St.John and Halifax- which one would you..

[laumicmah]

not do an excursion? If you were to just walk around and explore and shop, which port would be the best? Thanks!

[nybumpkin]

My vote would be for Halifax. There is plenty to see and do within walking distance of the pier and excursions that can be booked independently of the cruise ship. You can book harbor tours along the boardwalk. My personal votes are for the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic and Nova Scotian Crystal (you can watch them hand-blow the glass, plus shop in their store. I've started collecting one of their patterns.) However, I've also done walking/shopping tours in Saint John as well. The City Market is a definite place to visit - think of a cross between a farmer's market, a craft fair and restaurants. Saint John is quieter than Halifax, though.

 

In all, they're both great cities with really nice people who welcome you to their port.

[Coral]

I personally think there are better tours in Halifax compared to St. John.

 

I can think of a dozen things to do in Halifax while the tours in St. John just don't excite me (having been to both 2x).

[lroche_nf]

One of favourite things to do in Halifax is walking around the waterfront so I certainly vote for there. Lots of nice little shops and restuarants (and Cows ice cream) plus the Maritime History Museum and Pier 21. There are tons of boat tours (and a duck tour!) doing business on the waterfront as well. No trouble to fill a day.

[laumicmah]

Thanks! We're leaning towards not booking an excursion in Halifax, but I will continue to research. We want to keep excursion costs to a minimum, so will do 1 really big excursion (at 1 port) or may do 2 moderate (1 at each port). Thanks for the info.

[nybumpkin]

Thanks! We're leaning towards not booking an excursion in Halifax, but I will continue to research. We want to keep excursion costs to a minimum, so will do 1 really big excursion (at 1 port) or may do 2 moderate (1 at each port). Thanks for the info.

There are some tours in Halifax that you can book when you arrive for a lower price than on the ship. On one of our cruises DH and our two older sons booked the Harbour Hopper tour in town, which is also available through the ship, and it was much less expensive. The downside is that you will not get the "prime" tour times since they are taken by the ship.

[nctraveler54]

Excursions - Halifax

Walk - St. John

[LiftLockCouple]

If you have not already found this thread.... have a look at post #1, there are lots of details regarding Saint John that might be of help. IMO, in Halifax there is no wrong decision, you win either way. I would choose to explore the city and sights but many would prefer to go to Peggy's Cove and Lunenburg.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1147722&page=5

[sapper1]

If you have not already found this thread.... have a look at post #1, there are lots of details regarding Saint John that might be of help. IMO, in Halifax there is no wrong decision, you win either way. I would choose to explore the city and sights but many would prefer to go to Peggy's Cove and Lunenburg.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1147722&page=5

Your link was to Acey's 2010 FAQ thread. He has just updated for 2011 and I have a link here.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1367592

 

He really puts a lot of time into it and covers all the bases.

[LiftLockCouple]

Your link was to Acey's 2010 FAQ thread. He has just updated for 2011 and I have a link here.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1367592

 

He really puts a lot of time into it and covers all the bases.

 

Thanks Sapper1: Yes Acey had not yet posted the 2011 thread. Once again he has set the standard for other cruise port community posters on CC.

[spirit rev]

When we were in both of these ports, we found St. John, NB to be wonderful and very welcoming. While we were there on the CA Thanksgiving, we still were greeted wonderfully - roses for each woman. We took a tour out to St. Martin and then up the Fundy Trail with several stops along the way to see the beauty in this area. When we got to the visitor's center, we were treated to a lunch and then more "education." Had a marvelous time and were able to experience part of the tidal change in that area - unbelievable.

 

In Halifax there is a lot you can do close by and walking as other have noted above. We didn't see as much to do in St. John that was close by - even if it hadn't been a holiday.

[reallyitsmema]

I would do an excursion in St John and walk Halifax. We actually walked around both this past October and enjoyed ourselves but would go to St Martin next time while in St John.

 

In Halifax, I would get off the ship first thing and take a cab up the hill to the Citadel. Not having to walk up the hill first thing in the morning was worth the $10 fare even though the cabbie wasn't happy to take us. He wanted to take us to Peggy's Cove for a much larger fare.:rolleyes: We took on of the early guided tours, saw a rifle demo, took some beautiful pictures of the ships on the waterfront and were out of there before it got busy. We then walked down the hill to the waterfront and poked through all the stores. We then did a tour at Alexander Keith's Brewery, went to the Maritime Museum after lunch on the waterfront and stopped at the shops down at Pier 21. Was a wonderful day.:)

[laumicmah]

I would do an excursion in St John and walk Halifax. We actually walked around both this past October and enjoyed ourselves but would go to St Martin next time while in St John.

 

In Halifax, I would get off the ship first thing and take a cab up the hill to the Citadel. Not having to walk up the hill first thing in the morning was worth the $10 fare even though the cabbie wasn't happy to take us. He wanted to take us to Peggy's Cove for a much larger fare.:rolleyes: We took on of the early guided tours, saw a rifle demo, took some beautiful pictures of the ships on the waterfront and were out of there before it got busy. We then walked down the hill to the waterfront and poked through all the stores. We then did a tour at Alexander Keith's Brewery, went to the Maritime Museum after lunch on the waterfront and stopped at the shops down at Pier 21. Was a wonderful day.:)

This is exactly what we're leaning towards doing....going on our own in Halifax (shopping, waterfront, museum...maybe Citadel and/or Brewery) and DH said that St Martin sounded good. I have to look into St Marten.

[meadowlander]

I was at both St. John and Halifax last year. The people are extremly friendly in both towns but there is very little to see/do in St John on your own. I spent a good hour walking around St. John last summer, I should know. : )

 

I was going to walk to Reversing Falls but the trail was closed and I see it is still closed for this season. There are sights to see in the downtown area but they can be accomplished in a short time period.

 

Halifax has an immigration museum, Pier 21, at the pier that your ship docks at. Toured the Citadel and thanks to the guide, found it very entertaining. As someone else pointed out, the cab driver was not too happy with a fair only to the fort. He was trying to sell a longer ride/tour and was "unable" to answer any of the questions I asked. My tip to him and moreso the returning cab driver, who was quite friendly, more than adequately represented my impression of his service.

[imlulu]

1st time we went to St John we did the horse drawn carriage tour. It was ok.

We did the Harbor Hopper in Halifax which was better.

 

2nd time we went to St John we didnt get off the ship because it was raining.

We just walked around Halifax. we were going to go over to Dartmouth but couldnt get change to take ferry.

 

 

This time( if we book) we will do the jet boat at the Falls in st John. Im not sure what we will do in Halifax. The tall ship excursion interests me.

 

 

We booked all tours once we exited the ship. Friends of ours did a bus tour of St John and found it really interesting.

[Acey-SJ]

1st time we went to St John we did the horse drawn carriage tour. It was ok.

We did the Harbor Hopper in Halifax which was better.

 

2nd time we went to St John we didnt get off the ship because it was raining.

We just walked around Halifax. we were going to go over to Dartmouth but couldnt get change to take ferry.

 

 

This time( if we book) we will do the jet boat at the Falls in st John. Im not sure what we will do in Halifax. The tall ship excursion interests me.

 

 

We booked all tours once we exited the ship. Friends of ours did a bus tour of St John and found it really interesting.

 

Beside the jet boat tour at the falls is a new attraction - zip lining - www.saintjohnadventures.ca

Just want to let you know about this additional option.