No more Maine for our fall cruise

[Uff da]

NCL just sent a major itinerary change for our fall Canada/New England cruise. They pulled both Bar Harbor and Portland and replaced them with St. John and New York City. They moved some stuff around, changed some port times....I don't know how I feel about it yet, but it was a shock to see both stops in Maine pulled. I may have to revisit whether we want to take this one. 

[hallux]

The folks in Bar Harbor have been trying to limit the number of cruise passengers.  

https://www.cruisehive.com/cruise-port-in-maine-votes-to-restrict-cruise-ship-visitors/87122

 

There HAS been a legal challenge to that vote, raised by the businesses that would see reduced income as a result - 

https://wgme.com/news/local/businesses-sue-bar-harbor-over-cruise-ship-limits-lawsuit-new-restrictions-cruise-ship-passengers-break-federal-law-bh-piers-golden-anchor-maine-tourism-local-regulation-citizens-initiative

 

I have to wonder if that ban caused the change in your itinerary, at least for that port...

[Uff da]

Just now, hallux said:

The folks in Bar Harbor have been trying to limit the number of cruise passengers.  

https://www.cruisehive.com/cruise-port-in-maine-votes-to-restrict-cruise-ship-visitors/87122

 

There HAS been a legal challenge to that vote, raised by the businesses that would see reduced income as a result - 

https://wgme.com/news/local/businesses-sue-bar-harbor-over-cruise-ship-limits-lawsuit-new-restrictions-cruise-ship-passengers-break-federal-law-bh-piers-golden-anchor-maine-tourism-local-regulation-citizens-initiative

 

I have to wonder if that ban caused the change in your itinerary, at least for that port...

I know about that, but it doesn't go into effect until 2024. I was trying to get there before that happened. Oh well. I wasn't shocked about BH, but Portland surprised me. It's like NCL is pulling out of Maine, period. 

[laudergayle]

What ship are you sailing?

[Uff da]

Just now, laudergayle said:

What ship are you sailing?

Sky. It was a really nice 10 day thing. Great ports...

[laudergayle]

6 minutes ago, Uff da said:

Sky. It was a really nice 10 day thing. Great ports...

BarHarbor was one of our favorite ports. Acadia NP was beautiful the day we were there.  St John and Portland were nothing special IMO but that could gave been the excursions we took.  I’m curious about Martha’s Vineyard…always wanted to visit.

[shof515]

i wonder what is going to happen to the fall Canada this year and next year if bar harbor is limiting these big mega cruise ships 

[Sea saw 56]

We are on the 10/13-20 cruise on the Gem out of Boston.  The only port that does not show any NCL tours for purchase currently is Portand, Maine.  Hoping they don't substitute New York.  Hope to be able to visit Bar Harbon one more time as well.  At least Bar Harbor does show excursions to be available.

[julig22]

I'm on the 11 day from Baltimore, supposed to stop in Bar Harbor, no updates as of yet...

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, julig22 said:

I'm on the 11 day from Baltimore, supposed to stop in Bar Harbor, no updates as of yet...

The Sky is making two trips out of Baltimore this year. A 10 day and an 11 day. The OP is on one, you're on the other... which should suffer the same fate. 

[julig22]

9 hours ago, Uff da said:

NCL just sent a major itinerary change for our fall Canada/New England cruise. They pulled both Bar Harbor and Portland and replaced them with St. John and New York City. They moved some stuff around, changed some port times....I don't know how I feel about it yet, but it was a shock to see both stops in Maine pulled. I may have to revisit whether we want to take this one. 

2023 or 2024?  I'm not seeing a 2023 cruise that's scheduled for Portland?  

[julig22]

33 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The Sky is making two trips out of Baltimore this year. A 10 day and an 11 day. The OP is on one, you're on the other... which should suffer the same fate. 

10 day trip from Baltimore isn't scheduled for Portland and Bar Harbor in 2023, but is/was scheduled in 2024 from what I see on Cruisemapper.

[KansasTexan]

Both the Maine ports are still showing up on my Escape Oct 1, '23 itinerary. Thanks for posting this. If the ports are dropped, I'm likely to cancel my cruise. Sad if that's the case.

[mking8288]

Booked 2 cabins on the Escape this September out of NY to NE/Canada ... Portland & Bar Harbour are the 2 stops, and what can NCL changed them to - after final payment due in May.  Will cancel too unless they will do all Canadian ports instead. 

 

We shall see & watch carefully ☹️

Edited January 28, 2023 by mking8288

[bedfordmom]

Yes both Bat Harbour and Portland has passed regulations to limit cruise passengers. Bar Harbor limits it to about one ship  Portland somewhat more. I find this extremely short sighted  and foolish for two tourist communities to not want tourists! Apparently Bar Harbour only wants tourists they can make money off like drivers. I was at Arcadia last year to hike and  drove  through town and they wanted 2 $: per hour to park just to stop briefly for coffee I was so irritated did  not stop and saved my shopping for another coastal town that didn’t charge for parking and for coffee at McDonalds on my way out of town. 

 

[alrose251]

18 hours ago, Uff da said:

NCL just sent a major itinerary change for our fall Canada/New England cruise. They pulled both Bar Harbor and Portland and replaced them with St. John and New York City. They moved some stuff around, changed some port times....I don't know how I feel about it yet, but it was a shock to see both stops in Maine pulled. I may have to revisit whether we want to take this one. 

