Portland & St John Port Excursion

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for excursions in my New England & Canada cruise in August, Particular for Portland & St John. This will be my first time cruising up here and would like to get as much out of each port as possible!

I have an idea on what I plan to do for some ports (Boston: Freedom Trail, ,and Bar harbor - LULU Lobster boat) but am totally stumped at what to do in Portland, Saint John (Bay of Fundy) and Halifax. If anyone has any recommendations of some nice excursions for any my ports It would be greatly appreciated :)

Thanks

Hi,

 

I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for excursions in my New England & Canada cruise in August, Particular for Portland & St John. This will be my first time cruising up here and would like to get as much out of each port as possible!

 

I have an idea on what I plan to do for some ports (Boston: Freedom Trail, ,and Bar harbor - LULU Lobster boat) but am totally stumped at what to do in Portland, Saint John (Bay of Fundy) and Halifax. If anyone has any recommendations of some nice excursions for any my ports It would be greatly appreciated :)

 

Thanks

In Portland we are doing the combo Land and Sea from this vendor: http://www.portlanddiscovery.com/tours/portland-maine-land-and-sea-tours/

For the Canadian ports, you might get a better response posting on the Canada Ports of Call board.

I might suggest for Bar Harbor, rather than doing the lobster boat, find your way into Acadia park.

With regards to Portland, there is stuff to see right on the waterfront.

My wife, daughter and I are booked on a Royal Caribbean cruise departing Boston on Oct. 11.

For our stop in Portland, Maine, we booked Portland Discovery's Land & Sea tour with the city tour in the morning and the lighthouse cruise on Casco Bay in the afternoon. We feel this will allow us to get a feel for the city, then permit time for lunch, shopping and looking around before we take the afternoon lighthouse cruise, then more exploring if we want before heading back to cruise ship.

In Bar Harbor, Maine, we booked the Acadia National Park Tour with Oli's Trolley in the morning, then we booked Lulu's Lobster Boat tour in the afternoon. After the boat tour, we should have some time to explore the city before taking the tender back to the cruise ship.

We have nothing booked or confirmed for St. John's New Brunswick at this time, but may rent a car and explore.

In Halifax, Nova Scotia, I do have a car rented for the day and intend visiting Peggy's Cove, Fairview Cemetery and maybe a few other places as time allows.

Hi,

 

I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for excursions in my New England & Canada cruise in August, Particular for Portland & St John. This will be my first time cruising up here and would like to get as much out of each port as possible!

 

I have an idea on what I plan to do for some ports (Boston: Freedom Trail, ,and Bar harbor - LULU Lobster boat) but am totally stumped at what to do in Portland, Saint John (Bay of Fundy) and Halifax. If anyone has any recommendations of some nice excursions for any my ports It would be greatly appreciated :)

 

Thanks

Depending on whether you like to do things on your own, like we do, think about renting a car in several ports. If memory holds, I do not think there is a car rental in Bar Harbor ( I may be wrong on this, just not sure).

Depending upon your interests, you could do a light house drive, seeing as many as 5 light houses that are in the area. You could drive to Freeport and visit the LLBean stores, or depending on your time in port, you could even drive to Booth Bay Harbor, or even Kennebunkport. Just many options.

If you rather not rent, then when you disembark the ship in Portland, they have several 'guides' there that can direct you to other things to do, like walks, museums, shopping etc. They have a decent public transportation system there that can be valuable if you want to stay local.

Halifax, you really should rent a car, drive to Peggy's Cove and spend some time there. We also visited the grave sites of many who perished on the Titanic.

In Bar Harbor, if you want to get o Acadia, you need Ollie's Tours. You can also stay in town, wander around and if it is low tide, you can really walk across to Bar Island which, at high tide, the path is submerged under many feet of water.

Cheers

Len

Thanks so much for all the information, really do appreciate it all. Going by the comments there is lots to do in each port its just a case of now picking how we spend our time! Hopefully the weather is nice for us!!

Thanks again

How or guess imshouldvsay who,did younrentnthebcarbfrom in Halifax

I'm so sorry wish I could figure how to delete that other post. I just want looking. Anyway how do I rent a car in Halifax

I'm so sorry wish I could figure how to delete that other post. I just want looking. Anyway how do I rent a car in Halifax

We have rented from either Thrifty, Dollar, National or Enterprise. Thrifty/Dollar are in the hotel across the parking lot from the cruise terminal (1181 Hollis St) while National/Enterprise are in the VIA rail station in the same location (1161 Hollis St). We use which ever is less expensive. If you are there on a Sunday, Thrifty/Dollar are the only ones open, but you will need to do a drop box for returning the car.

You can also stay in town, wander around and if it is low tide, you can really walk across to Bar Island which, at high tide, the path is submerged under many feet of water.

