Canada/New England rough plans!

Boston is a bit warmer, but not by much. I wouldn't go out whale watching in October here unless I had never done it before and expected this would be my last chance to do so.

Thanks everyone for your input. I am going to forgo the plans for whale watching as I agree the season is stretched out in order to make money. That and I don't want to freeze trying to see them if there are any. How about Boston? Is Boston a little warmer for both whales and humans? My mother was hoping to see some, but I doubt it will ever compare to her experience in Sitka, Alaska in September. Lots of whales seen then. We also went in a local guide's personal boat with a total of 6 people on it. Best excursion I've ever booked. It's a hard one to beat! Looks like whales are out for this trip.

Insofar as whales and watching them goes, Boston is not likely to be significantly different from Maine.

Please come back in better weather (mid-summer) to tour and see our whales on Stellwagen Bank.

I second (third) all the comments about whales in October. When I was doing my research for my trip last year, I got the impression that the tour operators are just about done with the season and are itching to close shop. We talked to some people that went on a whale watch in Bar Harbor and they saw nothing.

HOWEVER, if you want to see whales, try getting out on deck during your sea days. On our first sea day, we saw a few blows in the distance, but on our second sea day, the captain made a slight detour (you can see the path on the tv monitor) and brought us right into the middle of a huge pod of whales! There were whales everywhere, some even came right up to the cruise ship (no kidding)! It was an absolute hoot running around the deck catching the whales as they came up for air (lots of backs and tails, no crazy breaching or tail flipping...although one did flip its fins at us). Huge YMMV, but I did hear that the week prior, the captain did the same thing (maybe thats how he knew they were there).

Another option in Bar Harbor instead of doing a bus tour is to rent a cab for the day. From what I remember, the rates are very reasonable and you get to go wherever you like, for however long. We rented a cab by talking to the information booth.