Pub Crawling and Time Travelling in the Gulf of St Lawrence – Brilliance Review 10/12

[Mar56]

We did learn an interesting bit of trivia later in our wanderings. When we returned to the Viking Crown Lounge it was lit with black lights. We found that some diamond jewelry lights up under black light and some does not.

 

Yep, that was it - the diamond jewelry - I owe you huge Jon and Diana - next cruise together the first round of our pub crawl will be on me.

 

Note: Later in the cruise they sectioned off the Viking Crown Lounge bar so non-diamonds could use part of it and the rest was reserved for Diamonds during the nightly diamond event. I like this change, even though I am a Diamond. Over my years of cruising I have found I like the view from there. I enjoy watching the sun set. I think the other passengers should be able to enjoy this too.

 

Diana

 

And thank you for that as well Diana.

Truly hope that we get another cruise with the two of you.

 

Marion

[cosmar]

We did not dock in Saguenay until noon, which left time for breakfast and morning trivia. It also meant that we were treated beautiful view as the ship slowly made its way up the Saguenay River. It’s a place like this where the advantages of Radiance class ship are really felt. We walked off the ship and were greeted by snow flurries. This was not the most promising way to begin a cruise. The snow also signaled that it was cold. So, we ducked into a restaurant conveniently near to the port.

 

One of the things we like to do is have lunches in local restaurants featuring local cuisine. Here it was the Poutine. This consists of meat, cheese and gravy served over fries. One tour guide in Halifax referred to this dish as a cardiologist’s dream. After lunch, we returned to the port and awaited a two hour bus tour of the area. This was affective for seeing such sights exist locally (which are spread out of 7 towns) but had the limitations such bus tours always do, mainly too much time on the bus and too little time outside of it seeing the attractions. I should add that a couple of couples to whom we spoke who took boat tours along the river seemed to be much more impressed with Saguenay as a port than we were.

 

My DH, Jon

 

I live in the Laurentians near Monteal Qc....I hope you liked our POUTINE

I am glad you liked Quebec City.. I saw on TV your ship docked in the port. Will be cruising next March from Fort Lauderdale. I will go down by car leaving one week ahead, visiting on the way. Can't wait.

 

Hope you wll be back to visit our great Province, so many nice places to see.

[nydiana]

I live in the Laurentians near Monteal Qc....I hope you liked our POUTINE

I am glad you liked Quebec City.. I saw on TV your ship docked in the port. Will be cruising next March from Fort Lauderdale. I will go down by car leaving one week ahead, visiting on the way. Can't wait.

 

Hope you wll be back to visit our great Province, so many nice places to see.

 

I am very fond of Canada. I grew up in Rochester, NY and sailed to Toronto often as a kid. In the 70's and 80's I had hockey tickets (Buffalo Sabers). The Sabers Fan club took many fun trips to Montreal, Toronto, and Quebec for hockey games. Canadians have always been very friendly.

 

Diana

[nydiana]

This day brought us to Halifax, which was the only port on the trip to which we had previously been. Remembering how easy Halifax was to do on your own, we merely paid for the hop on – hop off bus in order to save on the walking (Halifax has some large hills). Our first stop was the public garden which we had previously visited in 2007. They are spectacular and anyone who has never been to Halifax should see them. However, this is kind of late in the flower season. The city had started to pull up the bulbs (for the winter) the prior week, so the garden was not as spectacular as it had been for our last visit. Our next trip was to the natural history museum. We had walked past it on our previous trip to Halifax and been intrigued by it (it is an impressive structure) but had not entered. My advice is: it’s not worth the effort. Inside, it is disappointingly small. It is also very much geared for kids. After the museum, we caught the bus for another part of the city. We had planned on visiting a particular part of the town, which involved switching from the “C line” to the “B line”. Upon learning of our plan the guide on the bus suggested that we get off at a particular stop and walk down a couple of blocks, rather than riding the bus all of the way back to the port (where all three lines converged). This plan eventually led us to the bus stop near Alexander Keith’s Brewery. Since the bus had not yet arrived, we found ourselves sucked into the brewery. Once inside, we could not resist the brewery tour.

 

The tour turned out to be a fun experience. Actors, in period costume, “transported you back to 1864” and the establishment of the Keith Brewery. One of them asked me, “When the last time have been transported through time?” While I am not sure what the answer to the question was at that point, I realized later that I would have similar time travel experiences twice more before the trip was over. The tour itself was fun. The actors showed you the brewing process, gave you the history of the brewery, then handed you free samples and entertained you with period songs and games. It was definitely a good way to spend an hour or two.

 

We ended up eating lunch at the Red Stag Tavern, which is part of the brewery complex. Lunch included lobster stew and a lobster dip. Both were good. We ended up catching the bus that we had intended to catch originally. It was now too late in the day to get out and tour any particular attraction, but the guide basically gave us a private tour of his route (including some photo stops).

 

Back on Board we won the Country music name that tune contest. This is an amazing feat, as we know next to nothing about country music. Actually, we can thank our teammates for this as one of them kept saying; “I have this on my IPod.” Thanks, Bryan. Actually, I did contribute one answer. Years of listening to Dr. Demento have led me to able to recognize the opening rift to “A Boy Named Sue” when I hear it.

 

My DH Jon

[wolfcathorse]

Hey! You forgot to mention I took a ride on the revolving bar in the VCL! And I did not fall off my stool due to inebriation...I spun my seat around and my elbow caught the bar and it brushed me off.

