LIVE - Liberty OTS - Canada & New England - Aug 29 (9 nt)

[aring75]

Pork carnitas burrito for Mark. He said this was good. 
 

 

 

I opted for the chicken tinga burrito partly because it was advertised as “spicy.” It was pretty good, but it was not even a little bit spicy. 
 

[aring75]

Dessert was the sweet coconut flan and the cinnamon churros. 
 

The flan was topped with cooked pineapple. I didn’t care for it with the pineapple, but that was more a personal preference. The flan itself was good. 
 

 

 

The churros were light and crispy and Mark said they were good with the chocolate and vanilla dipping sauces. 
 

 

 

Overall, we both thought dinner here was not bad. But as far as Mexican food goes, we’ve had way better. The service was good and it was fun for something different. I’m not sure we would eat here again though. 

[aring75]

There’s a show in the theater tonight featuring the Royal Caribbean singers. 
 

 

 

There’s also karaoke in the Star Lounge at the same time. 
 

Decisions, decisions.

[aring75]

Our first port of call was in Boston today. We’ve only been here once before, but we both enjoy the city. It’s pretty compact for a large city, and it’s relatively pedestrian-friendly. As long as you don’t mind the walk, Boston is very easy to do on your own. 
 

We opted for the HOHO Trolley for this visit. We rode one time completely around the entire route, and then went around once more stopping at all the areas we were interested in. 

 

 

If you book through the ship, Old Town Trolley Tours will pick you up right outside the doors of the cruise terminal. Last time we booked through the Old Town Trolley website and saved about $15 each (this time the savings were minimal so we just booked with Royal). If you do decide to book on your own, you will walk down the length of the terminal and to the outside kiosk a couple of blocks away. If I remember correctly, it’s probably a little less than 1/2 mile. 

 

 

 

Once you board, they head into the city giving commentary along the way. 
 

[aring75]

The entire route (without getting off) takes around two hours. They are very clear about when you should start heading back to the ship. For instance, today’s all-aboard time was 5:30 pm and they suggested making sure you got on at your trolley stop by 3:00 pm to account for traffic and all stops in between. 
 

 

 

[aring75]

It’s a pretty nice “highlights” drive of the city. 
 

 

 

 

[aring75]

We were very touristy today and stopped for lunch at the Salty Fog in Quincy Market just outside of Faneuil Hall. The weather was perfect for dining outside on the patio. 
 

 

 

 

I decided to try the Salty Dog house beer and Mark tried to be good with something Light.

 

 

 

He said his classic fried fish sandwich was quite tasty. 
 

 

 

But I opted for the lobster roll. It wasn’t served in a traditional hoagie roll, but instead a buttered and toasted bun. It was messy, but delicious. 
 

 

 

The lobster roll is listed at “market price” but just FYI it was $32. I felt it had a good amount of lobster and it was very lightly dressed. I even gave Mark two pieces of lobster off my sandwich and felt like there was plenty left to enjoy. 

[aring75]

We finished up our Boston sightseeing tour and made our way back to the ship. 
 

 

 

 

And I have multiple pictures that keep loading upside-down. Why does that happen?

[aring75]

Boston Public Library 
 

 

 

Massachusetts State House

 

 

 

 

And when we made it back onboard we had treats waiting for us in the cabin. 
 

[jjtt]

Thank you again for this info, very helpful. Your photos are beautiful. I have been researching lobster rolls, and the price you quoted seems to be what I have been seeing. If I can ask, how much was it for the HOHO Trolley? Thanks again for taking the time to do this review!! 

[MJSailors]

@jjtt Just curious. There didn’t seem to be many people in your photos. Was Boston quiet given the long holiday weekend where people may have been out of town?

Did you notice many homeless people in Boston?

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

I would be interested in what you have planned for Portland. We have a niece who lives there.

Thank you.
MJ👩🏻

[aring75]

1 hour ago, jjtt said:

Thank you again for this info, very helpful. Your photos are beautiful. I have been researching lobster rolls, and the price you quoted seems to be what I have been seeing. If I can ask, how much was it for the HOHO Trolley? Thanks again for taking the time to do this review!! 

The trolley through the cruise line was $69 per person. When I checked the price to book direct it was $67. Our driver told us that the price can fluctuate based on whether or not there are cruise ships in port. 

[aring75]

9 minutes ago, MJSailors said:

@jjtt Just curious. There didn’t seem to be many people in your photos. Was Boston quiet given the long holiday weekend where people may have been out of town?

