New England, Canada cruise itineraries

[stunned]

I want to do a New England, Canada cruise, but am clueless as to what itinerary is a must see.

I would appreciate any advice given.  

I do know I want to see New York City and/or Boston.

 

[woldridge]

Look at Celebrity's Summit cruises out of Boston.  There are three cruises, all round-trip that include an overnight in Quebec. The middle cruise the end of September has the best itinerary, but to get the best fall colors, the later the better.  For me, the fall colors were the must see. 

 

[lenquixote66]

18 minutes ago, stunned said:

I want to do a New England, Canada cruise, but am clueless as to what itinerary is a must see.

I would appreciate any advice given.  

I do know I want to see New York City and/or Boston.

 

My wife and I did a cruise out of Manhattan. There were port stops in Portland ,Maine,Prince Edward Island ,Ottawa (an overnight) and Halifax,Nova Scotia. There was also a visit to Bar Harbor ,Maine via Tender.

This was on. Celebrity ship.It was a great cruise.

 

[Aquahound]

22 minutes ago, woldridge said:

Look at Celebrity's Summit cruises out of Boston.  There are three cruises, all round-trip that include an overnight in Quebec. The middle cruise the end of September has the best itinerary, but to get the best fall colors, the later the better.  For me, the fall colors were the must see. 

 

 

I totally agree with this post.  Boston, Celebrity, overnight in Quebec, and fall colors are a perfect combination.  This cruise would be a favorite for me if I was looking at that itinerary.  

[capriccio]

I don't know how many days you have available but if you have the time, I recommend the last cruise of the season from Canada which is a repositioning cruise often to Florida.  We did just that in 2014 on Princess. 

 

We flew into Quebec City a couple of days early plus the ship spent the first night in Quebec.  We then visited Saguenay, Halifax, Bar Harbor, Boston, Newport, New York City, Charleston (which we missed due to a tropical storm), and arrived in Fort Lauderdale after 12 days on the ship. 

 

An added bonus was that the next cruise had lots of extra capacity and passengers on our cruise were offered fantastic rates a few weeks before departing Quebec.  We paid a great rate for a mini suite and were upgraded (free) to a full suite.  I doubt that happens anymore - at least on Princess - since those 5 day cruises aren't offered any longer.

[chengkp75]

Boston is a must, but I would take one that starts or ends there, as there is so much to see that a port call isn't enough.  Great city for walking nearly everywhere.  Portland is also (surprise, surprise) at the top of my list.  Nationally renowned foodie town, lots of history and unique aspects like "island life".  Halifax would round out my top three.

[shipgeeks]

As well as following any replies here, I would suggest reading about potential ports in the Ports of Call, Canada New England section of CC.  There are a lot of posts about any places you might want to include.  Of course, it is always personal preferences, so the more you can learn the better.

As well as sailing to C/NE out of Baltimore several times, we've done the spring version of the repositioning cruise mentioned above, starting in Florida and ending in Montreal.

Our own favorite ports on this itinerary are Halifax, Portland, and St. John, with Boston and Bar Harbour near the bottom.  Fall colors don't have any importance to us.  So, as I said, we all have our own preferences, but it's an excellent cruise, and well worth exploring.

[Ashland]

Agree...If you have time and it's available RCI's Snowbird cruise itinerary.

A 13 nighter from Quebec to Fort Lauderdale. We sailed on the Adventure Oct 2019.

[navybankerteacher]

2 minutes ago, Ashland said:

Agree...If you have time and it's available RCI's Snowbird cruise itinerary.

A 13 nighter from Quebec to Fort Lauderdale. We sailed on the Adventure Oct 2019.

We had a good one-way on HAL from Quebec City (arrived a couple of days early and stayed in the Old City ) - stopping in Prince Edward Island:  St. John  and Halifax, Nova Scotia;  Bar Harbor, ME;  Boston, MA; Newport, RI; ending in Manhattan.  I think there are a number of lines with comparable itineraries --- some, at the end of season, continuing down to Florida.

[TheOldBear]

Cunard often has a NYC to Quebec round trip, sandwiched between transatlantic crossings. This is sold in several segments, nyc to Quebec, Quebec to NYC or combined with the transatlantic crossings.

There is also a ‘short break’, five day cruise over Fourth of July weekend.

 

HAL used to have one of their smaller ships sail Boston to Montreal. That may not be possible after the recent round of ship retirements and reassignments.

[rkacruiser]

If one could sail out of Montreal, I would recommend that.  Many ships, however, cannot deal with a bridge that crosses the St. Lawrence.  Saguenay and Charlottetown on P.E.I. were special ports for me as Halifax always is.  

