what is canada/new england cruise like?

[singwithjoy]

Thinking about canada/new england cruise. Any thoughts on what its like?

One cruise the port is Portland,Me on the other two they go to Bar Harbor

Which is better? Portland had a 9 hour train trip that sounded fun. But 4 hours was spent driving back and forth. And the time on the train the said no bathroom on the train. That would be hard.

How cold is it up there in Sept or Oct? I am a florida native and not used to cold weather.

On these ports of call could you skip the princess excursions and do better on your own?

[rdsqrl]

I haven't done one yet although I looked seriosly into it for this summer (couldn't make the schedule work for me sadly), so take my advice for what it's worth: I'd pick Bar Harbor without hesitation -- from everything I've read here by those who've done this itinerary, BH seems to me like it's a highlight of the cruise.

October will probably be chilly -- even here in the southern mid-Atlantic, October can be downright cold at times. September should have warm-ish days, but I'd expect the evenings at sea to be cool in both months. If you go on weather.com, you can find average temps by month for all the ports; I always check there when planning travel. Here's a link to the page for Bar Harbor, to get you started:

http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USME0018

[Roses2]

See full review of both recent 9 day and last year's 7 day Canada/New England cruise at: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1420534

[mr green]

We did it one time during Halloween. Fantastic, and not too cold.

 

john

[SailBadtheSinner]

I would do the cruise that includes Bar Harbor because BH is a small, quaint New England town and it is adjacent to Acadia National Park. If you were to take the cruise in early October, you would have a chance of seeing near peak fall foliage.

 

The train ride referred to in the OP, is most likely the Cog Railway http://www.thecog.com/ that climbs the 6,288-foot Mt Washington http://www.mountwashington.org/ . If you were to do that excursion, you would have to be prepared for some extremey cold weather at the top of Mt Washington.

 

 

SBtS

[turtle tavern]

I went on this cruise last year in October and I am also a Florida native. It was high mid 50's but not too cold, just had a long sleeve shirt on and was fine. It seemed like everyone I spoke with took private tours, we did not take any so I do not know. But we explored all on our own and had a great time. From what I have heard from others who have done this several times that you really do not need a tour the first time as exploring on your own will take up your whole day. It was really pretty but if you are used to cruising the Caribbean it is a much different cruise. It was too cold for the pools and you are stuck inside on the ship most of the time.

 

I am glad I did it once, but would not do it again.

[Coral]

I have done this trip 2x, both times in October.

 

Expect anything weather wise.

 

First time we had an Oct 18th tour and we arrived in NYC Oct 15th I believe. It had poured for weeks in New England and poured our days in NYC/NJ and tons of flooding going on. We stayed in the hotel the entire time. Thankfully the rain stopped once we started cruising. We were too early for fall foliage that year.

 

A few years later we were on an Oct 23rd trip (Quebec to FLL). We arrived in Quebec 2 days early and came into a snow storm. We spent 2 days at the hotel and boarded the ship with snow. Weather was bad and we missed our next port - no one seemed to care. The weather got better and by the time we got to Boston - we hit peak color. Above that, we missed it and below that, we were early. Boston was on October 31st and everyone kept saying that was the best weather day of the season.

 

I think I have given up on fall colors on the East Coast. :(

 

On both trips Bar Harbor was a highlight of my trip - I love that port!

[irislady]

DH and I did a Can-New England cruise in early Oct. in 2004. We enjoyed it, but on that cruise we felt we were among the youngest passengers onboard... and we were in our mid 50's! We have never seen so many scooters, walkers and canes on any of our 13 cruises.

 

We enjoyed the various ports, especially Halifax and St. John. Boston was nice, too despite the rain we had there.

 

The highlight of the cruise for us was sailing out of NYC past the Statue of Liberty. The low point was a terrible whale watching excursion out of Bar Harbor. The seas were so rough that over 95% of everybody onboard the boat got seasick. The bad weather turned into a Nor'easer and "followed" us to Boston. The Grand Princess had a very rocky ride. The shows and champagne waterfall had to be cancelled.

