bren61

13 hours ago, Luckynana said:

Thank you Brenda for resurrecting this thread! Still hoping someone who just got off Adventure in the past week or two and did MTD will chime in with their experience 😊

Sure thing!! Maybe when we return we can help others out on how our experience was. I'm hoping for the best.

6 hours ago, NikkiandMom said:

Husband and I recently had MTD on Adventure. I was able to make 6 PM reservation through cruise planner. We never had to wait more than a few minutes and had excellent service. Maybe try that.

I also made my reservations through cruise planner about a month ago and got my MTD reservations for 6pm. Our sailing is on the Adventure 9/29/2022 Canada/New England.

On 8/26/2022 at 3:16 AM, smokeybandit said:

A bad CD doesn't make a cruise experience worse, but a good one can make it better

Best response yet! I totally agree.

On 8/23/2022 at 3:11 PM, Rogueperson said:

I am unaware of when he is starting, but according to someone on Adventure, they said Marvin Wilson will be the cruise director for the 9/29/2022 sailing on Adventure per Tanya.  I've never heard of him and he's not a current CD anywhere.  I will be on both this sailing and the one previous, so i will confirm when i board.

We're on the 9/29/22 sailing, hoping he's a fun CD!! My all time favorite was Richard Spacey!

What is happening with MTD on the Adventure? I haven't heard anything and was wondering if I should switch to the traditional time dining if there has been problems lately on the ship. For those that has sailed recently, can you share your MTD experience?

8 hours ago, Ashland said:

Easy to walk to the HOHO ticket booth right by where your ship docks and buy your ticket.

Pricing we found wasn't worth the difference just in case we changed our mind or the weather was bad. Do what works out best for you.

Thanks, I think that's what we'll do also so we won't be locked in, never know what the day is going to bring.

Can we get tickets for the HOHO when we get off the ship or is it cheaper to get them on line before hand?

I think another area that some of us are getting confused with is whether to fill out the form 3 days prior to boarding the ship on the first day of your cruise or 3 days before your first Canadian port. According to what you posted it is "72 hours of INITIONALLY boarding your cruise". Thank you for posting that.

12 hours ago, herbanrenewal said:

The Prima transatlantic thread evolved into 10 pages of discussion/argument/opinions regarding just what is required if cruising to Canada as of August 2022. For those with lingering questions or in search of facts for other cruises:

• ArriveCan.org is required documentation 72 hours prior to embarking a cruise for all entering Canada, including those with port of call
• negative test or accepted alternatives are required
• From the arriveCAN site:

 

5 minutes ago, redfantum said:

Took me awhile to find it too.  On the bottom of the home page in the app, click on travellers.  that is where you load in your passports and vaccine cards. You can do this anytime in advance.

 

Thank You!! I actually just found it right before reading your post. It is actually easy to miss the "Traveler" tab especially if you don't know what you are looking for.

I downloaded the app on my tablet and would like to enter in as much info as I can for my Sept 29th, 2022, Canada/New England Cruise. I got to a certain point where you enter your trip details, and it won't let me go any further saying it has to be done just 3 days before. I know others are entering in their info ahead of time, but I don't know how to bypass where I am right now, (not sure if people are putting a bogus date in to fill out their info, then going back & changing the date)?  What all info are they asking for so I can be prepared? So, if we sail out of Cape Liberty on the 29th and will be reaching St John, NB on the 4th, I will need to finish the for on our cruise on the 1st? I would appreciate any help you can give me.

21 hours ago, GTJ said:

Yes, the order of sites enumerated is practicable and most efficient. But with the caveats that, (1) between Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, and Otter Cliffs, both routes 3 and 4 provide service, and you can board whichever bus route comes first, and (2) between Jordan Pond, Bubble Pond, and the visitor center, both routes 4 and 5 provide service, and you can board whichever bus route comes first.

