August 27th Cruise to Canada/New England on Liberty

[jude8]

Hi is a smartie :) He's 29 years old and a real OCD planner like me. Our goal is to have many lobster rolls (and probably other seafood as well) and Holy Donuts.

 

 

 

I put your directions in my cell phone, so we're READY now. I can't wait for our cruise on the 24th. Thank you, thank you for the wonderful information :)

 

 

 

 

 

My big concern now is temperature. We live in South Florida. That says it all, right?

 

 

We live in Orlando so I understand on the weather! But I am sure it will be beautiful.

[LynnAB]

We live in Orlando so I understand on the weather! But I am sure it will be beautiful.

 

 

I agree. I'm hoping for my son to see fall foliage colors, but that's unpredictable. I grew up in NY many, many years ago, so I've seen the gorgeous colors, but he hasn't.

[msocen]

Sounds like a smartie! You will love them.

 

You are going to get off the ship at India and Commercial Rte 1A. For us we turned headed left down Commercial until Pearl Street to avoid the tourists. Most passengers stayed on Commercial. We turned right on Pearl and walked one block up to Fore Street. We then turned left on Fore and walked until Exchange Street. It is on the right up the hill on Exchange Street. It was about 10 minute walk at most. We had to wait about 10-15 min in the line.

 

Wonderful Review!!! We are on the same cruise as Lynn and we also want to try the donuts, and check out some bookstores! Did the ship port right next to a fishing pier and ferry area? We are on the Sept. 24th cruise also. Soon we get to experience this! Our first stop is Portland, no St. John, and Boston is our last stop, where we are headed to the aquarium! Thanks for the directions to the donut shop!

 

Looking forward to more of the review!

Edited September 8, 2015 by msocen

[fdthird]

Thanks for the great review. Our son is part of the entertainment staff on the Liberty and had a great first trip north. I'm going to send him a link to your review so he can get some tips for future cruises to Canada before they reposition to Galveston in November. Looking forward to the rest...l

[dbancroft]

I agree. I'm hoping for my son to see fall foliage colors, but that's unpredictable. I grew up in NY many, many years ago, so I've seen the gorgeous colors, but he hasn't.

 

Sorry to bust in but Lynn the hurricane cruise in 1979 was that hurricane david and frederick? My wife and bff were also on a hurricane cruise in 1979 that ran from hurricanes all week long.

[LynnAB]

Sorry to bust in but Lynn the hurricane cruise in 1979 was that hurricane david and frederick? My wife and bff were also on a hurricane cruise in 1979 that ran from hurricanes all week long.

 

 

Hi, Dave,

 

 

Yessssss, that's the cruise I was on. Song of Norway, running from the hurricanes? Is that the one your wife was on????? It was a wild but amazingly fun week. I'd love to reminisce with her :)

Edited September 8, 2015 by LynnAB

[seeshore]

Thanks for all the great info Jude8!

[Buckeye Cruisers]

We can't wait to read more. You write so nice. We will be on the Sept. 24

trip north. We can't wait.

[Russ Lomas]

Enjoying reading your review. I was hoping to have been on this sailing with family and friends, but there was a single day in the middle of the cruise that I could not get off work, so we were not able to make it this year. I am considering doing it in the future and your review makes me want to experience it even more now.

 

I was wondering if you ever went by the flowrider when it was running. If so, could you tell me how busy the lines were for stand up riding if you saw them? I was thinking it would not have been very busy with the overall age of the passengers on this cruise from what I have read in another thread.

[uncleboo]

HI thanks for the review

do you have any menus to post please thanks

[TotallyAngelic]

This is absolutely brilliant - thanks so much for sharing. We are also on the 24th Sept cruise ( hi everybody !! ) and so excited for our first Royal Caribbean and first New England trip. The ports sound fantastic. Absolutely can't wait now. :D:D:D

[Jolie_Cruiser]

Thank you for your review. I have done the "northern" Canada N/E itinerary several times but have never seen Saint John or Portland.

[msocen]

Thanks for the great review. Our son is part of the entertainment staff on the Liberty and had a great first trip north. I'm going to send him a link to your review so he can get some tips for future cruises to Canada before they reposition to Galveston in November. Looking forward to the rest...l

 

That is so cool, that your son works on the ship! I am sailing in 15 days...yyyeeesssss...what does he do, what kind of entertainment? Does he enjoy living on the ship? where is he from?

[LynnAB]

It seems like our 9/24 group is getting super excited. I can't wait either :)

[jude8]

Wonderful Review!!! We are on the same cruise as Lynn and we also want to try the donuts, and check out some bookstores! Did the ship port right next to a fishing pier and ferry area? We are on the Sept. 24th cruise also. Soon we get to experience this! Our first stop is Portland, no St. John, and Boston is our last stop, where we are headed to the aquarium! Thanks for the directions to the donut shop!

 

Looking forward to more of the review!

 

Thank you so much. Yes in Portland, you are right next to the fishing pier so it was so easy to get on and off.

