Why is the NE/Canada cruise so popular?

[Toad]

I live in the New England area and love it, but was just looking to book a last minute cruise out of Boston. I find many of the cabin categories already filled and am surprised by this. Are they filled by locals or do many people book these as a first time to the area cruise?

[bakcd]

Just as many those in the North leave home in the winter in search of warm weather, many of us in the South leave home in the summer for cooler temperatures. We also love the beauty of the area, the local color, the ports without an abundance of jewelry stores, the seafood and the relative ease of travel to the port, as compared to an overseas flight. In any given summer we will either go to Alaska, Eastern Canada or head North on a road trip.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We live in the north (PA) and have done a few Canada/New England cruises.

Do like the scenery -- when strolling around not seeing a jewelry shop after another.

Each port has lots of different excursions.

And of course love the sea food.

[CJcruzer]

I live in the New England area and love it, but was just looking to book a last minute cruise out of Boston. I find many of the cabin categories already filled and am surprised by this. Are they filled by locals or do many people book these as a first time to the area cruise?

 

many people do not have the beautiful fall foliage and color of the red maples that the Canada/NE area has...and again, many people prefer a domestic flight/trip rather than overseas.

 

Carol

[Hlitner]

Great question and topic. We have lived in the Northeast our entire lives and are within an easy days driving distance to all of New England. We have also cruised to 6 Continents and traveled to over 100 countries. And yet, we still love to do a Canada/New England cruise every few years. It is just a great area for a shorter cruise with some fabulous ports, the opportunity to have great food ashore (love that lobster), etc. Both the Canadian and US ports are near perfect for cruisers with a variety ranging from near-rural to large cities.

 

As to the fall foliage, we think this is a total crap shoot. Anyone who has lived in this part of the country knows that timing the foliage is very "iffy" at best. On 4 of our 5 Canada/NE cruises everything was green (even though it was supposed to be colorful). We were on one Celebrity cruise with over 200 Japanese who had spent big bucks to fly all the way to Quebec to see the foliage. The only thing they saw was green...and they were not happy. So we suggest folks take these cruises to enjoy places like Quebec City, PE Island, Boston, etc. And if you happen to get lucky with the foliage that is just like icing on the cake.

 

Hank

[sandthrush]

Just as many those in the North leave home in the winter in search of warm weather, many of us in the South leave home in the summer for cooler temperatures. We also love the beauty of the area, the local color, the ports without an abundance of jewelry stores, the seafood and the relative ease of travel to the port, as compared to an overseas flight. In any given summer we will either go to Alaska, Eastern Canada or head North on a road trip.

 

Exactly this.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Great question and topic. We have lived in the Northeast our entire lives and are within an easy days driving distance to all of New England. We have also cruised to 6 Continents and traveled to over 100 countries. And yet, we still love to do a Canada/New England cruise every few years. It is just a great area for a shorter cruise with some fabulous ports, the opportunity to have great food ashore (love that lobster), etc. Both the Canadian and US ports are near perfect for cruisers with a variety ranging from near-rural to large cities.

 

As to the fall foliage, we think this is a total crap shoot. Anyone who has lived in this part of the country knows that timing the foliage is very "iffy" at best. On 4 of our 5 Canada/NE cruises everything was green (even though it was supposed to be colorful). We were on one Celebrity cruise with over 200 Japanese who had spent big bucks to fly all the way to Quebec to see the foliage. The only thing they saw was green...and they were not happy. So we suggest folks take these cruises to enjoy places like Quebec City, PE Island, Boston, etc. And if you happen to get lucky with the foliage that is just like icing on the cake.

 

Hank

 

We haven't traveled quite as much as you have, but I have to say ditto to everything else you've said.

 

A Canada/NE cruise is a nice alternative to Caribbean cruises for people who want to sail from North America. Sightseeing instead of beaches. History, cities, and charming towns without a flight to Europe.

