Need New England/Canada Excursions Recommendations!

[CMM]

Do you recall the name of the company?

 

We took this in Sept 2008 and it was through the local transit company. We exited the ship and walked left up the street. There was the city bus with the driver standing on the side walk. I was out going for a walk while my husband slept in and we were planning on just exploring on our own.

 

I talked with the bus driver, took his pamplet and moved on. I walked around a bit and realized there wasn't a whole lot to explore. I shared this with my husband and headed back out to book the bus. We got the last two seats, but I think there was a later one too.

 

The driver was super friendly and gave a lot of fun little commentary. He bought the bus a bag full of dulse (dried seaweed, local snack) for us to try at the historic market. Given our other options, we were glad to have stumbled on this. We had oringinally looked into the bay of fundy tour, but hadn't got our act together on that one. If we return, I would try to do that.

[bgarbus]

so whats wrong with the ship tours? Seems much easier...far more convenient than attempting to do everything on one's own.

 

I personally do the ship tours too. I know they cost more, but it's never been an issue and I can book them online before the cruise so everything goes more smoothly.

 

I would imagine some people like the adventure of taking private tours. Just not my choice, maybe once I get a couple dozen cruises under my belt I might want to be a little more adventurous too... lol

[coronadogal]

We are going on the Maasdam on June 12 from Montreal to Boston so will hopefully get a chance to post some of our activities.

You will like RCI. They and HAL are our favorite cruise lines. My family prefers them much more over Carnival. Enjoy your cruise.

[Thoth]

I personally do the ship tours too. I know they cost more, but it's never been an issue and I can book them online before the cruise so everything goes more smoothly.

 

I would imagine some people like the adventure of taking private tours. Just not my choice, maybe once I get a couple dozen cruises under my belt I might want to be a little more adventurous too... lol

That's the way I feel. It is SO easy to book ship tours. Sometimes the ship will get preference to certain attractions, where one might not get to independently.

[Thoth]

We are going on the Maasdam on June 12 from Montreal to Boston so will hopefully get a chance to post some of our activities.

You will like RCI. They and HAL are our favorite cruise lines. My family prefers them much more over Carnival. Enjoy your cruise.

 

I'm on the same cruise next year. Please do tell us how things go.

[bgarbus]

Very exciting... Enchantment of the Seas (the ship we will be taking this cruise on Sept 9th is in Norfolk, VA in dry dock getting some upgrades.

 

She will be leaving late today or early tomorrow to head to Nauticus to load passengers where she will start her summer run! We can't wait!!!

 

I was able to get Wavy.com to move the webcam so we could get a great photo of her in dry dock!

 

[bgarbus]

Enchantment in Norfolk:

 

Facebook Gallery

[bgarbus]

 

[deebeecruiser]

Thanks for the pictures! We are going on the June 18th cruise out of B'more and can't wait. It is our first cruise and we are so excited! Great excursions ideas!

[bgarbus]

Thanks for the pictures! We are going on the June 18th cruise out of B'more and can't wait. It is our first cruise and we are so excited! Great excursions ideas!

 

When you get back please share your experiences. We have never gone north before so we want all the details we can get. Have fun!!!:D

[bgarbus]

We are going on the Maasdam on June 12 from Montreal to Boston so will hopefully get a chance to post some of our activities.

You will like RCI. They and HAL are our favorite cruise lines. My family prefers them much more over Carnival. Enjoy your cruise.

 

I have heard that Royal is a lot like Holland in many ways.

[Candycane55]

This is our first time cruising to Canada/New England on a 7 day cruise with Carnival. We are flying into New York September 28th and boarding

the cruise on the 29th. We have 4 other people besides my husband and me. What is your best suggestions on things to do (excursions and who to book through) at our ports. We will

be porting at St John NB, Halifax NS, Boston MA and Portland ME.

[maryann ns]

really for Halifax there is little or no need for a tour. Walk along the waterfront. Walk up Spring Garden Road to the Public Gardens. Tour Citadel Hill.

 

To get an overview you could take the Harbour Hopper: http://www.mtcw.ca/harbourhopper/

[vickila]

Halifax -- winery tours are a lot of fun. We used Heather of Eagle Tree Vineyards -- full day tour, 4 wineries, lunch -- totally escorted from ship. A truly exciting day. eagletreevineyard@hotmail.com eagletreevineyardwinetours/home We just like wine, but were treated like special guests of each wine tasting vineyard -- a truly exceptional experience. Vicki:)

[maryann ns]

Eagle Tree Vineyards seems to be out of business: http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic-g154976-i327-k5480377-Eagle_tree_vineyard_tour-Halifax_Halifax_Regional_Municipality_Nova_Scotia.html

[Sailor_Sally]

This is our first time cruising to Canada/New England on a 7 day cruise with Carnival. We are flying into New York September 28th and boarding

the cruise on the 29th. We have 4 other people besides my husband and me. What is your best suggestions on things to do (excursions and who to book through) at our ports. We will

be porting at St John NB, Halifax NS, Boston MA and Portland ME.