[jude8]

Thanks for the great review. Our son is part of the entertainment staff on the Liberty and had a great first trip north. I'm going to send him a link to your review so he can get some tips for future cruises to Canada before they reposition to Galveston in November. Looking forward to the rest...l

 

That is really cool.

[jude8]

Enjoying reading your review. I was hoping to have been on this sailing with family and friends, but there was a single day in the middle of the cruise that I could not get off work, so we were not able to make it this year. I am considering doing it in the future and your review makes me want to experience it even more now.

 

I was wondering if you ever went by the flowrider when it was running. If so, could you tell me how busy the lines were for stand up riding if you saw them? I was thinking it would not have been very busy with the overall age of the passengers on this cruise from what I have read in another thread.

 

We went by the flowrider but it was at night. I imagine it was not crowded at all given the passengers and it was freezing one at sea and chilly the other but I am from Florida so it may be warm to others!!

[jude8]

Day Seven, At Sea

 

Today the ship was at sea and it is formal night.

 

We ate in the MDR for breakfast and it was yummy. We then just strolled around the ship. We attended the morning TV trivia hosted by Dru, CD and it was packed to the gills! My husband and I realized that we were TV junkies because we got almost all of them right.

 

One thing we noticed on this ship on day 7 was the sitting areas outside viewing was really limited other than the Olive or Twist. So for us having a promenade room, we felt a little trapped because it was too cold to sit outside and the Olive or Twist was often full. We really wanted to be able to view the sea!

 

Because it was really cold outside on this day at sea, no one was around the pool. All of the pool events were cancelled. As a result, all of the inside lounges, the royal promenade and the scheduled activities were slammed.

 

In the afternoon, we attended the ICE Show and it was really good. My husband liked the ICE shows on the Allure better but I thought it was beautiful and the music fabulous. Anytime you play music from Phantom of the Opera, you have won me over :D

 

TIP: Arrive at all of the shows 10-15 minutes early because they were really full and reservations could not be made. I think the later shows were less crowded.

 

We had dinner reservations at Portofino in the evening. The maître d’ met with us the day before as we were snooping at the menu and said he could accommodate my allergy with no issues so I was excited to be there. The food and the service was fabulous. I was really pleased because we had our same server from the mystery dinner and she was wonderful. We both had two appetizers (yes, I was hungry after some plain food my previous nights). We both had a caesar salad and my DH had the pate with crostinis and I had the beef carpaccio. For our entrees, my husband had the osso bucco and I had the veal saltimobocca. Then our server brought out a special gf dessert for me!!! We were both full! Afterward, we went to the Schooner Bar to listen to Manoelito.

 

As a sidenote, all of the musicians were really good throughout the cruise. I highly recommend making a point to see all of them in your free time on the cruise.

 

We then finished off the night with adult late night comedy with Don Gavin. It was only 30 minutes and we wanted more!!! He was hilarious.

Day 7, Cruise Compass 1-2.pdf

Day 7, Cruise Compass 3-4.pdf

Edited September 9, 2015 by jude8

[jude8]

Day 8, Halifax

 

Today we decided to get room service so we could get an early start. It was very easy getting off the ship. We had no wait at all and they had two gangways which helped.

 

We rented from the Hertz car rental that was right at the port on Marginal Road. It was a 2 minute walk once you were outside. I was ecstatic it was so close. Then it happened. We got there and they had no cars there! Two families were ahead of us. That morning, Hertz only had one car at the site. We all had reservations too. In addition, there are 4000 passengers getting off the ship and some may want a car. It was very strange. We had to wait about 20 minutes before they brought our car from the Marriott in town.

 

Anyway, we then headed out of town. We wanted to beat all the ship excursion groups to Peggy’s Cove!!! We got there and some of the groups were already there but it did not affect the beauty of this place! We did not stay long because we had other stops to make in our final destination.

 

Well, I will admit it. I am a huge Haven fan, a show on Syfy and they filmed a number of scenes there! So because of it, I was determined to get to Lunenburg and of course it is also a UNESCO site (really more for Haven!)

 

So on our way to Lunenburg we drove along the coast and stopped at Mahone Bay which was a cute picturesque town. My DH had to of course get some donuts at Tim Horton’s on our trip as well.

 

We got to Lunenburg. I hated that our time was limited because it was a beautiful little city. We drove around and did stop in a few shops. This is another place I would like to come back and spend more time. We grabbed a quick lunch at The Savvy Sailor. My husband had haddock chowder and salt cod cakes and I ate whole bowl of fresh steamed mussels with garlic and white wine! The restaurant is right on the water. I highly recommend it if you make the trip!

 

On the way back, we drove through Chester. It was okay but I would not recommend stopping given the limited time.

 

We dropped the car off and got back to the ship around 3:45.

 

We went back to the room and took a nap and got ready for the early show and dinner in the MDR.

 

The show was vocal entertainer, Bobby Arvon. Meh. We left early. It was not that he was bad. We just are not into the rock around the clock kind of music. I was hoping he was going to be more Frank Sinatra/Tony Bennett but it was not, at least for the time we were there.