[nydiana]

Hey! You forgot to mention I took a ride on the revolving bar in the VCL! And I did not fall off my stool due to inebriation...I spun my seat around and my elbow caught the bar and it brushed me off.

 

Jon was trying not to name names.

 

Diana

[wolfcathorse]

Jon was trying not to name names.

 

Diana

 

:D I meant he didn't mention that the bar rotated

[mrsfecura]

This is a fun review, thanks to both of you, Jon and Diana! Where in Upstate NY are you? We're in Delmar - right outside of Albany.

[nydiana]

This is a fun review, thanks to both of you, Jon and Diana! Where in Upstate NY are you? We're in Delmar - right outside of Albany.

 

We live in Duanesburg, NY on Route 20. We both work for Department of Tax and Finance, until Thanksgiving day. Then the Governor is transferring all the Info Tech state workers under the Exec branch to a new agency, the Office of Information Technology Services.

 

If you love cruising, we definitely have something in common.

 

Diana

[nydiana]

Overnight we sailed back around Nova Scotia to the port of Sydney. This was one of the few days we booked an organized tour. The rebuilt fortress of Louisbourg is a 45-minute drive from Sydney. At the fortress, there are varied actors dressed up as characters from the Fortress’ history who describe life at the fort in the mid 18th century. If we had been asked the same question as the previous day about how long it had been since we had last travelled through time, we could honestly answer “Yesterday.” Not only is the history of Louisbourg interesting, the fortress provides some spectacular views. If you are ever in Sydney, this is tour well worth taking.

 

Back on board, the evening entertainment was Claude Eric, a crooner from Montreal. He provided his own English/French translations and sang songs in French as well as English. He was extremely popular with the French-Canadian crowd. We also won (actually tied) the Beatles Name that tune this night. After dinner we watched several friends go all out to win Quest. Wolfcathorse had recruited a couple, which were new to RCI, to aid in the effort.

 

My DH, Jon

[nydiana]

To be honest this was one of the ports that led us to book this cruise. Beforehand, we were unaware that France still owned any territory in this part of the world. Needless to say, we were intrigued. As we researched the trip, it grew less intriguing. Fodor’s guide has the following to say about it:

 

"Bakeries open early, so there’s always piping-hot fresh bread for breakfast. Bargain hunters can find reasonably priced French wines. Visitors must carry proof of citizenship-US citizens must have a passport, and Canadians should have a passport of government-issued photo ID. Because of the ferry schedule, a trip to St. Pierre means an overnight stay in a hotel or pension, the French equivalent of a B&B."

 

That’s all it says. It also lists no attractions on the island. Arriving at the port, we also discovered that we had over a mile to travel to reach the town. On the bright side, we learned that the islanders had provided a free shuttle from the port to the town. They had impressed the local school busses to act as shuttles. I have not ridden on a school bus since I was a child. I now realize that they are built for children (go figure). A large adult does not travel particularly comfortably on a school bus. The town itself is pretty little town with brightly colored houses and pretty little church, but we really did not find much in the way of local attractions. We had some French style food, purchased a bottle of “reasonably priced French wine” and caught the shuttle back to the ship.

 

Tonight was the final formal night and the “Top-Tier” event. The captain spoke very little and left relatively early. This completed a pattern we noted at all three cocktail parties. This captain said as little as possible and only stayed as long as he thought that he had to, at any of them. I suppose some captains are much more social than others… The evening’s show was a return engagement for Claude Eric. He was equally popular tonight as he had been the previous night. Actually, he was only half the show, as the other half featured aerialist, Marsha Volgyi. Late night featured the ice party/late night buffet. Due (I guess) to the outside temperatures this was set up on various floors around the Centrum. This set up made for very awkward flow of people.

 

My DH, Jon

[nydiana]

The last port on the trip was Charlottetown. When we left the ship, it was raining. So we wandered into the Founder’s museum, which is only a couple of blocks from the port. This museum features the “Time tunnel” which, (guess what), magically transports you back in time to the founding of the Canadian confederation in the 1860’s. This museum really seems geared for kids, so I wouldn’t recommend it; but it was dry and close to the port. By the time we left the museum it had stopped raining. This meant that we could stroll around Charlottetown. Charlottetown is a decent cruise port. In easy walking distance from the port, we found a decent art gallery, a couple of nice old churches, and some other historic buildings. Charlottetown also features “Cows”, the world’s best ice cream (according to some poll they had posted on the wall). I don’t know about world’s best, but it was very good.

 

The evening entertainment featured Tango Buenos Aries, who made their usual encore presentation in the Centrum before dinner and one of the more interesting production shows I have ever seen. Not only did the show feature performances by the RCI Singers and Dancers and The Brilliance of the Seas Orchestra but also pieces from the tango dancers, the ship’s string quartet and the ship’s Latin trio.

 

My DH, Jon

[nydiana]

I have only a few thoughts about this day. For instance, we attended the art auction. This is the first auction we have attended since the change of galleries. I realize the many issues with Park West Galleries; however, having attended their auctions as well as this one (without the intention of purchasing) I can honestly say Park West kept them more interesting and generally more fun. We left the auction early and played a few final hands of bridge with our French Canadian friends.

 

As part of the farewell show Marsha Volgyi, who had yielded much of her time on day 8 to Claude Eric, got to make an encore performance. I cannot finish my review of this day (or the trip in general) without giving props to the couple (sorry I never got your name) who named all 20 tunes (this time classic hits) for the fourth straight day. We finished off the cruise by listening to the jazz cabaret in the Colony club until late at night.

 

My DH, Jon