Cruise line help

[Dkconnor]

Husband and I have about 11 cruises under our belt, but never to New England/Canada.  We'd like to plan for one in Fall of 2023.  Looking for good price and good itinerary.  We can leave from/return to any port.  What would you choose?  We've cruised Carnival, NCL and Royal Carribean in the past.  Our least favorite was Royal but that was massive ship filled with pre-teen kids.  We are assuming Fall cruises would minimize the number of kids traveling.  We are 55/65 years old, very active people and willing to try any line.  Thanks for your advice!

[3rdGenCunarder]

For itinerary, look at HAL, especially the late cruises, where they reposition southward. They have smaller ships that can get into smaller ports. Although they have a reputation for an older clientele, they do offer some active tours, and it's easy to do things on your own in most of the ports, if you don't want a ship's tour. 

[lx200gps]

2 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

For itinerary, look at HAL, especially the late cruises, where they reposition southward. They have smaller ships that can get into smaller ports. Although they have a reputation for an older clientele, they do offer some active tours, and it's easy to do things on your own in most of the ports, if you don't want a ship's tour. 

HAL would also be my suggestion, as you implied that you don't care for larger ships. Given your experiences with Carnival, RCCL and NCL, you will find HAL VERY much more sedate, with no amusement park rides, constant partying etc, not to mention arguably better food and service as well.  The other alternatives similar to HAL would be Celebrity and our preferred line Princess. We board the Enchanted Princess in Brooklyn this Saturday for Canada/New England, with stops in Newport, Boston, Bar Harbor, Saint John and Halifax. 

[shipgeeks]

Port of Baltimore (BWI airport) has Royal Caribbean cruises to C/NE on smaller ships as well.  Most are 8 or 9 nights.  Very few onboard rides and such, so they are also mostly adult passengers.

[bookbabe]

Check out Viking.  Smaller ships, over 18 only.

[LPYRCRUISER]

we just completed a HAL cruise, Montreal to Boston.  Enjoyed it very much with a lot of excursions to choose from.  While HAL has a reputation for being for an older crowd, we saw much less walkers and scooters than our RCCL cruise in March! Food and service was excellent.

[dopey1200]

We just did the HAL from Boston to Montreal on the Zaandam. It's a very small ship with a more "mature" crowd. I think there were only 2 kids on the ship! It was also our first time doing the New England/Canada itinerary and really enjoyed it. 

[Wuffo]

My wife and I are going on NCL Breakaway on Oct. 9th from NY to Halifax. Great price and 5 stops. I'll fill you in when we get back.

[GTJ]

From a broad perspective, there are generally two types of mass market cruises scheduled on the east coast. First are closed-loop excursions, generally originating from Boston, New York, Bayonne, and less often Baltimore, usually heading north as far as Halifax (but sometimes only so far as Saint John), before turning-around and back. Second are one-way cruises, operating between, on the one hand, Boston or New York, and on the other hand, Québec or Montréal. More cruises begin or end in Québec, than in Montréal, and many cruises that begin or end in Québec include one in port in Québec, allowing for two days visiting that city. There are several ports along the St. Lawrence River that are visited by these one-way cruises, but rarely, if ever, visited by the closed-loop excursions. For one-way cruises, a comfortable return can be made using the Amtrak train, "Adirondack," a day trip between Montréal and New York (there are connecting trains and motorcoaches between Québec and Montréal), with Greyhound Lines motorcoaches providing day trips between Montréal and Boston. By far, Holland America Line offers the greatest number of one-way cruises, with departures about every two weeks between Boston and Montréal, from mid-May through early October. Other lines include Cunard Line, Hurtigruten, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, Princess Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line, Silverseas Cruises, and Windstar Cruises, among others. These vessels are all relatively large. The peak season is autumn, with many lines operating only during September and October. Prior to the autumn season these vessels are often found doing cruises to and from Bermuda, or having been in Europe and making a late summer transatlantic crossing. After the autumn season these vessels typically reposition to Florida, and so the last one-way cruise from Québec or Montréal may be an extended voyage all the way to Florida. I have sailed with Norwegian Cruise Line, one-way from Québec to Boston, visiting the Saguenay Fjord, Sept-Îles, Charlottetown, Halifax, and Portland (all places I had been to before, overland, but pleasant enough to re-visit).