[bakcd]

Great question and topic. We have lived in the Northeast our entire lives and are within an easy days driving distance to all of New England. We have also cruised to 6 Continents and traveled to over 100 countries. And yet, we still love to do a Canada/New England cruise every few years. It is just a great area for a shorter cruise with some fabulous ports, the opportunity to have great food ashore (love that lobster), etc. Both the Canadian and US ports are near perfect for cruisers with a variety ranging from near-rural to large cities.

 

As to the fall foliage, we think this is a total crap shoot. Anyone who has lived in this part of the country knows that timing the foliage is very "iffy" at best. On 4 of our 5 Canada/NE cruises everything was green (even though it was supposed to be colorful). We were on one Celebrity cruise with over 200 Japanese who had spent big bucks to fly all the way to Quebec to see the foliage. The only thing they saw was green...and they were not happy. So we suggest folks take these cruises to enjoy places like Quebec City, PE Island, Boston, etc. And if you happen to get lucky with the foliage that is just like icing on the cake.

 

Hank

 

We have never done the fall foliage cruises as we have other obligations that time of the year. However, we have seen the fall foliage in our younger years so do know of it's beauty, if you hit it right. We find a great deal of beauty during the summer months and would never think of going to Florida or the Caribbean in the summer. Temperatures in the 60's and 70's are wonderful but we have experienced other extremes and been okay with them.

[Seago2]

I've done 3 of them- not during leaf peeping time. My answer is: it's something different and I can drive to the port of embarkation. I just love Halifax. It's just a nice change.

[navybankerteacher]

Aside from the obvious attractions of great ports and (the chance of) seeing autumn foliage, Boston and New York - the usual Canada/New England embarkation ports - are within easy travel (NO FLYING NECESSARY) of a huge cruising population, who like easy travel to the port as well as a change from the meager Winter Caribbean options locally available.

[summersigh]

Just as many those in the North leave home in the winter in search of warm weather, many of us in the South leave home in the summer for cooler temperatures. We also love the beauty of the area, the local color, the ports without an abundance of jewelry stores, the seafood and the relative ease of travel to the port, as compared to an overseas flight. In any given summer we will either go to Alaska, Eastern Canada or head North on a road trip.

 

We totally agree. We can actually take Amtrak from the Carolinas to Baltimore which has the NE/Canada itineraries in the fall ... so we don't even have to drive :D

The weather at home was still sweltering .... during the cruise it had that delightful hint of cool fall in it.

Fresh lobster rolls in every port :D

The year we went the trees hadn't turned yet but the scenery was still absolutely lovely.

We had been to most of the ports by car a couple of times but it felt very different arriving by ship - very relaxing letting someone else do all the "work".

 

We'd go again - as soon as we finish the Caribbean portion of our cruise bucket list - :D

[sail7seas]

I have lived in Boston my whole life (but for time I traveled with DH in the Military) and we cruised Canada/NE summer after summer for years. I love those ports, saw things I'd never seen before despite living so near and think HAL's Boston to Montreal/Montreal to Boston itinerary one of HAL's best short cruises.

Edited August 11, 2014 by sail7seas

[julia]

We still feel that our October 2009 NE cruise was one of our best. We sailed from New York, and cruising past the Lady and under the scenic bridge was beautiful. We had beautiful leaf peeping in several ports, with the best in Bar Harbor. Acadia Natl Park was blazing! In Halifax, we had one of the best private tours EVER.... a great day of Titanic history, scenic Peggy's Cove, and good food. Overall, very enjoyable cruise. :)

[wilsonqbc]

Best time for colour is October but not too late, nothing ever changes much in September, a wee bit late September in the Gulf of St Lawrence, But almost always best time is 2nd to 3rd week of October.

[sail7seas]

Best time for colour is October but not too late, nothing ever changes much in September, a wee bit late September in the Gulf of St Lawrence, But almost always best time is 2nd to 3rd week of October.

