Canada/New England or Hawaii

[cruising2006]

We can't decide which itinerary to take: Canada/New England (Dawn) or Hawaii (POH) for the Sept/Oct 2006 timeframe. We would appreciate any feedback/insights on why you think one itinerary is better than the other.

[chasetf]

We can't decide which itinerary to take: Canada/New England (Dawn) or Hawaii (POH) for the Sept/Oct 2006 timeframe. We would appreciate any feedback/insights on why you think one itinerary is better than the other.

I think it depends on what you want to do. Dawn trip will be a lot of sight seeing, maybe some so so weather. We did it on the Regal Princess Montreal to NY, and did run into overcast weather. But the sights were great.

 

Hawaii could be a snorkel or go to the beach trip. More sun, warmer weather for sure over Canada / NE.

 

Travel might factor in. If coming from the east coast, fights will be longer. West coast, probably a wash.....

[honestguy]

how can u even compare? hawaii hands down, if money isnt an issue

[joanskid]

We did Canada/New England last September, and we are doing Hawaii this September.

 

The pros and cons I see are:

 

Canada/New England is cheaper, but you face a grater risk of Hurricane Season affecting you there than you do for Hawaii.

 

We really enjoyed the cruise last year, and we did have good weather, but we were lucky enough to miss the tail end of one of the big storms that the East Coast experienced last year.

[shadsf]

Canada and new England is wonderful particularly Bar Harbor, Martha's Vinyard, Newport, Boston is fun, Halifax etc. However we've always done these in August and received excellent weather and whales running.

October would be quite cool and would change the activities a bit.

[redlef]

We did the Canada cruise on Carnival two years ago.

 

Let me start out by saying that any cruise is better than no cruise, so I definitely had a good time.

 

The Canada excursions were lame, to say the least. We did the "Titanic Survivors" excursion, which consisted of a bus ride around town with a tour guide pointing out houses that belonged to relatives of some of the people who were remotely connected to the event. (That's Mr. Jones house, he was on the dock when they brought the survivors in.) Then we drove past a cemetary where Titanic victims were buried. Finally, we ended up at the Titanic museum, which was actually interesting, but only a fifteen minute walk from the cruise ship. For $60 a head, not a particularily valuable tour. We abandoned the bus because the A/C wasn't working (it was 80 degrees out) and the windows wouldn't open, and it was very hot and stuffy. People were screaming at the tour guide, who promised to call for a new bus, which never came. My family and I walked back to the cruise ship.

 

At another stop, we went on a "Photography tour, hosted by a reknowned local photographer who will teach you how to take pictures." It ended up being a bus ride around town, with several stops where we got out and took pictures. With 60 people vying for his attention, there was no photography lesson. The final stop was a park, where we could get off the bus and hike two miles through it and take pictures. As it was full of local people and their families picnicing and swimming, I felt pretty stupid gawking at them in their bathing suits holding a camera.

 

The point is, there's not a lot for tourists to see in Halifax and St. Johns, so they made something up to get our money.

 

Since the cruise goes out of NY, many New Yorkers and New Jerseyites (myself included) go on these cruises, because they end up being very inexpensive vacations for us. For example, a week at the Jersey shore in a luxury hotel will set you back $2500 - $3000 with meals. At $600 a head, a Canada cruise is a bargain.

 

However, that means lots of us NJ/NYers are on those boats. Let's just say that in this part of the country, we might be a little more aggressive and a little less polite than in other areas. We're not bad people, we'd give you the shirt off our backs, but we'd probably knock twelve other people over trying to give you our shirt first (no patience at all out here.)

 

At the buffet lines on the ship, I found myself occasionally being shoved and having people cut in front of me to stand with their friends. Not that there wasn't enough food to go around, but Ann Landers definitely wasn't giving out politeness awards on that cruise.

 

The pool was constantly packed, it was hard to find seats together for the four of us. However, there were plenty of towels on empty seats "reserving" space.

 

It was foggy every day at sea, which was interesting. Our view from our cabin was about 100 feet out.

 

We went the first week of August. A hurricane came up the coast while we were in Canada and we ended up cruising through the tail of it as it passed out into the ocean. According to the displays in the ship, there were 20 foot waves, but you couldn't feel much. I've been on lots of scuba boats and fishing boats, and I didn't see anything that looked 20 feet to me, but i guess the scale of the ship is in a completely different ball park. In the dining room in the bow, you were aware of the ship swaying side to side during breakfast of that day, but it wasn't unpleasant (at least not to me or my family.)

 

The "gala buffett" was really tacky and crowded. I waited until 45 minutes to get on the line (no patience at midnight) and they were already closing down the buffet by the time I got up. Plus, they had sheet cake cut into little 3 inch squares - not my idea of "gala."

 

BTW - I'm not complaining, I had a great time. I'll take a cruise over any other vacation, but IMHO, a Canada cruise could be a "Cruise to nowhere" and it'd be just as much fun. For NY'ers and NJ'ites, it's a cheap vacation, I can't imagine anyone wanting to spend hundreds of dollars in airfare to come here for a cruise to Canada.

 

New England is beautiful, but you can drive it and see lots more than the two or three ports a cruise ship will stop at.

 

After re-reading my post, you might think it was a horrible trip. That's not true at all, we had a wonderful time. It just wasn't the glamorous, relaxing, elegant image some people think of when you mention "cruise." And I'm not criticizing Carnival, I'd sail them again in a minute. But the excursions were lame.

 

Our cruise to Alaska was twenty times nicer, the passengers were nicer and the ship was nicer.

 

Hawaii - wow. I was there on my honeymoon. I can't imagine comparing a Hawaiian cruise to a Canada cruise. Hawaii is like paradise. I could just go on shore excursions to smell the flowers - the views and sights were amazing. But for me, it would be way more expensive than Canada.

 

Whichever you choose, hope you have a great trip . . . .

[Dolphins]

For us the decision is based on where we live. We much prefer sailing out of New York without flying anywhere and a flight to Hawaii is longer for us than a flight to Europe.

We have enjoyed the fall foliage on the Canada-New England cruises in October. We liked walking through Halifax, and biking in Acadia National Park in Bar Harbor. We once did a 15 day round trip Hawaii cruise out of San Diego. Been there, done that and once was enough. We look forward to doing Canada, New England again.

[jp2001]

The Canada excursions were lame, to say the least. ...The point is, there's not a lot for tourists to see in Halifax and St. Johns, so they made something up to get our money.

 

Very sorry the excursions were lame but I can't believe you say Halifax has nothing for tourists. Their citadel is great to visit, there is also a pier/museum about people coming to Canada from Europe. There is also fun cruises where the guide will tell you a lot of interesting things about Halifax, its harbour, etc. You can walk to all these fun activities. Halifax is a city to enjoy by foot. If you have trouble walking, then it maybe another story. I also had the best hand-made ice cream of my life (sorry, I can't remember the name of the place) and great sushi.

 

My recommendation on a Canada-New England cruise. Try to take one with a stop in Quebec City. Other great cities are Charlottetown, Louisbourg, Halifax, Bar Harbor, Boston. I personnally don't care for St.John, NB (reversing fall is a tourist trap in my opinion).

 

Canada/New England is SO different from Hawaii, it depends what you are looking for. If you need tips regarding Quebec City, let me know (I'm from Quebec city area)