Canada and NE Cruise

[clamar]

I recently booked a HAL cruise for October 14-24, 2017 to Canada, Halifax, etc. Now I am having second thoughts, one for concerns about the weather and two, there is no roll call. I "started" one and have not received a reply. I have already paid for my airfare ($486) because it was a good deal. Final payt date on the cruise is July 31. I will hang in until then but am losing interest in this particular cruise.

 

I have two other bookings: 12 Celtic Adventure in July 2017 (active roll call) and am all set with tours, etc and another for a 17 day Panama Canal in April 18. I haven't looked for a roll call for that cruise yet.

 

Any input on the Canada cruise would be appreciated.

 

Claire:rolleyes:

[OlsSalt]

We did that cruise last year and it was wonderful - we hit the Fall colors which is why some of these NE-Canada cruises are done later in the season. We had particularly good weather, sunny and clear skies. The colors dazzled against the blue skies and bright sun, Every port was interesting and often quite doable on your own.

 

I wouldn't worry about lack of a roll call. Not sure that means anything at all. People use to share travel tips and now they seem to be mainly for those who want to arrange private tours. So much of this can not be done online directly that finding a "group" ahead of time may not be as necessary. Even our upcoming Voyage of the Vikings which is one of the epic HAL offerings has a very slow roll call and we leave in August.

 

Also you might find this trip is part of a longer segment which may have a more active roll call than the segment you signed up for. The Canada New England cruise we signed up for went all the way to San Diego, so that much longer total cruise may have had more activity than one of the shorter segments.

 

Same with Voyage of the Vikings - there are three possible roll calls - the full RT 38 day one, the westbound segment and the east bound segment. I have not looked but I heard the shorter one-way segments are more active than our RT-longer total cruise.

 

You have some great choices on your list, and I hope you also keep this Canada New England one too. Prince Edwards Island and the Green Gables tour could not have been more idyllic. And we plan to go back to Fort Louisburg when we return to Sydney again, and have lobster rolls in Bar Harbor .......and spend plenty of time in Halifax itself this next time, So even a second time around for some of these ports on this cruise will be a delight.

[richwmn]

It looks like you are on the Rotterdam, doing a relocation from Montreal to Fort Lauderdale.

 

I can't talk about the weather in October, but I have done the Northbound version of the cruise twice and will be doing the Southbound version a week before you. The ports are good and plenty to do.

 

As far as the Roll Call, the date is not in the title of your Roll Call, so it can't be found by the "find your roll call" function and when looking, people won't pick up on when your cruise is. I would try the "report this post" option and ask the moderator to rename the thread.

 

I hope you find others on your cruise!

[serendipity1499]

I recently booked a HAL cruise for October 14-24, 2017 to Canada, Halifax, etc. Now I am having second thoughts, one for concerns about the weather and two, there is no roll call. I "started" one and have not received a reply. I have already paid for my airfare ($486) because it was a good deal. Final payt date on the cruise is July 31. I will hang in until then but am losing interest in this particular cruise.

 

I have two other bookings: 12 Celtic Adventure in July 2017 (active roll call) and am all set with tours, etc and another for a 17 day Panama Canal in April 18. I haven't looked for a roll call for that cruise yet.

 

Any input on the Canada cruise would be appreciated.

 

Claire:rolleyes:

 

Remember that not all Psgrs are members of Cruise Critic.. It might be a bit early to have people sign up for that cruise on a roll call..

 

We are looking to book a cruise this fall & still have not decided on one..Lots of people book later in the year..

 

I pulled up your cruise as wanted to see if our Friends would be willing to take the New England/Canada cruise in Oct, one cruise we've never done, but unfortunately our Friends want a warm weather Caribbean cruise..

 

You will most likely have cooler weather, but it should be a lovely cruise.. We lived in NYC & it was always beautiful driving up to New England & into Canada in the fall.. I used to spend summers with an Aunt & Uncle on the St Lawrence river & DH had business up in Buffalo with his company..I joined him for one or two trips in the fall.. Always wore warmer clothing.. :cool:

[styles27]

New Englander here!! Born and raised and still living in MA about 45 min from cruise port in Boston.

 

We've done 1 Canada/New Englad cruise on Princess but we went in September so it was a little warmer.

 

Depending on what kind of summer we have here in NE, North of us will most likely be "past peak" for foliage on these dates but you'll still see some color, if that's what you're looking for.

 

It will definitely be cool...especially to sit out on deck or on a verandah on sea days without a coat.

 

But October (Fall) is one of my favorite times of year in New England...there's a "crispness" in the air but the sun can still be nice and warm during the day.

 

We loved our Canada/New England cruise and are even talking about going on the Veendam for another one because our friends would like to go. Can't beat just driving to the ship so that's what's attracting us.

 

Are you second guessing your choice solely because of the air temp/foliage?

