New England & Canada in May?

New England & Canada in May?

I know most take a New England & Canada cruise for the added benefit of seeing the fall foliage. Fall will not work for me.

I’m wondering about the New England & Canada cruises that are offered in May. I know there are no guarantees when it comes to weather, but generally, what is the weather likely to be in May? Cold? Foggy? Rainy?

I prefer to cruise before school is out, but should I wait until June to go?

Thanks!

It'll be cool.

You could get mid 70's ashore in Boston in mid May, you could also get mid 50's

New England & Canada in May?

 

I know most take a New England & Canada cruise for the added benefit of seeing the fall foliage. Fall will not work for me.

 

I’m wondering about the New England & Canada cruises that are offered in May. I know there are no guarantees when it comes to weather, but generally, what is the weather likely to be in May? Cold? Foggy? Rainy?

 

I prefer to cruise before school is out, but should I wait until June to go?

 

Thanks!

We visited Boston in May a couple of years ago and the weather was beautiful! It shouldn't be much different in Atlantic Canada and Quebec.

Here's some info on Boston that might be useful to you:

http://BostonUSA.ca

If you enjoy walking, I'd strongly suggest that you hike the "Freedom Trail".

You can judge how people feel about this by comparing prices for the same cruise for different times.

May can be gorgeous, but it can be cool and there will be much more chance of fog along the Atlantic Coast.

Thanks for your input!

We have not been to New England, but we sailed to Canada from the UK last year and were in the St Lawrence in the first half of June. We went to Sydney on the 30th of May, (I think), and we were the first cruise ship to be able to visit there due to sea ice. We had to tender as an oil tanker was in port. It was the first time they were ice free enough to get oil delivered and they were running out of it!

Likewise we were the first cruise ship in St John's in NFD in mid June - a couple of ships had to cancel in May. There had been a lot of sea ice around the coasts before we arrived and we sailed through a lot of mist because of he cold seas. We were also told there were a lot of icebergs in the area we sailed through as we approached the Canadian coast, but we did not get close enough to see any.

It was quite cold on the Atlantic coast and the lower river, (needed coat, gloves etc), but much warmer as we went up river to Quebec, Montreal and Trois Riviere - pleasant light jumper weather or even better. That is expected at that time of year from what we were told by Canadian relatives in NFD and Montreal.

There was more ice than normal last year, but May in Canada could have ice around the ocean coasts as the Labrador current comes as far south as NFD.

Of course, no guarantees on weather but I've sailed Canada/NE many times and would expect middle of May to be chilly mornings once you are north of Boston. If you get sunny weather, it should warm by about noon but you should bring a hooded, water repellant jacket and a hoodie/sweater for layering. Halifax, PEI, Sydney, Saint John, Quebec City will be apt to be on the cool side.

Cool but always a nice time to still visit this area.

Keith

Lower prices mean chance of less desirable weather. I have lived in Boston all my life and sailed Canada/NE many times and would not sail in May.

I've done this cruise in May, in June, in July, in September, and in October. I would do it again in any month.

My experience of the weather in May was that it's chilly and has a tendency to be overcast, but the blooming flowers are gorgeous and the pops of color are lovely on grey mornings. I grew up in a areas with not many bulb flowers and that was such a treat on my cruises in May. Really, the colors are just as gorgeous as in the fall, especially since I was so used to more temperate/tropical blooming plants.

Depending on your specific itinerary, it may be downright cold. One of my cruises went to St. John, Newfoundland and it was snowing and there were icebergs in the harbor. But because I've only been to that port once, I can't say if that's normal.

Don't let it being May stop you -- I prefer cooler weather and my cruises in June were getting towards too warm for me to really enjoy the ports. But that's my personal preference for cooler weather.

I did a repo cruise last May from FLL to Montreal. Temperature is all relative. Someone from warmer climates will likely find temps to be cold/frigid while I find them balmy. We had lovely weather last May but who knows what it could be like this May. Our only issue was due to ice; we could not go to Gaspe because of ice in the harbour. We had no issues in Sydney and the ice had just come out of the harbour in PEI a few days before our arrival. We cruised from May 1 - 15/15.

The other thing you might want to consider is that early in the season, not all shorex will be up and running as you might like. For example, Fortress Louisbourg had the bare minimum of characters. I understand that, in the full season, more of the Fortress buildings are open and there is much more interaction with the characters. My mother was disappointed for me because she had been there when it was better. I didn't mind so much because I didn't know any better.