 

Whether or not you will actually have time to complete the full loop as desired depends, of course, on the amount of time available in Bar Harbor, the amount time allocated to each stop, and timeliness and capacity of the buses themselves. Whether it is more important to devote maximum visiting time to the park itself, or to cut back on park time so as to be able to devote some time to an in-town restaurant, is a personal decision. It would be easy for me to decide for myself because (1) I view the park as individually unique, while restaurants are fairly commonplace, and (2) I despise seafood, which seems to be the specialty of the West Street Café (merely viewing its menu posted online started making me queasy). Your perceptions may differ from mine.

 

I cannot advise on the benefit, if any, in stopping in at the visitor center before, as opposed to after visiting the other park sites. Some people really like viewing exhibits and talking with park rangers, prior to visiting the park itself, in order to enhance their interpretation of the park. The park service itself explains that the Hulls Cove Visitor Center allows one to "purchase your entrance pass, speak with a ranger about planning your visit, use self-service maps, enjoy art from our Artist-In-Residence program, and shop at the Park Store." To the extent that any additional in-person advice is required before visiting, you should be able to receive that from the park service information center at the Village Green. I cannot say at what locations park stamps (presumably for your park "passport") are available.

 

The chamber of commerce has an information center in the heart of the commercial area of Bar Harbor, at the intersection of Main Street and Cottage Street. The park service has an information center at the Village Green, on Firefly Lane between Main Street and Kennebec Street. Whether you decide to purchase a park pass or not is, of course, a personal decision. Note that park visitors who travel by automobile display their pass on a hangtag within their vehicle when parking within the park, and do not have a park pass with them personally when visiting park sites or using park buses. It is virtually impossible to distinguish among inviduals visiting the park who had traveled by automobile and have left their park pass within their vehicle, from those visiting the park who had not traveled by automobile and are carrying their park pass on their person. As one person explained on another board: "If you, or your child, is asked if they have purchased a park pass, just explain. Does this make it possible to cheat? Yes, but please don't."

GTJ,

Thank you! You have been very informative and helpful. Visiting the sites is definitely our priority over a restaurant. We will take a some snacks with us to hold us over just in case we don't have enough time to stop to eat, as that can take up an hour of our time just for that.

Even though my husband has a Lifetime pass, I will be sure to stop and get a pass for me to board the bus, I wouldn't think of trying to cheat, lol! I know if we were in our own car I would be included on his pass, but since we are taking the bus, I know I am not included. We will stop at the Village Green at the info center to get our pass as that seems like it will be more convenient. 

I do have another question about Thunder Hole & Otter Cliff. Will the bus drop us at each stop? I know some are saying about walking from Sand beach to TH & OC, but my husband will have his portable O2 with him and although he can do some walking, I don't want to wear him out on a long walk. I just wasn't sure if the bus stops at each place individually or they drop you off at Sand Beach and the only way you can get to the others is by walking.

What is at the visitor center that it would be important for us to stop there at the beginning as opposed to the end? I would like to get our National Park stamp and I am assuming that is where I would get that. 

If I am getting my Senior pass to enter the park is there 2 places that sell the pass, Bar Harbor Chamber of Congress & National Park Building in Village Green. Not sure if the are the same or 2 separate places & if they are, which one is more convenient to go to from the cruise ship?

After reading all of the comments, I think our best plan would be to go to get our pass then catch Bus #3 to Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, & Otter Cliffs. If there is enough time, catch Bus #4 and go to Jordon Pond, Bubble Pond & the Visitor Center. Then Bus #1 back to Village Green.

We would have liked to tried the Lunch at West Street Cafe, but I don't think there will be time. (Oh well, just another reason to go back at some point)

I

30 minutes ago, meadowlander said:

That is an option though to save time I think the better choice is bus 3 (Sand Beach route) from Village Green to the Sand Beach stop. The Ocean Path trail at Sand Beach takes you to Thunder Hole & Otter Point....

https://www.nps.gov/thingstodo/hike-ocean-path-trail.htm

 

Then depending on how much time remaining take bus 4 to Jordan Pond or bus 3 back to the VG. If you take bus 4 you will need to transfer at some point to return to VG.

