Port Sagueay-Canada/NE Cruises

[CelticDuck]

Saguenay is a city, a river and a region in this province. The region is often referred to as Saguenay / Lac. St. Jean. Lac St. Jean is a large lake (lac) and a region best known for blueberries. It's pretty rugged up there and mosquito / black fly season can be a challenge.

 

We have never heard much English up there, but then again, we never tried speaking it. It's my understanding that it's largely unilingual, but, as they cater to tourists (camping, fishing & hunting mainly), there must be some English spoken. The people are very friendly.

 

I would think that anything developed to suit the cruise market would have taken English-speaking tourists into account, but bring your phrase books and bescherelle just in case. :) Note that there'll be a different accent to the spoken French than you may be used to hearing.

 

Seriously, I am sure you'll be fine. People who depend on tourist dollars for their livelihood make the effort to understand their customers.

[1stCruiser]

We are from Montréal and three years ago, we spent our summer vacation in the area (La Baie and Chicoutimi). We took a cruise on the Saguenay Fjord that left from La Baie and stopped at the site of the "Nouvelle-France". Website is: http://www.sitenouvellefrance.com/ It was very entertaining. Here is the website for the cruise company: http://www.croisieremarjolaine.com/ I'm not sure if they still do this in October.

 

If you have a chance to visit the village of "Sainte-Rose du Nord", it is a very picturesque village along the Saguenay. Website (only in French) is: http://www.ste-rosedunord.qc.ca/

 

La Baie is a nice small town to walk around in. There a museum that we visited there as well, “Musée du Fjord” : http://www.museedufjord.com/.

 

The Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region is predominantly French speaking. People from this area, as with other areas of the Province of Québec, have their own special accent. However, English-speaking tourists have been visiting the area long before the present-day cruise ships. In fact, many years ago, cruises down the Saguenay river were very popular. My grandparents took a one-week cruise in the early 50's...!

 

It is truly a beautiful region with breathtaking scenery. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Laura

[Wormy53]

we were on NCL and they stopped at La Baie on our NE cruise. We took an excursion called Zodiac Adventure at Saguenay National Park. It lasted about 4 hrs. First there was a drive about 1 hour (beautiful scenery!) then stop at little museum, short walk through the forest and the zodiac. It went through the fjords - just beautiful and amazing!! We had quite a bumpy ride and was quite exhilarating!!:eek: It is one of those excursions I still remember fondly. I would do it over in a minute - but my husband's back didn't like it too much!!!

 

Really enjoyed the people too. They also had a sea kayaking trip that looked like fun - some hiking trips too. There was a shuttle that took you into the village. Unfortunately we didn't see any belugas while we were there (in September), buts lots of other wildlife.

[foxeysandy]

How cold was it on the zodiac in September? Did you get wet? We'll be there near the end of October, and I'm thinking we need to ride on a "real" boat. I like a little adventure, but prefer comfort.

[Wormy53]

How cold was it on the zodiac in September? Did you get wet? We'll be there near the end of October, and I'm thinking we need to ride on a "real" boat. I like a little adventure, but prefer comfort.

 

Didn't notice it being cold. We got some spray and a splash or two. They provided those life-jacket coats for everyone. Don't want to fall in - the water is COLD!! Bring a hat to put on later if you don't like the wet-hair look!:D

[foxeysandy]

Thanks for the info; I'm still searching at this point to see if I can find a larger boat/tour that has heat or at least an inner cabin, since we're going in late October; also, several in our group, including me, have neck/back issues so that would probably be a "safer" option.

 

Unfortunately, the Crown Princess has cancelled the only tour with a boat ride into the fjord that was originally listed as an excursion choice. I've made a couple calls to tour companies in Saguenay, but one of them only does excursions until the end of September and the other has only one tour per day in October and their schedule runs too late for us to make it back to the ship.

 

Has anyone docked at La Baie? I think that's where we'll be docking. I'm wondering if we might be able to find an excursion that leaves from the same area.