 

Several smaller vessels also sail in and around New England and Canada, most stopping in more intimate ports that cannot be visited by the mass market lines. These lines include American Queen Voyages, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, Pearl Seas Cruises, Ponant, and Viking Expeditions. Usually these are one-way cruises. Typically these vessels begin the summer season in New England, and will make one or several cruises to Montréal. Later in the season cruises will operate between Montréal and Toronto, and in the middle of the season between Toronto and Chicago, Milwaukee, or the Great Lakes; after the middle of the summer these vessels then work their way back to Montréal and then to New England. There is also two Canadian lines, Saint Lawrence Cruise Lines (sailing out of Kingston to Gatineau and Québec) and Ontario Waterway Cruises (sailing out of Ottawa to Kingston, Peterborough, and Big Chute) All of these cruises are more expensive than the mass market lines, and the vessels being much small and with fewer amenities, so the attraction is the intimacy and the ports visited rather than the vessel itself.

 

Finally, there are two distinct Canadian cruises along the lower St. Lawrence River, of which I have sailed on both. First is Coopérative de Transport Maritime et Aérien (usually shortened to C.T.M.A.), which operates between Montréal and the Magdalen Islands . . . I traveled on an extended itinerary that also included St-Pierre et Miquelon. The other is Relais Nordik, which operates between Rimouski (200 miles northeast of the city of Québec) and Blanc-Sablon (on the border separating the province of Québec from Labrador, and from which a ferry crosses the strait to Newfoundland). Both lines are important for the provisioning of freight to isolated communities, and these lines are alone in providing passenger cruise experiences to these ports.

 

If I had to pick my personal favorite cruise line, it would be Relais Nordik, with the visits to the small ports being much different from anything the mass market lines can offer. The vessel upon which I traveled, the Nordik Express, has since been retired, replaced by the new Bella Desgagnés. My favorite port visited was Harrington Harbour, a picturesque small anglophone community with no roads but boardwalks criss-crossing all the rocks upon which everyone walks or uses ATVs.

[California Dreamers]

We will be on the Celebrity Summit leaving Boston Sept 10.  Stops in Bar Harbor Maine Sept 11.

Stops in Halifax Nova Scotia Sept 12.  Stops in Sydney Nova Scotia Sept 13. Does an overnight in Quebec City sept 15 to Sept 16.  Stops at Charlottetown Prince edward Island Sept 18.  Stops at Portland Maine Sept 20.  Ends in Boston Sept 21.

We love the itinerary especially the overnight in Quebec City.

[Dr. Pam]

Bonjour CalDreamers!

I just reserved this cruise for DH and I!  We are from Alberta, Canada. 🙂  I have been on an extensive tour of Quebec City with my son's Gr 9 French Class.  I was an organizer with the teacher.......and even I as a Canadian learned soooo much about our history!  You will love Quebec City with its charm, lovely stores, food (and not just poutine!)  You will not be disappointed! My DH has not traveled there, so I am looking forward to enjoying this wonderful French Canadian city with him! 

 

This is the best itinerary IMHO of all the ships sailing during the Fall.

BonVoyage!

 

Happy and safe travels!

 

Pam

[mjcruise101]

6 of us are on the Sept 13-24 HAL Zaandam, Canada-New England cruise. We have never sailed on the Zaandam, but sailed on the Amsterdam which was the sister ship until it was sold. We loved the Amsterdam, small by cruise ship standards, about 1400 passengers. Great service. Only the smaller ships go all the way to Montreal. Larger ships can only go to Quebec City.  I spent time in Toronto a long time ago and the fall is a great time to visit.