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Saguenay has won the award for most welcoming port in the world for the last 3 years. We took a tour there last year while on the ruby Princess that was awsome. Company name is

http://www.fjordetmonde.ca/ i«f you look them up on tripadviser, they are number 1, andthey do have an English speaking gudie. We really enjoyed the tour. It was funny cause at a pastry store they had us have a pastry called a Nuns fart!!! frum a french traduction

I forgot to mention, they only have one 25 passenger bus and the morning of the tour there was 6 or 8 extra passengers that wanted to purchase the tour and unfortunatly did not get on. There is a limited number of available excursions and a lot of poeple end up taking the Hop on Hop off bus system which is Ok I guess but doesn't take you to some of the beautiful villages and sights out of town

Mary

We were on the Ruby Princess and took the excursion with http://www.fjordetmonde.ca/

It was great, the poeple there are very welcoming. The tour was great, the guide was not exactly bilingual but was very funny and we did get to understand. It was the best excursion of the whole cruise.

The port of Saguenay is very welcoming, it apparently won the award of most welcoming port of call in the world in 2013. When you get off the ship you are welcomed by number of poeple dressed in traditional clothing and handing out free blueberry and maple syrup candies. When the ship leaves port, it is amazing the number of poeple in the park along shore waiving us goodbye.

I was told that next year this outfit would have a fluently English speaking guide. By the it is the same company as http://www.fjordenligne.com/english/

Happy New Years to all

Mary

Hi everyone, we will be in the Bay of Islands later this month on the Solstice. We do want to take a tour of the islands, maybe catamaran or sailboat. We were wandering if we wait till wwe get there are there tour operators right there at the dock where we tender to? We just want to wait and see what the weather conditions that day will be like.

Is it easy to buy a tour once we get off the tender or do we have to book in advance with tour operators or with the ship.

Thanks and Happy New Years to all!

Denis

First, I would like to apolozize to Eduardo, he is right about me not reconfirming our apointment. When I look at his message he sent me on the 29th of november, I didn't see the part at the bottom where he asks me to reconfirm. The first part of the message seemed to me as a confirmation of our appointment, so he is right about that but I did not receive any other emails from that day on and I check my emails everyday on the ship to see what's going on in my office while I'm away.

Now about UVA Beach, as I said in my message yesterday it is a beautiful BeachClub, very clean and the poeple that work there were very nice and helpfull, the chairs were confortable and the food looked good, but I repeat that there is no sandy entrance to the water, it is all rock all along that coast. Probably very good for snorkeling when weather permits but not safe for entry into the water for young children or senior citizens.

As for the pictures that STIRcRAZY posted, you cannot see any sandy entrance to the water but if you look at the only picture where you can see the shoreline (the one with the massage bed) you will notice in the background the rocky edge to the water. There is sand at the beachClub, the whole area where the beachchairs are and all the way up to the bar is sandy, but none along the shore.

As for EDCZM that is going there or to anyone else going there, please report to us on your return and if possible post pictures of the wateredge at UVA Beach. Yes you can have a wonderfull day at this Beach club and I hope anyone that goes there does enjoy themselves, but as a professional travel agent I could not bring over 100 passengers consisting of families with kids, senior citizens and poeple who were expecting to play in the sand and sea to go there.

A last word about Eduardo, ever since I first contacted him, he has been very quick at responding to all my emails, he has been very helpfull at trying to set up this beachbreak for my group and I'm very sorry we didn't meet. He seems to be very willing to please his guests and tries hard to make them happy. I hope that he will reply to this message and confirm what I'm saying, I also wish him the best of luck to him and all the poeple of Cozumel that deserve some good times after all they have suffered during and after Wilma.

As for my group, I now have decided to refund everyone for the excursion I was offering in Cozumel and have them buy whatever shore excursion they want from RCL or to do Cozumel on their own. I think that I will have some custumers that will go to UVA Beach anyway that day for the transparent Kayak trip that seems to be very nice.

This will be my last intervention on the subject. Just trying to help others make the right choices and know the TRUTH.

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I just got back from a cruise on Freedom of the seas. Yes there were problems with the virus but we really enjoyed the cruise and the staff did their best. About UVA Beach, I was to meet with the manager near the port at 9.00am to discuss and give deposit on a large group for january, but he never showed up. He had sent me an email telling me where to meet him at 9am. So after waiting for half an hour we took a cab to UVA Beach and asked for him when we got there. THey said it was his birthday the day before and he would be there in half an hour. So my group of about 10 poeple paid the entrance fee and walked down to the beach area. Guess what, there is no beach. It is but a rocky dangerous shoreline that streches for about a quarter mile to the right and a little less to the left. It is almost impossible to enter the water without risking to fall or cut yourselves on the rocks. Once in the water, same thing, large uneven rocks all along. There is absolutly no sandy entrance to the water.

The beach club itself is clean, very nice set up and the poeple that work there are nice. There were poeple eating there and the food looked good. Some poeple did the transparent kayak trip and seemed to enjoy it but the ones that came back from snorkeling said they didn't see much. It was windy and the water conditions were not at their best so it probably is better normally.

The lady at the entrance came to see me to say that the manager would be here in another half hour. We left at about 11.15 without seeing him and decided to cancell the large group for January.

Pictures you see of the beach have not been taken recently, they must have been taken before WILMA, but beware you cannot enter the water without risking to hurt yourself, definitly not reccommended for children or seniors.

If you want to go there to lie in the sun on confortable chairs and have a massage, lunch and dinner OK but not to play in the water.

I'm lucky to have gone before my large group and not to have given a deposit otherwise I could be in problems or would risk to be thrown overboard by my own poeple.

You are now aware of what to expect from UVA Beach!!!

I was there no later than last tuesday!

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