latebuyer Posted May 31 #1 Share Posted May 31 I’ve been debating going to the kennebunk port plus the kennebunk lighthouse or is visiting more lighthouses more worth it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elcuchio24 Posted June 6 #2 Share Posted June 6 Porland Head Light and Bug Light right near port are probably more picturesque in my opinion and close. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latebuyer Posted June 6 Author #3 Share Posted June 6 Thank you. I decided to book the lighthouses in maine princess excursion which goes there and spring pointe ledge lighthouse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elcuchio24 Posted June 6 #4 Share Posted June 6 (edited) 29 minutes ago, latebuyer said: Thank you. I decided to book the lighthouses in maine princess excursion which goes there and spring pointe ledge lighthouse. Nice! You'll enjoy. Lot of easy/close spots to walk to from the pier around the oldport as well, restaurants/shops/etc. Also, Spring Point is the same as 'Bug Light' locals just call it Bug Light. Edited June 6 by elcuchio24 . 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chengkp75 Posted June 8 #5 Share Posted June 8 Of course, I've been to Portland Head many times, having lived here for over 40 years, but my special sight is to see it from offshore. Get up at least an hour before arrival time in Portland, and get out on deck (port side), and you will get a unique photo opportunity to see the lighthouse as mariners see it, with the rocky shore all around it. While Fort Williams park is nice, I can think of other things to do here in Portland, than take a bus back and forth just to see the park. You will also get an even closer view of Bug Light from the ship as she comes in to dock. Portland also has the Museum of Art with its Wyeth collection, the Observatory tower for views across Casco Bay and the Calendar Islands, narrow gauge railroad, shopping in the Old Port, restaurants that makes us one of the top 10 foodie cities in the US, Longfellow house, Victorian Mansion, walks along the Eastern Prom trail that starts less than a thousand feet from the cruise ship terminal, the Mail Boat, and schooner sails around Casco Bay. I wouldn't bother taking a 30-40 minute bus ride to Kennebunkport. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tring Posted June 9 #6 Share Posted June 9 (edited) On 6/8/2024 at 10:28 AM, chengkp75 said: Of course, I've been to Portland Head many times, having lived here for over 40 years, but my special sight is to see it from offshore. Get up at least an hour before arrival time in Portland, and get out on deck (port side), and you will get a unique photo opportunity to see the lighthouse as mariners see it, with the rocky shore all around it. While Fort Williams park is nice, I can think of other things to do here in Portland, than take a bus back and forth just to see the park. You will also get an even closer view of Bug Light from the ship as she comes in to dock. Portland also has the Museum of Art with its Wyeth collection, the Observatory tower for views across Casco Bay and the Calendar Islands, narrow gauge railroad, shopping in the Old Port, restaurants that makes us one of the top 10 foodie cities in the US, Longfellow house, Victorian Mansion, walks along the Eastern Prom trail that starts less than a thousand feet from the cruise ship terminal, the Mail Boat, and schooner sails around Casco Bay. I wouldn't bother taking a 30-40 minute bus ride to Kennebunkport. We are in Portland on Sunday 22nd September when there are two cruise ships in port. Ours at about 1,900 passengers and another with about 2,500 passengers. Do we need to book the railroad before we arrive (I see it can be booked online), or will we likely be able to just pay on the day? We would also be interested in a schooner sailing, but again, is it something we would need to book ahead of the day? Edited June 9 by tring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chengkp75 Posted June 9 #7 Share Posted June 9 I would definitely book the schooner sail in advance. Not sure how busy the railroad gets on cruise ship days, but it runs every hour, so I think you would be okay getting tickets there on the day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipgeeks Posted June 9 #8 Share Posted June 9 tring, we will be on the other ship in Portland the day you are there. What ship will you be on? Portland is one of our favorites. I hope you will enjoy your day there as much as we always do. The visitors center, at the end of the pier, is very helpful, and can supply a city map as well as other brochures, and information. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tring Posted June 9 #9 Share Posted June 9 (edited) 2 hours ago, shipgeeks said: tring, we will be on the other ship in Portland the day you are there. What ship will you be on? Portland is one of our favorites. I hope you will enjoy your day there as much as we always do. The visitors center, at the end of the pier, is very helpful, and can supply a city map as well as other brochures, and information. The other ship I saw on the schedule is Liberty OTS, which I assume you will be travelling on. We are on P&O's Arcadia. It is a British cruise line and we are sailing round trip from Southampton UK to NY and back, with a number of other Canadian/US ports on the way. Thirty nights all told. We did a very similar cruise last September and called into Portland then, when we went to the Victorian House, the observatory in the city and had a general walk round, but everywhere was very quiet as that was also a Sunday. So need to have a definite plan for this year as Sunday again. Apart from a couple of Canadian ports on a St Lawrence cruise, last year was our first time to the Eastern Seaboard. We had three days in NY and thought that would be our least favourite port, but we really enjoyed it and are looking forward to another three days there this year. Edited June 9 by tring Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tring Posted June 9 #10 Share Posted June 9 2 hours ago, chengkp75 said: I would definitely book the schooner sail in advance. Not sure how busy the railroad gets on cruise ship days, but it runs every hour, so I think you would be okay getting tickets there on the day. Thank a lot for the reply, much appreciated. We are always wary of booking ahead independently in case we do not get into port, but sometimes it has to be done. The ship's excursions do not appeal to us. One does include the schooner, but it also includes a coach tour and we really do not want to be stuck on a coach for a couple of hours or so. Also have details for the mailboat and ferries printed out as a possibility, but I would like calm seas for that, so need other options 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipgeeks Posted June 9 #11 Share Posted June 9 tring, We will be on Vision of the Seas, a smaller ship than Liberty, which will be in Portland the Sunday before us. So Portland will be less crowded on our day! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipgeeks Posted June 9 #12 Share Posted June 9 Your 30-day itinerary sounds wonderful! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chengkp75 Posted June 9 #13 Share Posted June 9 1 hour ago, tring said: Also have details for the mailboat and ferries printed out as a possibility, but I would like calm seas for that, so need other options Unless it is really blowing a gale out in the Gulf of Maine, Casco Bay will be pretty calm, and Cliff Island, the furthest out the mailboat runs is only 8.4 miles from the dock in Portland. But, yeah, if it's foggy and rainy the mailboat isn't fun. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tring Posted June 9 #14 Share Posted June 9 (edited) 34 minutes ago, shipgeeks said: tring, We will be on Vision of the Seas, a smaller ship than Liberty, which will be in Portland the Sunday before us. So Portland will be less crowded on our day! Sorry, I have the other ships in port written on an itinerary I keep next to our computer. I had looked at Vision before my first post, but looked at the wrong port when replying to you. Liberty is in Boston with us on our first day there (14th - US immigration day for us), then Vision is with us for our first day in Saint John on the 24th. We stay in Saint John until about 2.30pm the next day as a replacement for Bar Harbor - I think one or two other port days were altered a few months back for that, but we only booked early May on the current itinerary. Saint John is new to us this year, in exchange for Charlottetown, which we have already visited twice, so we are ok with that. We had a much bigger port load in Portland last year, but once away from the cruise pier, hardly anyone around. Yes a long cruise, with lots of ports, but we have started doing longer itineraries as they are more worthwhile when making the effort to pack and drive south to Southampton. Edited June 9 by tring 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oakman58 Posted June 9 #15 Share Posted June 9 On 6/8/2024 at 4:28 AM, chengkp75 said: Of course, I've been to Portland Head many times, having lived here for over 40 years, but my special sight is to see it from offshore. Get up at least an hour before arrival time in Portland, and get out on deck (port side), and you will get a unique photo opportunity to see the lighthouse as mariners see it, with the rocky shore all around it. While Fort Williams park is nice, I can think of other things to do here in Portland, than take a bus back and forth just to see the park. You will also get an even closer view of Bug Light from the ship as she comes in to dock. Thanks for the heads up about seeing the lighthouses from the ship. My cabin is on the port side so I'm hoping to get some nice photos of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipgeeks Posted June 28 #16 Share Posted June 28 I am bumping this post up for the cruisers in the next couple of months. Lots of good info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyc20 Posted July 5 #17 Share Posted July 5 Does global entry speed up the process? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zqvol Posted July 5 #18 Share Posted July 5 56 minutes ago, garyc20 said: Does global entry speed up the process? No Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipgeeks Posted July 5 #19 Share Posted July 5 What process? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1025cruise Posted July 5 #20 Share Posted July 5 30 minutes ago, shipgeeks said: What process? If Portland is your first US port after being in Canada, a face to face with US immigration is required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMLAalum Posted July 5 #21 Share Posted July 5 6 hours ago, 1025cruise said: If Portland is your first US port after being in Canada, a face to face with US immigration is required. It would be great if CBP agents could board the ship before it reaches Portland to begin the process. When we entered the US in San Diego, our port of disembarkation, from Cabo the screening occurred the day prior so we were free to leave the ship once docked. Just browsing excursions offered by Celebrity, the earliest start time is 10:45. Arrival is 9:30. Likely those booked on ship tours will have priority, but we are hoping to book a city tour that begins at 11am. Doubtful, unless our loyalty tier helps us move to the front of the queue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare 1025cruise Posted July 5 #22 Share Posted July 5 33 minutes ago, TMLAalum said: It would be great if CBP agents could board the ship before it reaches Portland to begin the process. When we entered the US in San Diego, our port of disembarkation, from Cabo the screening occurred the day prior so we were free to leave the ship once docked. Just browsing excursions offered by Celebrity, the earliest start time is 10:45. Arrival is 9:30. Likely those booked on ship tours will have priority, but we are hoping to book a city tour that begins at 11am. Doubtful, unless our loyalty tier helps us move to the front of the queue. It would be nice, but can only happen if cvp can get to the port, and there's is room on the ship for the screening to occur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latebuyer Posted July 5 Author #23 Share Posted July 5 So i am assuming if i go through customs flying into boston, then i wouldn’t have to go through customs again on the ship? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zqvol Posted July 5 #24 Share Posted July 5 1 hour ago, latebuyer said: So i am assuming if i go through customs flying into boston, then i wouldn’t have to go through customs again on the ship? Maybe and maybe not. All depends on your itinerary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
latebuyer Posted July 5 Author #25 Share Posted July 5 Thanks. I go to portland after boston then canada. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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