 

I originally planned to do both but now based on time constraints will go only to Sand Beach for Thunder Hole & Otter Point and then return to Bar Harbor.

 

You are correct about the actual limited touring hours. In May the cruise ship indicated we should return 60 minutes not the usual 30 minutes prior to sail away.

Tenders were running past that 60 minute deadline & all were aboard when we departed Bar Harbor.

Thank you for the ocean path trail link. As much as I would love to do it, I don't think my husband can do the 4.4mile trek up & back, if there was a way to just hike there and be picked up and not have to hike back, I would consider it, but he has lung issues and will have his portable O2 with him. We were always very active but this past 2 years has been hard on him. You have been very helpful & will look forward to hearing how you make out. We aren't cruising till Sept 30th and our visit in Bar Harbor is on Sunday, October 3rd, so I hope to hear from you before then. Being there on a Sunday may be an issue also & more crowded, cruise ship plus locals off on the weekend may make it harder to get seating on the buses. Have a great cruise, what cruise line are you going on?

42 minutes ago, meadowlander said:

From the IE site, you must have a pass to board the IE bus. Passes are sold online and at the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce (which is located prior to the Village Green).

So will this work if we walk from the ship to Bar Harbor Chamber of Congress to buy pass then onto Village Green to get on Bus #1 to go to the Visitor Center.

From there get on Bus 4 (Loop Road) that will hit Sand Beach, Otter Cliffs (I think you have to walk to that), & Jordon Pond. Is Thunder Hole near Sand Beach or do we have to be on bus 3 for that? If that is the case we may have to do bus 3 from the visitor center then 4 to Jordon Pond.

This is crazy confusing to me, but I'm sure once someone has done it, they would think it's easy.

Our port time is 8:00-5:00. So we are probably looking at only having from 9:30-3:30 for actual tour time, am I correct?

It would be nice to be with someone who has been there before, sure would make things easier. I guess we will just do what we have time to see and plan to go back another time if it's a place we want to go back to.

12 minutes ago, meadowlander said:

I was in Bar Harbor in May & will return in September. I have yet to use Island Explorer but intended to next month.

 

In May the cruise ship tender left us at 'Town Pier', from there it is a 5-10 minute walk to the 'Village Green' (both appear on Google maps)

 

Bus 3 which begins & ends at the Village Green does not go to the Visitor Center in Acadia. From the IE website bus 1 does stop at the VC from VG. Both routes run every 30 minutes on the :00 & :30. Routes 4 & 5 begin/end at the VC.  Routes 3, 4 & 5 have a common stop at 'North Ridge'. Routes 3 & 4 have a common stop at 'Sand Beach'. From what I have read, IE will stop along the road to pick up riders not just at the specific locations their route lists.

 

Hopefully someone who has used IE will contribute.

 

You will need to fill out ArriveCan be it online or via the app. You can begin the process as of today but cannot be fully completed until 72 hours prior to your travel. At our Canadian port, no departing cruiser was asked to provide proof. 

Thanks Meadowlander! When is your cruise in September? Maybe when you get back you can get back to me & let me know how the IE worked out for you. So you are saying that I need to get on Bus 1 to the visitor center, then get another bus, say the loop bus? I thought I would just get my senior pass the day of just in case the weather is bad or we miss that port for some reason so that is the main reason for the visitor center. So for a first timer, do I have the main things on our list of must sees?

9 minutes ago, meadowlander said:

I was in Bar Harbor in May & will return in September. I have yet to use Island Explorer but intended to next month.

