HAL Canada/New England shore excursions

[Fouremco]

11 minutes ago, sail7seas said:

  It also is  near where ship docks though we did not walk there..

"Near" is veryy subjective. For those not familiar with Halifax, the cemetery is a 6 km walk from the cruise terminal.

[sail7seas]

Thanks...  Yup, that

at IS near  🙂

 

 

 

Edited January 5, 2019 by sail7seas

[Fouremco]

12 minutes ago, sail7seas said:

Thanks...  Yup, that

at IS near  🙂

 

 

 

LOL. A few years ago, that would have been a short run. Now it's a short taxi ride! 

[Turtles06]

We found Halifax to be very DIY friendly.  Even if you want to go out to Peggy's Cove, and stop at the Fairview Lawn ("Titanic") Cemetery on your way back to town, their are taxis with fixed rates outside the cruise terminal.  You can walk pretty much everywhere you'll want to go in Halifax itself (though the Citadel is on top of a very steep hill and you might want to take a taxi up, depending on your mobility).   

 

 

 

 

[JeanieCM]

     We loved our Atlantic Coast Cruise! 

 

     While you could indeed sightsee on your own in Quebec,

we enjoyed having a wonderful guide who regaled us with lots of history of the city.  In Halifax, we took a

horse trolley tour; however, we then walked back through the city to explore on our own for several hours.  The

Immigration Museum is NOT to be missed!  

 

     

[ellieanne]

On 1/5/2019 at 12:20 PM, Alberta Quilter said:

Can anyone offer comments about St. Pierre & Miquelon or Baie Comeau?  Our Sep/19 cruise includes both stops.  While HAL has shorex posted for the other ports, they do not have any for these two.  I realize it could still be a little too early but I'm wondering if HAL will offer ANY shorex at these two stops since they are rare port stops.  If that's the case, then I'll increase my efforts at private tours/DIY options.  

 

And before someone comments, someone from the roll call already asked about touring options for these two ports in the ports forum.  My question is more HAL specific.

 

I went to St. Pierre et Miquelon years ago own a HAL cruise. It was a lovely little town, but nowhere near ready for prime time cruise visits. It was also a French National holiday, so many things were closed completely or only open until noon. I walked into town from the ship's dock, but took advantage of the ship's tendering service to get back, as I had gotten a blister on the walk in. In town I found a lovely patisserie and indulged in some goodies & a bottle for water. I also found the tourist bureau to ask where the post office was, but they told me the post office was closed, though the really nice lady working there sold me the single stamp I needed to mail a post card. It was a great little town, and most of it turned out on at the pier to see the ship off -- as the ship blew it's horn, the townspeople responded with their car horns. It was a really fun call-and-response send off. I'm sure many things have changed since my visit, but I would love to go back. Ohh, having a supply of Euros for small purchases was much appreciated by the locals.

 

Baie Comeau was another great stop. My father did the ship's excursion to the Hydro-Electric Plant and really enjoyed it. I did the ship's Garden of Glaciers and World's Largest Shell Valley. It was excellent and really interesting. It was cold, grey, and rainy when we were there, and my excursion was supposed to have some time for shopping at the end, but the shop[ping district was all open air on the main street and the bus opted to take a tour of the city's highlights instead. One of the highlights I remember most was the childhood home of former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney.

 

I think both places are well worth the visit, but there were many people on the cruises when I visited that were unimpressed and would have preferred those stops to be dropped and replaced with other places. I hope you enjoy the stops, bearing in mind that they are small towns and may not be as ready for cruise ship visits as some people would like.

[Carol28]

Please tell me the name of the shoe shop in Charlottestown!

 

[Fouremco]

3 minutes ago, Carol28 said:

Please tell me the name of the shoe shop in Charlottestown!

 

Can you be more specific, as there are many shoe stores there? A quick search in Google would probably enable you to identify the store more quickly.

[sprockie]

It's Charlottetown PEI.

[Carol28]

18 minutes ago, Fouremco said:

Can you be more specific, as there are many shoe stores there? A quick search in Google would probably enable you to identify the store more quickly.

Earlier on this page, someone mentioned a shoe store in Charlottetown, Pei, so I just wanted to know the name.  If it's worth mentioning on this site, then I want to know it's name.

[Fouremco]

3 minutes ago, Carol28 said:

Earlier on this page, someone mentioned a shoe store in Charlottetown, Pei, so I just wanted to know the name.  If it's worth mentioning on this site, then I want to know it's name.

Sorry, Carol, I missed that earlier reference.

 

If you reply to OlsSalt's post, she'll get a notification. Otherwise, she may not return to this thread and see your question.

[Turtles06]

I hope the OP doesn't mind some of us piggy-backing on this thread to ask questions about other ports.

 

In Corner Brook, has anyone done the HAL excursion to Gros Morne National Park?   It's a long drive, and I'm trying to assess whether the time spent at the Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, will be worth the trip.  

 

Any other suggestions re Corner Brook?   

 

Thanks!

[OlsSalt]

SHOE STORE: Glad I caught my mistake - the great European shoe store on the NE cruise is in Sydney, Nova Scotia ...on Charlotte Street (not Charlottestown PEI)  

 

The Shoe Tree:  http://www.riekerbytheshoetree.com Walkable from the port, though slightly uphill.

Edited January 7, 2019 by OlsSalt

[ellieanne]

33 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

I hope the OP doesn't mind some of us piggy-backing on this thread to ask questions about other ports.

