New England / Canada Cruise Planning 2012

[sail7seas]

Oh my word........

 

Who could blame you for not wanting to leave that paradise.

WONDERFUL video.... thanks for sharing. I loved it.

[mamaofami]

Sail is so right. The mussels on PEI are the best I've had anywhere. I would take the cruise again for the mussels in PEI and the lobster in every port.

[principessa1180]

what sort of things to people like to shop for on the island or on the cruise? im not a jewlery person. i just want to bring home something special i can't get anywhere but there. also, is sea food the only thing to really eat? i like shrimp and lopster, but my hubbs won't touch it. i am picky with lopster too. i have had lopster that is gross with too much of a fish taste.

[sail7seas]

The lobster availabililty is, to most people, the best lobster you will have anywhere in the U.S. The hardshell lobsters of Maine and the Maritimes is against which other lobster is judged. :) Bar Harbor, Halifax, Charlottetown etc..... it's hard to get a Bad lobster lunch.

 

Carol and I agree...... those PEI mussels are the Best!!!! :)

 

As to shopping. I found a lovely handknit shop in downtown Charlottetown and have purchased some of their sweaters as gifts and particularly love some handknit throws I purchased. They are not inexpensive but are really well made and the ones I purchased for my best friend and for me are providing us much pleasure.

 

I love to shop but this isn't really a big shopping cruise. Halifax has some wonderful plaids. In the terminal, you can find some caps and sweaters in various clan plaids.

 

At Sydney, local people display and sell handcrafts in the terminal. It's a rather large display.

 

[powderhorn]

what sort of things to people like to shop for on the island or on the cruise? im not a jewlery person. i just want to bring home something special i can't get anywhere but there. also, is sea food the only thing to really eat? i like shrimp and lopster, but my hubbs won't touch it. i am picky with lopster too. i have had lopster that is gross with too much of a fish taste.

 

There is an 'Anne' store at the corner of Victoria Row (Richmond Street if you are Googling) and Queen St that you might enjoy exploring, and for your hubby, next store is a chocolate shop that specializes in chocolate covered potato chips....two vices for the price of one...and be sure and check out the Cows ice cream shop at the corner of Queen and Grafton St...some funny and unique Tee shirts there! :)

[sail7seas]

There is a Cow's Ice Cream at the shopping area right by the pier. There is a grouping of stores visible very near the ship. Turn left at you exit the terminal and walk through a pretty very small park area. This is a very neat, well maintained, new area with a variety of touristy type things.

 

[principessa1180]

Chocolate covered potato chips sound interesting!!!! So, we will be getting to Montreal the day before at around 3pm. What part of town should we stay in, and how should we get to the port? The cruise leaves at 5pm, so we have time to kill.

[sail7seas]

I would suggest looking at staying in/near Old Montreal. It is charming and you will be near the dock. A taxi will get you there easily.

 

One hotel some people have enjoyed is Hotel Nelligan. Our friends stayed there, a frequent HAL CC poster did and they all say they were pleased with the accomodation, location and service.

 

[powderhorn]

My vote goes to Old Montreal as well.

 

Check out this site for ideas: http://www.vieux.montreal.qc.ca/heberg/eng/fen_heba.htm

[principessa1180]

Yay! Thanks for the hotel ideas. I'm so excited to see a new culture. Im from Santa Fe, NM, so everything here is stucco and southwest. It's lovely, but I get tired of it. Hopefully I can find a hotel in old town on jet setter or living social. I have seen great deals in Montreal.

[Winters in NZ]

we just got a flight to montreal for 310 per person on deltra. from boston, it was 146 on southwest. we live in santa fe, nm.

 

i'm a huge anne of green gables fan, so this is why we are going. my husband was nice enought to agree. we are both 31, so it sounds like we will be on the young side.

 

we have a 3 year old boy. i wish we could take him, but he is very wild. im scared he would jump overboard. i am not being funny either.

If you are comfortable with using public transit, there is an excellent express bus, # 767, which will transport you into downtown Montreal from the Montreal airport. The fare which is around $8.00, is a day pass which allows unlimited bus/subway access for that day.

 

There are 3 subway ( METRO ) stations which are located in Old Montreal, one of which is located just a 15 minute walk from the pier. http://www.stm.info/English/a-somm.htm

[powderhorn]

Sail is so right. The mussels on PEI are the best I've had anywhere. I would take the cruise again for the mussels in PEI and the lobster in every port.

 

There is a great article in the Charlottetown Guardian today on the mussel industry with a great little video showing how the grow the mussels.....yummy!:)

 

http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/Arts/Entertainment/2011-12-03/article-2823658/Mussels-in-the-making/1