Halifax and Sydney, NS - docking question

[Two if by Sea]

The cruise ship schedule for Sydney can be found at http://www.porttime.com .

 

When we return from our June 28th cruise that includes Sydney I will let you know how our tour went. We booked with Tartan Tours.

[cruzin lady]

Hello, Capebreton,

I think it would be very helpful to many of us if you could list some honest tour guide/taxi companies that do privately arranged day tours.

Thank you,:)

Cruzin Lady

[ilovhywd]

We will be in Sydney on the Eurodam at the end of August. We think we can see more on a private tour than a ship's tour and would be interested in contacting a private tour operator as well. Please post anything you can find.

 

Perhaps Capebreton should go into the tour business, as Sydney is now becoming a popular port on the Eastern Canada cruises. He/she would get a lot of business from cruise critic readers!!

[lizbeth]

Hi -

 

We will be in Sydney Nova Soctia on July 7 and we became very frustrated trying to find an independent tour operator. We finally threw up our hands and reserved a rental car with Budget for $66. for the day. We plan to drive to the Fortress of Louisbourg and then along the coast and back to the ship.

 

The best sights to see in this port are all in opposite directions, so it is not possible to see them all in the limited time you are in port.

 

If you still have time before your cruise, you might want to call the Nova Scotia tourist board - 1-800-565-0000. They sent us a lovely map and 355 - page color book with photos and descriptions of places to see.

 

And, yes, the boat operators (who are "contracted" to provide service to your ships) will not accept you as an individual reservation. This seems to be true in all the ports (becuse we are attempting to book tours in many ports on our upcoming cruise.)

 

For those of you going to Halifax, there appears to be a hop-on hop-off bus tour available -- www.antiquebus.com (I have not been to this website and I do not know if it works.) Also listed is www.tourbytaxi.com in Halifax.

 

Hope this is useful to some of you.

Liz

[old bag]

Hello All,

My husband and I want to take our children to Peggy's Cove. We've been there before and loved it. However, as others have stated, while our ship is docked, it seems all tour companies are booked. So, I am trying to talk my husband into renting a car and driving to Peggy's Cove. He's concerned we'll get lost ... has anyone else done this? How did it go? Any tips?

 

Thank you,

[kootz]

I would like the names of tour companies that operate out of Sydney. We will be on the Dream on Sept. 25, 2008. We would like to see some areas around Sydney. Our ship is there from 11:30-8PM. My email is: pdoeringer@yahoo.com. The ships tours are usually such rip-offs but I can't find any tour operators in Sydney. There must be some. Where can I find out the cruise ship schedule for Sydney?

Thanks

 

I sthere anyone that can help me with this info also. I am looking for a tour operator (private) for Sydney on Sept. 2nd

Thanks

[CruisnGram]

Hello All,

My husband and I want to take our children to Peggy's Cove. We've been there before and loved it. However, as others have stated, while our ship is docked, it seems all tour companies are booked. So, I am trying to talk my husband into renting a car and driving to Peggy's Cove. He's concerned we'll get lost ... has anyone else done this? How did it go? Any tips?

 

Thank you,

 

For a private tour of Peggy's Cover, contact:

 

http://www.yourcab.ca/rates.htm

 

You will converse with Jonathan who owns the company. A wonderful, helpful man.

 

We've reserved him to give us a custom tour of the highlights of Halifax and Peggy's Cove. Very reasonable pricing also.

[Two if by Sea]

Is there anyone that can help me with this info also. I am looking for a tour operator (private) for Sydney on Sept. 2nd

Thanks

 

So, I promised to report back after we returned and here I am. We had a great day with Diane Drover of Tartan Tours in Sydney. She picked us up as scheduled at the dock and took us first to the Fortress of Louisberg, and then to Glace Bay for the Miners' Museum tour. There was no way to do both of those excursions in the same day via the ship. (Yes, we could have rented a car, but I didn't trust myself to find the way quickly enough from one to the other on such a tight schedule).

 

On the way (it was about 45 minutes' drive between locations) she answered our questions about aspects of the history of Cape Breton, told us about some things I wouldn't have thought of (e.g. about some of the flags we saw flying). Also, she had prepared at my prior request (or perhaps she always has them in the car, I don't know) a set of music CDs of Cape Breton music to listen to as well.

 

At Ft. Louisberg she brought us inside the visitor's center for us to buy our tickets, and then drove us over to the actual fortress (otherwise you take a shuttle bus) and showed us on the map exactly where at the other end she would wait to pick us up.

 

We scheduled two and a half hours in the fortress, which was NOT enough time to see everything, but as I said our schedule was very tight, and it was still enough to have a really good time there and get a good taste of the place.

 

At the Miners' Museum again she brought us inside and waited to make sure everything was all set with our tour time; then met us at the end. Our tour guide, "Abbie", was a relative of Diane's -- not sure if that's just how it worked out or if she arranged it for us -- but he was WONDERFUL and you could try requesting him if you go there. (The restaurant there, however, was booked up with reservations -- maybe because of the cruise ship being in port -- so if you want to eat there, be sure to call ahead for a reservation. We had eaten a bit at Ft. Louisberg in one of the old-style eateries around 11:00 and so just ended up calling that lunch.)

