Maritime and Atlantic Provinces Vacation Tour Plan--Back On #42!

[ducklite]

DH and I are tossing around a bunch of ideas for next years vacation, and one of them is a road trip through the Maritimes.

Has anyone ever taken the ferry from Sydney NS to Aux Basques NF? We were thinking about doing it as a night time crossing and booking a cabin, has anyone done this? What are the cabins like? We're not expecting first class accomodations, but were they at least comfortable enough that you got a little sleep? Private? Is there a private lav in the cabins? If not, are the public lavs clean?

Thanks for any advice anyone has--on that or anything to do/see/stay in the Maritimes!

Anne

 

[brooker]

DH and I are tossing around a bunch of ideas for next years vacation, and one of them is a road trip through the Maritimes.

Has anyone ever taken the ferry from Sydney NS to Aux Basques NF? We were thinking about doing it as a night time crossing and booking a cabin, has anyone done this? What are the cabins like? We're not expecting first class accomodations, but were they at least comfortable enough that you got a little sleep? Private? Is there a private lav in the cabins? If not, are the public lavs clean?

Thanks for any advice anyone has--on that or anything to do/see/stay in the Maritimes!

Anne

My wife works on those vessels. You can get lots of info on the vessels themselves at http://www.marineatlantic.ca/. The Caribou and the Smallwood are the biggest and most comfortable of the 3 passenger vessels. The cabins on the 2 I mentioned are usually 2 double bunks, and they have their own bathrooms with a shower. I haven't crossed in a few years now myself but I never had a problem getting some sleep. But in all honestly you could probably get a hotel cheaper for a night than a cabin. The vessels are relatively clean considering they make 1-2 crossings a day in summer each with probably 500-600 passengers per trip. It usually takes about 6-7 hours each way. Marine Atlantic is not always the cheapest way to travel here, but if you want to bring your own vehicle you don't have much choice.

I have actually vacationed in your state for the last 2 years......gotta love those theme parks.

 

[ducklite]

My wife works on those vessels. You can get lots of info on the vessels themselves at http://www.marineatlantic.ca/. The Caribou and the Smallwood are the biggest and most comfortable of the 3 passenger vessels. The cabins on the 2 I mentioned are usually 2 double bunks, and they have their own bathrooms with a shower. I haven't crossed in a few years now myself but I never had a problem getting some sleep. But in all honestly you could probably get a hotel cheaper for a night than a cabin. The vessels are relatively clean considering they make 1-2 crossings a day in summer each with probably 500-600 passengers per trip. It usually takes about 6-7 hours each way. Marine Atlantic is not always the cheapest way to travel here, but if you want to bring your own vehicle you don't have much choice.

Thanks for the info. We were thinking we'd do the night crossings to maximize our time in Newfoundland. Unfortunately we've only got about ten days to cover a lot of ground. We want to sample the hightlights and from there we'll plan another trip back in future years to revisit the places that interest us the most and have the time to explore them in depth.

Right now the plan is to take the first ferry of the day from Portland to Yarmouth, and then drive along to Halifax, stopping at various places along the way. The next day we'd head up to Moncton and spend the night there.

Then cross the bridge to PEI, and spend two days there, then take the ferry to Pictou and drive to Cape Breton. From there we'd take the ferret to Aux Basques and spend a couple of days in Newfoundland (Definitely spending a night in St. Johns), before taking the ferry agin the night sailing from Argentina back to Sydney, then tour along the south shore of Nova Scotia and again stopping in Halifax. Our last day in Canda we'll drive from Halifax to Yarmouth and then take the ferry to Portland.

We know we'll be spending about $800 in ferry costs, but not having to rent a car and using our 50 mpg Prius with a GPS navigation system will compensate for that, plus the two nights we spend on the ferry are two nights we won't need hotel rooms.

Any information you might have or comments on our proposed routing is more than welcome.

I have actually vacationed in your state for the last 2 years......gotta love those theme parks.

Which is exactly what we're running away from!

