Montreal...need advice and suggestions!

Dh and I are doing the HAL Maasdam cruise from Montreal to Boston in August. Neither of us has been to Montreal before so we are flying in a couple of days early. Does anyone have any hotel suggestions? If we stay near the airport, is there easy transportation to downtown or would we be better off staying downtown? (I did find a tour that is rated well on Trip Advisor, which picks up at downtown hotels). What about shuttles to the cruise port? Or are we better off with taxi/uber, etc.? Lots of questions .... any advice appreciated! Thanks!

Don't stay near the airport. There is nothing there and transportation is not easy, neither by public transportation and taxi/uber (because mostly of traffic jams and construction). You should stay in the Old Montreal. You'll be near the port and near all activities of interest to be visited.

Yes, stay downtown.

Good subway system, great eating city.

I have not had a bad meal there. But do stay away from the tourist eating area by the river. The food is fine, but more pricey

My DH and I stayed at Hotel Alt a few years ago and it was clean, modern and lovely. There is a restaurant in the hotel. It is right near the Cathedral, but Montreal is not a very walkable city. We drove or took an Uber everywhere, although old town was very near Hotel Alt. Lots of restaurants, galleries and pubs, it was wonderful, and we found a good deal through Trivago.

Stay in Old Montreal, for sure. It is very walkable and a great place to tour for a day or two before your cruise. Also not very far from the cruise ship.

We will be staying one night in Montreal before a cruise next month. I wonder how much Canadian currency we will need? If we put most things on credit cards, I can only think that we might need Canadian money to tip a taxi driver. I would appreciate hearing anyone's experience.

Thank you.

Stay in Old Montreal, for sure. It is very walkable and a great place to tour for a day or two before your cruise. Also not very far from the cruise ship.

Ditto this! I like staying in Old Montreal as I think the people are friendlier and more tourist oriented. Very close to the pier also (I think since they have been changing around the pier location).

As a Canadian, I feel confident they will take US money. What the exchange would be, I couldn't say. Sometimes it's only at par, sometimes 20%, which is worth is, really, when you compare it to fiddling around trying to decide how much to bring. If I were you, I'd just go with US cash. My daughter works in a coffee shop here in Ontario, she's always fine with being tipped in US, just saves it up for her next vaycay.