[Scrapnana]

I did a Canada/NE cruise in 2015. We were gone October 8-17. With the exception of St. John (where it drizzled all day), we had wonderful weather. The sea was so smooth you could not tell you were moving. Beautiful fall colors although they told us we were about a week before the peak viewing.

 

I wouldn't worry so much about the roll call. We had a very active one but nobody set up any excursions or get togethers.

[avian777]

I recently booked a HAL cruise for October 14-24, 2017 to Canada, Halifax, etc. Now I am having second thoughts, one for concerns about the weather and two, there is no roll call ... Any input on the Canada cruise would be appreciated.

Claire:rolleyes:

 

We have done the Canada/NE cruise twice - once in October and once (this past year) in June - and it was thoroughly enjoyable both times. Here are my responses to your questions:

 

 

1. The weather was not appreciably colder in October than it was in June, so that should not be an issue for you, unless you are a Tropical-weather-only type of person.
   
2. Although we are not fans of Roll Calls (as they tend to divulge too much personal info and return very little IMO in value to the participants), I believe it is a tad early to expect much activity on a Roll Call for mid-October. Just be patient
   

Smooth sailing ...

[kazu]

What is the worry on the weather please, OP?

 

Everyone has definitions of cold but October is still decent weather here in the Maritimes. It's typical leaf turning time as well so ideal to see colours in Canada. No guarantees of course as it is dependent upon weather. But that time frame is certainly above freezing and can have some lovely days. There will be no snow ;p Last year, I was still raking at the end of October. Different trees turn at different times and fall at different times. Makes for a lot of enjoyable colour ;) but a lot of work if you have too many trees on your property it's not fun:evilsmile:

 

Personally I enjoy my roll calls and we talk about more than private tours, but, a lot of people may not have booked this yet. I find a lot don't come on the roll call until around 3 months out. A flurry of activity. Not sure why they wait, but some do.

 

Keep "bumping" your roll call to keep it on the first page and hopefully, others will join in shortly.

 

Whether you have a roll call or not, shouldn't determine whether to book a cruise or not. You are bound to meet some great people on board :)

[xlxo]

I did a mid-October trip 2012 in the Boston area. Weather was perfect.... not too hot and not too cold.

 

I left 2 days before Sandy visited.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effects_of_Hurricane_Sandy_in_New_York

 

Yes, I would choose October for a future trip.

[clamar]

THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to respond to my post. I now feel as excited as I did when I first booked the cruise. Looking forward to crisp Fall weather and the interesting itinerary. I will be patient with the building of a roll call. Since I travel solo, I enjoy meeting some people on line and hook up a few tours.

 

Again, thank you.

 

Claire:)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Many years ago one of our Canada/New England cruises was in October.

Weather was on the chilly side but we did see a lot of fall foliage.

Hope your Roll Call picks up and it all works out for you.

[OlsSalt]

THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to respond to my post. I now feel as excited as I did when I first booked the cruise. Looking forward to crisp Fall weather and the interesting itinerary. I will be patient with the building of a roll call. Since I travel solo, I enjoy meeting some people on line and hook up a few tours.

 

Again, thank you.

 

Claire:)

 

The cruise directors often offer solo passenger events and even a solo table, Be sure to ask for this if you do not see it on the daily schedule. Plus there is another thread ongoing here about "traveling solo". Did you see that .. it may now be a few pages away. But lots do travel solo and the smaller HAL ships do make it easier to see the same faces over again.

[Cruise_More_Often]

Claire, hang in there, because you have chosen a fantastic cruise. We are headed there for the fourth time, and we never tire of it.

 

I completely empathize with you on the lack of roll call participation. The first time we did a Canada/New England cruise was on NCL, and the roll call was super active. We even got together twice on the cruise for group dinners. The HAL roll call threads for CA/NE just aren't that active, and it does make it more difficult to get excited about the cruise when you don't have anyone to "talk to" about it. Just know that you will meet some really nice people on the cruise, and you will be visiting a beautiful place.

[1of4]

I tried to start a roll call for the same cruise but only a 7 day and in the summer. I was the only poster although I could see others were reading. So I think this itinerary isn't an attractor for active roll calls.

 

Having lived in Montreal for 22 years the only thing I can say about the weather is that it was, and still is, my favourite time of year. There will be colour and it would be very unusual to be past peak as someone earlier suggested. Nothing governed by nature is guaranteed, of course.

 

I had to cancel our cruise due to a medical condition but I can wait to book it again hopefully. Enjoy your autumn cruise. What a beautiful time of year!

[jhannah]

We have done this itinerary in October. Loved it! Cool and crisp, but not really cold. Colors amazing. I think you'll like it.

[clamar]

Again, thanks to everyone who responded to my post. After giving it a lot of thought, I cancelled the cruise and I am going to re-schedule for the summer of 2018. I am cruising in July 2017 and April 2018 so I think that is enough for now.

 

Claire

[caber]

We did the repositioning cruise with a Princess a few years ago. We started on 22nd October with snow. We were in short sleeves in Boston on 31st October. The weather improved the further south we went of course.