Newbie to Canada/New England

Hi .......

 

Have you already booked the Trolley in Bar Harbor? Is there just the one trolley...and do you think I should I worry about it filling up ? There appears to be a small ship (382 passengers) in Bar Harbor the same time as ours.

Oli has multiple trolleys. Also, besides Oli, there is another company, Acadia National Park Tours, that offers similar tours, and is rated as high on TA as Oli.

SBtS

There is a post here with information about Sydney:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2241756

Both Boston and Portland are easy to get around. LOTS of history in Boston so it really depends on what you are looking to see and do. You will most likely dock at the Black Falcon Pier. You can simply catch a cab to Faneuil Hall Market Place. From there you have easy access to the North End (Old North Church) and you can either walk the Freedom Trail around or jump on one of many tour buses.

Try this website for more info:

https://www.partner.viator.com/en/9173/tours/Boston/Boston-Shore-Excursion-Boston-Hop-On-Hop-Off-Trolley-Tour/d678-5046PRTBOSOTT

Portland, Me you will dock right downtown. Its a small city and easy to get around. Some of the streets are cobblestone still so just be careful. There's the Portland Headlight that is one of the most scenic light houses photographed and 3 more close by but not w/ in walking distance. There are also a lot of tour options once you get off the boat onto Commercial St. Land/Sea tour options. Either city you'll be perfectly safe walking around.

PS: if you're traveling w/ kids Portland offers a Lobster tour where you go out and see how they catch the lobster and pull up the traps. IDK about off season though. Duck Tours are available in both cities.

Thanks everyone for the great information. I think we have chosen almost all of our tours/excursions - just need to finalize a time for the Oli Trolley in Bar Harbor and need to look at Quebec City (our cruise starting place) while there.

We decided to take the ship's offered tour to Baddeck and AG Bell Museum (early tour) in order to be able to walk around Sydney's Boardwalk in the afternoon before we tender back to ship. We are doing private guided tours in Halifax, and St Johns.

Planning is always an adventure, and with so many private tours already booked for this cruise it was even more of an adventure than usual..

Bill,

 

I have booked and paid for most all of the tours - including Oli's Trolley. I have reserved the rental cars. The only place where I have an operator with space for a couple more people is in Halifax - but that is on our trip up - coming back there are several ships in port so we just plan on walking the boardwalk and catching a few of the items we might have missed on the first time there.

 

Oli's Trolley has several different times (and tours) and probably has more than one trolley. On thier website, when you go to schedule the tour they will tell you if the tour is available on the date and time you want it - so that suggests to me that there are a limited number of seats. I chose the 11:00 tour as I am not sure how long it will take to go through customs onboard ship. I heard that it was a real mess last year and it was NCL's fault - people were being told to go one place when they should have gone to another etc. That was on the first cruise last season - i did not hear any feedback on the second so maybe they worked it out. The rule of thumb is that you should not book a private tour before 10:00.

 

Again, I found that several of the highest reccommended tours are already sold out for the days we are in port.

 

 

I don't mind driving on vacation - esp if it allows me to see what I want to see :)

Looks like my wife and I may be joining you for the Oli's Trolley tour in Bar Harbor. We were set for 10:00 am...however after reading some older CC postings, and chatting with another lady (outside of CC) who was there a few years ago that had to change out her 10 am reservation - and she was on a ship that arrived at 7 am; we decided to err on the side of caution and go an hour later.

Hopefully the 9/23 and 9/30 threads will pick up soon. Just no one saying anything (except for me mostly :eek: ) on either one.

Your videos were fantastic and really gave me a sense of what to expect. The only difference is the time of year. We are traveling in October. Hoping for decent weather.:)

Awesome videos. My wife and I will be on the HAL Zuiderdam cruise that departs Quebec City on 7 Oct and ends at Ft Lauderdale 19 Oct. We are looking for excursions and hoping to sign up with folks interested in small group tours. Very much appreciate the information and posting of the videos...Super. Doug