Cruising with 7 month old on New England/Canada itinerary

[LovestoTravel82]

Hi,

 

I have been on a few cruises (Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and DCL) all of which sailed the Caribbean. My mother graciously :p booked a New England/Canada cruise for me, her and my 6 month old daughter (7 months at time of cruising) this coming October (departing from NYC). I'm probably not bringing the car seat, but will bring a fold up stroller. I'm looking for recommendations for the following:

 

1) Interesting Halifax shore excursions that will bring you to destinations and allow you time to do what you'd like (and allow us to bring the stroller), while not being too intense; We thought Peggy's Cove looked interesting as well as the hop on hop off bus, thoughts on safety for the baby?

2) Same for Saint John; We're definitely interested in the Reversing Rapids and downtown sights;

3) Recommendations in Newport (i can post this elsewhere, but thought some of you may have traveled this itinerary). We have Boston covered.

 

Generally we're looking to spend up to about $80 pp (baby is free, yay!). Also, if there are any other recommendations for cruising this route with an infant, that would be greatly appreciated. We have already requested a crib and high chair onboard and a packing list is being created :o

 

Thanks!

[Giantfan13]

Hi,

 

I have been on a few cruises (Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and DCL) all of which sailed the Caribbean. My mother graciously :p booked a New England/Canada cruise for me, her and my 6 month old daughter (7 months at time of cruising) this coming October (departing from NYC). I'm probably not bringing the car seat, but will bring a fold up stroller. I'm looking for recommendations for the following:

 

1) Interesting Halifax shore excursions that will bring you to destinations and allow you time to do what you'd like (and allow us to bring the stroller), while not being too intense; We thought Peggy's Cove looked interesting as well as the hop on hop off bus, thoughts on safety for the baby?

2) Same for Saint John; We're definitely interested in the Reversing Rapids and downtown sights;

3) Recommendations in Newport (i can post this elsewhere, but thought some of you may have traveled this itinerary). We have Boston covered.

 

Generally we're looking to spend up to about $80 pp (baby is free, yay!). Also, if there are any other recommendations for cruising this route with an infant, that would be greatly appreciated. We have already requested a crib and high chair onboard and a packing list is being created :o

 

Thanks!

 

Hello fellow NYer. WE did this same itinerary last year, and cruising out of NY is spectacular.

 

Try renting a car in Halifax if they can supply a car seat, and do the drive to Peggy's Cove. It is a wonderful drive. As for getting close to the lighthouse, that may be difficult with the baby as it is all rocks that you need to climb on and over, but you can get great views from the parking area also. Since the baby won't be interested in anything you do, try the Maritime Museum, the Titanic graveyard, or tour the Fortress. All can be done with a stroller.

 

I know people make the Reversing Rapids a big deal, but we didn't find it that exciting. You have to understand you have to time it exactly to see the water, sort of reversing. Personally, I would skip it in favor of other things.

 

In Newport, you can take the trolley to some of the Mansions and tour them. The Cliff Walk is out of the question, but Touro Synagogue is a good place to see and easy to do with a stroller.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[LovestoTravel82]

Thank you, Len, for all of the great information and for the info about the Reversing Rapids. Do you think that booking cruise excursions (mainly in Canada) are necessary or should we just book the on off trolley/buses individually? Obviously for the museums and sites in town, we'll just take a nice stroll. Specifically in St. John I saw a tour that stops at an aquarium and other sites along the way but goes to St. Andrews by the sea, which seems nice.

 

I definitely thought about renting a car in Halifax so I'm going to look into that as well and definitely interested in the mansions. Thanks again!

[Giantfan13]

I can only speak for ourselves, we NEVER book any excursions from the cruise line. They are just too crowded, too expensive and we sort of like to go at our own pace.

Others feel the opposite and like the idea of everything laid out for them.

 

As for St Johns, we had booked a private van with 2 other couple to take us out of town. It rained so hard the entire day, it really turned out to be a completely wasted effort.

 

Many people opt to rent cars in Halifax. We used Thrifty, but there are several others, some basically a block from where the ship docks.

 

 

Have you ever cruised out of NY before?

 

Cheers

 

Len

[LovestoTravel82]

I can only speak for ourselves, we NEVER book any excursions from the cruise line. They are just too crowded, too expensive and we sort of like to go at our own pace.

Others feel the opposite and like the idea of everything laid out for them.

 

As for St Johns, we had booked a private van with 2 other couple to take us out of town. It rained so hard the entire day, it really turned out to be a completely wasted effort.

 

Many people opt to rent cars in Halifax. We used Thrifty, but there are several others, some basically a block from where the ship docks.

 

 

Have you ever cruised out of NY before?

 

Cheers

 

Len

 

This will be my second cruise out of NY, albeit the first one was 15 years ago so I'm basically starting from scratch. My mom who is a frequent cruiser from here (and will be sailing with us) is very familiar with NY cruises.

 

I'm really on the fence about excursions. I can see what you mean about being crowded and expensive and then my other thought is that we have no clue what we're doing so maybe it's to our benefit. We're definitely not inexperienced travelers, but what is daunting is the amount of time we have to do everything. I've ordered free travel guides from each port to use as a guide and I think if we choose to, we'll buy the hop on off bus or other excursion locally. Hopefully that helps.

 

I really do appreciate your advice and I think I'm going to do more research on the car in Halifax and exploring on our own or with a service as you did (and hope for dry skies ;))