We did that walk to Bar Island while there years ago. Felt quite daring! I forget how much time one has before needing to start back to the mainland, but we made it!

Barb

Barb

You will have a few hours. When we were there, they sounded a horn, to let people know I t was time to start heading back. If not, you will spend the next 12 hours on Bar Island. :D:D:D:D:D

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/Maine/IMG_3477_zpsa36d9b06.jpg

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/Maine/IMG_3473_zps60d8569a.jpg

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/Maine/IMG_3472_zpsd09e1ec5.jpg

DW made a friend

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/Maine/IMG_3471_zps562452a8.jpg

Cheers

Len

My wife, daughter and I are booked on a Royal Caribbean cruise departing Boston on Oct. 11.

 

For our stop in Portland, Maine, we booked Portland Discovery's Land & Sea tour with the city tour in the morning and the lighthouse cruise on Casco Bay in the afternoon. We feel this will allow us to get a feel for the city, then permit time for lunch, shopping and looking around before we take the afternoon lighthouse cruise, then more exploring if we want before heading back to cruise ship.

 

In Bar Harbor, Maine, we booked the Acadia National Park Tour with Oli's Trolley in the morning, then we booked Lulu's Lobster Boat tour in the afternoon. After the boat tour, we should have some time to explore the city before taking the tender back to the cruise ship.

 

We have nothing booked or confirmed for St. John's New Brunswick at this time, but may rent a car and explore.

 

In Halifax, Nova Scotia, I do have a car rented for the day and intend visiting Peggy's Cove, Fairview Cemetery and maybe a few other places as time allows.

If you prebook your car online make sure you specify Saint John with no S or you will be here in Saint John, New Brunswick and your rental car will be waiting for you in St John's, Newfoundland.

If you prebook your car online make sure you specify Saint John with no S or you will be here in Saint John, New Brunswick and your rental car will be waiting for you in St John's, Newfoundland.

We Americans keep forgetting to say Saint John, New Brunswick. In any event, our car reservation is for the correct city and we look forward to visiting in October. Thanks!

I do have another question... Has anyone ever visited Hopewell Rocks in the "off season".

They officially close the park on Monday, Oct. 12 and our cruise ship will arrive later in the week. I read that you can still visit but must park your car on the road outside the park and walk in. Of course there are no rangers and the facilities are closed. Any pros or cons to visiting at this time?

Hi Pizzalady! - We are planning to book the same land/sea tour in Portland for the same day. Are you doing the 9:30 trolley and 11:30 boat tours?

Hi,

 

I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for excursions in my New England & Canada cruise in August, Particular for Portland & St John. This will be my first time cruising up here and would like to get as much out of each port as possible!

 

I have an idea on what I plan to do for some ports (Boston: Freedom Trail, ,and Bar harbor - LULU Lobster boat) but am totally stumped at what to do in Portland, Saint John (Bay of Fundy) and Halifax. If anyone has any recommendations of some nice excursions for any my ports It would be greatly appreciated :)

 

Thanks

I did this cruise 7 years ago and doing it again in Sept. In Portland, I took the Lighthouse tour which was really scenic and very picturesque, if you like that sort of thing. In St John, I took a bus tour to the Reversing Falls and was disappointed. Crappy location and it was in between tides, so nothing to see. This coming cruise, I am going to the Hopewell Rocks Park. Hopefully will walk on the ocean floor at low tide and see the towering rock formations before the tide comes back in and rises 50 ft (yes 50 ft) up the rock towers. Also supposedly picturesque. In Halifax, Peggy's Cove is a must see. Enjoy your cruise. Check these suggestions out on YouTube.

Hi Pizzalady! - We are planning to book the same land/sea tour in Portland for the same day. Are you doing the 9:30 trolley and 11:30 boat tours?

Yep, we are. Wear something Wyoming and we will wear something Ohio so we can find each other!

 

They officially close the park on Monday, Oct. 12 and our cruise ship will arrive later in the week. I read that you can still visit but must park your car on the road outside the park and walk in. Of course there are no rangers and the facilities are closed. Any pros or cons to visiting at this time?

Acadia National Park does not close in October. Maybe you are thinking about the Island Explorer busses not running starting Oct. 12? October is a fantastic time to visit. Actually anytime is a fantastic time to visit. There is cross-country skiing on the carriage roads in winter. And if there is a thunderstorm, I like to watch the waves hitting the rocks - at a distance, of course.

Acadia National Park does not close in October. Maybe you are thinking about the Island Explorer busses not running starting Oct. 12? October is a fantastic time to visit. Actually anytime is a fantastic time to visit. There is cross-country skiing on the carriage roads in winter. And if there is a thunderstorm, I like to watch the waves hitting the rocks - at a distance, of course.

My question was referring to Hopewell Rocks, which according to their website closes Oct. 12.