Anyone ever do a New England/Canadian cruise?

[Frwinkley]

We are considering this in the fall.

We live on the East Coast, and have been to Boston, Portland and other NE cities where these cruises stop. We’ve also traveled to many places in Canada, but have not done Halifax and points east.

We’d like to spend most of our time in Canada, so are considering a one way trip from Philadelphia to Quebec City. Total cruising days would be 11.

I have some concerns that this may be too long and that the port stops won’t be that varied and the topography will all be the same.

We are also considering just flying into Halifax and taking a road trip from there.

Any insight?

 

[hardcorestitch]

I wish Disney did something like this…

 

[tvguy]

Just did that cruise at the end of September begining of October on the Enchanted Princess. Started in NYC to to Halifax, St. John, Boston and Newport, ending in NYC. The ports were great. It was a 7 day cruise, I can't imagine an 11 day cruise being too long. I have done cruises as long as two weeks in the past.
My mom was from Saskatchewan, Canada, so I have been to B. C., Alberta and Saskatchewan more times than I can count. This was our first Canadian trip east of Saskatchewan.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Hotels are so expensive during "leaf peeping" season, so I'd definitely do the cruise. We've done it twice (then had to cancel a third due to health problems -- good thing we had trip insurance.) Both cruises we did were ten days on Princess, and they were long enough without being too long. The topography does vary -- the further north you go, the more fall leaves you'll see. Boston will still be green when Quebec's leaves are almost gone. We especially loved Quebec City and would love to spend more time there.

 

[kdonnel]

We did a leaf cruise many years ago. I remember having a great time.

Ours was round trip out of New York and sailing past the Statue of Liberty made a great memory.

The longest cruise I have been on is 14 days and I wasn’t ready to get off. I prefer 7+ day cruises. Anything shorter is not as relaxing.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We did an 11 night cruise out of Port Liberty in September, and it was a great experience!

 

[LoveDaisy]

I live in New England but have been looking at these cruises too. The Canada part appeals to more than NE as we do those stops regularly. The ease of leaving for a cruise without flying is a huge factor. If you go I’d love to hear what you think.

 

[Frwinkley]

Frankly, I’m less interested in the leaves, but from what I’ve gathered, Canadian cruises only happen in Sept and Oct.

I’m much more interested in the variety of topography and sights at each port.

We are not big cruisers—only have done it a handful of times. Just wondering if we could do this trip on our own during warmer weather.

Every trip we take we do on our own and are not adverse to moving hotels every few days. We drove 2200 miles once on a 12 day roadtrip through Utah.

 

[Frwinkley]

I live in New England but have been looking at these cruises too. The Canada part appeals to more than NE as we do those stops regularly. The ease of leaving for a cruise without flying is a huge factor. If you go I’d love to hear what you think.

I would love that! We are in Pittsburgh, so the closest driveable would be Philly. NYC would work too.

 

[LoveDaisy]

I would love that! We are in Pittsburgh, so the closest driveable would be Philly. NYC would work too.

If you are open to cruising on Royal Caribbean they go out of NJ. I have cruised twice on Royal out of Bayonne NJ., both times to Florida, Nassau, and their private island. We are going out of NJ to Bermuda this spring.

They have parking there. It’s about $200 for the week.

 

[kdonnel]

Every trip we take we do on our own and are not adverse to moving hotels every few days. We drove 2200 miles once on a 12 day roadtrip through Utah.

I see one of the big advantages of a cruise being the fact you do not have to change hotels all the time. If that does not not play into your choice, I would lean more towards doing your own road trip.

One of the biggest downsides of a cruise is that you only get a taster of each port. If you really enjoy a port, you can't stay longer, but if driving you could always adjust your itinerary and stay longer. Of course being just a taster can also be a positive if it turns out you don't like the port, but again if doing your own road trip you could adjust the itinerary.

 

[Frwinkley]

If you are open to cruising on Royal Caribbean they go out of NJ. I have cruised twice on Royal out of Bayonne NJ., both times to Florida, Nassau, and their private island. We are going out of NJ to Bermuda this spring.

They have parking there. It’s about $200 for the week.

