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Cornishpastyman1
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  • 6 months later...

(Boston-Bermuda-Boston, Veendam 4 July 2015).

 

We docked at Hamilton and got around using a 2-day bus/ferry ticket ($31.50). As each ferry ride costs €4.50 and the bus €3.25 we didn’t save much doing it this way but it's well worth it not to have to faff around looking for exact change each time. And just having that ticket encourages you to take trips that you otherwise may otherwise may not have done. You get the ticket at the (Hamilton) bus station or ferry terminal,

 

The ferry/bus operator punches the card on your first ride, and it is only good for the number of days it shows, i.e. each day expires at midnight, not 24 hours from it being punched so don’t get one late in the afternoon.

 

Currency is Bermudan dollars. Everywhere accepts US dollars at a par rate, but it’s even money that you will get Bermudan currency in your change which can only be used there so ensure you use it up before you leave. We all loved Bermuda - very friendly people and glorious warm seas. All the best, Tony

 

[YOUTUBE]D3ZnJmToL5c[/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE]WeaD2EeS_SI [/YOUTUBE]

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  • 2 weeks later...

Our luck with the weather continues as we sail towards Quebec City.

 

The Island Explorer buses at Village Green are free but there is a charge for entering Acadia National Park. Which I took to mean you pay if you leave the bus. It is $12 pp for a weekly pass (our port hours were 7-3, with the last tender at 2.30) but we bought a group ticket for $25. As we were never asked to show it we could have had a free day, as several others I spoke to did, but $25 for 6 of us to have a very pleasant ride around was such a bargain that we also made a donation. It's a terrific service.

 

We stopped at Jordan Pond purely to catch a different bus back to Village Green but it seemed like a very pleasant spot for lunch or even just a drink. w There is good free w-ifi at the main tender dock complex. All the best, Tony

 

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The great weather continued in Halifax.

 

There are plenty of shops at the cruise terminal and decent public wi-fi. We wanted to see Peggy’s Cove (of course) and the ‘Titanic Cemetery’.

 

As you exit the cruise terminal there are taxis waiting, along with a board saying that the cost to Peggy’s Cove (return) is $170. In fact the taxis here, Sydney and PEI charge $60 per hour. So we just chose the first cab off the rank and said we also wanted to see the cemetery, which made it $180. For 6 of us that was fine and we gave $200 at the end. Our port hours were 0900-1800 so all-aboard at 5.30 pm.

 

Before leaving the city we were driven up to and around the citadel and had a look at the lovely public gardens. We spent 45 minutes at Peggy’s Cove, another 10 or so at the Swissair Memorial and half an hour at the cemetery, returning to the ship around 2 pm, about 3.5 hours after we set out. There would have been plenty of time for a walk back up to the citadel for a real look at it, or to go to the gardens had we so wished.

 

[YOUTUBE]Mn6YAN2Xn2M[/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE]G9coUaGmDQ0[/YOUTUBE] [YOUTUBE]bO4zddTiHko[/YOUTUBE]

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Nice job! It looks like you covered all of the bases in Halifax. This is exactly what we saw during our day-long excursion. The Titanic movie has made the Fairview Lawn Cemetery quite an attraction. It is quite a moving experience, as was the Swiss Air memorial. I remember that accident well! The crew was attempting an emergency landing in Halifax, but fire overcame the aircraft before reaching the shoreline. It was shortly after I retired from Delta and I had flown over that area many times on the way to Europe.

 

Ron

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  • 2 weeks later...

We knew there is almost nothing to see or do in the port area but none of the excursion possibilities excited us, certainly not enough to commit to a 3 or 4 hour taxi, so I just wandered around for an hour.

 

There is good wifi at the Joan Harriss Cruise Pavilion and plenty of seating to use it, so if you are looking for a day to catch up on emails, or to enjoy a half-empty ship, this is the one.

 

Previous videos from this cruise (Boston-Quebec, Veendam 11-18 July 2015) are in the Atlantic Canada and New England link below, with 4 or 5 more to come from Charlottetown, PEI and Quebec City.

 

[YOUTUBE]Jqtps6tbzI8[/YOUTUBE]

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Decent port hours (9-6) for this one so we could have travelled far afield, but instead opted for a 3-hour drive in a taxi picked up at the port. We were a party of 6 and there was a group of drivers waiting in the area about 100 yards ahead of the cruise terminal exit doors. Our driver was called Alan and he was excellent, very personable and easy to talk to. We knew wanted to go to Cavendish, asked what we could see in 3 hours and left it up to him. If you want to book him it’s alanwcollier@gmail.com

 

We were not massive Anne of Green Gables fans so the chance to look around Cavendish Post Office, a faithful replica of the one where Lucy Maud Montgomery worked and wrote ‘Anne’ at was fine. It is well set out and very interesting. If you still send postcards wait until you go there and get the AoGG stamp on them !

 

There's plenty of shopping and public wifi in the cruise terminal, but I found a much stronger signal at Founders’ Hall, which is the Visitor Information Centre about 5 minutes walk from the terminal.

 

After the morning drive I walked around Charlottetown. There’s quite a bit to see and enjoy. Old Battery Point and Government House are about a mile from the ship and perhaps I should have walked on to the main part of Victoria Park, but it was warm and I was aware that every step I took away from the port was one I would have to make on the way back :)

 

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Journey’s end. We had an overnight stay here, arriving at 8 am on a Friday, and disembarking the ship at 9 am the next day. As our flight check-in was not until 4 pm we had almost 2 full days in this glorious city, but the footage is from only the first day because it rained heavily and persistently on the second, confining us to coffee shops and restaurants. The funicular up to the old city is $2.25 each way (they like correct coinage) but unless you physically need it or want to say you've done it, the walk up will take about 5 minutes.

