Get me excited!!

[Mountaineer0313]

We did a cruise to Alaska this past August. We have Canada/New England booked for next September. For the life of me, I cannot get excited about this cruise because, well, it's not going to Alaska. People who have done this cruise, get me excited! What were your favorite ports, things to do, restaurants to eat at? We're doing Anthem out of Bayonne, going to Boston, Portland, Bar Harbor. Halifax and St. John.

[mskaufman]

OK, its not Alaska.  Halifax is very nice and it is a nice ride to Peggy's Cove.  Boston has more to do than in a port stop.  The Freedom trail brings American history to life.  Bar Harbor has Acadia NP.  It would be more ex citing if the itinerary included Quebec.  Anyway, here is a link to pictures from a similar cruise.

 

https://markandkarencanadanewengland.shutterfly.com/

 

 

[Ashland]

I've done Alaska several times and have done the Canada/New England cruise....I was very excited to do this new option and wasn't disappointed.....So much so that I've booked the October Snowbird itinerary from Quebec City to Fort Lauderdale....now really excited about this one.

[Host Carolyn]

• Have done Alaska 11 times and the Canada/New England once 4 times... love this itinerary although agree that the one-way Quebec itinerary is the best. All of the ports are relatively easy to navigate and wonderful restaurants for Lobster and seafood... we call it our "lobster lunch cruise."  Portland, Bar Harbor (Woody's taxi to Acadia Park is the best option IMHO), and even Halifax to some extent walkable from the ship.  I have been to Peggy's Cove but it's iffy in the fall, can be crowded and foggy so I would look at other options there -- Halifax is a beautiful city.  I hope you can get excited.. completely different from Alaska but a wonderful itinerary.

[pacruise804]

We went to Saint John on our first cruise, and did another cruise several years later that also included Halifax.

 

When researching things to do in Saint John, it is important to spell out Saint.  Saint John, NB is where your cruise stops; searching for St. John will likely give you results for either another Canadian Province (NL) or the USVI.

 

Our first cruise we enjoyed a Moosehead Brewing pub crawl through Carnival.  The second visit we did a Kayak lunch excursion through Princess (beautiful scenery and some wildlife for the easy kayak portion, whole local lobster and local sides for lunch).  I think there are also nice caves to drive to if you want to explore more, and some shopping in walking distance.

 

Halifax we walked to the Citadel and spent a couple hours exploring (enjoy history and the Canadian perspective was interesting since I usually have an American view), had a nice lunch at a local restaurant, and enjoyed viewing the Public Gardens before walking back to the ship.  There's a nice boardwalk, but we didn't spend much time since we had an early dinner reservation.  Halifax also has lots of local pubs in walking distance.

[kmerlin14]

Halifax also has the Pier 21 Museum and the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic right on the waterfront and it has a very nice Titanic exhibit as well as one on the Halifax explosion.

[maryann ns]

You may find the information below helpful for Halifax, Sydney, and PEI.

 

Halifax

 

Sydney

 

Prince Edward Island

[mainepaddler]

We live in Maine, so I would never even consider booking a New England/Canada cruise. In September, our cruise to Bermuda was rerouted to....New England/Canada. I have to say, it was amazing!!! The highlight of the trip was Go Fundy Tours with Alec in Saint John. 

[wannavacay]

We are booked for the 8/29 sailing on Anthem.  My husband has never been to this area, but when I had a friend in Maine around 10 years ago, we visited all these places via road trip, staying one night in each location.  

 

Boston is Boston, lots to do, lots of history, and I'm excited to go back to the historic sites, and to the North End for some good Italian food!  We also drove down to Salem and visited the Salem Witch Museum, which was super cheesy so I don't really recommend it.  

 

I only remember the cute town of Portland with its shopping and the flagship LL Bean Store, which was packed.  I hear there are a lot of cool restaurants there, and we're trying to come up with something interesting to do, but we might just mill around town.  This is one of our "relax, recharge" vacations vs "Go Go Go" in Hawaii.

 

In Bar Harbor I would really like to explore ANP, as it was really cold & icy the last time I was there so I didn't get to see it.  Bar Harbor is just a cool little town, I didn't think there was a lot going on when I was there in April (before the Summer People), but that's part of its charm.  Lobster Rolls are everywhere.

 

We drove to Peggy's Cove prior to our time in Halifax.  There was super thick fog and it looked really spooky like we were in a horror film, but I have a great pic of the lighthouse in the thick fog.  Other than the gift shop and the lighthouse (which is kind of a trek) there wasn't really anything to do there.  Halifax, the city, on the other hand, was fantastic.  We really enjoyed the Citadel AND the Maritime Museum, and walked around the public gardens.  We could have spent more time in all 3 places but we had to get on the road.  