 

While the East Coast is lovely, you really won't see much fall color unless you head inland.

[Aussie Gal]

Thanks for all your information. We have booked the New England cruise for October, 2012 on the Emerald Princess. We are so looking forward to seeing the autumn colours as we don't get a lot of that down here.

 

Jennie

[jrzebird]

I was on the CB for the NE/Canada cruise last August and am going back to the same one this August. First, it was my first time on Princess and I was very impressed. It was also the first time I had been to New England, so everything was exciting. My favorite ports were Halifax (the cemeteries with the victims from the Titanic is a must do excursion) and my other favorite was Newport. It rained that day (as it did several other days) but my roomie and I walked around by the port, visited an awesome church and graveyard, and bought homemade candy!

 

I found this cruise to be relaxing and it had a totally different 'feel' than a Caribbean cruise. My roomie went to the pool and swam almost every day, but I sort of walked past it on my way to food.

 

The CB is a beautiful ship, with lots to see and do. The crew is awesome to perfection. The food is excellent and always available. Entertainment is .. entertaining (some more so than others). The ports on this cruise all feel homey, probably because they mostly are 'home', for me. As someone said, it's very easy to get off the ship and tour the area. I did a lot of that the first time. This time I'm alone so I'm going to book some of the ship's excursions.

 

Weather is so variable. It can be 80 one day and 50 the next. It is hurricane season, and we had a nor'easter for a couple days. The cruise the week after ours had to cut out the last port and head back to NYC because of a hurricane. They docked in Manhattan and gave everyone a day in NYC (not literally gave), and then went back to Brooklyn the next day to disembark. It is sometimes foggy and damp. I always carried a jacket.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Maureen

[Coral]

Thanks for all your information. We have booked the New England cruise for October, 2012 on the Emerald Princess. We are so looking forward to seeing the autumn colours as we don't get a lot of that down here.

 

Jennie

 

If you have the time, I would suggest spending some time before or after the cruise and rent a car and drive around.

[Aussie Gal]

We are doing the Princess cruise tour beforehand which takes in Eastern Canada and afterwards we are spending time in New York.

 

We prefer not to drive on the opposite side to what we are used to eg. driving on the right hand side. We did it in France once and vowed never again!

 

Jennie

[AAAAmerican]

What a wonderful area of the world NE USA and the Maritime Provinces in E. Canada are.

 

 

Fall provides lots of color a true great spectacle to behold.

 

Each Port of call does have special areas and locations near to explore. Having your choices which can be vast ..I do suggest doing your due dilly prior to your voyages..so having a few plans as we all know things do not always go accordinly a lot..

 

So yes Plan A B C D etc..

 

Clothing is not optional.. as some airlines want us to think..

 

Dressing in layers is great as temperatures fluctuate wildly as in some Eurasian Areas of that Latitude.

 

The Tidal area's are wonderful.. make sure you know the schedules so you do not miss that event off Nova Scotia and New Brunswick Provinces..eh..

 

 

On driving as in Australia, NZ, Japan or the UK etc.. it does take getting used to in North America and vice versa.. so make sure you plan well prior to arrival.

 

In the Greater NYC, NY, NJ area here Mass Transit is ok and the Trains are wonderful once out of Town ( NYC, NY) even going for a quick jaunt on the Train up near WEST POINT and the USMA located with now the US Mint too. Having lunch in Cold Spring ( thats where Rachel Ray is /was from ) which is on the Hudson River across and touring a Federal Period house, The Boscobel House , Garrison , NY http://www.boscobel.orgis wonderful also.

 

 

[Aussie Gal]

AAA American,

 

We have been to New York before and love that city. We have just returned home from a long cruise and we then spent 6 days in Washington DC which we thoroughly enjoyed.

 

I am not sure who Rachel Ray is but I would love to tour Boscobel House so thanks for that idea which I will put in my file of our Canada/New England trip next year!

