Questions about time to reserve car rentals and more...

So confused about ship time, port time, daylight savings time, etc. Can someone please figure this out for me? I don't want the car given away!

All on NCL Dawn

1. Time I should reserve car rental in Sydney, Nova Scotia arriving at dock 8am to 5pm on October 6, 2014? Need to take shuttle van to Avis.

Also, from what I have seen, I will miss the low tide at St. Martins Sea Caves, correct?

Also, if someone has done the Baddeck loop to Bell museum and Highland museum in Sydney, do I have time do the whole loop and stopping at each museum and lunch in the time allotted? Lunch suggestions?

10/6/2014SYDNEY, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADAARRIVE-DOCK8:00 AM10/6/2014SYDNEY, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADADEPART5:00 PM

2. Time I should reserve car rental in Saint John, Bay of Fundy arriving at dock 10am to 7:30 pm on October 8, 2014? I understand the car rental from Avis is close walking distance from Jubilee dock.

Thanks!!

NCL changes to local time which is Atlantic time (one hour earlier). So if you dock at 8am, it is 8am local time.

We were in Sydney, NS in July on the HAL Veendam. We rented a car from Avis for the day.

1. Our ship was scheduled to arrive in Sydney at 8am and I made the booking for the car beginning at 8am. We were off the boat as soon as the passengers were released and met the Avis van near The Big Fiddle around 8:15 am. The drive from the port to the Avis office is less than 10 minutes. We filled out the paperwork, got directions from the agent and were on the road before 9am. (Do not plan to be on the road before 9am in case you miss the first shuttle--we almost did.)

The drive from the Avis office to the Bell Museum near Baddeck is just over 1 hour. The drive from the Bell Museum to the Highland Museum (including the wait for the ferry) is about 1 hour 15 minutes. The drive from the Highland Museum back to the Avis office is just over 1 hour. So, allow for 3 hours and 30 minutes to complete this loop.

Allowing for 30 minutes to turn in your car at the end of the day and get shuttled back to the ship, you will spend 4 hours driving and/or getting back to the ship. If your ship leaves at 5pm, you will likely be required to be back on the ship by 4pm or 4:30pm (as we were). So, you've got 3 - 3.5 hours for your sightseeing.

We were fascinated by the Bell Museum and ended up spending almost 3 hours there. Therefore, despite my hope to also visit the Highland Museum, we just didn't have time for them both. (Also, we just had a quick coffee and cookie at the museum and didn't take time for a full lunch.)

If you can apportion your time so that you only spend 90 minutes at the Bell Museum and 90 minutes at the Highland Museum, you might be able to visit both.

The drive around St. Andrew's Sound is lovely and well worth doing even if you can visit only one of the two museums along the route.

Thanks!

We were in Sydney, NS in July on the HAL Veendam. We rented a car from Avis for the day.

 

1. Our ship was scheduled to arrive in Sydney at 8am and I made the booking for the car beginning at 8am. We were off the boat as soon as the passengers were released and met the Avis van near The Big Fiddle around 8:15 am. The drive from the port to the Avis office is less than 10 minutes. We filled out the paperwork, got directions from the agent and were on the road before 9am. (Do not plan to be on the road before 9am in case you miss the first shuttle--we almost did.)

 

The drive from the Avis office to the Bell Museum near Baddeck is just over 1 hour. The drive from the Bell Museum to the Highland Museum (including the wait for the ferry) is about 1 hour 15 minutes. The drive from the Highland Museum back to the Avis office is just over 1 hour. So, allow for 3 hours and 30 minutes to complete this loop.

 

Allowing for 30 minutes to turn in your car at the end of the day and get shuttled back to the ship, you will spend 4 hours driving and/or getting back to the ship. If your ship leaves at 5pm, you will likely be required to be back on the ship by 4pm or 4:30pm (as we were). So, you've got 3 - 3.5 hours for your sightseeing.

 

We were fascinated by the Bell Museum and ended up spending almost 3 hours there. Therefore, despite my hope to also visit the Highland Museum, we just didn't have time for them both. (Also, we just had a quick coffee and cookie at the museum and didn't take time for a full lunch.)

 

If you can apportion your time so that you only spend 90 minutes at the Bell Museum and 90 minutes at the Highland Museum, you might be able to visit both.

 

The drive around St. Andrew's Sound is lovely and well worth doing even if you can visit only one of the two museums along the route.

You have been very helpful and encouraging to me that we can do this drive ourselves in a rental car. What do you think of us doing the route in reverse? Hitting the highland museum first and then if we have time, the Bell museum? Did you find the tour buses doing the route you did or the reverse way?

Anyone? Should we do Baddeck loop to Highland first or Bell museum first? Lunch suggestions?

Thanks!