Canada/New England ports

[LeslieG]

For those who have sailed the itinerary before, did you like the ports? What was your favorite thing about each one?

 

[mmouse37]

I love the New England coast. We spent every summer staying along the New England coast so it has a very strong emotional attachment for me. My mom grew up in Gloucester, Mass (about 30 mins above Boston) and I have very fond memories of spending time in Gloucester, Rockport and Boston. The seafood can't be beat (fried clams yum!) There is just something wild and exciting about the Atlantic pounding against rocky coastline. It is just beautiful. The lighthouses, the markets, the museums, etc. The coast of Canada is similar. We enjoyed all the ports on the Magic Canadian cruise back in 2012...Halifax and St. John. We did a private tour in St. John and did a bus tour to the lighthouse in Halifax and visited the Titanic cemetery (very interesting history).

 

[MaleficentRN]

I love the New England coast. We spent every summer staying along the New England coast so it has a very strong emotional attachment for me. My mom grew up in Gloucester, Mass (about 30 mins above Boston) and I have very fond memories of spending time in Gloucester, Rockport and Boston. The seafood can't be beat (fried clams yum!) There is just something wild and exciting about the Atlantic pounding against rocky coastline. It is just beautiful. The lighthouses, the markets, the museums, etc. The coast of Canada is similar. We enjoyed all the ports on the Magic Canadian cruise back in 2012...Halifax and St. John. We did a private tour in St. John and did a bus tour to the lighthouse in Halifax and visited the Titanic cemetery (very interesting history).

Are those photos from Peggy's Cove? You can go inside that lighthouse?

 

[mmouse37]

Are those photos from Peggy's Cove? You can go inside that lighthouse?

Yes, from Peggy's Cove...I didn't think you could. We had also gone to Peggy's Cove on another trip when it was sunny and it is just beautiful!

Some of the other pics are from the Bay of Fundy area in New Brunswick, Canada.

MJ

 

[lorimay]

We loved this cruise!
It was our first non-Caribbean cruise.

MMouse37, totally nailed it in her answer to you!

Love Peggy's Cove, I could have sat on those rocks for days.

 

[dcassetta]

The 7 night also goes to Charlottetown, PEI one of my favorite places in the world!

 

[DizMagic]

I am currently booked on the 10/2/16 Canadian Coastline cruise from NYC. Just saw the 2017 Fall posting where the ports will differ slightly. The ports this year are Halifax, Nova Scotia and St Johns, New Brunswick. The 5 night next year will replace Halifax with Bar Harbor, Maine. As pp stated, the 7 nights will be adding Charlottetown, PEI and replacing St Johns with Sydney, Nova Scotia.

If I am interested in whale watching cruises as excursions, or other sea life, which itinerary would you recommend? I saw that Bar Harbor has a whale watching expedition, but couldn't find much info on the other 2 ports. The DCL is being very stingy with their port excursion listings, so I got a little more info on cruise critic.

 

[hanscarlet]

following, eager to hear anything on this cruise, may book it tomorrow... i booked it last year but let it go and regretted it often throughout the year when prices doubled

 

[elvedon]

Also following! I'm booked on the 10/2/16 cruise with my sister and twin niece and nephew (6yo). It seems like a great way for the little people to have fun while mommy and auntie get some much-needed sister time.

 

[LeslieG]

Do you see much color in fall foliage on these cruises? From the pictures I've seen, it looks like lots of pine.

 

[Judyat]

We enjoyed Peggy's cove and the hop on hop off in Halifax I think.

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

OP - which ports does your cruise visit? I think most of the cruises visit Saint John - and some Halifax. If anyone wants, those 2 wonderful ports are covered in my 2012 trip report that you can find in my signature below!

 

[Gigi22]

I am currently booked on the 10/2/16 Canadian Coastline cruise from NYC. Just saw the 2017 Fall posting where the ports will differ slightly. The ports this year are Halifax, Nova Scotia and St Johns, New Brunswick. The 5 night next year will replace Halifax with Bar Harbor, Maine. As pp stated, the 7 nights will be adding Charlottetown, PEI and replacing St Johns with Sydney, Nova Scotia.

If I am interested in whale watching cruises as excursions, or other sea life, which itinerary would you recommend? I saw that Bar Harbor has a whale watching expedition, but couldn't find much info on the other 2 ports. The DCL is being very stingy with their port excursion listings, so I got a little more info on cruise critic.

As much as I like Bar Harbor, you have to tender in to the port, or you did when I was last there. On one of the occasions we were there, a very heavy fog came in and our cruise line (HAL) had to suspend tender service until the fog lifted. As a result, a number of shore excursions were seriously delayed. For that reason, I would only book excursions through DCL.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Do you see much color in fall foliage on these cruises? From the pictures I've seen, it looks like lots of pine.

It really depends on the dates you're there, and the "peak" of the color varies from year to year. We've cruised out of Boston when the leaves hadn't begun changing, and got to Quebec where the colors were past their prime. The farther north you go, the earlier the leaves change. The next time we did a fall foliage cruise, the dates were similar, but the season was about two weeks later than usual. The port towns are warmer than inland, so leaves may still be green when you dock, but as you head inland for a shore excursion you can see more colorful foliage. Basically we aim for Columbus Day, and hope for the best.

 

[hanscarlet]

2016 Canadian cruises please post trip reports! I ended up booking the 2017 5 nighter to Bar Harbor, can't wait to go out of NYC!

 

[jdb in AZ]

2016 Canadian cruises please post trip reports! I ended up booking the 2017 5 nighter to Bar Harbor, can't wait to go out of NYC!

Bar Harbor is one of my very favorite ports! Have a great cruise!