 

How are you? Nice to see you posting. :)

 

That is true for Quebec City but not for those of us south of you in Boston and even Bar Harbor. :) Our leaves turn later but there is no way to predict which week is peak as there are so many variables.

Edited August 11, 2014 by sail7seas

[cbr663]

We're always surprised the great lengths that some people to travel for a cruise. During our Alaskan cruise in April, we met a wonderful company at the hotel who had travelled from Great Britain for their cruise. After the cruise, we were exploring Granville Island and another couple joined us at our table. We got to talking and they were from Australia and were about to get on an Alaskan cruise with Norwegian. They had travelled just for the cruise. When I asked then if they had ever taken the cruises around Australia, they replied no, it would never occur to them to do so.

 

Then again, we lived in Vancouver for years and never took an Alaskan cruise and waited until we moved east to do so. So now that we are here, we are committed to a Canada/New England cruise.

[RuthC]

So now that we are here, we are committed to a Canada/New England cruise.

My late husband's final cruise was the NE/Canada 10-day out of NYC, ending in Montreal.

He just could not understand why I wanted to take that cruise, since "We live here!".

I thought it great fun to see my home territory from a tourist's point of view. I saw things, even in nearby Newport, that I would never have noticed had I not been on that cruise. I think he had a good time, too.

[swin26]

We are looking forward to our New England Canada cruise. DH is not a beach person and would hate a Caribbean cruise. We enjoy more sight seeing and this cruise involves much shorter flights.

 

 

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[cruiserfromalabama]

Being from the deep south-we seldom have any really cool temperatures until sometimes Dec. and then that is not a given. That being said-we love to do cruises to tropical areas in the summer, but come September and October, we start wanting colder weather. We do have beautiful fall colors, but cool weather during those months-not so much(an occasional few nights here and there with a slight chill in the air). We had always wanted to do a New England/Canada cruise, so we went in late September a couple of years ago. Loved it so much and want to do it again really soon! When we do book another one, we will again go in late Sept. or Oct. People in the south tend to go to the beach in the summer and the mountains in the fall and winter.

[cormike1]

We wanted to take a short cruise in September last year just to get away as it was a long time until our March cruise. I had always wanted to sail past The Statue or Liberty...not disappointed. We didn't want to fly for hours so NY was great. And even though we are about an 8 hour drive from St. John's, NB we had never been "down East" as we say. We loved all ports, Boston, Portland, Halifax and St. John's. It was great to finally see some of our Eastern provinces and it is nice to hear other travellers like them also.

[GradUT]

I'll tell you why we chose this cruise.

 

We wanted to cruise this summer, but did not want to go all the way to Europe as we had done last year. We also wanted to get out of the South's heat (so no Caribbean) and we didn't want to be on a cruise filled with a lot of kids. We figured that families would more likely be cruising the Caribbean than Canada and that proved to be the case.

 

The Canada/New England cruise met all of our criteria and turned out to be a fabulous cruise. In fact, we want to go back to Canada now for a long driving trip because there's so much we want to see that we didn't have time for on the cruise.

[mskaufman]

I'll tell you why we chose this cruise.

 

We wanted to cruise this summer, but did not want to go all the way to Europe as we had done last year. We also wanted to get out of the South's heat (so no Caribbean) and we didn't want to be on a cruise filled with a lot of kids. We figured that families would more likely be cruising the Caribbean than Canada and that proved to be the case.

 

The Canada/New England cruise met all of our criteria and turned out to be a fabulous cruise. In fact, we want to go back to Canada now for a long driving trip because there's so much we want to see that we didn't have time for on the cruise.

 

Sounds almost exactly what we did this summer. Did not want to go all the way to Europe like last year and did not want the Caribbean. Wound up on a great cruise to Canada/NE.

