Canada/New England on Grandeur in summer with kids?

[bus man]

Hi everyone,

 

DW and I have wanted to take a Canada/New England cruise for some time now, but they have only been offered in the fall, and we haven't wanted to pull our kids out of school. But I see that RCI is offering this itinerary on the Grandeur in the summer of 2016, one in late June and the other in early August.

 

For anyone who has done this before, how do you think it would be with kids? (Mine will be 10 and 8 in the summer of 2016.) We'd like there to be a decent number of other kids for ours to play with, but not so many that they overwhelm the ship. I'm not too worried about onboard activities, as this is a fairly port-intensive itinerary. And besides, last time we cruised they both loved Adventure Ocean, so I'm sure they'd enjoy it this time too.

 

I guess what I'm asking is, (1) how many other kids would there be on a summer cruise to Canada/New England? A few? Some? A lot? (2) Are elementary-aged kids likely to enjoy this itinerary? (3) Would late June be better, worse, or the same as early August? and (4) Anything else that might be helpful for me to know? Thanks!

[NEPhillyRN]

We did a NE/Canada cruise a few years ago in July. It was cold. Way too cold for anyone to swim, even the hot tubs we not really hot enough to go into. There were quite a few kids and they were allowed in the enclosed adult pool because of the cool temperatures, that helped.

 

Last summer we took our 6 kids on the Grandeur. Some had fun, some did not. The teens (12+) had a ball! they ran the ship and really had a good time being allowed out until 1am. My 8 & 9 year olds did enjoy Adventure Ocean but because the weather was nice on our cruise they wanted to swim. Which only caused a problem because our youngest was 18 months old and not allowed in the pools. My 10 year old was the the only real problem. He is a very grown up 10 year old and does not appreciate crafts and organized activities of the Adventure Ocean. He wanted to run with the teens but because he was only 10, he wasn't allowed. Had he been 11 they would have made an exception.

 

with all that said... if your kids will enjoy the Adventure Ocean then it will be a good cruise for all. NE and Canada are beautiful. Take a coat, It was colder than we expected

[buckirj1]

It won't be cold. In fact, it'll probably be pretty hot with temperatures in the 70s. Well, I think that's hot, but YMMV. Be prepared to experience lots of fog if you sail that itinerary in the summer. Eerie and beautiful at the same time. The ship's fog horn will scare the life out of you until you get used to it! I haven't sailed RCI on that itinerary in the summer, but I've done some Carnival sailings during that time frame. There were lots of children. Have fun!

[susancruzs]

If it were me, I would go for August rather than June, weather can still be iffy and might not be warm. You cannot count on the temps being in the 70s, not at all. We're talking Canada here, and June can be chilly.

[mommylove]

We will be there with two kids then 9 and 12 on the August sailing :) We are signed up for this cruise itinerary for the same reason you mentioned - New England/Canada cruise available while kids are off from school. The price seemed right too! My kids are pretty easy, but showing the port info to my oldest, she was pretty excited.

[Tony O]

I booked the August sailing of this cruise the day the itinerary was released. With DW being a school counselor it was always impossible to go during the fall because of school.

We are both excited about this cruise.

A few years ago we sailed the Enchantment in July when she had a Bermuda, Boston and Newport cruise and had a great time.

Yes it was hot and humid but then again it was July. We had no weather problems other than a typical summer thunderstorm one night in Newport.

We did have a slow speed of 10 knots when we were off the coast of Providence up to Boston due to the Mandatory Right Whale Speed Reduction Zone in effect.

I think it's a great idea that Royal decided to have a few trips north during the summer.

[kasandra1679]

I can't speak to the weather during summer, but we took my son (5) last fall on a New England / Canada trip and he had a great time. It was still reasonably nice late fall so I would hope August would be very nice. There are a lot of really cool museums and such in Canada that he enjoyed. No it wasn't full of kids - mine had very few - but it was great family fun. If you want more specifics about keeping a kid happy on this itinerary let me know.

[bus man]

I think it's a great idea that Royal decided to have a few trips north during the summer.

 

I totally agree with you. I hope it's successful and Royal keeps on doing it. But just in case it isn't, we decided to take the plunge and grab it, so we can make sure we get to do it. We're booked on the late June sailing, because even though the weather would probably be a little better in August, the June one worked better for our summer schedule.

 

We got a Panoramic Oceanview room, which will be awesome; a room with the square footage of a balcony cabin but the price of a regular oceanview! (The lack of a balcony doesn't bother me any, as I don't use them much even when I have them; but I do love the floor-to-ceiling windows in those rooms.)

[dpostman]

I live in Moncton New-Brunswick. 1hr and a half from St-John, and 2 and a half hours from Halifax. If weather and warmer temps are important for you, the early August has way better odds of having dry warm weather. June will probably be nice during the peak daytime but evenings will likely be chilly and any ocean water beaches will be practically unbearable. Also we get more rainy days in June. Ocean waters in August are nice and warm and we get more dry sunny days in the last 2 weeks of July and first 2 weeks of august.

 

dp

Edited June 9, 2015 by dpostman

[bubba83]

I totally agree with you. I hope it's successful and Royal keeps on doing it. But just in case it isn't, we decided to take the plunge and grab it, so we can make sure we get to do it. We're booked on the late June sailing, because even though the weather would probably be a little better in August, the June one worked better for our summer schedule.

