Best New England/Canada Itinerary

[LissaSue2]

We are trying to decide on our next cruise and are pretty clueless on the east coast/N.E and Canada. Can you offer your thoughts on the best ports/itinerary for this area. And best time of year. My DH would like to go to Boston, other than that we are pretty open.

[jkneern]

Well the only time they sail this itinerary is summer and early fall. You definitely need to stop in Newport, Boston and Maine. I have done shorter 4-5 day from Boston that only go to Canada (Halifax and St John) both are nice but if you haven't been to New England then a 7day with these ports are a must. Today we had the Gem in the harbor. Her first time this year.

[hansolosmom]

A couple years ago we did Princess from NYC (I think it was Brooklyn)

We did Charlottetown, Bar Harbor, Halifax, Boston and Newport.

Absolutely loved Halifax, we did a private tour and went to Peggy's Cove and the cemetery with the Titanic victims.

I think Bar Harbor is not to be missed either with Acadia National Park.

 

We took my mom on the trip and she loved it. We went late June and it was great weather, a little cool, but still shorts weather. Full disclosure I'm from the NE so I thought it was warm, but if you're from the south you might not think so.

[Cruiser Bruiser]

I mostly sail NCL, but last June I did a week long New England and Canada cruise from Boston to Montreal on Holland America. It was one of my favorite cruises. We visited Bar Harbor, Halifax, Cape Breton Island, Prince Edward Island, and Quebec City in between. HAL ships have a glass roof over their main Lido Pool, which was useful on the one day of the cruise that it rained, which was a sea day. I highly recommend this itinerary. Good luck with your choice!

[biker@sea]

The Dawn B2B with an overnight in Quebec was my favorite.

 

Try not to miss the little white Buluga whales in the Saguenay Fiord. :D

[Cruising Jedi]

I think it would be such a shame to miss Quebec City. The itineraries that don't go there are incomplete, in my opinion. It is such a unique an interesting place, the real jewel of any Canada/NE cruise. I like all the other stops but the time we went all the way to Quebec can't be beat.

[LissaSue2]

Thanks for all of the replies!!

As much as I'd like to do the B2B out of Boston, I don't think our finances can handle that. We are in California so we have to include airfare. Of these two options which has the better ports:

 

*Boston to Quebec*

Portland/Maine

Halifax

Cruising

Charlottetown

Gaspsie, Quebec

Saguenay (La Baie), Quebec

Quebec City

 

*Quebec to Boston*

Quebec City

Quebec City

Cruising

Sydney, Nova Scotia

Halifax, Nova Scotia

Saint John, Bay of Fundy

Bar Harbor, Maine

Boston

 

Neither hit Newport, but I can't find THE perfect cruise that hits the sweet spot of our wallet. [emoji4]

 

With either above itinerary we could add a day on the beginning or end of the cruise for sight seeing. It's the ports we are unsure of.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated! We are planning this for sept/oct 2016.

[biker@sea]

Thanks for all of the replies!!

As much as I'd like to do the B2B out of Boston, I don't think our finances can handle that. We are in California so we have to include airfare. Of these two options which has the better ports:

 

*Boston to Quebec*

Portland/Maine

Halifax

Cruising

Charlottetown

Gaspsie, Quebec

Saguenay (La Baie), Quebec

Quebec City

 

*Quebec to Boston*

Quebec City

Quebec City

Cruising

Sydney, Nova Scotia

Halifax, Nova Scotia

Saint John, Bay of Fundy

Bar Harbor, Maine

Boston

 

Neither hit Newport, but I can't find THE perfect cruise that hits the sweet spot of our wallet. [emoji4]

 

With either above itinerary we could add a day on the beginning or end of the cruise for sight seeing. It's the ports we are unsure of.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated! We are planning this for sept/oct 2016.

 

St. John with a 27 foot tide and the reversing falls.

 

Bar Harbor with Arcadia & the view from Cadillac mountain would win for me.

Edited September 19, 2015 by biker@sea

[Cruzinnana47]

Quebec is definitely a must-visit port. As far as the 2 itineraries you mentioned, both are good ones. On the Quebec-Boston run, the port of Bar Harbor has the added bonus of Acadia Nat'l Park, which is spectactular, as well as Bar Harbor itself. Really gives one a perfect view of Northern Coastal NE and the state of Maine. In Sydney, you may need to take an excursion to see much of interest there. The Fortress of Louisbourg or Alexander Graham Bell Musuem may be good choices.

 

On the Boston to Quebec itinerary, the port of Charlottetown is a good stepping off point to visit the lovely island of PEI. And Portland, ME is an interesting and fun city.

 

Whichever you choose, you'll see beautiful scenery (lighthouses, harbors and quaint villages) along the way.

 

Have a great cruise!:)

[Cruise_More_Often]

Like Cruiser Bruiser, who posted above, we, too had been cruising mostly with NCL, but we did the reverse cruise on the HAL Maasdam in August, starting in Montreal and ending in Boston. We chose that cruise because neither of the two NCL itineraries that were mentioned earlier in this thread hit all the stops we wanted -- Montreal, Quebec City, Charlottetown PEI, Sydney, Halifax and Bar Harbor. Our cruise was fabulous, so fabulous that we booked the identical cruise for next year on Maasdam's sister ship, Veendam.

 

My two favorite ports in eastern Canada are Charlottetown and Sydney. We have rented cars in both cities. In Charlottetown we like to drive to see lighthouses, and since the island is relatively small, you can see quite a few. We actually planned our cruise this August so that we could drive out to the Fortress of Louisbourg, which is about 20 miles from Sydney. The location is a National Parks of Canada site, a recreation of a 1770s French fortress. Between May and Labor Day there are costumed re-enactors all over the fortress, and it's great fun talking to them as they always stay in their characters.

 

If you choose to start or end your cruise in Quebec City, I suggest you fly into or out of Montreal and take either the train or bus between the cities. Flying into Montreal is less expensive than Quebec City.

 

We stayed three nights in Montreal before our cruise, and we'll do the same next year. It's a beautiful city, especially if you stay in Old Town.

 

Good luck with your choice!

[LissaSue2]

Hmmm...now ya'll have me wondering if we should try HAL. NCL just seems more affordable, but perhaps there's a reason for that??

[chet the jet]

We did the B2B 14 days out of Boston. Here are some of my pics

I would do it again and it was on the Dawn

[Cruise_More_Often]

Hmmm...now ya'll have me wondering if we should try HAL. NCL just seems more affordable, but perhaps there's a reason for that??

LissaSue2, when you decide exactly where you want to go, it will be easier to decide. HAL is more expensive, but that cruise gave us exactly wanted, and we were willing to pay a little more. Either way, I'm sure you'll have a great cruise.