Official Thread For Upcoming Eastern Canadian Cruises

[JoeJoeJoe]

Thanks so much to everyone who has already sailed for posting about your experiences! Can anyone speak to what younger children have enjoyed or might enjoy? Mine will be 6 and almost 2 - I don't see them spending a couple of hours appreciating the Citadel or any sort of shopping! We sail on August 5th - this is our first cruise ever and I've done no research or planning yet . . . the panic is starting to set in!

Once we left the ship to explore the ports, our kids (6 and 5) wanted to go back to the ship to Oceaneers Club or Lab or the pool! Good thing we did not book any excursions! We just walked around the pier and boardwalk in Halifax and walked to the main streets of St John both an hour each and then went back. You may want to look into the Theodore Too tour in Halifax or the Museum tour with the knot lessons for kids also in Halifax.
Our table mates at dinner (a family of 4 with a 6 yr old and a 4 yr old) did book excursions in both ports. In Halifax they did the Hop On Hop Off and they said they enjoyed that. In St John they did a Bay of Fundy Tour with lunch and the father said it was not worth it. He said they spent more time traveling on the bus than actually at Bay of Fundy.
Hope you enjoy your first cruise! This was our first DCL cruise (we've been on other cruise lines) and we were very impressed with the service and the quality and quantity of the entertainment.

 

[lorimay]

Ok to all the wonderful residents of Canada I have a question:

I am from South Florida and do not get the joy of seasons. This is why we booked the last cruise up to Canada on Sept. 12th.

Please tell me where we can see the color changing leaves best in each port.

In Halifax we have book Peggy's Cove.
St. John we booked the hop on/off bus.

Thank you!
Lori

 

[firsttimemom]

We will be doing Peggy's Cove with Hop on Hop off bus tour in Halifax. DH would like to have lobster for lunch - can anyone recommend a good place to eat???

We had lobster at Murphys (included in our excursion). Very tasty! DS said it was better than the lobster he had in Saint John.

http://www.mtcw.ca/

 

[Ted in Halifax]

That was the one disappointing moment. I never heard the gun
We were on Spring Garden standing outside of some Frog restruant. We waited til 12:05. We never heard it. So I am not sure if the wind carried the sound away from us or if it didn't it go off

The gun fires towards the harbour, which is east from the hill, it is not unlikely that you were South or Southwest, which is sheltered from the sound by Citadel itself!

 

[Ted in Halifax]

Ok to all the wonderful residents of Canada I have a question:

I am from South Florida and do not get the joy of seasons. This is why we booked the last cruise up to Canada on Sept. 12th.

Please tell me where we can see the color changing leaves best in each port.

In Halifax we have book Peggy's Cove.
St. John we booked the hop on/off bus.

Thank you!
Lori

Lori ... In my opinion as someone who has lived in Halifax for 50 years (gulp!) ... I doubt that the leaves will start turning unless we have a very cold summer. Here, August and September are very similar.

Ted

 

[pkmingo]

Just home from the 6/17 sailing. We had a WONDERFUL private walking tour with an author of Saint John history in Saint John. Would highly recommend it for any adults!! He will cater to what you are interested in, we did reversing falls, downtown historical areas, loyalist house, city market, etc. there were 6 of us and very reasonable! He also does nature tours with kids as well. We had a fantastic day! Anyone interested please pm or email me and I will email you contact info.
Carol

 

[MinnieGg4]

We had lobster at Murphys (included in our excursion). Very tasty! DS said it was better than the lobster he had in Saint John.

http://www.mtcw.ca/

I agree that the lobster at Murphys was great. It is about a 20 min walk from the ship.

 

[Never to old]

Lori ... In my opinion as someone who has lived in Halifax for 50 years (gulp!) ... I doubt that the leaves will start turning unless we have a very cold summer. Here, August and September are very similar.

Ted

Does this mean hot weather? I was hoping to bring my mother to Halifax in Sept but she doesn't like cold weather.

 

[MikeyNS]

Does this mean hot weather? I was hoping to bring my mother to Halifax in Sept but she doesn't like cold weather.

It can vary from pleasant to downright humid and sticky. 2 years ago I remember our son going to his first day of school in September's and it was 40+C with the humidity. Like Ted said Sept is usually just as nice as august, but very very certain the leaves won't be changing.