 

 

Jennie

[CraigRDR1]

Thinking about canada/new england cruise. Any thoughts on what its like?

One cruise the port is Portland,Me on the other two they go to Bar Harbor

Which is better? Portland had a 9 hour train trip that sounded fun. But 4 hours was spent driving back and forth. And the time on the train the said no bathroom on the train. That would be hard.

How cold is it up there in Sept or Oct? I am a florida native and not used to cold weather.

On these ports of call could you skip the princess excursions and do better on your own?

 

Fantastic Cruise (we did it in 2009)...Bar Harbor is wonderful...Have some lobster!!

[BoPippy]

I lived all my life in Eastern Canada,90 miles from the St.John,New Brunswick cruise terminal and 175 miles from Halifax and September here is usually the best month of the year,usuall high 60's,low 70's,some cooler days near the end of the month,while October can be the same,u start to get colder days fast,some nice,some not so nice.Wear a sweater...Leaves change quite quickly,depending on weather,rain,wind,etc.It is a great time of the year,but a SAD reminder of what is to come,unfortunately.:)

[Coral]

We are doing the Princess cruise tour beforehand which takes in Eastern Canada and afterwards we are spending time in New York.

 

We prefer not to drive on the opposite side to what we are used to eg. driving on the right hand side. We did it in France once and vowed never again!

 

Jennie

 

I completely understand. I am afraid to drive on the opposite side of the road and have put off a return trip to Ireland because of it.

 

I probably should add that the ports are fabulous! We loved all the ports we were at. The only frustration is guessing weather and when the fall colors will hit which is what I was trying to do.

[timetravler]

We are taking the repositioning cruise next year from Quebec to FL, so reading all the coments here is great for us. I don't expect to see fall colors because it will be late October, but with the strange weather patterns we are having this year, who knows. I have not been to any of these ports except FL, so this cruise will be all new for us. Thanks for the info

[Aussie Gal]

Coral,

 

Your reports were so good especially the historical aspect. It has made me even more excited about seeing those ports even though it is 16 months away. The only port we have been to on our cruise is Boston where we stayed a few days 6 years ago. We also get to see besides Quebec, Charlottetown, Sydney (I presume it will be a complete contrast to our Sydney) Halifax, Saint John, Bar Harbour and Newport. We have been to St. Johns in Newfoundland but not in New Brunswick.

 

Jennie

[Iamcruzin]

Thinking about canada/new england cruise. Any thoughts on what its like?

One cruise the port is Portland,Me on the other two they go to Bar Harbor

Which is better? Portland had a 9 hour train trip that sounded fun. But 4 hours was spent driving back and forth. And the time on the train the said no bathroom on the train. That would be hard.

How cold is it up there in Sept or Oct? I am a florida native and not used to cold weather.

On these ports of call could you skip the princess excursions and do better on your own?

 

If I were to sail this itinerary I would probably sail in early September. Provided there aren't any hurricanes, the weather is still nice and it doesn't get dark as early as it does in Oct. Also October can be rainy as others have posted. If you sail in late October and still feel compelled to see the fall colors, I invite you to take an excursion to my house where you can participate in a leaf raking festival. Activities will include raking the leaves into a pile and jumping into the pile, then raking them up again and stuffing them into a trash bag,followed by an acorn fight with the locals, I will teach you how to whistle with an acorn shell and I will provide lunch and cider. You are even welcome to take a bag of colorful leafs back to Florida with you. :D:D:D

[Aussie Gal]

Coral,

 

Your reports were so good especially the historical aspect. It has made me even more excited about seeing those ports even though it is 16 months away. The only port we have been to on our cruise is Boston where we stayed a few days 6 years ago. We also get to see besides Quebec, Charlottetown, Sydney (I presume it will be a complete contrast to our Sydney) Halifax, Saint John, Bar Harbour and Newport. We have been to St. Johns in Newfoundland but not in New Brunswick.

 

Jennie

 

I have just gone back and reread my post. I meant to be thanking Roses2 for her great reports. My apologies to Roses 2.

 

Jennie