whale-watcher Posted September 19, 2005 #1 Share Posted September 19, 2005 We are just back from a 7 day roundtrip Canada/New England cruise on the Enchantment of the Seas (round trip out of Boston), and had a great cruise in spite of less than perfect weather. One of the highlights for us was the number of whales we spotted from the ship itself -- at least as many as we saw in Alaska. If you are interested in seeing whales, I would suggest being out on deck with binoculars as much as possible, although one of our better sightings was from the windjammer restaurant one evening! Best times to watch are the 2 hours or so when the ship is heading into and out of the ports of Boston, Portland, and Bar Harbor, and any time the ship is near the mouth of the Bay of Fundy. (we did not go to the Saguenay river this cruise, but that would be a great time to watch as well). We also saw numerous dolphins and small pilot whales on our way in and out of Halifax. The real highlight came on our last day, when our ship was diverted west due to Ophelia, and we returned to Boston by slowly cruising off the coast of Maine (30 miles off shore or so). When the rain and fog cleared in the early afternoon we were treated to at least 2 dozen or more whale sightings over the next few hours, including many fin whales (some quite close), 2 breaching humpback whales (far, but spectacular), and several smaller minke and pilot whales. The Enchantment itself is a wonderful boat for viewing whales, birds and scenery, with loads of open deck space as well as lots of glass around the public areas of the ship. It is too bad this ship won't be going to alaska! We also did some specific whale-watching trips, including pre-cruise trips out of Gloucester (Yankee Fleet) and Plymouth (Captain John Boats), both of which were excellent, and whale watching excursions out of Bar Harbor (big and crowded boat, but 2 VERY close friendly Humpbacks) and Halifax (boat trip from Halifax to Peggy's cove; beautiful scenery, lots of dolphins and harbor porpoise, and well worthwhile just for the view of the Peggy's cove lighthouse from sea!). Happy Cruising and whale watching! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuAnn Posted September 19, 2005 #2 Share Posted September 19, 2005 Thank you so much for this info!...We are leaving next Monday for that area on the QM2 and I'm a big animal fan so will keep a look out! Just got the "binocs" out yesterday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuAnn Posted September 19, 2005 #3 Share Posted September 19, 2005 I'm a big animal fan and leaving next Monday for the same area....will keep "an eye out"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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