New England - Canada - HAL or a small ship?

[Tampa Girl]

There is a new cruise line emerging, with 200-passenger vessels. One of their itineraries is the Canadian Maritimes. It does have a couple more ports than does HAL's ships. The cost, however, is double - minimally $5,500. For those of you who have done this itinerary, would it be worth the extra cost on this itinerary? Were you left with the desire that you would have liked to see more ports?

[sail7seas]

What are the extra ports?

 

[Hlitner]

I think we need more info to give informed advice :). What cruise line and what do they include for the additional money. But putting all that aside, we love the Canada/New England fall cruises but have never felt there was any disadvantage to doing these cruises on a larger ship. But DW and I truly love smaller ship cruising, and all things being equal, we would nearly always opt for a small ship (many feel just the opposite). As to the ports, we do think that more is better when it comes to Canada/New England. There are so many cute places not on many itineraries. For example, we once were in a tiny port called Le Baie....and really enjoyed our day which included visiting the town of Saguenay, Quebec. Yet this port is on very few cruises.

 

But one certainly has to factor-in the additional cost...and you are talking double the price which is significant for most folks. I can almost hear DW saying, take the cheaper cruise and use the savings for another cruise :)

 

Hank

[g&gtravel]

We have toured NE/Canada two times and satisfied with the port opportunities on the smaller HAL ships. We like the ability to go to Montreal (on MAAS and VEEN) vs EURO (and other larger ships) not being able to pass under the bridge at Quebec City. Only place we had problems with was Charlottetown (weather). We believe we have not missed anything by being on HAL.

[igraf]

We recently sailed on the Maasdam from Montreal to Boston. The Maasdam is small enough as far as I am concerned. Perhaps even a little too small. I really don't see any advantage in going smaller.

 

We were in port 6 out of the 7 days. Again, I don't see any advantage in having more ports. I would have liked one more sea day.

 

Let's put it this way. For the extra cost of the mini ship you could sail on the Maasdam in a suite, dine in the Pinnacle every meal and book the best private excursions in every port. Hmmmmm.

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

 

There is a new cruise line emerging, with 200-passenger vessels. One of their itineraries is the Canadian Maritimes. It does have a couple more ports than does HAL's ships. The cost, however, is double - minimally $5,500. For those of you who have done this itinerary, would it be worth the extra cost on this itinerary? Were you left with the desire that you would have liked to see more ports?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Could you please post all the ports and the times that you are in those posts for the small cruise ship you are considering?

[Tampa Girl]

This is apparently a new cruise line, and not all of the ships have been built. They offer a 10 and an 11-day Canadian Maritime Cruise. The 10-day cruise, minimum fare is $5,605. It does not include excursions or alcoholic beverages. These are the ports: Portland, Bar Harbor, Lunenberg, Halifax, Charlottetown, le de la Madeleine, Perce, Gaspe, Matane, Tadoussac, Saguenny Fjord, Quebec City.

 

On second thought, this itinerary includes more than an additional two ports. The HAL 7-day cruise for a verandah cabin is around $2,500, I think. All the Pearl cabins are verandahs. The cabins are slightly larger - 300 sq. ft. The ship holds only 200 passengers. Looks interesting.

 

Thoughts on comparing these two itineraries/ships?

[Tampa Girl]

Could you please post all the ports and the times that you are in those posts for the small cruise ship you are considering?

 

It didn't list the port times, but looking at the total days and the number of ports, it is only one day per port.

[Tampa Girl]

We have toured NE/Canada two times and satisfied with the port opportunities on the smaller HAL ships. We like the ability to go to Montreal (on MAAS and VEEN) vs EURO (and other larger ships) not being able to pass under the bridge at Quebec City. Only place we had problems with was Charlottetown (weather). We believe we have not missed anything by being on HAL.

 

 

Do you mean that the Masdam and Veendam can go under the bridge? I would prefer either one of those ships to the larger ships.

[Tampa Girl]

I think we need more info to give informed advice :). What cruise line and what do they include for the additional money. But putting all that aside, we love the Canada/New England fall cruises but have never felt there was any disadvantage to doing these cruises on a larger ship. But DW and I truly love smaller ship cruising, and all things being equal, we would nearly always opt for a small ship (many feel just the opposite). As to the ports, we do think that more is better when it comes to Canada/New England. There are so many cute places not on many itineraries. For example, we once were in a tiny port called Le Baie....and really enjoyed our day which included visiting the town of Saguenay, Quebec. Yet this port is on very few cruises.

 

But one certainly has to factor-in the additional cost...and you are talking double the price which is significant for most folks. I can almost hear DW saying, take the cheaper cruise and use the savings for another cruise :)

 

Hank

 

Saguenay is on the Pearl Seas Cruise. Is it ever on the HAL cruises? Thanks for your thoughts.

[sail7seas]

Saguenay is sometimes on Repostioning cruises, FLL to Montreal and/or Montreal to FLL.

We have sailed the Saguenay Fjord a number of times and it is beautiful.

 

 

Edited November 20, 2013 by sail7seas

[kazu]

Do you mean that the Masdam and Veendam can go under the bridge? I would prefer either one of those ships to the larger ships.

 

yes, they can go under. it's quite the procedure to watch :D

[Tampa Girl]

Saguenay is sometimes on Repostioning cruises, FLL to Montreal and/or Montreal to FLL.

We have sailed the Saguenay Fjord a number of times and it is beautiful.

 

 

 

 

I can't find any such repositioning cruises? Where should I be looking?

[sail7seas]

Do you mean that the Masdam and Veendam can go under the bridge? I would prefer either one of those ships to the larger ships.

 

 

It is very fun watching Maasdam go under the bridges. They just barely make it but we have made the trip many times.

 

A few winters ago, we had a huge amount of snow and rain during the winter and spring. The water level in the St. Lawrence rose so high, Maasdam had to stop its passage under the bridge for a number of cruises until the water level went down. She did an overnight in Quebec City rather than travel to Montreal. She would not have been able to clear. :eek:

 

In all our years of going that itinerary b-t0-b, that is the only season I remember that happening but we had record snowfall that year.

 

HAL's Eurodam does a ten day cruise NYC to Quebec City. That ship is too tall to pass under the bridge and must stop at Quebec City...... which isn't such a bad thing. :) An Overnight there is wonderful!!

Edited November 20, 2013 by sail7seas

[cruz chic]

Saguenay is sometimes on Repostioning cruises, FLL to Montreal and/or Montreal to FLL.

We have sailed the Saguenay Fjord a number of times and it is beautiful.

 

 

I've done Saguenay twice on the Eurodam. Once in Sept 2011 (Quebec to NYC) and Oct 2013 (Quebec to Fort Lauderdale). I do realize that this is a large ship before someone points that out:D;).

[Hlitner]

Saguenay is on the Pearl Seas Cruise. Is it ever on the HAL cruises? Thanks for your thoughts.

 

Not sure. We went there on a Celebrity cruise when we had two cancelled ports (PE Island) due to a huge Atlantic Storm. Instead of going out of the river into the very high seas (which were running over 35 feet) our Captain took us to Le Baie....where it seemed like the entire town turned-out to help and give us support.

 

Hank

Edited November 20, 2013 by Hlitner

[magandab]

I'm going to have to look into this new line and itinerary. DH has little/no interest in Montreal or Quebec and I've been looking for ages for a cruise that just does the Maritimes. Thanks for posting this as it might be just what we've been looking for - well, other than the cost!