Did you notice many homeless people in Boston?

Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

I would be interested in what you have planned for Portland. We have a niece who lives there.

Thank you.
MJ👩🏻

There were quite a few people downtown. I think I lucked out in a lot of my photos because the trolley sits up quite high off the street. I was able to photograph over the top of a lot of the crowd. 
 

As far as noticing homeless or transient people downtown, there were a couple of instances where I could tell that someone looked like they were probably living on the street, but we didn’t see any “camps” or large groups anywhere. 
 

To be honest, everywhere on the trolley route feels very safe and clean. I’m always impressed by how nice the city of Boston looks. 
 

(There was quite a bit of construction in places, but I was happy not to have to do the driving!)

[aring75]

15 minutes ago, MJSailors said:

I would be interested in what you have planned for Portland. We have a niece who lives there.

Sorry! Missed this the first time. Right now we are planning to walk around town and then try to find a nice seafood restaurant near the water with a great view! We’ll see how that plays out. 
 

We took a food tour last time we were in Portland and we loved it!

[MJSailors]

@aring75 Thank you for your responses. I noticed that I addressed my post to the wrong user name,but you answered anyway !

Good to know that the trolley route showed a safe and clean city.

Wishing you continued good days of your vacation.

MJ👩🏻

[aring75]

We bid a hazy farewell to Boston as we set sail for Portland. 
 

 

 

Tonight is wear white night. Every time I wear white it’s pretty much guaranteed that I’m going to drop something messy on myself. 
 

Dinner should be interesting. 

[aring75]

Tonight’s dinner (day 3) was “A Taste of the UK”

 

 

 

Mark decided to try the mozzarella sticks. 
 

 

 

I had the goat cheese tart. It wasn’t anything like I was expecting, but it was okay. 
 

[aring75]

We both tried the roast beef.

 

 

 

And Mark got the berry sundae. It said it was quite tasty. 
 

[aring75]

Woke up this morning in Portland, ME. The weather looks like it’s going to be great today!

 

 

 

We are in port today with the Silversea ship “Silver Shadow.” The American Queen ship “Ocean Navigator” is in Portland as well, by they are docked on the other side of the Casco Bay Bridge.

 

[aring75]

Decided to get off the ship around 10 am. We wanted to walk around town for a little while to work up an appetite for lunch. Unfortunately, that means I bought way too much stuff. 😂

 

Once we started to get hungry, we headed over to Portland Pier to Luke’s Lobster located at the very end of the pier.

 

They have picnic tables on the side and indoor (air conditioned) seating, but we chose to sit at the very end of the pier out back. There are about 15-20 tables with umbrellas where the fresh sea breeze feels amazing!

 

The menu. The prices are pretty good for the area. And I like that they have two different sizes of lobster rolls. 

 

[aring75]

Mark ordered the fried haddock platter. He said the breading on the fish was incredibly light and crispy. 
 

 

 

I, of course, had to order the lobster roll. I mean, I felt it was important to compare Portland’s lobster roll with Boston’s lobster roll. You know. For research purposes. 
 

 

 

I ordered the 4 oz. Hot honey roll. It was delicious. I was afraid the 4 oz. would be noticeably lighter in lobster than the one I had in Boston, but it was still quite packed! It was just the right size (especially since I needed to try the Downeast Cider also).

 

As far as which one was better…the roll in Boston had more lobster (I should hope so, it cost more). I enjoyed the bread with both rolls though Boston had a toasted and buttered round bun and Portland’s was more like a buttered Texas toast. The spicy honey was good for a different flavor, but I do think I prefer the traditional roll best. 

[aring75]

After lunch was walked around a little more and decided to grab tomorrow’s breakfast. 😁

 

 

 

We just spent $20 on four donuts. We are such tourists. 

[Ashland]

58 minutes ago, aring75 said:

After lunch was walked around a little more and decided to grab tomorrow’s breakfast. 😁

 

 

 

We just spent $20 on four donuts. We are such tourists. 

But their great donuts !!

[aring75]

7 minutes ago, Ashland said:

But their great donuts !!

Omg. They really are!
 

We were standing in that super-long line (iykyk) and several people commented how we were all crazy as they walked by. The woman in front of me told her husband, “Every single person who walks by and says that is just someone who has never actually had one of these donuts!” Lol. 

[jjtt]

You are making me hungry!! 😋 Yum... can't wait for our turn...

Love the photos and details you add to your reviews. 🙂