 

There is a very good luggage storage facility at the cruise terminal ($2 per case) and a superb tourist information kiosk, where they will order your taxi to the airport. It’s about $35 for a regular cab, $40 for us because we needed one that took 6 and all our bags. The trip to the airport takes about 35-40 minutes.

 

The cruise log tells me we covered 1,440 nautical miles on the Boston - Bermuda - Boston run and 1,455 from Boston - Quebec City. And it was a cruise of 15 videos :) All the best to you all, Tony

 

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  • 5 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...
Nice set of videos!

Thanks Bob - and Keith, and the Krazies, much appreciated. I only sometime don't reply/acknowledge as it seems bit odd to bump a post up merely to say 'thanks'. Wishing everyone safe, healthy and enjoyable travels, how lucky we all are to see so many wonderful things.

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  • 8 months later...
  • 5 weeks later...

While on our West Coast driving holiday we stopped for an hour to look at the Walk of Fame and the Hollywood Sign. The walk is a kitch bit of fun apparently visited by 10 million tourists a year.

 

We drove as close as we could to the sign but understandably the residents have become fed up with the endless stream of cars in their neighbourhood so the final approach has cameras preventing access to the very top.

 

All the best, Tony

 

[YOUTUBE]ObrrLx5valQ[/YOUTUBE]

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  • 1 month later...

A very easy thing to do from San Francisco. We took this tour before for our ferry to Alcatraz. The guided tour takes around 30 minutes and is absolutely fascinating. Our guide was wonderful too (and I really do love Missourians :)).

 

We bought our tickets through Groupon which more than halved the normal walk-up cost of $20. Highly recommended if you are interested in WWII history - or even if you're not. When this tour is over it's a very short walk to Pier 33 and the Alcatraz. All the best, Tony

 

[YOUTUBE]FNYKDZeIRPs[/YOUTUBE]

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  • 1 month later...

After our tour of WWII submarine USS Pampanito we took the short walk from Pier 45 to Pier 33 for the ferry to ALCATRAZ ISLAND. It takes just under 15 minutes to get there. As this is San Francisco's No 1 tourist attraction we booked it over 3 months in advance, choosing the 11.00 sailing and standard Day Tour.

 

You can stay as long as you like, we spent about 90 minutes just looking round the cell house and its environs. It was one of the most interesting things I have ever done, and the self-guiding audio tour ensures you don't miss a thing.

 

The ferry back to the mainland departs every half hour, and to be sure you are on at peak times it I would get back to the dock 10 minutes before it leaves. But if you miss your intended trip there is a souvenir shop to while away the time until the next one, as well as plenty of benches to sit on. All the best, Tony

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Muir Woods ($10 pp), around 16 miles from San Francisco, was a total delight but we had a great stroke of luck in being able to park in one of the few disabled parking bays. My mother is not disabled but had turned her ankle over 2 days before, so we hired a lightweight wheelchair which was good enough to get us a permit ! Had they insisted on more official documentation we would have given up as the main car park (a fair distance away) was full with at least 6 cars waiting for a vacant space. You could spend a long time there exploring the various trails, we walked around for about an hour.

As for Sausalito, it's a very pretty San Francisco Bay suburb. Had we not had our own car and been working with single cruise day hours we would not have bothered to go, given the other attractions of San Francisco but for somewhere scenic to stop for a drink on our way back to the city it was very pleasant. All the best, Tony

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  • 2 weeks later...

3 short ones from the drive south towards LA on California State Route 1. Other than Santa Monica Pier, which is just an amusement park with a great beach I don't really know how accessible the other places shown are from cruise port terminals, unless you have a car and an overnight stay. All the best, Tony

 

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  • 4 months later...

For that American west coast drive holiday we should have flown in and out from Dublin. Unfortunately one of our party needed emergency surgery in California, necessitating an extra 10 days stay and we had to return direct to London. So all I have from Dublin is this from the outward journey, stretched wafer-thin to fit the song :D It's not much of vid but that's the way things go sometimes. All the best, Tony

 

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  • 1 year later...

A look at Bergen from a summer 2018 Norwegian fjords cruise. The constant threat of rain stopped us doing much here, specifically having a look at Bryggen and walking down from Mount Fløyen. The funicular up there cost 95 NOK return for adults, 50 for children. There is a frequent service shuttle from the dock to the edge of the city, from where it's about a 10 minute walk to the Fish Market area. All the best, Tony

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Our second port was Norway's most picturesque fjord in early morning sunshine. The famous Seven Sisters waterfall was not very spectacular (barely even 4 sisters) due the dry summer, but in any case I missed it having breakfast, although I saw it on the way out.

 

In the afternoon we took a tour 2.5 hour tour (395 NOK pp, discount for children) with Geiranger Fjordservice which stopped at the viewpoints of Flydalsjuvet and the Mount Dilsnabba skywalk. Our guide was very good and we all really enjoyed it, despite the inclement weather at the top which killed any chance of the iconic view.

 

For the last part of the descent back to the port we were given the chance to walk down the Fossevandring (waterfall) which 2 of us did, the others staying on the bus. It's a nice walk (10 minutes) and of course an easy one to do from the ship, although obviously you'd be starting from the bottom clear.png?emoji-grin-1677 All the best, Tony

 

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