New England/Canada Cruises - Your Experiences and Thoughts

[JDPCruisers]

38 minutes ago, CruisinShips said:

We visited Quebec City as a part of a land tour last year...one of my favorite places.

Thanks. Good to hear you enjoyed. Did you stop in anywhere to eat, any recommendations?

[rj59]

You might look at the HAL Volendam, which is small enough to go all the way to Montreal, which also seems to have cheaper airfares. It only carries up to 1400 passengers and has a wraparound promenade by the water and covered Lido pool, so I think it's fairly ideal for colder weather with good natural scenery. Likewise, there's Zaandam doing Alaska now, r/t from Vancouver, and it gets into Glacier Bay, which the Celebrity ships don't. After the first year of startup and the delight of ships at 30% or so occupancy (800 pax on Solstice last January--perfect), I've been getting burned out by huge ships at full capacity (even Apex), so I've been try to aim for smaller ships, even going ultra-small on Azamara for a Spain cruise in April. 

[JDPCruisers]

49 minutes ago, rj59 said:

You might look at the HAL Volendam, which is small enough to go all the way to Montreal, which also seems to have cheaper airfares. It only carries up to 1400 passengers and has a wraparound promenade by the water and covered Lido pool, so I think it's fairly ideal for colder weather with good natural scenery. Likewise, there's Zaandam doing Alaska now, r/t from Vancouver, and it gets into Glacier Bay, which the Celebrity ships don't. After the first year of startup and the delight of ships at 30% or so occupancy (800 pax on Solstice last January--perfect), I've been getting burned out by huge ships at full capacity (even Apex), so I've been try to aim for smaller ships, even going ultra-small on Azamara for a Spain cruise in April. 

Good to hear re: HAL as we are seriously considering the smaller ships but are concerned if enough to do on sea days, so we are looking at more port intensive itineraries. Will in interested in what you experience on Azamara as that was our first small line to look at and had a cruise booked earlier this year but had to end up cancelling it.

[2Long2NxtCrz]

3 hours ago, rj59 said:

You might look at the HAL Volendam, which is small enough to go all the way to Montreal, which also seems to have cheaper airfares. It only carries up to 1400 passengers and has a wraparound promenade by the water and covered Lido pool, so I think it's fairly ideal for colder weather with good natural scenery. Likewise, there's Zaandam doing Alaska now, r/t from Vancouver, and it gets into Glacier Bay, which the Celebrity ships don't. After the first year of startup and the delight of ships at 30% or so occupancy (800 pax on Solstice last January--perfect), I've been getting burned out by huge ships at full capacity (even Apex), so I've been try to aim for smaller ships, even going ultra-small on Azamara for a Spain cruise in April. 

We actually booked the Volendam for a one-way Boston to Montreal in August 2024. It's going to be a "test" for us because we don't actually have a balcony and it'll be hubby's first time without one. I think the itinerary is marvelous and we wouldn't have much time to spend on the balcony anyway, but right now I was looking at airfare and it's astronomical! (It's always higher to get to/from home, but these fares were eye opening!)

[doghog]

On 10/13/2023 at 11:51 AM, JDPCruisers said:

We are booked on Eclipse August 28 - Sept 8 next year for the first time and interested in thoughts about the ports, overnight in Quebec, etc. regardless of the ship. But those that have done this on Eclipse would be appreciated. 

We've done two NE/Canada cruises on the Summit. Booked both of them for the itinerary not the ship. One out of Bayonne and the other out of Boston. Great cruises. No disappointment's with the ship or itinerary.  

 

Just off the Eclipse (15 October) on a Pacific Coastal cruise. No complaints about the Eclipse. 

Edited October 16, 2023 by doghog

[cft8]

I did the 11-night New England / Canada on the Summit’s Sept 21 sailing and did a 7-night with Royal back in 2017. I love that itinerary, especially because in the majority of the ports you are docked right in the towns. If you are going to Sydney, Nova Scotia, I recommend the Fortress of Louisbourg - I found it fascinating, but I’d try to do it privately to have more time than the ship’s excursion allowed. (It’s about 20 minutes drive time from the port so you need transportation to get there.) We barely scratched the surface of what there was to explore in the complex. We were there late in the season and some buildings were already closed, so if it had been fully open I’d have needed even more time!

 

Our overnight in Quebec City was great. We ate dinner off the ship and the place we went, while good, was a little quiet. I wish we had found somewhere more in the old town that was livelier. On the morning of our 2nd day, my friend went up to the Chateau Frontenac and ate breakfast in their restaurant. You don’t have to be a guest and she said it was a lovely experience. You can just go in to look around public areas and they have a nice gift shop.

[JDPCruisers]

Many thanks for all the feedback. Sounds like we are in for a great itinerary and if the Eclipse holds up a ship in good condition. Looking forward to it!