Sheila127 Posted July 18 #1 Share Posted July 18 Visiting the East coast of Canada in September. If anyone has done this cruise please can you advise if local tours are offered at the ports! Have booked some P and O and Get your Guide excursions but some P and O excursions have poor reviews so am wondering whether to book locally on arrival! Any advice greatly appreciated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david63 Posted July 18 #2 Share Posted July 18 Once out of the major Canadian cities the tourist infrastructure is not always that good - in fact it is virtually non existent. For example when we were in Canada a few years ago with P&O some of the excursions used school buses for transport (obviously outside of school hours) as there were no other options. The lack of the tourist infrastructure is one of the reasons why the excursions have bad reviews. 58 minutes ago, Sheila127 said: am wondering whether to book locally on arrival! You might find that ranging from either difficult to impossible. If you cannot find anything on the major excursion sites that is probably because they do not exist - it is very much go with what P&O have to offer or don't do anything. Having said all of that we went on some brilliant excursions with P&O in Canada 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathygh Posted July 18 #3 Share Posted July 18 We are doing a NewEngland/Canada cruise in September (not with P&O) and I found somethings on the Cruise Critic Canada/New England port page and by googling the ports. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila127 Posted July 18 Author #4 Share Posted July 18 54 minutes ago, david63 said: Once out of the major Canadian cities the tourist infrastructure is not always that good - in fact it is virtually non existent. For example when we were in Canada a few years ago with P&O some of the excursions used school buses for transport (obviously outside of school hours) as there were no other options. The lack of the tourist infrastructure is one of the reasons why the excursions have bad reviews. You might find that ranging from either difficult to impossible. If you cannot find anything on the major excursion sites that is probably because they do not exist - it is very much go with what P&O have to offer or don't do anything. Having said all of that we went on some brilliant excursions with P&O in Canada Thank you David for the information and advice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila127 Posted July 18 Author #5 Share Posted July 18 5 minutes ago, Cathygh said: We are doing a NewEngland/Canada cruise in September (not with P&O) and I found somethings on the Cruise Critic Canada/New England port page and by googling the ports. I have done a lot of googling, including whatsinport! Will keep looking, though I am sure David is correct with his summing up! Thanks Cathy! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeanlyon Posted July 18 #6 Share Posted July 18 Some years back when we did US and Canada cruise, we did no P&O excursions at all. We found something in every port. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scobie15 Posted July 18 #7 Share Posted July 18 We are hiring a car in several ports as the excursions seemed poor value. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canadjineh Posted July 19 #8 Share Posted July 19 We only used Princess for two shore excursions while on our 10 night New England/Maritimes cruise this past Sept. We booked a ride on the school bus (who cares - it's only a way to get a largish group to the sites you want to see) to Saguenay Fjord National Park so we could do some hiking on our own - worth the ride. We also did a tour to Island Falconry on Prince Edward Island as there wasn't any way to do that privately. Good reviews on both those tours, BTW. The rest of the ports had great things to explore all within walking distance or easily arranged with other tour & transport companies, except for Boston - I'm totally uninterested in American Revolutionary history so instead spent about $100 CAD for return taxi and entrance ticket to the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. It was amazing, I could have spent days there. https://www.mfa.org/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tring Posted July 19 #9 Share Posted July 19 (edited) On 7/18/2024 at 7:48 AM, Sheila127 said: Visiting the East coast of Canada in September. If anyone has done this cruise please can you advise if local tours are offered at the ports! Have booked some P and O and Get your Guide excursions but some P and O excursions have poor reviews so am wondering whether to book locally on arrival! Any advice greatly appreciated! Which P&O cruise are you doing? Is it the one to New York and back, or the one which leaves a bit later and goes up the St Lawrence to Quebec, before returning to the UK? We have done both routes including the NY one last year and are booked again for this year and most ports are fine to do independently without excursions. Not much in Iles de La Madeleine, but at least