Anne

 

[sheilag]

I'm from Nfld., but live and work in Ottawa. My family just drove to Nfld. for the first time since I"d moved here (22 years ago) - you gotta book the cabin EARLY! I made a reservation in early June for a late July crossing, and could only get waitlisted both ways. We didn't get a cabin down, but had sleeper chairs on Joey Smallwood - ok, quiet, but not comfortable. On way back, gave up dormitory sleeper we had (awful - like bunk beds lined against walls - open for all to see) cause we had party of 4 with 2 small kids and only one sleeper, but managed to pull our waitlist into cabin. Definitely worth the $99 for the cabin - we had 4 bunks, privacy, own bath and shower. Book early and get the cabin.

 

[ducklite]

I'm from Nfld., but live and work in Ottawa. My family just drove to Nfld. for the first time since I"d moved here (22 years ago) - you gotta book the cabin EARLY! I made a reservation in early June for a late July crossing, and could only get waitlisted both ways. We didn't get a cabin down, but had sleeper chairs on Joey Smallwood - ok, quiet, but not comfortable. On way back, gave up dormitory sleeper we had (awful - like bunk beds lined against walls - open for all to see) cause we had party of 4 with 2 small kids and only one sleeper, but managed to pull our waitlist into cabin. Definitely worth the $99 for the cabin - we had 4 bunks, privacy, own bath and shower. Book early and get the cabin.

We're planning now for next June, so I'm assuming we should be OK as long as we firm plans over the next month or so? It sounds like the cabin would be perfect for us, it will give us some privacy, we are definitely not "domitory" type travelers.

Other than in St. Johns, NF and Halifax, we're planning on staying in B&B's. In Halifax we'll stay at the Hilton Garden Inn as we've got a ton of free nights with Hilton, and in St. John's we'll stay at the Fairmont. If you have any recomendations as to B&B's or places to visit, I'd love to hear them!

Anne

 

[binky1]

You will love the Maritimes. Just got back from our annual visit to my Mom in Newfoundland. Would definitely recommend a cabin for a night crossing but you may want to rethink only spending 2 days in Newfoundland - you will spend most of your time driving between Port aux Basques and St. John's (it's a 12 hour drive) and the road actually bypasses all the great stuff that you will want to see.

Gros Morne Provincial Park is a beautiful day outing (it's a UN Heritage Site) along with St. Anthony's where the Vikings first landed (it's also a UN Heritage Site). Twillingate is a beautiful spot where you can see whales and icebergs and you can't miss St. John's itself...

Go to the Newfoundland & Labrador tourism website - there's lots of great info there... (www.newfoundlandlabrador.com)

Enjoy your trip - you will have a great time.

 

[sheilag]

I'm from the west coast of Nfld - Corner Brook, actually. It's great you're taking the ferry to the west coast with the Sydney to Port aux Basques run. I lived in St. John's for three years while I finished up my honours degree (the community college in Corner Brook used to let you do only the first 2 - I think now they're setting up for the full degree there as well)... suffice it to say, I love the bigger city feel of St. John's, and the views of the harbours (esp. the narrows) and views of the icebergs are great (got to go to Cape Spears - most easternly point in all of Canada). St. John's is also the oldest city in North America, and two streets in downtown (Water and George, I believe) have the most pubs per capita in all of North America (which is a big draw in university times).

However, you cannot beat the west coast of Nfld. for its sheer beauty. Go to see Captain Hook's lookout in Corner Brook, and also don't miss the Western Brook gorge around Rocky Harbour - it's a natural fjord. Breathtaking. You're going to be pushed for time - but if you can go further north to see St. Anthony's, you'll see wonderful scenery there as well. (BTW, the Glynmill Inn in Corner Brook is a great place to stay.)

St. John's is a full 8 hr drive from Corner Brook - so be forewarned. It's a long hike, so if you think the two cities are close, you're in for a surprise.

Have a wonderful time. You're in for a really fantastic vacation.

 

[DisneyFreak06]

Hi, I'm from PEI, so if you have any questions about here, let me know. I can tell you that driving across the bridge from NB to PEI is free. You have to pay to leave the Island, not come visit us! We always find that funny! No matter what, we have to pay to go visit anywhere else. I guess NFLD does too, so we're not alone. The ferry will cost you more than the bridge to go the other way, but I think it's worth it. I love travelling across the ferry to NS. In the summer there is even musical entertainment upstairs/outside. PEI and the Maritimes in general are very beautiful. I hope you will have nice weather for your trip! It will probably be quite a bit cooler than FL in June!

