Official Thread For Upcoming Eastern Canadian Cruises

[jkpmac]

Well you are all welcome to come back, again and again and again

 

[Alice-in-wonder]

Do you think the Saint John Alice Tea at Kingbrae Gardens will be worth traveling and spending the day there? My DD did the Alice Tea at the Grand Floridian this past July. I'm thinking that we will miss alot of other things that we would want to see. Is anyone else planning to do this?

 

[cathicool]

There seems like so much to do in Halifax, especially! I've decided to rent a car and drive around on my own so I can see all that I want to see. The tours/excursions seem to be too restrictive and the prices were a bit much since we are a family of 5, plus my parents (so a total of 7). I rented a minivan for under $70 with all the fees.....thinking this will be cost-effective and flexible!

 

[kiddisney]

we just got our halifax tourism guide - and lol - we thought the same thing - we need more time - maybe for the ice wine festival -

 

[jilljill]

I received the New Brunswick guide today and after receiving the Nova Scotia guide this one is disappointing.

 

[jilljill]

There seems like so much to do in Halifax, especially! I've decided to rent a car and drive around on my own so I can see all that I want to see. The tours/excursions seem to be too restrictive and the prices were a bit much since we are a family of 5, plus my parents (so a total of 7). I rented a minivan for under $70 with all the fees.....thinking this will be cost-effective and flexible!

We are debating doing this as well. But we are in port on a Sunday and I haven't looked at the times the office is open that day.
Which company did you rent from?

 

[Never to old]

we just got our halifax tourism guide - and lol - we thought the same thing - we need more time - maybe for the ice wine festival -

Oh, missed the ice wine festival. I will have to look that one up

 

[jkpmac]

I received the New Brunswick guide today and after receiving the Nova Scotia guide this one is disappointing.

Don't get me going on the lack or foesight that my elected representatives have with regards to tourism.

 

[estewart0901]

Do you think the Saint John Alice Tea at Kingbrae Gardens will be worth traveling and spending the day there? My DD did the Alice Tea at the Grand Floridian this past July. I'm thinking that we will miss alot of other things that we would want to see. Is anyone else planning to do this?

Alice-in-wonder my dd8 and I are doing this in June with a friend and her daughter this was the only excursion that caught their eye I can let you know if its worth it before yoour port excursion window closes...

 

[cathicool]

We are debating doing this as well. But we are in port on a Sunday and I haven't looked at the times the office is open that day.
Which company did you rent from?

We are in port on a Tuesday.....we rented from Alamo. I don't think a Sunday will work out- Alamo's hours that day are from 9am-12pm.

I contacted Johnathan Duru from Your Cab. He is a private tour guide who has gotten some good reviews by fellow disboarders. He responded promptly and professionally.He gave me a price of under $50 per person to do a personalized tour with a private van.

We are a family of 7. If we weren't a family with 3 kids (plus my parents), I'd have gone that route, but to spend $250 for my 5 (and my parents, $100) when I can rent a van for $70 (and my parents split it, so $35!) just didn't make sense.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[U2FanHfx]

Hi All,

More information for those of you visiting Halifax this Summer. They also have a mobile app. (Not responsible for it's quality )

http://destinationhalifax.com/

 

[Alice-in-wonder]

Alice-in-wonder my dd8 and I are doing this in June with a friend and her daughter this was the only excursion that caught their eye I can let you know if its worth it before yoour port excursion window closes...

Thank you!
Have fun!!

 

[jilljill]

Don't get me going on the lack or foesight that my elected representatives have with regards to tourism.

Thanks for that little bit on insight. At least I know I'm not crazy that the book was lacking info.

We are in port on a Tuesday.....we rented from Alamo. I don't think a Sunday will work out- Alamo's hours that day are from 9am-12pm.

I contacted Johnathan Duru from Your Cab. He is a private tour guide who has gotten some good reviews by fellow disboarders. He responded promptly and professionally.He gave me a price of under $50 per person to do a personalized tour with a private van.

We are a family of 7. If we weren't a family with 3 kids (plus my parents), I'd have gone that route, but to spend $250 for my 5 (and my parents, $100) when I can rent a van for $70 (and my parents split it, so $35!) just didn't make sense.

Good luck with your decision!

Thanks for the insight. I'll have to check out your recommendation.

 

[taximom00]

Don't get me going on the lack or foesight that my elected representatives have with regards to tourism.

I agree that the Saint John one was less 'splashy' than the Nova Scotia ones (I got three different ones for Nova Scotia!)

Though either way, a port day is obviously not enough time for either.

I was a bit concerned that I didn't see the Saint John Railway excursion listed in the Saint John brochure. Did I miss something? This is the one excursion we are planning.

Actually, I couldn't really locate much information on the Reversing Falls in the brochure either.

What did I miss?!!

However I did read the section that includes Mirimachi (sp?!) and thought of you! Alas, seems too far for a day!

Also read about Montacon (sp?!) which another person posted about.

Both seem great but out of my managability for a day!

Maura

 

[jilljill]

Hi All,

More information for those of you visiting Halifax this Summer. They also have a mobile app. (Not responsible for it's quality )

http://destinationhalifax.com/

Thanks for posting this info. I've merged your thread with the Canadian thread so keep the info in one spot.

 

[jkpmac]

I agree that the Saint John one was less 'splashy' than the Nova Scotia ones (I got three different ones for Nova Scotia!)

Though either way, a port day is obviously not enough time for either.

I was a bit concerned that I didn't see the Saint John Railway excursion listed in the Saint John brochure. Did I miss something? This is the one excursion we are planning.

