teejaybee Posted October 19, 2013 #1 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Greetings all, cruised before and we fancy a New England/Canada cruise in September 2014. We would prefer at least 10 nights up to 14, which cruiseline to choose? Royal Caribean and Celebrity are about the same price, NCL and Holland America are more expensive. Also is it worth a balcony/veranda or could we make do with a large window on this cruise? Obviously trying to keep costs down because of the flights! Any advice/tips much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted October 19, 2013 #2 Share Posted October 19, 2013 You will get many different answers, and none will be wrong. So we need to ask you who you have cruised with before? The "worth" of a balcony is strictly a personal opinion only you can form. You will see many who swear by their balconies, and others who are happy in an inside. Again, personal preference, and no wrong answers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith1010 Posted October 19, 2013 #3 Share Posted October 19, 2013 In the end each person has their favorites. I would read the member review section for each cruise ship doing this itinerary to get a sense of how people view their experiences. Go with the 80/20 rule. In other words if about 80% of the review are positive or not so positive about an particular item accept that as fact until you experience it yourself. Whether or not you get a balcony is a personal choice. If you are trying to keep expenses down I would pass on the balcony. You can enjoy the pretty views on land and also on the outside deck of the ship but most of those nice views will come while you are on land. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janetz Posted October 19, 2013 #4 Share Posted October 19, 2013 :) If you want to see fall color, you might want to choose October. I don't feel you need to have a balcony. Princess offers some great cruises for what you are looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karysa Posted October 19, 2013 #5 Share Posted October 19, 2013 September is generally warmer especially in the evenings but for the fall colors October is best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmf123 Posted October 19, 2013 #6 Share Posted October 19, 2013 We loved our Canada/New England sailing on Princess, such a scenic cruise in a beautiful part of the country! I would probably narrow it to Princess, HAL, Celebrity, and RCI- and then choose your cruise based on itinerary. We only did a seven night, and I would have really preferred a longer itinerary that included Quebec City. You may want to consider airfare- as to whether you fly to sail r.t. New York, r.t. Boston, or perhaps a NY to Quebec City. The Celebrity Summit offers a 14 nt. r.t. cruise from Cape Liberty, NJ that disembarks in Quebec City. The Ruby Princess has a 10 day NY to Quebec City. Royal Caribbean's Explorer sails from Cape Liberty, NJ on a 9 nt. itinerary. Coming from the UK, I would likely want to book a 14 day cruise, and HAL offers several 14 day itineraries: * r.t. Boston that has two overnights in Quebec City. * r.t. Quebec City * r.t. Boston that sails to both Quebec City and cosmopolitan Montreal I love the traditional cruise that is Holland America. Nice ships, staterooms, service, food, fresh flowers everywhere onboard. There is also a 10 day on HAL that sails from NY to Quebec City. I have enjoyed cruises on all four of these cruiselines and feel that any of them will provide a wonderful fall foliage cruise. Regarding a balcony, we had one for this itinerary and would have been fine without. We had a lot of fog as we traveled the seas- it was fun to hear the horn so often! It may be of some assistance to read through the forums below. I'm sure you will have a very memorable cruise! New England Ports of Call forum: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=20 Canada Ports of Call forum: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=39 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krazy Kruizers Posted October 19, 2013 #7 Share Posted October 19, 2013 The last week of September through the first 2 weeks of October are great weeks for fall colors. We are little further south and our trees have peaked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EGG Posted October 19, 2013 #8 Share Posted October 19, 2013 I recommend a cruise that stops at Quebec City. I would research the ports on the NE/Canada port of calls boards and decide which ports you really want to see. Then choose among the available cruises. I've sailed HAL, Princess, Celebrity and RCCL and you will probably enjoy a cruise on any of them. In Sept. or October you will not have more than a handful of children on any long cruise. You do not see land as you cruise, only as you enter or depart from port. We prefer to enjoy sail in/out from an upper deck. It may be too chilly to sit outside on your balcony when the ship is moving. We went several years ago in early October, round trip from NJ. There was not a lot of fall colors. A lot of the shoreline trees were evergreens. When we got back to NJ the tree colors were spectacular. I have not wanted to do a one way cruise because of the hassle of getting back to NJ from Canada, but since you are flying anyway, I would check the air price of an open jaw ticket and consider a one way cruise and visit the cities on both ends of the cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suzanne123 Posted October 19, 2013 #9 Share Posted October 19, 2013 We did a 10 day NY to Quebec City a couple years ago on the Eurodam. It's a very port intensive sailing, and you really don't get a lot of time to spend on the balcony. Although we had a balcony, when we go again, hopefully next year, we will get an outside cabin. We left NY the first weekend in September and had great weather. We get beautiful fall colors here in Pennsylvania, but if seeing the fall foliage in Canada is important to you, you should probably go in early to mid October. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesMe Posted October 20, 2013 #10 Share Posted October 20, 2013 It depends on why you cruise. If you want the maximum experience of the Maritime Provinces the 2014 cruises on Norwegian Dawn either Quebec to Boston to Quebec (the one for which we are booked with a 3day pre-cruise stay in old Quebec City) or Boston to Quebec to Boston are best choices.Both are 14 day cruises with 2 days at sea.The down side is NCL is not Princess but also not Princess price for 14 days.The per day price on NCL is much less.Otherwise any of the other options are equal for what you see leaving the choice dependent on which cruise line you prefer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teejaybee Posted October 22, 2013 Author #11 Share Posted October 22, 2013 Hi all, many thanks for all your suggestion. Now the fun part planning! Happy days.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.