Carnival Glory - Canada from Boston - Detailed Review - Part VI: The Ports

[CaribbeanBound]

Due to the length of this review, I have broken it up into several parts which I will post as quickly as I can.

 

 

Part VII - The Ports

A. Boston, Massachusetts

Boston was our port of departure. It is a really fun city and easy to get around if you use their metro system of buses, subways and ferries. Rather than give you a taste of Boston in this review, please see our incredibly detailed page entitled: "A Week in Boston" which features information and images to assist you in getting ready for an enjoyable week in Boston. For a shorter stay, simply pick and choose those items that interest you most.

 

B. Saint John, New Brunswick (Bay of Fundy)

8:00am - 4:00pm. We berthed at the Marco Polo Terminal (formerly known as the Pugsley Terminal), which is literally right in town and close to the Harbour Passage Walking Trail. Upon arrival, women were presented a rose and men were given a lapel pin souvenir.

 

We prearranged for an Enterprise Rental Car and set out for the Village of St. Martins, about 45 minutes northeast of St. John. St. Martins, located on the Bay of Fundy, is a fishing village, home to two covered bridges, sea caves, and the gateway to the Fundy Trail. The Bay of Fundy tides are the highest tides in the world, rising and dropping as much as 47 feet. St. Martin's tides on Mac's Beach are a relatively pedestrian (but still amazing) 26-feet, rushing in and out of the bay twice a day. At low tide you can walk on the ocean floor. Mac's Beach is covered in smooth rocks, a result of the tidal action. It's also where you can find "Wish Rocks" --- a rock with a white line that encircles the entire rock. Local lore suggests that whomever possesses such a rock can make a wish. Once the wish comes true, you pay it forward and pass the rock on to someone else to make a wish. We arrived near low tide and could walk out into the rock-covered ocean bottom for a couple hundred yards without getting wet, and were able to collect a few cool "Wish Rocks".

 

From here, we drove 10 minutes to the Fundy Trail Parkway. There is a small admission charge. Due to the extreme fog that day we opted out and returned to Mac's Beach in St. Martins to search for more Wish Rocks. With the tide coming in, more than half of our hunting ground remained. Within another hour, the beach shrank to a just a few feet of rocks on higher ground. The time between low and high tide is about 6 hours.

 

We drove back to town and made a stop at Reversing Falls. It's really not a "falls" in the classic sense. It's really just rapids. The rapids occur when the rising tide coming in is fighting the out flowing river water. If you get there while the tide is rising you'll see the river water running inland from the ocean, which is quite an interesting sight.

 

I'd like to make a quick shout-out to Enterprise. This was our most pleasant rental car experience ever. We were picked up at the pier, driven to their office about 5 minutes away, were promptly assisted by one of their young representatives and were in an upgraded car (at no additional charge) within another 5 minutes. The return was also prompt. We filled up with gas at a station a couple of blocks away, returned the car and were dropped off back at the pier.

 

On our last trip, we walked to Reversing Falls along the Harbour Passage from the cruise area in about 50 minutes. Exit the pier and turn left. Follow the red sidewalk along Water Street until you see a Moose on your left. Turn left and walk towards, and then around along the boardwalk in front of, the Hilton. Once you clear the Hilton you'll see an entrance to the Harbour Passage with a sign overhead and the red sidewalk once again. Follow the riverside trail until it dead ends under a bridge, then backtrack a little and follow the red concrete trail to the road. (Ignore all of the other forks you encounter along the way). Turn left and stay on the sidewalk next to the highway all the rest of the way. Don't worry that they failed to paint this sidewalk red. You will eventually get to the Reversing Falls lookout which once again will feature a Harbour Passage sign overhead and a red walkway. Most folks continue from here and cross over the bridge to the other side of the river for more impressive views. There are two restaurants and one has a short movie you can view. There are a number of good lookout points as well as a dock for river tours. Across the parking lot is an elevated park with great views of the surrounding area.

 

If you don't want to walk back, you can catch the #2 Bus back into town. Catch the bus at the corner of the parking lot, at the entrance, across from where the restaurants are. Bus fare is $2.50 pp and it runs every 20 minutes. The ride will take just 10 minutes. Get off at Barbours General Store, about 2 blocks from the ship.

 

Back in town we visited the New Brunswick Museum ($8.00, AAA Gem) in market square. This family museum has dioramas of logging operations, intensive shipbuilding exhibits, artifacts recovered from sunken ships, art, whale and mastodon skeletons, a hall of stuffed birds, and children's discovery exhibits. Worthwhile.

 

 

C. Halifax, Nova Scotia

9:00am - 6:00pm. We berthed at Pier 20 which is the closest pier to City of Halifax. Once again, we rented from Enterprise. We walked to their office since their location was only 3 blocks away (just on the other side of The Westin Hotel) and near the Atlantic Super Store.

 

Our destination was Peggy's Cove on St. Margaret's Bay, less than an hour's drive from Halifax. Peggy's Cove features stunning scenery, one of the most photographed lighthouses in Canada, and an active fishing village. It's fun to climb on and around the huge boulders at the edge of the water. Following Peggy's Cove we drove to Ryer's Lobster Pound in Indian Harbour, just 1.5 miles and 5 minutes away. While not the most organized place, they cook and crack lobsters to order and provide bibs and butter. Several picnic tables are available so you can eat it while its hot. They are open daily from 10:00 am to 5:00pm.

 

After we returned the car we walked 1 block to Atlantic Super Store (grocery). It's a good opportunity to pick up a 12-pack of your favorite soda (made with sugar instead of corn syrup), or other sundry items you may have forgotten to pack.

