Would appreciate any info on Baie-Comeau and Saint Pierre and Miquelon

[Turtles06]

We've just booked our first Canada/NE cruise, a 12-nighter on HAL from Boston to Quebec City next September.  Many of the ports are frequently visited (e.g., Halifax), but there are a few that I think make this a rather less common (and thus special!) itinerary, and thus there's less information around about those ports.  In particular, I would very much appreciate any recommendations and advice folks may have about Saint Pierre and Miquelon, as well as Baie-Comeau.  There's not a great deal here on CC recently about either; I will of course be looking at Trip Advisor and other sources, but I wanted to ask here as well of course.  

 

Thanks for any information!

[ellieanne]

My visit to St. Pierre et Miquelon was years ago, so any information I may have would be completely outdated. My visit was on a day that was a French national holiday, so many things were closed or open only limited hours. But even so, it was one of THE BEST cruise ship stops I have ever made and I would love to go back and see more of the town. I walked from the dock to the town, but there was also an option to take a tender into town. I took the tender back to the ship as the walk in had resulted in a blister that made walking uncomfortable.

 

Baie-Comeau was a lovely town. It was bitterly cold the day I was there, but I still loved the tour I took - The World's Largest Shell Valley & The Garden of Glaciers. There was supposed to be some scenic stops as well, but it was cold and rainy by the time that part of the tour came up so we just did a highlights of Baie-Comeau on the way back to the ship. Highlights of Baie-Comeau include the childhood home of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. But it really is a lovely town, and I am so glad I have the opportunity to stop there.

 

I found both St. Pierre et Miquelon and Baie-Comeau to by like other small, more rural towns in Quebec in that they are far more likely to speak French exclusively, so a working knowledge of the French language is helpful.

 

Enjoy your stops! Just a note, I have tried booking similar Holland America cruises in the past couple of years and the really nice itineraries that feature the unusual stops in Quebec, Newfoundland, and St. Pierre et Miquelon have been cancelled. My fingers are crossed that you get to go on this itinerary.

[LHT28]

I  have not been there for many year  but as noted above  it is French speak island   they take Euro

the  tourism website has lots of good info

http://www.spm-tourisme.fr/

 

we enjoyed walking around the  town

[Turtles06]

10 hours ago, ellieanne said:

...  Enjoy your stops! Just a note, I have tried booking similar Holland America cruises in the past couple of years and the really nice itineraries that feature the unusual stops in Quebec, Newfoundland, and St. Pierre et Miquelon have been cancelled. My fingers are crossed that you get to go on this itinerary.

 

Thank you so much for your reply and info, which makes me even more excited about this trip.  (We will be there on a Sunday, when I've read that most shops will be closed, so it might be akin to your experience there.)

 

When you say those itineraries have been cancelled, what do you mean?  After they had been released for sale, or the ports were missed [weather, etc.], or they haven't been offered, or something else?   The cruise we are booked on is for this coming September, and has been on sale for quite some time, perhaps a year...  Just trying to understand; thanks again!

Edited December 13, 2018 by Turtles06

[Turtles06]

45 minutes ago, LHT28 said:

I  have not been there for many year  but as noted above  it is French speak island   they take Euro

the  tourism website has lots of good info

http://www.spm-tourisme.fr/

 

we enjoyed walking around the  town

 

Thanks very much!   And yes, I know about the currency; fortunately, we have some Euro from our last trip to mainland Europe!  

 

Neither my wife nor I speak French.  We have managed satisfactorily on our trips to France by knowing important phrases, being polite and courteous, and never assuming people speak English (even when they do).  Hopefully, that will work here!   🙂

 

Edited December 13, 2018 by Turtles06

[LHT28]

1 minute ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Thanks very much!   And yes, I know about the currency; fortunately, we have some Euro from our last trip to mainland Europe!  

 

Neither my wife nor I speak French.  We have managed satisfactorily on our trips to France by knowing important phrases, being polite and courteous, and never assuming people speak English (even when they do).  Hopefully, that will work here!   🙂

 

We will be there on a Sunday, when I've read most shops will be closed.  But I'm still looking forward to the visit.

That was the problem we had  it was Sunday  some Restaurants were open   & be sure  to walk to the cemetery  it is like NOLA  where the bury above ground 

I sure  they speak some English  & you will do fine  😉

 

In Sept  there  may be  storms  so missing ports  can be a problem

Enjoy

[ellieanne]

6 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Thank you so much for your reply and info, which makes me even more excited about this trip.  (We will be there on a Sunday, when I've read that most shops will be closed, so it might be akin to your experience there.)

 

When you say those itineraries have been cancelled, what do you mean?  After they had been released for sale, or the ports were missed [weather, etc.], or they haven't been offered, or something else?   The cruise we are booked on is for this coming September, and has been on sale for quite some time, perhaps a year...  Just trying to understand; thanks again!

 

In the past couple of years, HAL cancelled the Canada/New England cruises with itineraries that included smaller cities along the St. Lawrence in Quebec, St. Pierre et Miquelon, and Newfoundland. They moved the ships to other areas and completely changed the itineraries. People had booked the cruises and made plans and WHAMMO, HAL cancelled the delightful itinerary that people booked and substituted either the usual Boston-to-Montreal-and-back cruises or moved the ship to the Mediterranean.

 

The practice of cancelling the 2018 and 2019 advertised itineraries that included those stops that I would love to visit has made me gun-shy about booking the really nice looking Canada/New England cruises right now. I'll see how these nice itineraries go before I make 2020 plans.

[Turtles06]

43 minutes ago, ellieanne said:

 

In the past couple of years, HAL cancelled the Canada/New England cruises with itineraries that included smaller cities along the St. Lawrence in Quebec, St. Pierre et Miquelon, and Newfoundland. They moved the ships to other areas and completely changed the itineraries. People had booked the cruises and made plans and WHAMMO, HAL cancelled the delightful itinerary that people booked and substituted either the usual Boston-to-Montreal-and-back cruises or moved the ship to the Mediterranean.

 

The practice of cancelling the 2018 and 2019 advertised itineraries that included those stops that I would love to visit has made me gun-shy about booking the really nice looking Canada/New England cruises right now. I'll see how these nice itineraries go before I make 2020 plans.

 

Thanks for the explanation.  I'm sure those cancellations caused a big headache for people already booked, especially if other things like airfare had been purchased.  Obviously, I hope that doesn't happen here!    

 

Thanks again.

Edited December 13, 2018 by Turtles06

[Turtles06]

The January 13, 2019 "Sunday Morning" on CBS had an interesting segment about Saint Pierre and Miquelon, which can be seen here (and there are some resource links at the bottom of the page as well):

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/saint-pierre-and-miquelon-an-authentic-taste-of-france-on-the-western-shores-of-the-atlantic/