we are in on a week day this year, whilst last year were in on a Sunday and people who did not take trips were complaining everything was closed, apart from one coffee shop and the coffee machine broke. We did the boat trip along the coast. I can give a few pointers if you let me know which cruise you are doing. Edited July 19 by tring 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila127 Posted July 19 Author #10 Share Posted July 19 7 minutes ago, tring said: Which P&O cruise are you doing? Is it the one to New York and back, or the one which leaves a bit later and goes up the St Lawrence to Quebec, before returning to the UK? We have done both routes including the NY one last year and are booked again for this year and most ports are fine to do independently without excursions. Not much in Iles de La Madeleine, but at least we are in on a week day this year, whilst last year were in on a Sunday and people who did not take trips were complaining everything was closed, apart from one coffee shop and the coffee machine broke. We did the boat trip along the coast. I can give a few pointers if you let me know which cruise you are doing. I am doing the 24 day cruise up the St Lawrence to Quebec! The ports I am wondering about is Sept Iles and Iles de la Madeleine! The P and O excursions have bad reviews so was hoping there may be local tours on arrival or there is enough to see! The boat trip along the coast did you book through P and O? Thank you! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tring Posted July 19 #11 Share Posted July 19 (edited) 55 minutes ago, Sheila127 said: I am doing the 24 day cruise up the St Lawrence to Quebec! The ports I am wondering about is Sept Iles and Iles de la Madeleine! The P and O excursions have bad reviews so was hoping there may be local tours on arrival or there is enough to see! The boat trip along the coast did you book through P and O? Thank you! Yes, I wrote the review which mentioned people standing at the boat sides and that I did not see the lobster demo as I was out on the front of the boat when they brought up the lobster cage. The trip was ok though, and we did see the caves and coast line close up, but would advise to stay in the main seating area as coming up to the lobster demo - worth asking when they will do it. Bit risky to do private tours in that area imo and in some places I suggest impossible, but all own choice. No idea which day you are in Iles devla Madeline. I have not been to Sept Iles, but true a number of small ports up there, so I do suggest looking closely at the P&O excursions. Quebec is fine ot course. Will have a look at your itinerary later and may add to this. If you post your ports, perhaps on a new thread in this ports of call board, you will likey get replies from people who know the area well. Edited July 19 by tring 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila127 Posted July 19 Author #12 Share Posted July 19 16 minutes ago, tring said: Yes, I wrote the review which mentioned people standing at the boat sides and that I did not see the lobster demo as I was out on the front of the boat when they brought up the lobster cage. The trip was ok though, and we did see the caves and coast line close up, but would advise to stay in the main seating area as coming up to the lobster demo - worth asking when they will do it. Bit risky to do private tours in that area imo and in some places I suggest impossible, but all own choice. No idea which day you are in Iles devla Madeline. I have not been to Sept Iles, but true a number of small ports up there, so I do suggest looking closely at the P&O excursions. Quebec is fine ot course. Will have a look at your itinerary later and may add to this. If you post your ports, perhaps on a new thread in this ports of call board, you will likey get replies from people who know the area well. Thank you Tring! I am more or less organised for the other ports it is just these two I have yet to plan! As you suggest may create new thread just for these ports! Thank you for your help and guidance! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tring Posted July 19 #13 Share Posted July 19 (edited) 1 hour ago, Sheila127 said: Thank you Tring! I am more or less organised for the other ports it is just these two I have yet to plan! As you suggest may create new thread just for these ports! Thank you for your help and guidance! You can also search this forum (Canada/New England, ports of call board) for those ports. I have asked about Iles de La Madeleine in the last couple of years, so that should come up, though not a lot else on here as I think most people travel on the bigger ships, that do not call there. Make sure you are into the main page for this Canada/US forum and that the search is just for this board, or all sorts will come up. This year we have booked the transfer to La Grave, then will stay ashore afterwards. Of course, being a tender port, the people on excursions will have priority for the tenders, so could be fairly late morning before others get ashore. We often book ships