 

In May the cruise ship tender left us at 'Town Pier', from there it is a 5-10 minute walk to the 'Village Green' (both appear on Google maps)

 

Bus 3 which begins & ends at the Village Green does not go to the Visitor Center in Acadia. From the IE website bus 1 does stop at the VC from VG. Both routes run every 30 minutes on the :00 & :30. Routes 4 & 5 begin/end at the VC.  Routes 3, 4 & 5 have a common stop at 'North Ridge'. Routes 3 & 4 have a common stop at 'Sand Beach'. From what I have read, IE will stop along the road to pick up riders not just at the specific locations their route lists.

 

Hopefully someone who has used IE will contribute.

 

You will need to fill out ArriveCan be it online or via the app. You can begin the process as of today but cannot be fully completed until 72 hours prior to your travel. At our Canadian port, no departing cruiser was asked to provide proof. 

We are planning on taking the Free Island Explorer Shuttle to Acadia Ntl Park & was wondering how far of a walk it is to where we need to catch the bus?

Do we board the #3 Route bus to get to Hulls visitor center & is the visitor center before the entrance of the park so I can buy my pass?

Do we have to keep switching route buses along the way?

Here are the places we would like to stop: Visitor Ctr, Otter Cliffs, Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, Jordon Pond, Bubble Pond, (would like to stop at Schoodic Point, but I doubt there will be time). What is the best order to do these in according to the bus routes?

For anyone who has used the IES and stopped at the places I listed, is it doable in 6 hours, including travel time, if we don't linger long at each stop?

I would appreciate any other helpful info that I may have forgot to ask. This is our 1st Canada/New England Cruise, so I'm sure I'll be on here asking more questions about other ports too.

I wouldn't pay and schedule too far in advance, things are constantly changing. I felt comfortable at booking mine for the end of September only because it is a Canada/New England cruise and I doubt Canada will drop their requirements for awhile. If i'm not mistaken NCL has dropped all of their testing.

Glad the Oasis isn't gone, but wish CATS was. I hope they soon get rid of that show & replace it with something else. I love all their other shows, but CATS was a no go for me & I am a cat lover!

I have already purchased the proctoring for OnPoint so I will give them a try and hoping all goes well. Here's my question, if I have a problem am I able to purchase with RTT the day of our testing and do the test that same day?

14 minutes ago, njhorseman said:

FYI, the maximum charge for up to 14 days of parking at the Manhattan Cruise Terminal is $400. It wouldn't have affected your decision, but might affect the decision making process of someone reading this down the road if hotel prices were to rise. 

Thank you, that is also good to know.

I just booked a Park & Cruise Package @ the Hampton Inn Ridgefield Park, NJ for $289 + tax for a total of $331.25. For us it is worth it because we will be on a 12 night cruise and it is cheaper than parking at the port (would be $480) & we can arrive a day early & leave the driving in the busy traffic up to the shuttle driver. We are coming from Western Pa & like to get there a day ahead, (especially in the winter) & we don't need to go into the city to sight see, so this is the best option for us. Just thought I would let some of you know that there are still park & cruise hotels out there, because a lot are asking about it.

Thank you for your replies. I'm assuming that I have done everything right up to this point. I probably should have just put uninsured on the registration, because we have our own tests and we paid for our own proctoring so they would have no need for our insurance info, but I already gave it to them so hopefully they don't try billing our insurance. I have the link they sent me in my email, so I just hope everything goes well on testing day.

I started another thread with other questions regarding OnPoint and hopefully someone can help me out. Like the OP, I didn't get the whole insurance thing either being we were using our own tests and I paid for the proctoring, but I entered our info anyway, (maybe I shouldn't have, oops)! Anyway I paid for 2 proctors, but only got one order # and one 15min time slot, so hopefully my husband doesn't need another order # for his test. There was another name after I filled out the info and that was healthtrackrx (is this where you get your results from)? This is too confusing!! Not familiar with zoom either, do I just click on the link and it will take me right there or do I have to have a certain app or something?