 

The menu was the Jasmine Menu. My husband I thought the menu was a little sad when you are offering spinach dip as an appetizer and Chinese dumplings for an entrée. Either way, we both had good meals and I was happy to have my old RCCL MDR food back :) I had the rack of lamb and they brought out two gravy boats of sauces for me (one for the lamb and one for the vegetables). I was not sure whether to be insulted or not but I thought they were trying to be helpful (I try to be positive). My DH had dumplings which he said was good.

 

Then it is another favorite. The Quest. All I am going to say is it is always fun, interesting and you may get to see some nakedness! It is not for kids! The cruise director, Dru was really good coordinating the groups and made it highly entertaining.

 

It was another great day!

Day 8, Cruise Compass 1-2.pdf

Day 8, Cruise Compass 3-4.pdf

[jude8]

Day 9, Sea Day

 

The last day we always have conflicting feelings. We are sad to end our vacation but we miss home but we don’t want to go back to work.

 

We woke up and had a reservation in Chops to eat steak and eggs. We could not go and eat that much food. We had reached our piggy limit and did not want to spend the money. We went to MDR instead. LOL.

 

In the morning, there was absolutely nothing that we wanted to do. We have done the art auctions a ton and the trivia was on the Friends tv show which did not really appeal to us either. So we went back to the room to start to pack and took a nap.

 

We woke up and headed to Johnny Rockets for a late lunch. We did not end up eating our food because the server accidentally served me a regular hamburger bun and I was poisoned. I should have known because the bun tasted too good to be gluten free. In addition, it was disorganized and the food service area did not seem clean. One of the staff’s arms were in the ice cream as she was making the shakes. I probably wouldn’t have cared but for we were sitting at the bar and could see it all. I guess ignorance is bliss.

 

The cruise offered an additional showing of Saturday Night Fever because the other times had been really full. We thought that was a nice gesture.

 

Unfortunately, there was not a whole lot else going on for us to attend.

We just read and watched some TV for a bit. Then we walked around all of the ship taking photos. The Liberty artwork was really fascinating. Each floor has a different theme. We were on the sixth floor that had a sci fi/fantasy theme. If you have the time, it is really cool to check out each floor and the artwork. Some of it is interactive.

 

We went to our last meal of the cruise :( The menu was the Pomodoro. My DH had the New York strip and I had the tandoori chicken salad. Both were great. We were sad to say goodbye to our servers, Sushant and Omkar.

We had to pick between the Evening of Guitars or the Game Show: 60 Seconds or Less. We went with the game show but I wished I had gone with the music. It was not bad but the staff had difficulty getting participants to be involved with a game that was really interactive.

 

We headed to bed for the last time and headed home the next day.

After our number was called, we were off the ship and in a cab within 30 minutes.

 

TIP: The taxis/shuttles at the port only take cash.

 

We were at the airport by 9:00 a.m.

Day 9, Cruise Compass 1-2.pdf

Day 9, Cruise Compass 3-4.pdf

[jude8]

Overall Thoughts

 

We had a great time on this itinerary. We did not have a bad port.

 

I would not stay in an inside cabin on this class of ship for colder itineraries. There are not enough sitting areas with views of the ocean.

 

Go to the RCCL production shows. They were excellent. Plan to get to the shows early because there are no reservations. The later shows are less crowded. Get to the activities early because if it is cold out on the pool deck everyone is inside going to them.

 

With three sea days, they need to have more activities that are more than just liquor/wine tasting, art auctions or bingo. I was surprised there were no culinary demonstrations, ice sculpting, etc. (we did not see the executive chef at all this cruise which was surprising).

 

My husband thought his food was overall good; my gluten free food was terrible until I complained which I don’t like doing especially on vacation. Portofino was excellent including the mystery dinner event.

 

We thought the service throughout the ship was excellent in the dining, bars and lounges and our stateroom attendant. We always tipped well which also helps (especially if you want a friendly pour of your favorite beverage).

 

I hope this helps everyone. I will be glad to answer any other questions.

[jude8]

HI thanks for the review

do you have any menus to post please thanks

 

I don't have the menu but I did list what menu of the night when we attended dinner in the MDR. You can google and find images of the menu because they are posted everywhere. I did take some photos of the drink menus.

[dbancroft]

Hi, Dave,

 

 

Yessssss, that's the cruise I was on. Song of Norway, running from the hurricanes? Is that the one your wife was on????? It was a wild but amazingly fun week. I'd love to reminisce with her :)

 

Yes she was on that cruise it was her first ever cruise and i was in florida waiting for the ship to dock and did not find out till afternoon that it was coming in a day late. I was picking them up and we were going to ft lauderdale for a couple of days. She used the next cruise certificate that she was given and booked her next cruise when she got home.

[2005pony]

Great review! Thanks for posting/sharing

[LynnAB]

Yes she was on that cruise it was her first ever cruise and i was in florida waiting for the ship to dock and did not find out till afternoon that it was coming in a day late. I was picking them up and we were going to ft lauderdale for a couple of days. She used the next cruise certificate that she was given and booked her next cruise when she got home.

 

 

I loved having that extra day :)

 

Did you wife enjoy the cruise? I absolutely loved the excitement...once we got past the first night, which was kind of scary.