 

To be fair, we circled Nova Scotia and the Cabot Trail (gorgeous) on our road trip, and stopped overnight at Hopewell Rocks area outside Moncton before stopping in Saint John.  BUT, if you get an opportunity to get to either Hopewell Rocks, or any area where you can "walk on the ocean floor" (depending on the tide schedule), it is pretty amazing.  The tide changes by about 30-40' at every tide change.  I think there are longer tours that take you to areas of the Bay of Fundy that are similar but not as far away -- I'm trying to find out more about this.  I've attached some pictures -- the rock formation at low tide & high tide is the same one, but in one I'm the tiny person on the left, and the other was taken from viewing area above after we returned from shopping in Moncton.  I don't remember much about the city of Saint John, so we are not sure what we are planning to do yet, but if we can't get a good tour of the Bay of Fundy then we'll probably do a short historic tour of Saint John.

 

Even if the ports are slower paced, the ship looks like it has plenty of fun things to do on board, so we should be squared away no matter our mood.

[wannavacay]

3 hours ago, wannavacay said:

I only remember the cute town of Portland with its shopping and the flagship LL Bean Store, which was packed.  

 

My apologies, my memory failed me.  The LL Bean Flagship store was in Freeport, ME.  I tried to edit the post but it wouldn't let me.  

[kmerlin14]

On 1/17/2019 at 10:10 AM, wannavacay said:

i think the tour you are looking for that is close to Saint John is a tour to St. Martins area and the Fundy Trail. But as you might get a clue from my profile picture, I do have a huge soft spot for the Hopewell Rocks. If I'm allowed to post the link, I can post one that has links to time lapse photography of the Hopewell Rocks. They were taken by the author of the book I'm holding in my picture.

 

 

[wannavacay]

 

50 minutes ago, kmerlin14 said:

If I'm allowed to post the link, I can post one that has links to time lapse photography of the Hopewell Rocks.

That would be soooooo cool to see in time lapse.  Thanks for the info on the tour!

[kmerlin14]

8 hours ago, wannavacay said:

 

That would be soooooo cool to see in time lapse.  Thanks for the info on the tour!

I have them at the bottom of the page for the book. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, there is a link to two different videos. One is a time lapse of the entire tidal cycle. The other is a time lapse of just 27 minutes where they stood in the water as the tide came up. 

http://www.chocolateriverpublishing.com/chocorivmay2017_010.htm

[AF-1]

Hello,  when is a good time to book the NE/Canada cruise?  Early or late September; or early or late October?  Thanks

[pacruise804]

AF-1, I think it depends on what you want from your cruise.  Foliage times can be unpredictable, so I would opt for September or early October since temperatures should be a little warmer.  Our first cruise was to Saint John, NB in August 2012 which was quite pleasant temperatures, maybe a little on the warm side.  We returned in late October 2017 and it was much cooler (50's) with more rain (although our day at Halifax was quite warm for the time - almost 70F).  Since it was the end of the season some of the vendors were already closed too, another reason to go in September.

[lenquixote66]

The highlight of a Portland Me stop was a guy playing a guitar in the cruise terminal and selling his CD's for $5 .I bought one not expecting it to be good but I am hooked on the music of Don Campbell.

 

[kmerlin14]

8 hours ago, pacruise804 said:

AF-1, I think it depends on what you want from your cruise.  Foliage times can be unpredictable, so I would opt for September or early October since temperatures should be a little warmer.  Our first cruise was to Saint John, NB in August 2012 which was quite pleasant temperatures, maybe a little on the warm side.  We returned in late October 2017 and it was much cooler (50's) with more rain (although our day at Halifax was quite warm for the time - almost 70F).  Since it was the end of the season some of the vendors were already closed too, another reason to go in September.

In Nova Scotia and New Brusnwick, the leaves usually start turning around the third week of September and are usually still good for Canadian Thanksgiving which is the second Monday in October. the weather in September and early October is usually lovely. If you are into books, the Foglit Festival is October 2-6 in Saint John and they have venues in Market square which is on the harbourfront near the cruise ship terminal. The Museum is there as well. Halifax has Word on the Street up by the Halifax Public Library Usually mid-September, but I cant' find the date. It would be a bit of an uphill hike to get there though. The Buskers festival in August is usually right on the waterfront.