New England/Canada excursions

[cruiseacct]

We ar on the Explorer on September 1. Looking for recommendations for shore excursions. What were your favorites?

[pstone1]

Hi there:

 

We just returned last week from a Canada/New England cruise on the Enchantment and had a wonderful time. We took the following excursions: Portland - We booked an afternoon trip on (not through the ship) on the Lucky Catch Lobster boat. It is right down the street from the ship and we had an awesome time. Bar Harbor: We went on the early AM Ocean Trail Hike in Acadia Nat'l Park, went back to town for a great lunch at the Westside Cafe, and pre-booked the 2PM Oli's Trolley long tour (not through the ship) that went to the summit of Cadillac Mountain, Thunder Hole, and the National Park Building/Botanical Garden. It was a great day! St. Johns: We went to Hopewell Rocks (through the ship) which was the coolest excursion of the trip. Awesome! Nova Scotia: We went on the Pub Tour (through the ship) and had a great time. Boston: We took the trolley tour which also gave us transportation to and from the ship. After the tour the trolley drops you right near Faneuil Hall so you have plenty of time to explore on your own and have lunch. It was easy to catch another trolley (included) back to the ship. We had such a great time on this cruise. I hope the above is helpful and you have a great time too!

 

Paula

[vavasmom]

We also sailed the Enchantment two weeks ago from Baltimore. It was a wonderful itinerary. I did a mix of RCCL excursions and private ones.

 

In Portland we did a private trolley tour and lighthouse cruise (I think they called it Land and Sea) through a company called Portland Discovery. It was considerably less money than through the cruise line ($35 per person) and we enjoyed it. Their booth is a couple of blocks down from where the ship docks - right by the Lucky Catch mentioned above. We saw the outside of the sights from the trolley (we did stop at the Portland Head Light to get out) and had a very nice harbor cruise past 4 (or 5) light houses. We also saw harbor seas in July. They also offer just the Trolley or Lighthouse Cruise Tour.

 

In Bar Harbor we did a Bus tour through Acadia using a private company (Acadia National Park Tours). The cost was $27.50 per person. Our bus driver/guide was a woman and was excellent. She provided tons of information and had pictures of Acadia in different seasons. We made three stops (Sieur De Monts Spring, Thunder Hole, and top of Cadillac Mountain). A few people on the ships' tour were asking her questions as she pointed out formations in the rocks at Thunder Hole. This tour was on a School Bus type vehicle which was clean and well maintained. The ticket location and bus boarding area area is near a restaurant a few block up main street.

 

For both of these I made reservations in advance on the internet and paid the day of the trip.

 

In St. John we took the ship's photography tour - this was on the higher end price-wise but we really enjoyed it and rate it an excellent value for the money. The group was smaller and a professional photographer took us to four locations while providing both local history/information and photography tips. I would suggest trying to go at low tide so you can appreciate the tides on the Bay of Fundy. The four stops were: Bay of Fundy at Irving Nature Beach; Reversing Falls, a waterfall, and a fishing pier with a lobster pound. Our guide was very low-key and relaxed. He was happy to provide tips on how to better use my Cannon Point and Shoot Digital and to others in the group using higher end cameras/multiple lens. He engaged everyone in the group - from a teenager to an older gentleman who was her grandfather. This was our best excursion of the entire trip.

 

In Halifax we had booked the Titanic Cemetery and Peggy's Cove tour for the afternoon from the ship. This choice was a mistake. We spent just over 2 hours on a bus for less than 20 minutes at the cemetery and exactly 40 minutes (the bus left!!) in Peggy's cove. This was an afternoon tour - in the morning, we took the advice of the ship's guest lecturer (Dr. Sydney) and visited the Maritime Museum Of the Atlantic. We really enjoyed this. The shipwreck stories and artifacts (from more than just the Titanic) we very interesting. I learned a lot about the Titanic and seeing what was recovered interested me. They also have several small informative movies and a first floor of ship history we did not get to see. My advice is: If you want to see Peggy's cove - do just that - everyone who did that seemed to enjoy it. If I had it to do over again I would find a way to get to the cemetery (I enjoy historic cemeteries) and have spent more time at the museum or possibly see the Halifax Gardens.

 

In Boston, I bought the hop-on-hop-off Old Towne Trolley tour tickets on the internet. The Trolleys start running 8:45 - 9:00 near the end of the pier. There were also other Trolley Companies selling tickets. The day we were in Boston it was so hot. We got off and walked most of the Freedom Trail (including the north church and 4 historic cemeteries). I really enjoyed the day but it is too short. There was so much we did not get to see.

 

I hope this helps - Let me know if you have questions