 

In Corner Brook, has anyone done the HAL excursion to Gros Morne National Park?   It's a long drive, and I'm trying to assess whether the time spent at the Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, will be worth the trip.  

 

Any other suggestions re Corner Brook?   

 

Thanks!

 

I took THE BEST nature walk tour from HAL ever in Corner Brook. The guide was excellent, the scenery was beautiful, and overall it was a peaceful, restful experience. We saw all kinds of things, including a salmon ladder, which I thought were only on the West Coast! We were there in October, during the peak of leaf color season. It was such a great experience.

[Cruising-along]

50 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

I hope the OP doesn't mind some of us piggy-backing on this thread to ask questions about other ports.

 

In Corner Brook, has anyone done the HAL excursion to Gros Morne National Park?   It's a long drive, and I'm trying to assess whether the time spent at the Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, will be worth the trip.  

 

Any other suggestions re Corner Brook?   

 

Thanks!

The Corner Brook Stream Trail is something easily done on your own, and happens to be the #1 thing to do in Corner Brook according to Trip Advisor.  It's a peaceful and beautiful walk, we enjoyed just taking our time on our own schedule.  

[Carol28]

Is there a way to save this post so I can refer back to it in a few months? We're going up there in October and it's too early to focus on this right now for me. It has great info.

[kazu]

25 minutes ago, Carol28 said:

Is there a way to save this post so I can refer back to it in a few months? We're going up there in October and it's too early to focus on this right now for me. It has great info.

 

You can email this thread to yourself so you have the link

 

or book mark it or

 

You could print off the posts that you found helpful or

 

If you are using an Ipad download it to your Ipad.

[Turtles06]

28 minutes ago, kazu said:

You can email this thread to yourself so you have the link

 

 

Exactly. I regularly do that with threads that contain information that I know I’ll want to be able to access in the future.  I save the emails in various subject matter folders I’ve created in my inbox for this purpose. 

[Turtles06]

9 hours ago, Cruising-along said:

The Corner Brook Stream Trail is something easily done on your own, and happens to be the #1 thing to do in Corner Brook according to Trip Advisor.  It's a peaceful and beautiful walk, we enjoyed just taking our time on our own schedule.  

 

Thank you!

[Turtles06]

9 hours ago, ellieanne said:

 

I took THE BEST nature walk tour from HAL ever in Corner Brook. The guide was excellent, the scenery was beautiful, and overall it was a peaceful, restful experience. We saw all kinds of things, including a salmon ladder, which I thought were only on the West Coast! We were there in October, during the peak of leaf color season. It was such a great experience.

 

Thank you! By any chance, was this the Corner Brook Stream Trail referred to in the post after yours?

[Carol28]

2 hours ago, kazu said:

 

You can email this thread to yourself so you have the link

 

or book mark it or

 

You could print off the posts that you found helpful or

 

If you are using an Ipad download it to your Ipad.

Thank you for your help.  I needed to see the word 'link' and realized what to do. First, I looked all over the page for an email icon!  

In Bar Harbor we always have a lobster lunch at Testa's and blueberry pie for dessert!  Right next to Testa's (in the middle of town) is the bus stop to Acadia.

[Fouremco]

12 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

I hope the OP doesn't mind some of us piggy-backing on this thread to ask questions about other ports.

 

In Corner Brook, has anyone done the HAL excursion to Gros Morne National Park?   It's a long drive, and I'm trying to assess whether the time spent at the Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, will be worth the trip.  

 

Any other suggestions re Corner Brook?   

 

Thanks!

Gros Morne National Park is a spectacular area to visit. We spent the better part of a week exploring it a few years ago, and in 2017 spent three days revisiting some of our favourite spots. As you've noted, however, half of your available time will be spent driving to and from the Park. As much as we love Gros Morne, your time might be better spent exploring in the Corner Brook area.

 

If you are still keen on going to Gros Morne, I'd suggest that you rent a car and drive. You can then establish your own itinerary and decide which of the two major areas to visit, either the Rocky Harbour/Norris Point region or the Woody Point/Tablelands region. Driving time to each is the same, about 1.5 hours. If I had to choose, I'd probably go with the Tablelands, starting with the Discovery Centre.

 

There's lots of information on the internet on things to see and do, but you might want to start with the park's very informative website: https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/nl/grosmorne

[Cruising-along]

3 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Thank you! By any chance, was this the Corner Brook Stream Trail referred to in the post after yours?

Not Ellieanne, but it could very well be.  I know they had a HAL excursion going to there.  We chose to do it on our own because it's so easy and this way we could take our time, stop where we wanted to, and take more or less time as we wanted. 

[ellieanne]

13 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Thank you! By any chance, was this the Corner Brook Stream Trail referred to in the post after yours?

 

Looking at the map on the website, very probably. HAL advertised it as a "Nature Walk" with no information as to the real name of the path/route taken. We started out by university housing and finished about 6 blocks from the ship's dock. It was a winding path that took us past the stream in several places and around town, with a stop for oatcakes and tea, as well as a talk about the history of Corner Brook.  If something similar is offered, I would definitely book it again! It was beautiful. I still have the photos I took as part of my screen saver/computer wallpaper even though I have been on many other cruises and to many other places since.

[rotjeknor]

All,

 

There is a roll call for this particular cruise in April, maybe it would be best if you post answers and questions here :  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2597546-zaandam-april-24-2019/

 

Thanks,

Jaap