Canada Cruise review...oh how I wish you hadn't gotten into that car!

[challer]

Just got off my Canadian DCL cruise. Can't wait to hear your assessment. I'll comment once I hear the podcast.

 

[Mike2023]

Canadians put ham on a pizza and call it bacon.

we do? I'm pretty sure last time I had ham on pizza it was called ham. But you can get bacon too.

 

[*NikkiBell*]

we do? I'm pretty sure last time I had ham on pizza it was called ham. But you can get bacon too.

 

[Applemomma]

We have funny coloured money too and if you win it in the lottery it's tax free

 

[appycat]

That segment was hilarious! Have listened more than once and even looked up the Halifax explosion.

 

[appycat]

For our entertainment.purposes, im glad you took the 'tour'.

 

[DisneyKevin]

I have been thinking about this thread and the reaction to it....which lead to some questions.

I'm curious how many of you have visited some of the fascinating places in and around Orlando?

Let me give you some examples....

Wekiva Springs - natural beauty , primeval Florida

Hosmer Museum / Winter Park - great collection of Tiffany items and Tiffany stained glass

Ponce De Leon Springs - winter home of the manatees

St Cloud - town started by the US giving plots of land to Civil War vets. Great old main street.

St Augustine - oldest city in US

John's Pass / Tampa - turn of the century fishing village

Lake Toho / Kissimmee - world class bass fishing

Mount Dora- quaint New England like town

All of these things are within an hour to 90 minutes from Orlando

What made me revisit this thread was thinking about the fact that we had about 6 hours to "taste" Halifax.

To fill those six hours, we signed up for a 90 minute walking food tour, paid for a three hour private car tour and spent time shopping in the tourist area.

How many folks spending a week (or more) venture out and learn about Orlando's (and the surrounding area) history or visit our cultural sights.

I'm not suggesting that no one does this. I just believe most don't. My belief comes from the number of threads suggesting that with Magical Express you can by pass all of Orlando and never leave Disney property.

Looking back....I think we did pretty well for getting out and seeing Halifax. While we may have missed parts, keep in mind that we had six hours. We saw a lot in that short time.

 

[k5jm]

The first trip Christy and i took to Florida together was to St. Cloud.

 

[challer]

So, I was on the cruise to Canada after Kevin & John's. My take on the stops in Halifax & Saint John is as follows:

We had a glorious day in terms of weather in Halifax. The fog was thick, but it burned off by the time we got off the ship and it was a sunny day. Once I read the Frommer's book about Nova Scotia & New Brunswick, I was pretty set on simply walking along the Halifax waterfront since most of what I thought my family and I would like to see would be right there. So, we hit the Maritime Museum and it was a hit. My 7 year old son is a history lover and reads tons of non-fiction (on the grade school level) and was our "Titanic expert" for the day. I enjoyed the many models of ships, each with very different historical stories. From there, we took a walk up to the Citadel and, I admit, I am a sucker for places like this. We had a guide (included with admission) who really knew his stuff and gave us great insight into the fort history and structure. Then we hiked back to the waterfront, had ice cream at Sugah!, watched the street performers, and took a rickshaw back to the port. We had a successful day.

Saint John was very different for us. While it wasn't rainy, the day began in a fog. Once I decided that I didn't want to spend 2+ hours on a bus in order to see Hopewell Rocks, we were sticking to the area around the port. It was nice, and we hopped on the Disney Port Adventure trolley to get a tour of the town and see the Reversing Falls. Nothing much to write home about. The local shopping was cute. Once the trolley tour was over, we walked through the Market to get back to the ship. Less impressive of a day, but not much to complain about.

I am surprised that Kevin & John didn't go off about how this cruise was titled "5-Night Canada & New England Coast Cruise" and yet there was no glimpse of the New England coast! That really irked me.

(I have much more to say about the cruise in general, but I'm working on my own trip report for later.)

I can see how these port stops can be hit or miss. I didn't go on this cruise to see Halifax & Saint John either. I went because DCL was leaving from my home town and this particular cruise was the only one that I could make work in terms of timing. My experience seems less disastrous as Kevin & John's, but I can see how people's experience could be underwhelming here.

PS - while we seemed to have much better weather than the cruise before ours, our Pirate Party fireworks were done in the thick fog and swirling winds and mist. It was fairly bizarre.