Actually, I couldn't really locate much information on the Reversing Falls in the brochure either.

What did I miss?!!

However I did read the section that includes Mirimachi (sp?!) and thought of you! Alas, seems too far for a day!

Also read about Montacon (sp?!) which another person posted about.

Both seem great but out of my managability for a day!

Maura

Miramichi is pronounced Mira-mish-e. I always thought it was Mi'kmaq, one of the local Native American languages, but I checked wikipedia and apperently it might have Algonquin and Cree roots. It means either "on shining waters" or Land of the Mi'kmaq.

As for the railway, I think it is pretty new, although the other cruise lines like Celebrity and Royal carribean have it in their Port Adventures, there are no reviews. The only thing I can find was that it operated by the Southern New Brunswick Railway,that is centered around Saint John



I should also clarify my comment about our duly elected leaders. New Brunswick has always been considered the "Drive-thru" province. People drive through New Brunswick to get to Nova Scotia and PEI. Infact if you look at the touristy areas, they tend to focus along the southern part of the province and along the highways to these other provinces. Our leaders' the ones in power now , and future ones need to get out of this mind set. The revenue for their coffers would be amazing! Saint John is an example of luck. In the 1990's a hurricaine forced a cruise ship to dock there. The city rallied and charmed the pants off them. They came back and then word got out. Now if we could just get tourism to get the word out for the rest of the province, because OMG their is so much to see and do now and soooo much potential for more.
New Brunswick used to be a resource based economy, but that demand for forest products is going and mines can be run cheaper in third world countries, so the government needs to realize that tourism is a remarkably untapped market, all they need to do is sell it a little better. Ouch my knees just cracked getting off my soapbox.

Oh yes, JillJill. I have a list of all the links posted on this thread. I would like to post them on the first post, but I have no idea how to copy the format I have in microsoft word that has them very neatly grouped by Port, and type of information (ie store, tourism info, port adventure). When I try to post it, I just get one long list, do you know of anyone who moderates or runs this site that could post it for me in format? I have headers in larger font and different colours, and a column for Halifax and another for Saint John

 

[ksloane]

Does anyone know if there is wifi at any of the ports or somewhere close to the ports and if any of it is free? I will be in the middle of an online course for my master's degree. I plan to have all assignments done prior to leaving except that we are required to participate in the class forum multiple times per week so I was hoping to just do a quick jump online at least one of the days to comment a time or two.....

 

[HermanTriplets+1]

Oooooooh good question Ksloane! The teens amongst us will be very happy to get onto their FB for as long as their meany mother allows in the busy schedule! I can just see them wandering through the port cities with their iPods on looking for signals! I may just keep this info to myself!

 

[ksloane]

Oooooooh good question Ksloane! The teens amongst us will be very happy to get onto their FB for as long as their meany mother allows in the busy schedule! I can just see them wandering through the port cities with their iPods on looking for signals! I may just keep this info to myself!

We are normally offline from the time we step on the ship until we are off - that is my rule...even when we dock in a US port where phones would work, we do not get them out of the safe....However, I would really like to not lose my discussion points in my classes so if I could take 30 minutes in a port or two to just put in my two cents and earn those points, I'd be delighted (and I might just let the tween bring her ipod and be online for those few minutes as well..;.)

 

[Honeystar120608]

When you say "Fundy", do you mean the trail or the National Park? (b/c it seems like they are two different places, right?)


I agree about not wanting to rush and be in a panic about missing the boat! But Saint Andrews is in the opposite direction from Fundy national park, so I don't know that it's feasible to do both.

Looking at the pictures of Hopewell rocks, I really want to go up there. If we have our own vehicle, we could stop along the way and we would also be going right by Fundy National Park (and those sticky buns you mentioned in Alma!). Am I right in thinking those rocks are pretty unique? That although the tides are dramatic all along the coast, that is the only place where it looks like that?

So does that sound like a feasible drive? Two hours each way in our own vehicle doesn't really put me off -- we are a family that often makes roadtrips.

So sorry it's taken me so long to reply. I wasn't getting my emails in my inbox for some reason and have been beyond busy with the nice weather we've been getting! Camping time!

Fundy National Park is awesome. I mean, I am SO excited to go camp there this year and do some hiking. Just the drive though, through the Park would be beautiful! Covered bridges, high points for look outs (If I remember correctly, but it's been a while!), foliage galore, and the coast too!

We were just out that way (not quite to Fundy park) for our annual Mother's Day brunch. I LOVE the drive. It's so pretty! We go to a place called Broadleaf Farms. It's about 10 mins before The Rocks (coming from Fundy park). They do horse rides and such, we go for the Mother's day brunch every year as we have horses. No need to rent any.

The Rocks, yes, I do have to say it's worth the trip. You will have SO many great pictures I guarantee. The time of the low tide is going to play a factor. Is it worth it at high tide? Well, you are driving 2 hours. It definitely is not the same as the tide comes up quite high and the rocks are half burried under water. Even to see the coast line where you could walk...I'm unsure if they'd let you get that close as it can be dangerous to be near as you can imagine. There are hiking trails above granted. Offering great scenery. I guess if it were my call, I'd just stay in Fundy. That being said I've SEEN the Rocks, I've grown up with them. To not have seen them before I'm sure is a different perspective.

St Andrews is also Fantastic, as I've said. No, I wouldn't suggest doing both this and Fundy area. Either are great choices. Here is a whale watching excursion that is 3 hours. Makes me want to go now! Oh, and they offer deep sea fishing, I've always wanted to do this too.

Chatting to you all on here is booking up my summer with all the fun local stuff we want to do!!

HTH!