 

In Boston I would highly recommend the hop on hop off trolley .It's a great tour of Boston and hits all the highlights plus it takes you to Cambridge to see Harvard & MIT .Quincy market has lots of shopping and food booths . It also has lots of restaurants . We usually go to Legal Seafood for Chowder .

[seashellnana]

Can you give me more information about the tour you took. We will be in St. John on September 10, 2012 and have booked a tour by Roy Tours. it is costing us $50.00 an hour, with a minimum of 6 hours. I am thinking the tour you took might be better.

What do you think? and how do we find this, we are taking the Disney Magic.

[kathy884]

We're doing a little five day Carnival Glory cruise out of NYC in three weeks.

 

For St. John we're doing one of the popular Fundy Coast tours that goes to St. Martin (quaint fishing village), does the walk on the ocean floor at low tide, and returns after a stop at the old city market. I was originally just planning to do the ship tour / didn't see savings for our small group with a private one, and the ship tour did everything I wanted (looked perfect for us and like a good deal). My mom, though, had an RCI coupon for a free excursion, so to save a little we are doing a different tour that is almost identical to the ship's one -- just a little longer and does this old city market stop the ship one doesn't which is no big deal to me either way. // As other posters have mentioned the St. Martin / Sea Floor tour seems to be one of the more popular tour options in the area, and I've seen extremely positive reviews for several different tour operators for this excursion. It looks great for photographers too. DS 16 and my mom are both really into photography. I'm sure DH and I will enjoy this also.

 

For Halifax (DS 16) who will be with us on the cruise is a big Titanic history buff. I wanted to give him whatever time he wanted for Titanic related stuff, heard there is so much to do walking distance from the port etc., so decided not to do a longer tour, but mostly do things on our own. We will start at the Maritime Museum which I hear is walking distance from the port (really easy to get to). I think we'll find the whole museum interesting, and they have a whole floor dedicated to the Titanic. I also through Grayline (City Discovery Tours website) booked a 10:45 a.m. Titanic Cemetary tour -- just an hour and 15 minutes to go over to the cemetary where many people found dead at sea in the Titanic disaster are buried. // After these activities we'll play it by ear. I hear there are shops right when you get off the ship and that it's a short walk to the Citidal, etc. too. // Overall it appears that tours that include Peggy's Cove and the Titanic Cemetary are a better deal than just doing the Titanic Cemetary tour. Peggy's Cove looks lovely and gets great reviews, and I've heard you can really fit this all in (Maritime museum and the more extensive tour). But I just really didn't want to take time away from our main interest and make sure we have as much time as we want at the Maritime museum, don't feel rushed, etc. and can just do whatever we want at our leisure. (We sometimes take longer at places than other people based on our interests -- e.g. went to the Clearwater Marine Rescue Facility in June with an add on 45 minute behind the scenes tour. Everyone on Trip Advisor (at least 20 different posters / reviewers) said you'll be done in 2 to 3 hours max. We had a great time, but were there for five hours. lol). Also, after having done a longer organized tour in St. John the day before, it will be a nice change having more time on our own the next day I think.

 

Anyway, posting what we are planning at these to ports and our decision making thought process just in case this gives you any ideas.

[eandj]

Your son will enjoy the Titanic displays in the museum. Very cool to see the artifacts. Peggy's Cove is like from a movie. Very pretty. Make sure you have your camera.

[csjbayoffundy]

We did the Acadia/Mt Cadillac bus tour and loved it-----but could have used more than 20 minutes at the summit. Great eats and reasonable prices at the West St Cafe in Bar Harbor.

 

Re Halifax, the trip to Peggy's Cove was also great.

 

In St Johns we took a city bus to the reversing rapids-----just make sure that you time it right for either high or low tide to see the current change. The seals feel that this is the opportune time to dine since they will have a choice between salt water and fresh water fish.

 

Enjoy your trip-----you'll love it.

 

The Reversing Falls Rapids is located in Saint John, New Brunswick not St. John's. St. John's is in Newfoundland and Labrador

 

So happy to hear you enjoyed... come back again !