Living In Halifax....

Well I guess we will keep this going,.........

If you have questions about Halifax I will do my best to find you an answer.

Please note due to some computer problems (caught a nasty little virus) I may be delayed in answering your questions. Have to put the poor thing in the shop next week. So please bear with me.

Rick1965

Thanks Rick. We'd like to rent a car in Halifax. What is the closest agency to the dock?

You can rent cars right at the dock.. in the terminal...or at least you could last year.. A couple at our table did with no problem.

Halifax is a port on our Oct. cruise. Last time we hired a taxi and went to Peggy's Cove and surrounding area, with a stop at the graves from the Titanic Passengers. We hired the cab right outside the terminal, and he brought us back there directly. Had no idea there was a "Boardwalk", or Gardens nearby. Thanks for the extensive information you have posted. We are looking forward to exploring more of your hometown. You are a great ambassador.

L.L.

Hey Rick,

We're going to be up in your parts in mid August. We would like to go on a whale watching boat, Murphy's on the Water was recommended to us. Of course I'm wondering, why does RCCL do business with them but DON"T have a whale watching excursion. I've already read that some believe whale watching in Halifax isn't worth it, but, then again, when we were in Alaska, people complained of seeing nothing on the whale watching excursion that I thought was incredible beyond words.

Also, we'd also just like to get a flavor for the city, but not with a RCCL excursion, and nothing that would be boring for children (elementary school age).

Any thoughts?

Bonnie

Rick,

I too am interested in hearing your opinion on whale watching in Halifax. We are coming the first week in October and I booked the Princess whale watch excursion. We have also booked a whale watch in Bar Harbor for this cruise. We did the whale watch in Alaska in Juneau and had a fabulous time.

Originally I wanted to go to Peggy's cove, but we couldn't do the whale watch and that so we chose the whale watch. Now I am having second thoughts. Please help!

Thank you!

This isn't really a question but I just wanted to know if you are near Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, do you know where it is? I did a distance program with them and I just graduated with my Bachelors degree from there. I really wanted to come there...maybe sometime in the future.

I had to chuckle reading your posts about Whale Watching in Halifax. Last year we went on the Carnival Victory and 28 of us went on the whale watch over to St. Ann's. We went the second week of July 2003. Well, first of all it was so foggy in July in Canada. We could barely see what was ahead of us on the boat.

My husband (a 20 year Navy veteran), my son and daughter all got sea sick!! (And they thought I was the weak one in the family!) Including the other 25 people on the boat all got sea sick. Only myself and three other people did not get sick. Those sea bands do not work out there! Of course, my family thought they did not need any sea sick pills either ....LOL!!!!

We did not see one whale, just a lot of little sea otter heads bobbing around. My advise is take the bus over to St. Ann's it's beautiful with it's lighthouse and sea scape.

Believe it or not, I'm going back to Halifax in Oct on the Voyager of the Sea this time with a friend. But I'm definitely not going on any whale watches this time.

Sorry, my mistake it was Peggy's Cove that we went to from Halifax on the Whale Watch, I don't know why I was thinking of St. Ann...maybe because right now I need her intervention!!LOL!!!!!

Hey Dee,

I replied to another one of your posts -- thanks for the information -- so that's why people Whale Watch as much!

Bonnie

Rick,

I read somewhere on these posts that some things are far cheaper in canada than the usa. For instance CDs. I myself like antique hunting. Any good spots? I have 2 teenage boys who would be more interested in CDs or DVDs. Thanks.

Hi guys sorry for delay in answering your questions, but had to reformat the system due to a nasty little virus. But I am back now so give a couple of days and I'll have some answers.

Rick1965

Ok guys, here's my thoughts on whale watching, I personally haven't taken any of the tours. But this is the maritimes and yes we do get alot of fog which can make seeing the other end of your arm a challenge. Whales are wild animals, so the tour boats can take you to where they've sighted in the past but no one can garranttee that they will be there when you are.