 

Then we walked 5 blocks to the Alexander Keith's Brewery on Lower Water Street and attended their one hour tour. Alexander Keith is one of the oldest breweries in Canada, and located in an impressive early-1800's granite building. Admission is $20. I've never paid this much for a brewery tour before and wondered why a brewery tour could cost $20. Once you enter "the green door" you are transported by in time where an enthusiastic actor and 3 equally enthusiastic actresses in 1860's period costume bring 1863 Halifax to life as they guide us through the Alexander Keith brewhouse and taproom (where you are invited to drink pints of any of their four ales on draft. The Red Amber Ale is incredibly good). This interactive tour, inclusive of interesting facts, song, dance, and good humor is well worth the price of admission.

 

On our last trip we stayed in town and started our day at the

Halifax Citadel. While it's easy to walk around town, it's a tough 30-minute walk up to the Citadel as it is mostly uphill all the way. We did it, as did many others, so don't let the hill dissuade you. Once inside the Citadel ($8 - 12 pp, depending upon the season, AAA Gem) there were a number of very interesting demonstrations by members of the 78th Highlanders regiment in period uniforms. They discussed each piece of the uniform, fired weapons, and demonstrated cannon movement. A 50-minute movie on the history of Halifax was also worthwhile, as were the museum displays. You'll enjoy panoramic views from the top of the fort as well.

 

Walking down from the Citadel was easy. We lunched at McKelvies (located directly across the street from the Maritime Museum). McKelvies is where you want to go to enjoy tender, buttery, melt in your mouth, Digby scallops, and lobster rolls (properly moistened with a little mayonnaise, and bits of celery and onion). It all goes down good with a Garrison Irish Red draft beer. This is where we enjoyed the best Digby scallops and lobster rolls on this cruise.

 

The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic ($5 - $9 pp, depending upon the season, AAA Gem) has numerous ship related exhibits including the Titanic, sunken treasure, lighthouses, ship models, and other maritime artifacts. A short movie on the 1917 explosion in Halifax Harbour (the world's largest man-made explosion before Hiroshima) was very interesting.

 

D. Days At Sea

We had two days at sea. The first was very foggy. The second was relatively clear. We saw a few dozen whales, several sharks, and a few dolphins. The ship sailed through a large group of what I believe were primarily fin whales. While we did alter course to avoid them, they remained close enough to the ship to actually hear them blowing water out their blow holes. We whale watched for over 2 hours as we kept encountering them in the mid to late afternoon.

 

Back on the ship, there was no lack of things to do. Sea Days actually provided nice rest spites and allowed us to get reenergized. We slept in late. You can also eat, play games, attend art auctions, attend shows, eat, nap, cornhole (beanbag) competition, midday snack, cards, pools, bars, eat, trivia contests, shuffleboard, ping-pong, mini-golf, basketball, read, chat with fellow passengers, eat, board games, Bingo, eat, liquor tasting, shopping, gambling, exercise, movies... the list goes on!

 

E. Ships in Port

There we no other ships in St. John or Halifax while we were in port. Visit CruiseCal.com or the links provided above to see which ships are likely to be in port during your cruise.

 

Next up --- Parts VII - XI: Everything Else

 

You can read also the review in its entirely, with images, at

http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/carnival-glory.html, but you won't be able to enjoy the input from fellow cruisers like you can on CruiseCritic. Feel free to post your questions and comments below.

[THE G TEAM]

CaribbeanBound, we are very interested in your post A Week in Boston, but the link keeps going to error. Can we navigate to it some other way?

[CaribbeanBound]

My apologies. The link for "A Week in Boston" should be: http://www.lavasurfer.com/info/boston.html

[serene56]

I read your review on the main page- you stated there was no broadway type shows on your cruise- so no motor city, Latin nights or Divas?

 

was there an explanation?

[mizLORInj]

 

C. Halifax, Nova Scotia

.

 

After we returned the car we walked 1 block to Atlantic Super Store (grocery). It's a good opportunity to pick up a 12-pack of your favorite soda (made with sugar instead of corn syrup),

LOVE that store and agree--I buy soda there and some other stuff as well!

[CaribbeanBound]

serene56...

They had all three of those shows: Motor City, Latin Nights and Divas. None were what you'd call a Broadway style show (aka musical). They were simply song and dance numbers to recorded music. There were no lead singers.

 

While we were very disappointed in the main stage entertainment, the rest of the ship and it's crew generally exceeded our expectations on what was our first Carnival cruise.

[BallFour4]

Loved the review so far, I've given up on the time needed to finish mine.

 

Here are some pics from the cruise.

 

 

 

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[CaribbeanBound]

BallFour4: those pictures are solid! These are beautiful! You have really good eye. What camera do you use?

[BallFour4]

BallFour4: those pictures are solid! These are beautiful! You have really good eye. What camera do you use?

 

First, thanks.

 

Many of these are with a Canon 7d and their L series 24-105 f2.8 lens. Lots of glass, but worth it.

 

Some are with Canon's nifty little point and shoot marvel the 110. A little pricey for a small camera, but a great sensor and many features.

 

A few are with the Olympus Pen 1 camera with the 4/5 sensor. It has a 14-45 zoom and it beyond cool for landscape.

 

My wife has a Canon 60d and the same L series glass in her hand.

 

I edit bulk with Picasa, a free software from Google. Then all the keepers get a once over with Photoshop Elements on the MacBook Pro before being uploaded.

 

Perhaps it's a weakness, but one can never have too many cameras or Glocks... I digress.

 

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[neckhardt]

Perhaps it's a weakness, but one can never have too many cameras or Glocks... I digress.

 

.

 

You love your "shooting" don't you?