 

[Disney Daniel]

I am about ten minutes away from Sydney, and although I am not terribly familiar with the ferry, if you have any questions about the general area feel free to ask. My main reason for comment is your note about staying at the Garden Inn in Halifax. I have stayed at the hotel a couple of times when flying out of Halifax and it is quite nice but keep in mind that it is very close to the airport which is not close to downtown and is really not near any major attractions. Again, you may be aware of this already but just wanted to give you the heads up nonetheless and unfortunately I don't believe there are any other Hilton family hotels in the immediate area. However as you get into Halifax your options are more diverse with Marriott, Holiday Inn, Four Points, Radisson, Ramada (Which is on the Dartmouth side) and other more major names in the area.

 

[sheilag]

Here's a link to the Gros Morne National Park (where the Western Brook gorge is)
http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/nl/grosmorne/index_E.asp

 

[SplashMom]

You probably know this but the ferry is actually in North Sydney, not Sydney. It is a different community, about 25 minutes away. I wouldn't want you to follow traffic signs to Sydney and then look for the ferry!

Your plan sounds great but that is a lot of driving in a short time. Cape Breton and the rest of the maritimes have so much to see, and as mentioned, from Port Aux Basques to St. John's is about a 12 hour drive. You can get a glimpse of things as you drive by, but the plan sounds a little ambitious to me. You may want to consider adding days to your trip if possible. If not, you'll have to visit us a second time to get a better look!! Happy planning!

 

[ducklite]

Thanks for everyone's information--I'm sure I'll have a ton more questions. We've decided to extend the trip from nine to 12 days, otherwise we'd be driving by attractions and waving at them.

Unfortunately on our travel dates the Argentia ferry isn't running yet, so we'll have to either skip St, John (really don't want to) or change our dates (possible) or drive to St. Johns and back again to North Sydney (most likely). I had suggested four-wheelin' across the southern part of Newfoundland to my DH, he didn't think that would work very well in a Prius.

Keep the suggestions coming, I'm at a complete loss with planning this trip.

To the poster who mentioned the Hilton Garden Inn isn't downtown in Halifax, we're aware of that, however it will be free as we are using Hilton Honors Points, and for free we're happy to drive a bit out of the way.

For those of you who live in the area, I'd love restaurant suggestions. Our lunches will be either "fast food" or we'll have a cooler with us and likely stop at a market and pick up sandwich fixins' and have those, but for dinner we'll want moderate type places, preferably locally owned, along the lines of Macaroni Grill or Red Lobster or Fridays. I don't think that Earl's has any restaurants in Eastern Canada, I think they are more of a Manitoba thing, but but we liked Earls a lot. In St. John's we'll probably want a more upscale restaurant, like one of the WDW Signature type places, so we're open for suggestions on that as well.

Other than Halifax and St. Johns we're planning on staying at Bed and Breakfasts. We're planning on staying at the Fairmont in St. Johns as our splurge for what will be an otherwise fairly frugal trip. We are looking for those with a Canada Select four star or higher rating with a full (not self-catered or Continental) breakfast minimum queen/preferably king bed and ensuite bathroom, so if you want to suggest anything that fits that bill, we're "all ears!"

Anne

 

[sherry66]

www.newfoundlandlabrador.com is a fantastic site with lots of information. you can also order a travel guide from this site.there are many B&Bs listed as well. happy planning

 

[B&B Mom]

Hi There, sounds like you are going to have a wonderful time here in Eastern Canada! Just thought I'd chime in and give you the link to the PEI Tourist guide. Lots of info...they will mail out a copy to you if you sign up. Sometimes it's nice to be able to actually get your hands on something concrete. Good Luck with your plans.

http://www.gov.pe.ca/visitorsguide/index.php3

 

[ducklite]

Next question, which time frame would you choose and why?

(All 2008)

May 22 through June 4
August 21 through September 4
Other

We are leaning towards the earlier time frame due to hurricane season, but we'd like to hear other opinions.

Anne

 

[FayeW]

Next question, which time frame would you choose and why?