[Infi]

I suppose I will be the one point of dissent on this thread. We chose to do this cruise as a B2B on the Veendam last summer. By the time we got around to planning our summer cruise, flights to Europe were cost prohibitive, so we chose Canada/NE because we had never been to the area and we enjoy sailing on the S-class ships. Honestly, it was one of most dull cruises we have ever been on. The Veendam was great and we very much enjoyed the ship, but we found there was nothing to write home about in any of the ports we visited. We went to Peggy's Cove, Anne of Green Gables house, etc. - all the major sights - and were left feeling underwhelmed. The weather was incredibly chilly, overcast, and miserable the entire trip, which didn't help matters either. The one port we enjoyed was Bar Harbor, very cute little town and Acadia was nice as well. But other than that, we were pretty let down by this cruise and would not repeat it again.

[sail7seas]

I suppose I will be the one point of dissent on this thread. We chose to do this cruise as a B2B on the Veendam last summer. By the time we got around to planning our summer cruise, flights to Europe were cost prohibitive, so we chose Canada/NE because we had never been to the area and we enjoy sailing on the S-class ships. Honestly, it was one of most dull cruises we have ever been on. The Veendam was great and we very much enjoyed the ship, but we found there was nothing to write home about in any of the ports we visited. We went to Peggy's Cove, Anne of Green Gables house, etc. - all the major sights - and were left feeling underwhelmed. The weather was incredibly chilly, overcast, and miserable the entire trip, which didn't help matters either. The one port we enjoyed was Bar Harbor, very cute little town and Acadia was nice as well. But other than that, we were pretty let down by this cruise and would not repeat it again.

 

 

 

:D Sadly, IMO, you chose the wrong tours. :eek:

 

Anne of Green Gables and Peggy's Cove would be on the bottom of my list of what to see and do on that itinerary.

 

We loved a tour we took in Halifax which taught us so much about what Bostonians consider a city with whom we have a strong connection. We had a fascinating tour guide who shared wonderful information.

 

Charlottetown is a beautiful place to visit with incredibly nice people. We toured a bit of the environs which we enjoyed but very much welcomed the education we had about the founding of Canada. We knew so little about our most wonderful neighbor and welcomed learning more.

 

Now, about the food........ I doubt you'll find better mussels or lobster anywhere!@!! Of course, if you don't care for shellfish or have an allergy, that would mean nothing.

 

How could anyone be bored in Quebec City? :eek: It is so beautiful, charming, so European.......

 

Toad........ If you havew never been to New England or Atlantic Canada, please come and see for yourself why so many of us think this a beautiful corner of the world.

 

The per diems on those cruises can be very high depending upon cabin category you book. If people are willing to pay those prices, there must be something special here.

 

[Hlitner]

I suppose I will be the one point of dissent on this thread. We chose to do this cruise as a B2B on the Veendam last summer. By the time we got around to planning our summer cruise, flights to Europe were cost prohibitive, so we chose Canada/NE because we had never been to the area and we enjoy sailing on the S-class ships. Honestly, it was one of most dull cruises we have ever been on. The Veendam was great and we very much enjoyed the ship, but we found there was nothing to write home about in any of the ports we visited. We went to Peggy's Cove, Anne of Green Gables house, etc. - all the major sights - and were left feeling underwhelmed. The weather was incredibly chilly, overcast, and miserable the entire trip, which didn't help matters either. The one port we enjoyed was Bar Harbor, very cute little town and Acadia was nice as well. But other than that, we were pretty let down by this cruise and would not repeat it again.

 

Interesting point of view. We really love most of those areas, but we never take tours or excursions. On places like Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island we simply rent a car and have a wonderful time exploring towns, countryside, etc... at our own pace. When we see bus loads of fellow cruisers being led around some places (like Peggy's Cove) we just smile and think, "Thank goodness we did not take an excursion." And another reason we avoid tours it that the food in New England and Atlantic Canada is terrific and we always want the time to enjoy some fresh lobster, lobster rolls, chowders, etc. In fact, just thinking about the food makes me want to jump in the car and drive up to Maine :).

 

Hank