 

We got a Panoramic Oceanview room, which will be awesome; a room with the square footage of a balcony cabin but the price of a regular oceanview! (The lack of a balcony doesn't bother me any, as I don't use them much even when I have them; but I do love the floor-to-ceiling windows in those rooms.)

 

 

Which POV room did you get? We are in 8037 in April and I am super excited for the extra space and large window, I haven't been in a room with a view of the ocean before. If you could maybe take some pics and share for us to see :D

 

enjoy your vacation!

[serene56]

August is hurricane season. If sailing for those ports is the reason how disappointed will you be if the ship sails elsewhere?

[dpostman]

August is hurricane season. If sailing for those ports is the reason how disappointed will you be if the ship sails elsewhere?

 

Technically you are right. Since Hurricane season starts June 1st until end of November. But practically, we don't get many hurricanes in early August. Usually it is mid september to end of October is the peak time. I'm not saying that it is not possible, (Hurricane Arthur, Last year - 2014) just not very likely.

 

dp

[bus man]

Which POV room did you get? We are in 8037 in April and I am super excited for the extra space and large window, I haven't been in a room with a view of the ocean before. If you could maybe take some pics and share for us to see :D

 

enjoy your vacation!

 

We're in 7084 on the Grandeur. And we're very excited too. We've paid the money for balcony rooms before, because we want the extra space in the room (family of 4 = tight quarters!) and the huge window to enjoy the view. But we actually make very little use of the balcony itself, so I don't care that we won't be getting one. We are anticipating that, for us, the Panoramic Oceanview will be the perfect room type.

 

FYI, we will be sailing in June of next year (2016), so you will have seen this room type before I will. So I'll turn your request back to you, and ask if you would take some pics! :)

[bus man]

I live in Moncton New-Brunswick. 1hr and a half from St-John, and 2 and a half hours from Halifax. If weather and warmer temps are important for you, the early August has way better odds of having dry warm weather. June will probably be nice during the peak daytime but evenings will likely be chilly and any ocean water beaches will be practically unbearable. Also we get more rainy days in June. Ocean waters in August are nice and warm and we get more dry sunny days in the last 2 weeks of July and first 2 weeks of august.

 

dp

 

I'm not surprised to hear this. August would have probably been a better bet, but because we have another activity we would like to do that month, we defaulted to June. At least, it's LATE June; we'll be at St. John on the 28th and Halifax on the 29th. So hopefully that will help.

 

I'm not a beach person, so it won't matter to me if the ocean water is too cold.

 

 

August is hurricane season. If sailing for those ports is the reason how disappointed will you be if the ship sails elsewhere?

 

I'm very eager to see Bar Harbor and Halifax. The other ports I'm looking forward to as well, but not as much. Needless to say, I'll be disappointed if I miss any of them, but especially the first two I listed. But I do understand that port calls are never guaranteed.

 

I would think that late June would probably be a pretty good compromise between decent weather and hurricane risk (or lack thereof). At least I'm hoping so.

[bubba83]

I will be sure to take pics of the room :)

[dpostman]

At least, it's LATE June; we'll be at St. John on the 28th and Halifax on the 29th. So hopefully that will help.

 

I'm very eager to see Bar Harbor and Halifax.

 

You could still end up with very nice weather for sure.

 

If you are into Craft Beer, the Halifax port has Garrison Brewing right there on the pier. http://www.garrisonbrewing.com/

 

It smells awesome in there and their beers are truly spectacular.

 

Lots of History in Halifax.

 

dp

[bus man]

You could still end up with very nice weather for sure.

 

If you are into Craft Beer, the Halifax port has Garrison Brewing right there on the pier. http://www.garrisonbrewing.com/

 

It smells awesome in there and their beers are truly spectacular.

 

Lots of History in Halifax.

 

dp

 

I'm not into craft beers, but I certainly do appreciate the suggestion.

 

We're planning on visiting the Maritime Museum, as I am very interested in the Titanic. I've also thought about visiting Fairview Cemetery, though I'm not sure the family would go for that. Any other ideas for a family with young kids (10 and 8) during our visit?

 

Also, any suggestions for St. John? I would love to see the tidal differences at the Bay of Fundy, but I don't know if we'd be able to do that during a single-day visit, nor do I know where to go to see the biggest differences between high and low tides.

[Clipper123]

If it were me, I would go for August rather than June, weather can still be iffy and might not be warm. You cannot count on the temps being in the 70s, not at all. We're talking Canada here, and June can be chilly.

 

Yes, Canadians live in igloos so there is no way it can be in the 70s, not at all!!!! :rolleyes:

[T.O.cruisers]

Yes, Canadians live in igloos so there is no way it can be in the 70s, not at all!!!! :rolleyes:

 

It's sunny and 75 degrees in Toronto right now. All the igloos are gone now. Summer is beautiful up here in Canada.

[Clipper123]

It's sunny and 75 degrees in Toronto right now. All the igloos are gone now. Summer is beautiful up here in Canada.

 

LOL yes, I know that. I'm in Canada at the moment. Here in Ontario where I am it is 31 degrees Celsius today (which is 88 degrees American). Gets up in the 60s F. and beyond often here in June!!!

Edited June 10, 2015 by Clipper123