Princess do this! What were they thinking!’ Silly when you look at it this way TBH.

Enjoy the ships, or don’t go on them. So Crystal’s marketing plan had to be tweaked - yes, annoying, etc. but they still have a good product.

 

P.S. Strasbourg is technically France.

 

 

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Just try telling a proud Strasbourgeois that he is “technically” French.

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Just booked a Free tour of Old Quebec...meets at the fountain of Tourny in Cooperstown at Parliament area bldg . Tip what you want. Read great reviews.

Cooperstown in Québec???

I was on the River Queen twice in 2016 (Tulips and Windmills in April and Rhine/Moselle in September). I thought that the ship was in very good condition, the service impeccable and the food first rate. I would have no hesitation taking another cruise on her.

I’m not a native Montrealer, but I did live there on two occasions for several years, and I now live a short drive away and visit often. That said, I am not a great fan of Schwartz’s and think there are better places for smoked meat, both of which have been already mentioned. In the Plateau,I prefer The Main across the street from Schwartz’s and downtown, Dunn’s on Ste. Catherine. There are other good places but for the casual visitor these two should please. (BTW my favourite was Ben’s, now sadly closed).

The OP and her husband have now visited and I would be interested in where they ended up eating. I do hope they tried a Montreal bagel as I think they are far superior to the New York variety.

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