We have done southern routes before and are now looking to go north.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

We did 11 nights road trip this summer, flying in and out of Halifax. 2 nights Halifax, 3 nights PEI, 3 nights Cape Breton, 3 nights Lunenberg. It was a really great trip, loved seeing everything. We did some great hiking. If redoing things, I'd try to squeeze in Bay of Fundy National Park.

 

[Frwinkley]

We did 11 nights road trip this summer, flying in and out of Halifax. 2 nights Halifax, 3 nights PEI, 3 nights Cape Breton, 3 nights Lunenberg. It was a really great trip, loved seeing everything. We did some great hiking. If redoing things, I'd try to squeeze in Bay of Fundy National Park.

This sounds wonderful and was exactly what I was hoping to hear!

Thanks so much.

 

[pezgirlroy]

I did one on Holland America with my mother. It was about 18 years ago but it was lovely. We sailed out of Boston which was so so easy. We ended in Quebec City but we added on some time to Montreal. It was a great trip. I lived in the area so it was very easy.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

This sounds wonderful and was exactly what I was hoping to hear!

Thanks so much.

We put 2 nights in Halifax just in case there were flight delay issues .. we didn't want to have to shortchange our time in PEI.

First full day was Halifax Botanical Gardens, Maritime Museum, walking along and enjoying the waterfront area, and some good meals.

After leaving Halifax, we went to Peggy's Cove, then stopped for picnic lunch at a park with some short hiking & a waterfall (Victoria Park in Truro), then drove over the Confederation Bridge and all the way to Georgetown PEI - it was a long day, and this is where if I was redoing it, we'd pick somewhere near Fundy NP and stay the night there and sight see there the next day.

In PEI, we went to Ann of Green Gables Historic site, Cavendish Beach, some lighthouses, Greenwich Dunes trail, and really enjoyed the tiny town of Georgetown. If doing it again, I'd like to rent kayaks around there, or find an outfit who would do a guided kayak tour.

Then we took the Wood Island ferry back to NS and drove to Cheticamp. The next day we hiked the Skyline Trail, and Corney Brook Trail, plus some stopping along beaches. The following day we drove to the east side of Cape Breton and back, as far as Ingonish, stopping at all of the beach / scenic stopping points.

Then drove down to Lunenburg, detoured for a hike at Egypt Falls along the way. In Lunenberg we enjoyed the little town, did a 2 hour sailing trip one afternoon, did some driving around the area, went to the Ovens Park. The sailing was a real highlight, and really enjoyed the town and waterfront area, but I would have been okay to cut a day out of here.

The drives from place to place are not all super scenic - not like western US road trips where the entire drive is incredible views. It was a lot of rolling hills & pine tree type stuff, so that aspect made the drives feel longer than I'd expected. But when you do get in the scenic areas like Cape Breton NP or PEI NP, that's where it's really amazing. I'd love to go back and see more of the area.

 

[Pooh2]

I wish Disney did something like this…

In 2018, we went on the Disney Magic from QC to NYC.
It was an amazing trip!
I would love to see them bring back that route!

 

[kanerf]

I have a 4 nighter to Halifax and back out of Bayonne in late April early May on RC. Will post about it after.

 

[FreeTime]

If you are open to cruising on Royal Caribbean they go out of NJ. I have cruised twice on Royal out of Bayonne NJ., both times to Florida, Nassau, and their private island. We are going out of NJ to Bermuda this spring.

They have parking there. It’s about $200 for the week.

We have one of theirs booked next year. Thank you for the estimated parking expense. We are about an 8 hour drive to the port and I have been trying to convince my DH that we should drive and visit Philadelphia, NYC, and maybe a couple of other places. His argument is always, “then we have to pay for parking.” I point out to him that I doubt royal’s shuttle will really save us anything over parking.

 

[LoveDaisy]

We have one of theirs booked next year. Thank you for the estimated parking expense. We are about an 8 hour drive to the port and I have been trying to convince my DH that we should drive and visit Philadelphia, NYC, and maybe a couple of other places. His argument is always, “then we have to pay for parking.” I point out to him that I doubt royal’s shuttle will really save us anything over parking.

I’m in CT so it’s a fairly easy drive for us (just over 2 hours if all goes well). Happy to answer any questions about parking or the port. I will say it’s very easy port to drive in and out of. Our next cruise out of there is to Bermuda at the end of May.