Sydney, Canada

[MrALO]

I will be in Sydney, Canada in early June. The ship is offering an excursion to Nova Scotia Highland Village, Baddeck village and Bras d'Or Lakes (all on same tour) for $179.00/pp. Is it worth it? Are there tours available when I get off the ship?
I would do the Cabot Trail, but the ship is not in port long enough that day to do it. Any suggestions? :)

[RickT]

You probably should post this in the port section. You may even find information on this already in there.

Here are a couple tourism sites that may help you decide if it's worth it.

http://www.cbisland.com/

http://www.novascotia.com/en/home/default.aspx (this site is for the whole Province, you'll need to drill down to the CB stuff).

http://www.capebretonresorts.com/cape-breton/travel-guide/cape-breton-attractions.html

[janmcn]

In a word...no. I don't believe that is worth the money. If there's an excursion that just goes to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum, that's worth seeing...and in doing so you are in the town of Baddeck. The Bras d'or lakes are just lakes...there's a boat trip on one of the excursions, so perhaps this includes that.
We did an RV trip to NS two years ago and went to all these places including taking a bus tour all around the Cabot Trail which was very disappointing. If you've seen the OR/CA/WA coast, they're MUCH better. It's a beautiful area, but very weather-dependent like so many places. The Bell Museum was well-done and interesting. (and I'm not much of a museum person.)

[Smart 4-2]

Agreed, the Alexander Graham Bell museum in Baddeck is wonderful.
Another great stop in the general area is Fortress Louisbourg.
It is one of the best historical presentations with restored French fort and many streets, actors, restaurant or 2. Half day or all day if you have it.
-Donna

[MrALO]

Thanks for the information. This is my 20th cruise, but my first on HAL, and I was a little leery of spending that much on an excursion. Since we are hearing good things about the AGBell museum, we'll check that out. That's available for a much lower price and I believe it's just a half day trip. Is the town of Sydney nice enough to walk around in. One site I went to said there was not much there.

[sail7seas]

We've been sailing Maasdam's Canada/NewEngland cruise annually for many years and have never found lots to do in Sydney. We always enjoy a walk here with no distinct destination in mind. Very nice, friendly people and if the sun is shining, it's pleasant enough but not lots to do or see.

I especially appreciate that the locals have run many a barbeque lunch for ship's crew. It may be coincidental we happen to be aboard the week they have this barbeque but the crew really enjoys the hospitality and it's a nice 'break' for them. That, in itself, makes Sydney special IMO :)

[Kyana]

If your a hockey fan go to Don Cherrys Grapevine for lunch with a old time hockey atmosphere. Good Food too. Going there on my birthday when we are docked in Sydney next October...:)

[rozbe]

We stopped there a couple of years ago when the Ocean Princess could not get into Greenland because of the weather. This stop was added and the guide they had aboard, told us to grab a cab and go to the miner's museum. It was a wonderful trip. Went down into an old mine. Trip was escorted by one of the miners who had worked the mine. They also have some old houses that the miners lived in as well as their general store. The driver took us by some other sights on the way back.