Mini-review on Navigator part 2 (New England/Canada)

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As with other post, this is meant to share a few suggestions. One can go to the New England forum or the Canada forum for better, comprehensive reviews by others.

 

General: we were 1-2 hours late due to weather to several ports, so factor that possibility into your planning. RAdisson does fantastic job with shuttles from ship to best site in town. They say it only runs every 20-30 minutes, but I think it is closer to 15 minutes. We never had to use a taxi!

 

New York: We flew in afternoon before and went to Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. This was the #1 highlight of the cruise for my DW... and we hadn't embarked! Times Square is incredible at night. It was raining but equally stunning nonetheless. Even if you don't do a show, try to get there for an hour's walk.

 

Boston: As both DW and I have done the freedom trail on prior trips to Boston, we did Duck on our own. (we are comfortable with metro... but if you are not, taxis are available). It was great. If you have not been to Boston before: here are my recommendations: if you are a good walker, do the freedom trail on your own, if you are a so/so walker, do the freedom trail in conjunction with the red trolley (hop on/hop off). If you are not a good walker... do a Radisson tour.

 

Bar Harbor: Due to weather, our Virtuoso Voyager club 4.5 hour tour was shortened to 2.5 hours, of which 1.5 hrs was absorbed by a slow lobster lunch... See "lesson" under Halifax. We got to see Cadillac Mountain briefly. This is tough: it is so, so tempting to recommend that you do Bar Harbor on your own, as most of the year there is a hop on/hop off shuttle, and you want to spend your time seeing, and not waiting for tour bus lines...

 

Halifax: We did Peggy Cove Radisson tour, very beautiful and very educational. But.... we had 1.5 hours at Peggy cove, and literally 50 minutes of it was spent in this cafe waiting for a piece of ginger cake and a sprite...

 

LESSON: when on a tour that includes a meal/snack and you have limited time, consider ditching the food and rejoining group afterwards. In Bar Harbor, my DW could have shopped and in Peggy Cove we would have had 50 more minutes to walk around. You can always eat on the ship...

 

Sydney: We rented Budget rental car and drove to Louisbourg. Very interesting. Too rainy to try to see Cape Breton drive... (this is the rule and not the exception).

 

Quebec: (note we had the 11 hour port time. many Navigator trips there will be shorter). We did the St Anne/Montmorency falls in AM. It was perfect blend of scenery, history, good guide, and time on own at Basilica. Then in afternoon, thanks again to reliable shuttle, we walked old town on our own. Since we have AAA book on Quebec, we really did not need official tour, and gave us wonderful flexiblity.

 

Montreal: we rented car and saw Notre Dame on own, lunched in old Montreal, and then went to botanical gardens in Olympic park. Confession: most of you will not be comfortable negotiating Montreal streets on your own. Consider doing Radisson tour instead.

 

Conclusion: Deciding on Radisson excursions is much like the Compass Rose dining: it will be well organized and high quality, but slow. I think more often we were glad we did things on our own either on foot or by rental car. This is especially true if the official excursion involves a meal. You go to a port to see things, not to sit and wait!

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If you are embarking from New York:...

 

the USS Intrepid air craft carrier museum is berthed next to the pier. So, if you arrive early afternoon, you can eat on the ship, then walk over and spend a few hours there. It also has a walk through submarine and walk through SST. Just be sure to get back to the ship in plenty of time!