Advice on a fall HAL cruise departing Boston

We've just begun looking at HAL cruise options out of Boston for this fall. We would need a relatively short itinerary, like 7 days. Are there any itineraries that are particularly good for HAL out of Boston?

We are considering the 7-DAY CANADA & NE DISCOVERY that is one way Boston to Montreal with stops in Bar Harbor, Halifax, Sydney, Charlottetown, Cruising Gulf of St. Lawrence, Quebec City, Cruising Saint Lawrence River.

My main questions are:

1. Are there any recommendations you have for this itinerary vs other similar ones?

2. What is the best time to go during Sept or Oct?

3. Are these the types of ports where you'd want to spend long days off ship? Or are they the type of ports where you just walk around right from the ship?

4. We'd be traveling with my inlaws and our 1.5 yr old. Any thoughts on bringing baby on this itinerary?

Thanks for any advice!

I have done 3 N.E./Canada cruises leaving from Boston. The ones I sailed on were round trip Boston. Some of the ports were the same as the cruise you are considering. At these ports you can walk around on your own or if you want to rent a car, you can venture farther out for a longer day trip. September would be better weather but you never know what the weather will be in October. The later you go in October, the cooler the weather.

I don't think the itinerary would matter since your child is so young. You don't need to worry about the child meeting other kids.

We just completed the seven day Boston to Quebec. It was very relaxing and there was a choice of activities at each port. I am still working on my pictures and will post them soon.

Oh, it would be WONDERFUL to see you photos. I was just trying to google to find trip reports and photos. This is not a cruise itinerary that I know about - my father in law wants to do it, and we're trying to decide if we're interested and whether it's feasible with our 1.5 yr old.

Pictures would really help me understand the ports. We've only cruised to Alaska and the Baltics before. Those itineraries were very ambitious port days. I'm wondering if this cruise would be more laid back. Can we just get off the ship and see wonderful sights within walking distance? My inlaws aren't into walking much at all, but I'm worried that driving tours will be unpleasant for my little girl. Any thoughts about that?

What were the highlights of the trip for you?

Thanks so much for any insight!

Hi,

Check out this review that Cruise Critic member "ace1zoe2" did of her Canada/New England cruise on a Royal Caribbean ship. It stopped at some of the ports that you mentioned and contains many photos and wonderful suggestions. Reading this review convinced my husband and I to take a Canada/New England cruise in September, 2013 and we thoroughly enjoyed our cruise.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1769976

Mary

I have done the itinerary you are considering several times. The Maasdam is a nice ship. Here are the things I liked (mind you I am a walker):

Bar Harbor ME: walked the Shore Path, took the Lulu Lobster Boat tour, good, informative and the captain is really funny (cheaper if you book it through internet on your own rather than on the cruise ship).

Halifax NS: walked all the way to the Cidatel to see the noon canon ball firing and do the guided visit (walking from the ship to the Citadel is physically demanding because uphill), saw the Maritime Museum which is about a 15-20 minutes walk from the ship along a nice boardwalk AND for your baby there is a nice kiddies park just by the museum.

Sydney NS: this is the only place where if you want to see interesting things either book a private tour, rent a car or take a ship excursion (very expensive). There isn't much to see in Sydney per se. I took the Louisbourg ship excursion interesting and with a good guide (Ana Marie) and.... 85$ per person. If you do decide to rent a car, some people have been having problems with Enterprise(?). So I would take a good look at this thread before renting http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1824562

Charlottetown PEI: nice little city to walk around. Visited Province House where the first talks for the founding of Canada took place. Liked that.

Quebec City QC: the old town is very nice to walk around and there are things to see.

Sept versus Oct: Unless you want to see the peak of the fall foliage colours sept. will be warmer.

For ideas, maps, port set up, even pictures etc. I highly recommend the Toms Port Guides. He wrote one for all the ports you are visiting. Here is the link:

http://www.tomsportguides.com/portguides.html

For a nice photo journal to look at here is one:

http://thepreismans.com/canada_newe.htm

There is a lot more info on the Canada forum if you want to take a look at it.

Forgot to add:

Quebec City: Took a historical walking of old town with the "Tours Voir" company. I liked it.

Masonpips, a fellow cruiser, wrote a very good review of her cruise she did with her family on the Maasdam. Here is the link:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=43410557#poststop

Thanks so much for the incredibly helpful replies! I feel like I'm starting to get a sense of what this cruise is all about. I'll spend some time checking out those links. I really appreciate it!

Here are our pictures from our June 28 cruise

https://markandkarencanadanewengland.shutterfly.com/

Having been to Bar Harbour many times I can tell you it is a wonderful port. Do NOT miss a trip up Cadillac Mountain to see the breathtaking views. And be sure to have some Lobstaaah!:D

Beautiful photos - thanks for sharing them!

I live in Maine. September is my favorite month of the year. Sparkling days. Good chance of seeing 80 degrees during the day, especially early in the month. Evenings start to get cooler. Kids are back in school. Tourist crowds are minimal. September weather is glorious.

However, if fall foliage is what you're after chances are middle October will be best. Coastal areas will turn later and the peak foliage will unveil itself from north to south. If the leaves are a bit green in Massachusetts sail north and look for changes. The maples are the show but the oaks can tell the tale. If the oaks are brown the season has passed. November is too late. Generally speaking the last week of October is way past prime too.

If you're into fall colors, Columbus Day weekend is considered the peak in New England.

We did a back to back of this Itinerary last summer and enjoyed it very much. Many of my favorite things were listed by Jolie_Cruiser

"Tours Voir" walking tour of Quebec City was among the best walking tours we've ever done

My daughter and I also enjoyed the Lulu Lobster Boat tour in Bar Harbor

Halifax's Maritime Museum is fantastic but my daughter (who was 9 at the time) found it to be very heavy. Maritime history is not really happy history given that the two most prominent displays in the museum are about the Halifax explosion and the Titanic. But the kids playground next door is excellent and in the summer there is a splash pad about half way back to the ship. Since you will be there with a small one, you may also want to look into the Theodore Tugboat tour which I think is run out of the Maritime Museum. The Immigration Museum is also excellent.