(All 2008)

May 22 through June 4
August 21 through September 4
Other

We are leaning towards the earlier time frame due to hurricane season, but we'd like to hear other opinions.

Anne

It's hard to say but weather wise it is probably better Aug-Sept. It can still be pretty cold in May and June and they get snow later in the season than the rest of the Atlantic provinces. However, I think May/June you will be able to see the iceburgs.

I am from Nova Scotia, but my husband is from St.John's. I have been there in early May, July and Aug. I am always cold! His parents and siblings will be going on about how nice the weather is and we are putting on sweaters! My husband jokes that there are only 2 seasons in Newfoundland: Winter and July.

Having said that, as long as you have sweatshirts/fall jackets on hand you will be fine. When we drive we cross Sydney to Port Aux Basques. If you are doing a night time crossing you will definitely want the cabin, as children and teenagers tend to run around unsupervised all night and will disturb light sleepers.

 

[ducklite]

It's hard to say but weather wise it is probably better Aug-Sept. It can still be pretty cold in May and June and they get snow later in the season than the rest of the Atlantic provinces. However, I think May/June you will be able to see the iceburgs.

That's another plus--I'm not going all the way to the Maritimes without seeing iceburgs! (Although I think I'm about the only person in the world to have visited Jasper, AB twice and never see a moose, so it would be my luck to not see any. ) The million dollar question is where to go to be most assured of seeing iceburgs?

I am from Nova Scotia, but my husband is from St.John's. I have been there in early May, July and Aug. I am always cold! His parents and siblings will be going on about how nice the weather is and we are putting on sweaters! My husband jokes that there are only 2 seasons in Newfoundland: Winter and July.

They say that about much of Canada it seems

Having said that, as long as you have sweatshirts/fall jackets on hand you will be fine. When we drive we cross Sydney to Port Aux Basques. If you are doing a night time crossing you will definitely want the cabin, as children and teenagers tend to run around unsupervised all night and will disturb light sleepers.

We weren't planning on particularly warm weather--the last time I was in Canada was early December a couple of years ago, and we were in a whiteout snowstorm someplace between Sarnia and London. Four or so years ago found us in Winnipeg on New Years Eve--now THAT was cold. Brrr... We figured we'd do one of the crossings as a night time crossing and book a cabin, the other would be a daytime crossing. Do the outside cabins have portholes?

Thanks for the info!

Anne

 

[drag n' fly]

DH and I are tossing around a bunch of ideas for next years vacation, and one of them is a road trip through the Maritimes.

Has anyone ever taken the ferry from Sydney NS to Aux Basques NF? We were thinking about doing it as a night time crossing and booking a cabin, has anyone done this? What are the cabins like? We're not expecting first class accomodations, but were they at least comfortable enough that you got a little sleep? Private? Is there a private lav in the cabins? If not, are the public lavs clean?

Thanks for any advice anyone has--on that or anything to do/see/stay in the Maritimes!

Anne

We have taken this ferry also. It was a seven hour trip. We then drove back to Alberta from Newfoundland. Have done that twice now! We did not stay in cabins but slummed it. People had sleeping bags spread out on the floor. There was an old salt who had a solid piece of wood. In the seven hour journey he managed to carve that solid piece of wood into a chain link 5 pieces long! We took the evening trip. It was rough seas however and quite a few people throwing up. You definitely might want to consider that cabin lol!

 

[FayeW]

They say that about much of Canada it seems

Anne

Touche!

His parents and sister haven't been here to visit us in 6 yrs because it is too hot. I read somewhere that Ottawa has the dubious distinction of being 2nd only to someplace in Russia for having the most extreme temperature changes winter to summer. In the winter we can have -50 (Celcius) with the windchill, and in summer it is sometimes in the high 40's with humidity. It can be brutally hot here in the summer and coming from NFLD, they just aren't used to it.

Have a great trip. Nova Scotia is beautiful (but then again, I am biased). Check out www.about.com for some pictures of NS. You will see Mahone Bay, Peggy's Cove etc. If I only had a dollar for everytime we raced to Peggy's Cove after supper to get a picture of the sunset (my husband is a photographer).

 

[sherry66]

You will see more iceburgs in May/June It is hard to predict the weather here , just be prepared for anything