Halifax and Saint John

[DisneyDoc1895]

OK, so I know DCL does not go here yet, but they will next summer. We just got off the Carnival Glory out of NYC and thought we would share some info about these 2 very nice ports of call. I am not going to post the rest of the trip report here, and will refrain from Carnival-bashing (There were some nice things on the Glory, and some not so nice things, I guess like anywhere. Except Disney. )

Day 3

Today is Halifax. They are an hour later in time zone but it didn't really matter - we kept our watches on ship (NY) time. Sailing in was pretty, nice blue ocean.

This little guy meets you on the way in.

Getting off was pretty easy. Our routine with the kids is for everyone to get off in the AM and explore a bit. We don't do excursions or tours - just too expensive. I can spend my money better ways. The terminal has a few shops like every terminal. Right next to the the terminal building is a fairly new farmers market type thing. Very nice, definately take a look. Free wifi too for checking email or whatever. Then a bit past this market starts a boardwalk that is pleasant to walk along.

It is maybe 2 miles or so, maybe less. It ends at a Casino.

So we are walking along, taking pictures.

There are a few nice restaurants right on the boardwalk, and we stopped in a candy shop, Sugah I think. They were playing heavy metal and I guess they didn't see the kids come in, because after the first curse they then remembered to shut it off. Other than that, no complaints. About halfway down the walk there is the Maritime Museum and a vistor's center. We didn't do the museum, but stopped in the visitor center. They have a computer there if you need to access it for anything.

More to follow.

 

[DisneyDoc1895]

There are a few gift shops, and a few food places. We got a BeaverTail. A little further is a place called the Historic Properties. Nice to look around at some shops, and there are a few places right on the boardwalk where you can have a drink. Kids are with us so we passed, but it would have been fine.

Then we walked back to the ship for lunch and to put the kids back in the camp so my wife and I could explore some on our own. We really like trying new pubs and beers in a new port.

The first place we stop is right across from the ship - Garrison's Brewing Co. Very nice. You can get a small 6 oz sample for $2. We sampled 5, they had a raspberry one and we really don't like fruity beer. You could also get chilled bottles and sit either inside or outside. Here is a link to their site: http://www.garrisonbrewing.com/

From there we went to a place called the Henry House Pub on Barrington St. Absolutely wonderful. They had 2 different flights - samples of beer they have on tap in small volumes. This is the best way to try a lot of new beers while still being a responsible parent later in the day! One flight was of mostly cask beers and ales, and another of the local breweries. You can sit in the pub downstairs, the outside patio or the dining room. The dining room was closed the day we went but the full menu was available in the pub. We were the only ones there. Here is a link to their website: http://www.henryhouse.ca/

Next we walked up to the Rogue's Roost on Spring Garden Road. This is a brewpub right near the college in town. Had a sample of their brews. Nothing special, not bad, certainly worth a visit, but I was not overwhelmed by the ambiance. Their site: http://www.roguesroost.ca/

Rock Bottom Brewery was next right up the road. There were a number of places one could visit along this road. Evidently it is not the same as the brewpub chain around Philly, it is local to Canada. Anyway, we go in and it is 230pm our time, 330pm local time. Remember all aboard time was 330pm our (NY) time, so we know we are ok. Ship is only about 10 min walk. So they ask us where we are from and we say the cruise ship. "Oh, I didn't know there were 2." We say there isn't we are on the Carnival Glory and they get quite upset thinking we missed the ship. We explain the time difference. They had a sample as well. The stout is not tasting quite right they warn us and give us a sample anyway, no charge. They were right, seems like an incomplete brew. From there we head back to the ship.

There is a "Java Factory" right across the ship that has coffee, food and beer too; we have extra time so stop in to see if there is anything new. There is not, but we get a pint anyway of one of the Garrison's we like. Evidently they have a "restaurant" license, so we have to get food too - not just a beer. Chips would do, and they were tasty. Back on board, or at least to the line to get on board.

 

[DisneyDoc1895]

So today we arrive at Saint John. I took some shots of the port and area around the town. It seemed not quite as nice as Halifax in terms of blue ocean, but certainly was not as bad. The buses were all lined up for the excursions.

The terminal is right next to the pier. We walked in and down the escalator. There were some tourist type organizations nearby that were giving out maps. We went outside and looking back here is the ship. There is a big tent with some typical shops, etc.

 

[DisneyDoc1895]

So here are some links to visitor sites at Saint John:

http://www.cruisesaintjohn.com/
http://www.uptownsj.com/uptownsj/
http://www.tourismsaintjohn.com

We got off all together and turned left on Water Street which is right along the pier. Immediately there is a sea food restaurant called Steamers - they even have a little bar that is right on the sidewalk - a bit early now but might be nice for a last minute stop before getting on the ship this afternoon. There area a few shops along the way.

About 2 blocks up on the left is a small round area where there were a bunch of craft vendors and right behind it an area for beach volleyball and even a beach bar, which was closed.

Right next to this is a place called Market Square. (http://www.marketsquaresj.com/) This is a large indoor mall and business center. The library is in here too and there is free wifi. The backs of some of the restaurants that face the water open up inside. You can walk inside this mall for about 4 blocks with a variety of shops and stores. It ends near our destination, the City Market, which is an indoor farmers market. Certainly worth a look. (http://www.sjcitymarket.ca/)

Then we went back to the ship to drop off the kids so DW and I could visit some local pubs.

We headed to Princess Street where there were a number of places we visited:

Big Tide Brewing Co http://www.bigtidebrew.com/
O'Learys http://www.olearyspub.com/index.php
Jungle Jims http://www.junglejims.ca/

All of these were fine for kids, had samples of their brews. Jungle Jims in particular was a nice place for food. We chatted with the owner of Big Tide a bit - they are quite excited about DCL coming there next year.

We ended at the Saint John Ale House (http://www.saintjohnalehouse.com/) and then headed back to the ship.

All in all, the visits to the ports were the best part of the trip. We did this in mid June, and it was hot (upper 80s) in NYC but by the next AM, pants were the norm. Don't plan on too much swimming!

The people are very nice, love to chat and most if not all the shops take US currency. They may give you back Canadian funds, but if you ask, the more touristy places will give back US funds too.

Enjoy.

Ken

 

[pjstevens]

Thanks for this info. We'll be on the Magic next summer at these two spots, so this is great info.

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

Thanks so much for thinking of posting this!! I've been wanting to see something about the Canadian ports and this was great!

 

[Susan R]

I live an hour north of Halifax and spend lots of time there. If anyone has any questions I'm sure myself or any of the other people who live in the area and are on the Dis boards would love to answer any questions you have.

I'm glad you enjoyed your visit DisneyDoc1895

Susan

PS- the tugboat in the Halifax pictures is "Theadore Tugboat" from a children's tv show by the same name that was made in Halifax. Small bit of trivia...Denny Doherty from the Mamma's and Pappa's played the harbourmaster in the show.

 

[DisneyDoc1895]

It really was a pleasant trip based on the ports. We took it on another cruise line that to us, was not as good a DCL, but the ports and the friendliness of the locals was just incredible.

No, we couldn't swim much, and this may hamper the ability for DCL to sell the trip (like the Baltics on DCL which we took) but it was very much worth it.

Ken

 

[Bullseyebaby]

Thanks for posting..... you are like us....love to find the local pub & breweries! We were thinking of doing this cruise & now really like the idea of it.