Anyone have questions???

[waykaylincruz]

We are just off the Jewel of the Seas today and had a fabulous cruise to Canada and New England. Our ports of call were Portland, Bar Harbor, Saint John New Brunswick and HAlifax Nova Scotia. We explored the ports extensively and if anyone has any questions, ask away and I will try to answer while everything is still fresh in my mind.

 

Here are the excursions we did.

 

Portland: We used Mainely Tours and did the trolley land tour and the lighthouse lovers cruise. Wonderful experience and I highly recommend them. We spent the afternoon walking around the port area and having lunch and shopping!! Lots to do and see around the port area.

 

Bar Harbor: We took a tour with Lulu's Lobster Boat. WONDERFUL!!! In the afternoon we did BEst of Bar Harbor. Pretty good but next time will take a tour that only goes to Acadia. The rest on the best of Bar Harbor really isn't that great. However....do not go to Bar Harbor without seeing Acadia. It is absolutely gorgeous!!!

 

Halifax Nova Scotia: We did Peggy's Cove and the Double Decker off and on bus tour. We really enjoyed it as well and can easily recommend that .

 

Saint John New Brunswick: We did the Saint Johns highlight tour and enjoyed that. We spent the afternoon in town exploring and shopping.

 

If you have any questions, just ask away....

 

Renee

[andy7753]

We are going on this cruise next week. Just a couple of questions.

 

In Halifax, did you do the morning or afternoon tour. We are booked on the morning tour. I was a little concerned about fog in Peggy's Cove, but decided to do it anyway. Did you have enough time to get on and off the double decker bus at whatever sites you wanted to see, and then also have time to shop?

 

In Saint John New Brunswick, did the Saint Johns Highlight Tour get you to the Reversing Falls at a time when you could actually see the falls reversing? We definitely want to see the Falls, and haven't yet decided the best way to get there.

 

Glad you had a wonderful time. I'm looking forward to our cruise.

 

Andrea

[scgirlatheart]

"Portland: We used Mainely Tours and did the trolley land tour and the lighthouse lovers cruise. Wonderful experience and I highly recommend them. We spent the afternoon walking around the port area and having lunch and shopping!! Lots to do and see around the port area."

 

Portland is the only port we were having trouble deciding what to do there. None of the excursions seemed to appeal to us, so I thought we would spend the day shopping. What kind of shops & restaurants were around the port area? Is it easy to walk to everything, or was there transportation readily available?

[waykaylincruz]

We are going on this cruise next week. Just a couple of questions.

 

In Halifax, did you do the morning or afternoon tour. We are booked on the morning tour. I was a little concerned about fog in Peggy's Cove, but decided to do it anyway. Did you have enough time to get on and off the double decker bus at whatever sites you wanted to see, and then also have time to shop?

 

We did Peggys Cove in the afternoon. However, we found out that fog is mainly an issue in the summer months. We did not experience any fog at all on our cruise last week. You will be fine with either morning or afternoon tours to Peggys Cove. We did the hop on and hop off tour and did have time to get off at a couple of different stops. We used it mainly to see the places further away from the dock. Then we chose to get off closer to the waterfront and walk around there. I think if we had done the tour (PC) in the morning then we would have had more time for visiting and shopping with the double decker in the afternoon. But we chose the afternoon because I was afraid of the fog but found out when we got there that it isn't an issue now that it is fall. I really didn't get too excited over the shops in Halifax but maybe I was just in the wrong location. Halifax is GREAT for history!!!

I hope you enjoy your cruise!!!

 

In Saint John New Brunswick, did the Saint Johns Highlight Tour get you to the Reversing Falls at a time when you could actually see the falls reversing? We definitely want to see the Falls, and haven't yet decided the best way to get there.

 

Glad you had a wonderful time. I'm looking forward to our cruise.

 

Andrea

 

The Saint John highlights tour does not plan around the tides as they occur at different times each day and I would think it would be too hard to plan around with the ships schedule. We got off the ship at 10:00 and our tour started at 11:00pm. I think the tides were best to see that day aroun 3:30 or 4:00 so we did not get to see them change. I was pretty impressed with the whole explanation of how the tides work but I am not sure there is really anything special to see. Our tour made a 15 inute stop at the falls park and our guide showed us where the tide changes occur. You still could see the water flowing in different directions, but nothing special. Perhaps someone who has been there to see them change could shed more light on the subject.

Good Luck!!!

[sopo pirates]

Portland is the only port we were having trouble deciding what to do there. None of the excursions seemed to appeal to us, so I thought we would spend the day shopping. What kind of shops & restaurants were around the port area? Is it easy to walk to everything, or was there transportation readily available?

 

Your crusie ship docks at Commercial and Franklin in downtown Portland. Just steps away from your ship (across the street) is the city's Old Port district. Shops will vary from t-shirts and keyring and nautical nicknacks (Harbor View Gifts on Commercial or Something Fishy on Exchange) to upscale women's clothing boutiques (Carla's on Fore) to jewelery (Lovell Design's on Exchange) to artwork (Kennedy Studio on Exchange) to Christmas to... I think you get the idea. It's there. Go to Portland Downtown Districts Website to find a listing of all the stores and restaurants in the "Old Port".

 

And as you leave the pier property, stop by the folks on the corner in front of the parking garage at Casco Bay Ferry and grab a copy of the "Maine Passport", a coupon book with discounts at many of the stores in the downtown region (even $ off at LL Bean's factory outlet on Congress St).

 

Restaurants were discussed heavily on a previous thread - lots of places in town for you to try. Everything is in close proximity and should be an easy walk. Portland's Old Port & downtown area is on a hill and some of our streets are paved with cobblestones and sidewalks with brick instead of standard asphalt and cement. (Rocks & brick can make for unlevel sidewalks in a few places)