excursions for tender ports for that reason. People who did not do tours last year were very miffed about the stop all together, but being a Sunday certainly did not help. Tender ports are always a bit iffy as well, depending upon sea conditions, so might even find you do not get there, we were lucky last year and did get ashore. We did a St Lawrence cruise a few years back with Fred over a longer itinerary and were able to go as far as Montreal, which we liked a lot. Quebec is ok, but too touristy for our liking, though that does mean there are plenty of bars there. We took a local bus to Montmorency Falls on our first day in Quebec, which was good. The bus took us to the top of the falls and we walked down, then took the cable car back up for the return bus journey. The bus went from near the train station, so we walked to there before catching the bus, but the city was right by where the ship (Black Watch) docked. That was one of the port days we will always remember and no panic to get back as we were staying overnight. I cannot remember the full details, but the bus route and details were all searchable on line, possibly with help from kind people here, or on the Trip Advisor forum. Hope you enjoy the cruise, it is something I would like to repeat sometime, though we are getting older and other things we would like to do as well. Edited July 19 by tring 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila127 Posted July 19 Author #14 Share Posted July 19 2 hours ago, tring said: You can also search this forum (Canada/New England, ports of call board) for those ports. I have asked about Iles de La Madeleine in the last couple of years, so that should come up, though not a lot else on here as I think most people travel on the bigger ships, that do not call there. Make sure you are into the main page for this Canada/US forum and that the search is just for this board, or all sorts will come up. This year we have booked the transfer to La Grave, then will stay ashore afterwards. Of course, being a tender port, the people on excursions will have priority for the tenders, so could be fairly late morning before others get ashore. We often book ships excursions for tender ports for that reason. People who did not do tours last year were very miffed about the stop all together, but being a Sunday certainly did not help. Tender ports are always a bit iffy as well, depending upon sea conditions, so might even find you do not get there, we were lucky last year and did get ashore. We did a St Lawrence cruise a few years back with Fred over a longer itinerary and were able to go as far as Montreal, which we liked a lot. Quebec is ok, but too touristy for our liking, though that does mean there are plenty of bars there. We took a local bus to Montmorency Falls on our first day in Quebec, which was good. The bus took us to the top of the falls and we walked down, then took the cable car back up for the return bus journey. The bus went from near the train station, so we walked to there before catching the bus, but the city was right by where the ship (Black Watch) docked. That was one of the port days we will always remember and no panic to get back as we were staying overnight. I cannot remember the full details, but the bus route and details were all searchable on line, possibly with help from kind people here, or on the Trip Advisor forum. Hope you enjoy the cruise, it is something I would like to repeat sometime, though we are getting older and other things we would like to do as well. Thank you Tring! I have booked Montmorency Falls so looking forward to that! Good suggestion about booking excursions atTender ports, must check up on that! Thank you once again for your help, very kind of you! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paddingtonbear Posted July 19 #15 Share Posted July 19 6 hours ago, Sheila127 said: Thank you Tring! I have booked Montmorency Falls so looking forward to that! Good suggestion about booking excursions atTender ports, must check up on that! Thank you once again for your help, very kind of you! Unitours in Quebec City have some good tours. https://www.toursvieuxquebec.com/en/home 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paddingtonbear Posted July 20 #16 Share Posted July 20 Just remember for the Unitours to click right through to the end to get the tour price including tax. Still very competitively priced even with the tax added. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shipgeeks Posted July 20 #17 Share Posted July 20 OP, I'm curious what your other ports are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheila127 Posted July 20 Author #18 Share Posted July 20 2 minutes ago, shipgeeks said: OP, I'm curious what your other ports are. St John's, Sept Iles, Quebec, Saguenay, Charlottetown, Iles de la Madeleine, Halifax and Sydney! I have planned most ports except Sept Iles and Iles de la Madeleine! Excursions look poor and pricey so may just explore on my own! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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