 

Then she got us back to the dock in plenty of time to hear the brass band playing for a while before (and as) our ship pulled out, which was the third thing I wanted to be sure to catch.

 

I'd say between the two stops and the music at the pier, Sydney was a major highlight of our trip. I should write another whole entry on the visits. I was very happy with the whole day, and with our experience with Diane. She even got our daughter a Miners' Museum cap as a gift.

 

Her phone number is in Google if you search for "tartan tours cape breton" (without the quotes) but she doesn't seem to have her own website.

[pdoeringer]

If your coming to sydney anytime soon please let me know I will be happy to answer all of your questions from the tours offered by the ships to locating local honest tour operators. As for docking in Sydney on thw 17th there is only one ship in on that date so you'll have the harbour all to your self. Its approx. a 5 to 10 min. walk from the wharf to downtown sydney. As for sights in Sydney its self you have Cositt House one of the oldest house on Cape Breton Island Jost house you will see 3 different time periods with this house going back generations. St. Patricks church the oldest Roman Cath. church on the Island and was built with stone from the fortress of louisbourg. If your planning on going to Louisbourg or Baddeck or , The cabot trail please email me and i will be happy to answer all of your questions. I hope this helps. :)

I would be interested in a tour operator for Sydney. My email address is pdoeringer@yahoo.com. We would like to see some local sights. Please advise.

Thanks Pete

[nanaguide]

Twoifbysea - Thanks for the info about Sydney. My husband just told me he hopes I enjoy the cruise as much as I'm enjoying planning it. I do enjoy the planning part. I will check into your tour. Please share any other suggestions about the ports you visited.

[Two if by Sea]

Twoifbysea - Thanks for the info about Sydney. My husband just told me he hopes I enjoy the cruise as much as I'm enjoying planning it. I do enjoy the planning part. I will check into your tour. Please share any other suggestions about the ports you visited.

 

In Quebec and Halifax, we just walked around and went to museums and such -- did not take any guided tours.

 

In Bar Harbor, we walked around in the morning and took a taxi tour of Acadia (with "At Your Service" taxi) -- which I recommend highly. They are more expensive than the local bus tours but less than the cruise tours, and they let you stop wherever you want and for however long you want.

[RHL28041]

Hello,

I'll be in Nova Scotia in 3 weeks, any specsific suggestions on "wht not to be missed"

I'm not sure if taking a cruise tour will be the best thing to do in this port.

Thanks

Rosa

[SusanaM]

If your coming to sydney anytime soon please let me know I will be happy to answer all of your questions from the tours offered by the ships to locating local honest tour operators. As for docking in Sydney on thw 17th there is only one ship in on that date so you'll have the harbour all to your self. Its approx. a 5 to 10 min. walk from the wharf to downtown sydney. As for sights in Sydney its self you have Cositt House one of the oldest house on Cape Breton Island Jost house you will see 3 different time periods with this house going back generations. St. Patricks church the oldest Roman Cath. church on the Island and was built with stone from the fortress of louisbourg. If your planning on going to Louisbourg or Baddeck or , The cabot trail please email me and i will be happy to answer all of your questions. I hope this helps. :)

Hello. We'll be on Costa Atlantica, arr 29 Apr 2010. Is it true the Cabot trail cannot be

accomplished in one port call? Any guess on usual weather for Cape Breton Island for end of April? Thanks.

[shof515]

dang a 5 year old topic :D

[rickb]

Hello. We'll be on Costa Atlantica, arr 29 Apr 2010. Is it true the Cabot trail cannot be

accomplished in one port call? Any guess on usual weather for Cape Breton Island for end of April? Thanks.

 

You need a full day to do the full Cabot trail. The best you could hope for would be to rent a car and drive as far as Ingonish and then back.

 

Typical weather would be quite varied but generally temps of around 50F and possibly some rain.

[SusanaM]

You need a full day to do the full Cabot trail. The best you could hope for would be to rent a car and drive as far as Ingonish and then back.

 

Typical weather would be quite varied but generally temps of around 50F and possibly some rain.

 

Thanks rickb. also going to Halifax 30th with plan to rent car , get to Peggys Cove area. Hope weather is kind to us.

[DavidF1940]

Hi Donovan52

I note your suggestion about driving the Cabot Trail. I'd love to do this but others point out that it is difficult to fit in time to pick up rental car, get to the trail, see it and get back in time (we dock 8am to 5pm). Do you reckon this is practical?

regards

 

DavidF

[bella c]

Hi there,

Just saw your post about Sydney Ca. We will be on the Sept. 16 HAL cruise that stops in your town. We are 5 ladies only and can not for the life of us, figure out what to do in Sydney. Your are correct in the statement that the cruise excursions are a rip.

So what should we do?? Is there a tour company that you could suggest, a private tour is not out of the question as anything would be a savings from what the ship charges.

 

If not should we rent a car and then do what. How are the car rentals there?

 

Make believe I am your great Aunt and would like to visit Sydney, what would you have me do. Thanks for any help.