Bar Harbor???

[Mysteryfan]

I am taking NCL in the fall to New England and some shore excursions we wnat to take, but like in Bar Harbour my frined and I want to be on our own as we explore the downtown area. Your opinions if you have taken the fall cruise.

 

Mysteryfan.

[cruisequeen10]

In 1994 we were on the original Royal Princess from Montreal to New York (10 days). My sister did all the shore excursions in port and my mother and I just walked around town. We had 2 video cameras with us and it was great slicing the two tapes together. We had recorded over 2 hours total. It was nice to get all the shore excursions and town stuff on the video. Just watched it the other day and it brought back so many memories.

[lel5344]

Absolutely no need to to a shore excursion in Bar harbor. You can catch a bus in the town square that will take you to Acadia National Park. Get off the bus at a convenient place...walk around... get on the next bus that comes by. You have to buy a pass for the day, but if you happen to be a senior citizen, there's a wonderful lifetime pass that you can get at any national park.

 

Have lunch in Bar Harbor. Great lobster roll sandwiches.

 

We did the fall New England cruise on the Crown 3 years ago, and we did not purchase a single shore excursion. Cruised out of Baltimore to Bar Harbor, Halifax, Sydney, Quebec City and Boston. Sydney was not much of a port city, but all the others are eminently walkable. I didn't look at the current itinerary, so I'm not sure which of those cities you're doing.

 

it's a wonderful cruise. I'm sure you'll have a great time!

[jkrislc]

You're never required to do any of the ship's excursions or to get off the ship for that matter. In fact, I went on a short cruise with a friend where we never got off the ship until it was time to disembark. We weren't all that interested in the ports as we'd been there before, so we just hung out enjoying the ship, library, game room, etc.

 

If you do do it on your own, just make sure that you have plenty of time to make it back to the ship as the ship wont wait for you. Also keep in mind that the sailing time is not the same as the time at which all passengers must be back on board. Personally, I like to be back on board approximately an hour before so that I have some extra time in case something goes wrong.