Think I am on the same cruise.  I will look into my options as I too are not happy with the change.

[AwesomO]

They're limiting it to something like 2.5-3k cruise passengers a day, if I recall correctly. That's barely enough for even the smaller NCL ships, assuming everyone wants to get off. I suppose they could issue some sort of ticket to limit people getting off- but that opens another can of worms for the cruise line if someone is unable to get off at a cruise port due to guest capacity being reached. 

 

We were in Bar Harbor over the summer and it was very crowded, without any cruises in port. The locals are fed up and cranky. If people think NYers are rude and cranky, they haven't been to a Hannaford's in Bar Harbor during the summer months. Local merchants are trying to fight the cruise ban, as posted above. I don't know anything about maritime law, but it sounded like they had a solid legal standing for their lawsuit. Good luck to them.

[MsTabbyKats]

2 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Booked 2 cabins on the Escape this September out of NY to NE/Canada ... Portland & Bar Harbour are the 2 stops, and what can NCL changed them to - after final payment due in May.  Will cancel too unless they will do all Canadian ports instead. 

 

We shall see & watch carefully ☹️

I'm on the 9/3 sailing.  If they put in an additional Canadian port and/or Boston I'm good; Bermuda-no!

 

I checked the excursions.....nothing listed for Portland.  Bar Harbor....yes.

Oh well.....nothing I can do (not going to cancel....good price and good cabin).

Edited January 28, 2023 by MsTabbyKats

[phillygwm]

19 hours ago, laudergayle said:

BarHarbor was one of our favorite ports. Acadia NP was beautiful the day we were there.  St John and Portland were nothing special IMO but that could gave been the excursions we took.  I’m curious about Martha’s Vineyard…always wanted to visit.

I've done the Canada/NE run 4 times now (NY is a convenient port for me.)  BH is a big loss, though only one of my itineraries included it.  Portland can be interesting, depending on what you do there.  I just checked the NCL website to refresh my memory on excursions and it's no longer listed, though it's still listed on the itineraries.  Hmmmmm...

 

Saint John is not one of my faves.  Last time, we did the Hop On Hop Off, which IMHO is your best bet.  The Reversing Rapids is underwhelming:  you go in the morning and see a river flowing one way then go back in the afternoon and see it going the other.  We stopped at the Moosehead Tasting Room, which had some interesting brews.  City Market is also nice for a short stop.  The trolley stops at all of those, and maybe 10 other places.

[mjkacmom]

2 hours ago, bedfordmom said:

Yes both Bat Harbour and Portland has passed regulations to limit cruise passengers. Bar Harbor limits it to about one ship  Portland somewhat more. I find this extremely short sighted  and foolish for two tourist communities to not want tourists! Apparently Bar Harbour only wants tourists they can make money off like drivers. I was at Arcadia last year to hike and  drove  through town and they wanted 2 $: per hour to park just to stop briefly for coffee I was so irritated did  not stop and saved my shopping for another coastal town that didn’t charge for parking and for coffee at McDonalds on my way out of town. 

 

I guess you live somewhere more remote? My little northeast town charges 50 cents an hour for parking, a larger town 3 miles away charges $2 an hour for parking (non tourist areas). I love paid parking, more likely to get a spot.

[bluesea777]

19 hours ago, Uff da said:

Sky. It was a really nice 10 day thing. Great ports...

 

When?

 

[hallux]

1 hour ago, AwesomO said:

They're limiting it to something like 2.5-3k cruise passengers a day, if I recall correctly

Or people can refer to the article in the first reply, which has the numbers..

[bedfordmom]

2 hours ago, mjkacmom said:

I guess you live somewhere more remote? My little northeast town charges 50 cents an hour for parking, a larger town 3 miles away charges $2 an hour for parking (non tourist areas). I love paid parking, more likely to get a spot.

Actually I live outside of Boston  and rarely have to pay in the suburbs. I don’t mind paying to park close but the entire town was metered!

[bedfordmom]

3 hours ago, phillygwm said:

I've done the Canada/NE run 4 times now (NY is a convenient port for me.)  BH is a big loss, though only one of my itineraries included it.  Portland can be interesting, depending on what you do there.  I just checked the NCL website to refresh my memory on excursions and it's no longer listed, though it's still listed on the itineraries.  Hmmmmm...

 

Saint John is not one of my faves.  Last time, we did the Hop On Hop Off, which IMHO is your best bet.  The Reversing Rapids is underwhelming:  you go in the morning and see a river flowing one way then go back in the afternoon and see it going the other.  We stopped at the Moosehead Tasting Room, which had some interesting brews.  City Market is also nice for a short stop.  The trolley stops at all of those, and maybe 10 other places.

The one time I went to St John I loved it because we went on a speedboat tour of the falls. It was exhilarating but thought it was dangerous. The following year that business went under so not surprising 

[mjkacmom]

8 minutes ago, bedfordmom said:

Actually I live outside of Boston  and rarely have to pay in the suburbs. I don’t mind paying to park close but the entire town was metered!

In my suburban town neighborhoods without retail aren’t metered, but there are meters on the Main Street and streets branching off, plus permit parking only near bus stops, and 4 metered lots (town is 3 miles).