 

When one is in port for Charlottetown, one needs to make plans to have time to enjoy fresh P.E.I. mussels with a Canadian beer.  (I like LaBatt's.)  

[stunned]

Thank you everyone for your responses.  I am going to do some port searches and definitely know which ports to have on itinerary after your suggestions.

Everyone stay safe!

[navybankerteacher]

11 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

If one could sail out of Montreal, I would recommend that.  Many ships, however, cannot deal with a bridge that crosses the St. Lawrence.  Saguenay and Charlottetown on P.E.I. were special ports for me as Halifax always is.  

 

When one is in port for Charlottetown, one needs to make plans to have time to enjoy fresh P.E.I. mussels with a Canadian beer.  (I like LaBatt's.)  

You are right about LaBatt's - but I think Quebec  is the better embarkation port --- as it is a lovely old walled city to spend a couple of days, and Montreal, while OK is nowhere  near as special.

[ontheweb]

We sailed from Boston to Montreal. We spent some days afterwards in Montreal and found it to be a wonderful place to visit.

 

I also noticed that there have been no real mentions of Halifax. We found much to do in our port stop there.

[babs135]

If you don't mind the formality of Cunard, the Queen Mary 2 is doing a round trip out of New York in October visiting Boston and Quebec where she will berth for 3 nights.  Off hand can't remember the other ports but they'll be easy to find.

 

[Ashland]

7 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

You are right about LaBatt's - but I think Quebec  is the better embarkation port --- as it is a lovely old walled city to spend a couple of days, and Montreal, while OK is nowhere  near as special.

Loved our 4 days pre-cruise in Quebec...stayed in the old city at Auberge d' Armes...just amazing location...I would cruise from there anytime...Our itinerary was awesome !!!

[lenquixote66]

7 hours ago, Ashland said:

Loved our 4 days pre-cruise in Quebec...stayed in the old city at Auberge d' Armes...just amazing location...I would cruise from there anytime...Our itinerary was awesome !!!

Our all time favorite lodging in Quebec City is the Chateau Frontenac.

[ldubs]

3 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

Our all time favorite lodging in Quebec City is the Chateau Frontenac.

 

I never stayed there but it is an incredible place.  I agree with all the previous comments about Quebec City.  It is a terrific place to visit.  

[Ashland]

3 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

Our all time favorite lodging in Quebec City is the Chateau Frontenac.

Our front corner 2nd floor window looked out at the CF.

[paul929207]

If you would like a longer cruise, we are booked in August 2022 for a 10day cruise from Quebec City to NYC followed by a 16 day cruise r/t nyc to Greenland and then a 10 day cruise from NYC back to Quebec. All are on the Caribbean  Princess, 36 days total

[hallasm]

I did a New England and Canada cruise from Bayonne

Excellent opportunity for a pre- or post cruise stay in New York.

Itinerary: Boston, Massachusetts, Portland, Maine, Bar Harbor, Maine, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Saint John, New Brunswick, 

My blog from the cruise - first day is at the button of the blog

 

 

 

[lenquixote66]

12 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

I never stayed there but it is an incredible place.  I agree with all the previous comments about Quebec City.  It is a terrific place to visit.  

My wife and I were there in the early 70’s .We love Canada.In 1969 we went to Montreal and stayed at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel.We loved Canada so much that we went back 16 times.

[lenquixote66]

12 hours ago, Ashland said:

Our front corner 2nd floor window looked out at the CF.

When we were back in Quebec City in 2013 a visit to the Frontenac was a must for us.Everything was the same but they added a Starbucks.We love Starbucks but not in a glamorous hotel.

[navybankerteacher]

2 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

When we were back in Quebec City in 2013 a visit to the Frontenac was a must for us.Everything was the same but they added a Starbucks.We love Starbucks but not in a glamorous hotel.

We stayed at a small hotel on rue Ste. Anne - with a great view of the Chateau (beautifully lit at night)  - while it is a fine hotel, I think its strongest point is its being seen from outside -- so the best option is to have your cake and eat it:  a lovely small hotel with the Chateau in the background.

 

(You are right about that damn Starbucks they tucked into that corner -- still, I suppose it could have been worse: a Burger King or a Domino's Pizza.)

[lenquixote66]

2 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

We stayed at a small hotel on rue Ste. Anne - with a great view of the Chateau (beautifully lit at night)  - while it is a fine hotel, I think its strongest point is its being seen from outside -- so the best option is to have your cake and eat it:  a lovely small hotel with the Chateau in the background.

 

(You are right about that damn Starbucks they tucked into that corner -- still, I suppose it could have been worse: a Burger King or a Domino's Pizza.)

There was construction going on when we were there.Perhaps they were building a Nedicks or a White Castle.