 

[lpizzuro123]

Just wanted to let everyone know that we submitted the Navigators from our June 10-15 cruise and they are online now. If you go to "Staterooms" on the menu bar above, and choose "Navigators" on the drop down menu you'll see them.

Thanks again to everyone from Halifax and Saint John who posted tips on this thread. You really helped make our trip a fabulous one! Can't wait to return and see even more of your beautiful region.

Thanks so much for submitting the Navigators. We are not cruising to Canada until September but I am enjoying reading them and seeing all that is available to us.

Linda

 

[Honeystar120608]

We were to Halifax last weekend (from Moncton NB) and had a lovely lunch on the Lower Deck, right in front of Cows Ice Cream. We had the Fish and chips and they were delicious. We will definitely be going back next time for the same. It is a tavern style place, with lots of seats outside.

As for fall foliage, I seem to have it down to a bit of a science. My wedding anniversary is Oct 1 and the foliage might JUST be starting to turn then. By our Thanksgiving (2nd week of Oct) the leaves are changing or have completely changed.

 

[maman_et_fille]

Once we left the ship to explore the ports, our kids (6 and 5) wanted to go back to the ship to Oceaneers Club or Lab or the pool! Good thing we did not book any excursions! We just walked around the pier and boardwalk in Halifax and walked to the main streets of St John both an hour each and then went back. You may want to look into the Theodore Too tour in Halifax or the Museum tour with the knot lessons for kids also in Halifax.
Our table mates at dinner (a family of 4 with a 6 yr old and a 4 yr old) did book excursions in both ports. In Halifax they did the Hop On Hop Off and they said they enjoyed that. In St John they did a Bay of Fundy Tour with lunch and the father said it was not worth it. He said they spent more time traveling on the bus than actually at Bay of Fundy.
Hope you enjoy your first cruise! This was our first DCL cruise (we've been on other cruise lines) and we were very impressed with the service and the quality and quantity of the entertainment.

Thank you so much! We already planned to skip anything with a lot of transportation time between the ship and the excursion . . . no way our toddler would stand for that! Thanks for the info

 

[purplern]

Great thanks for doing this!! We are on the Sept 2 sailing and cant wait.

 

[taximom00]

Can anyone who has sailed already post about their Saint John excursions? I'm having a hard time deciding what to do!

Traveling with my mother, who definitely wants to do a Disney excursion. We've ruled out Hopewell Rocks and the Cave tour as the tides aren't in our favor. Have ruled out the railroad based on the bad reviews it got here.

Seem to have read good things about the river cruise. There is another boat ride as well (forget the name) that sounds good on the DCL site.

Would have liked a whale watch but the Saint John one is an all day excursion which doesn't interest us.

Also considering the maple syrup tour.

Any suggestions by those who have already gone greatly appreciated!

 

[purplern]

Just looking out at the harbour that all you fine people will be sailing in to. It is a beautiful sunny day and I am thinking how excited I am to share my incredible city with you. Going for a walk, so I will have updated info later.

Cant wait to visit you beautiful city!!!! Excitement is building!

 

[staugielady]

Does anybody know if there will be more Canadian itineraries after the 2012 season? My husband and I would love to go on this route, but can't do it until next year. I'd be so sad to have just discovered this only to find out that it will be gone before I can enjoy it!

 

[purplern]

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150877891452616.414246.517547615&type=1&l=21157b0708

Photos of the ship taken by me on her arrival.

Nice pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jilljill]

Does anybody know if there will be more Canadian itineraries after the 2012 season? My husband and I would love to go on this route, but can't do it until next year. I'd be so sad to have just discovered this only to find out that it will be gone before I can enjoy it!

It won't be next year since the Magic is in the Med during the summer. Who knows what 2014 will bring for the ships.

 

[taximom00]

Hi
Not sure if this has been posted on this thread before but someone posted it on another thread and I thought people might be interested. If you are on Facebook, you can like it and it will give you updates about Halifax. Nice 'real time' info leading up to your trip!

https://www.facebook.com/halifaxseaport

 

[lorimay]

Lori ... In my opinion as someone who has lived in Halifax for 50 years (gulp!) ... I doubt that the leaves will start turning unless we have a very cold summer. Here, August and September are very similar.

Ted

That's ok, i will still have a great time.