The number of sightings depends on alot of things, weather and sea conditions, time of year.My final thoughts on this would be, take the tour, if you see some whales great! If you don't you will see some beautiful coastline(if the fog cooperates). I guess I'm trying to say is have fun and keep an open mind you may see a whale.(I think I'll have to try whale watching this summer)

Here is a link for some whale watching tours

http://www.whatasite.com/adventure/boating.shtml

Rick1965

A fun city tour for young and old on the Harbor Hopper would give you a great feel for the city.

http://www.murphysonthewater.com/hopper.html

You could spend all day just explorering the water front board walk, there's lots to all ages entertained.Here's a few links to check out,

http://www.murphysonthewater.com/

http://www.where.ca/halifax/index.cfm

Hope this helps...

Rick1965

Yes I know exactly where Mount Staint Vincent University is, I live about mile and half from it.

Rick1965

There are a few antique shops in town, I'll give you a link for them.

http://www.where.ca/halifax/subcategory_guide.cfm?subtitle_id=16

As for cds and dvds for your boys there are some shops downtown, or grab a cab and head for one of the shopping malls (Halifax shopping center would be a good one to check out)

As for things being cheaper , maybe alittle, but the big thing is the exchange rate, just checked for today and 1 dollar US = 1.31 dollars Canadian.So your dollar goes alittle farther up here.Now when I go south it cost me more because of the exchange rate.Here's a fun link to play with for money conversions

http://www.xe.com/ucc/

Have fun and please enjoy your time in our city.

Rick1965

Do most of the stores in Halifax (or Canada in general) accept Mastercard and/or Discover Card for credit purchases? If not, we will bring along more cash! I use Mastercard and my Mother-in-law (who will be travelling with me) uses Discover. I hope they are both accepted ;) .

Most stores will accept mastercard, you can find some that take discover card.

Rick1965

Thank you Rick! I will let my Mother-in-law know, so she brings enough cash along to support her shopping habit! ;)

Bonnie,

Check with your card company and find out what they charge to convert your canadian purchase to US dollars. Mine will charge 3%. May be a consideration for you.

Rick1965....

Does the FRED bus go up by the Public Gardens and the Citadel? We will be in your fair city in September and have no excursions planned for this port. We would like to explore on our own and I read about the FRED bus. We were thinking of riding that up to the Gardens and then walking back down to the ship, experiencing everything along the way. Does this sound possible?

Also, how far from the waterfront is the Fairview Cemetery? Is there a city bus that goes there?

Thanks a lot!

Carol

Freds last day for the summer is Sept 3 2004. So the best thing to do is grab a cab or check with the information desk at the pier regarding regular city buses.

http://www.region.halifax.ns.ca/metrotransit/index.html

http://www.region.halifax.ns.ca/metrotransit/fred/fred_info.html

Fairview Cemetery isn't too far from the cruise dock(too far to walk),but maybe a 15 minute cab ride or less.There is bus service in area, but I couldn't tell you which bus to take.(Been way too many years since I took a bus in the city) Again check with the information desk at the dock, they will be more than willing to assist you.

http://my.execpc.com/~reva/fv2.htm

http://www.where.ca/halifax/subcategory_guide.cfm?subcategory_id=8&category_id=6&subtitle_id=47

If you have any others questions please feel free to ask away.

Rick1965

Rick,

Can you tell me the companies that rent cars at the pier?

Thanks!

Most of the major companies have rental offices in or very nearby the pier.

I know Enterprise has a kiosk in peir 21, the other companies will shuttle you to a car.They would be Avis, Alamo/National and Hertz.

My suggestion would be to try Enterprise and see if you can book a car in advance.

http://www.enterprise.com/about/contactUs_CA.html

Here are some of the other companies contact numbers

https://www.avis.com/AvisWeb/JSP/global/en/customerservice/ww_usc.jsp

http://www.nationalcar.com/servlet/DocHandler/index.html?79096d13966da23f

Couldn't get through to Hertz website.

Hope this helps.

Rick1965