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Getting around the cheap way?


geomancer
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I'm looking at a NE/Canada cruise that leaves Cape Liberty and goes up to Portland, Bar Harbor, Saint Johns NB, and Halifax NS before returning.

 

There are some things I'd like to see at each of these stops, but am unsure how best to get to them without paying for the insanely priced excursions through the ship. If anyone could provide some insights on public transit or local tour companies that are more affordable I'd be interested in hearing it.

 

Portland Maine:

We're interested in going to Fort Williams Park and the Portland Head Lighthouse. It doesn't look like the public bus system goes out quite that far though?

The other things we'd do look to be in walking distance of the pier.

 

Bar Harbor:

It would be late June, early July so I'm pretty sure the Island Explorer is running? That will get us into and around the park easy enough.

 

Saint Johns NB:

This one is the toughest for what we want to do. We'd love to go up north along the coast and see the St. Martin Sea Caves and go to Hopewell Rocks Park which is a ~2 hour drive away. We'd also like to take a look at the Reversing Rapids, but that looks to be in walking distance.

 

Is there an affordable tour company that goes to one or both of those places? Or is renting a car probably the best bet?

 

Halifax NS:

This one we don't have a lot of ideas on. We want to see the Citadel for sure, but not sure what else. Maybe the maritime museum and/or immigration museum. Maybe the Discovery Centre to do something our daughter would enjoy. These all look walkable. I've also heard about Peggy's Cove though, but don't really know much about it?

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To help you as well as other viewers/cruisers:

 

Google Map of Portland:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Portland+Harbor/@43.6575814,-70.2493584,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x4cb29c47d50077f3:0xc28da22e5a8b8134!8m2!3d43.6575823!4d-70.2406036

 

What's in Port:

https://www.whatsinport.com/Portland-Maine.htm

https://www.whatsinport.com/Bar-Harbour.htm

https://www.whatsinport.com/Halifax.htm

https://www.whatsinport.com/Saint-John-New-Brunswick.htm

 

Portland Discovery Tours & Schedules: http://www.portlanddiscovery.com/charter-tours-portland-maine/#sthash.ZKditK9N.dpbs

 

Things to Do @ Bar Harbor:

http://www.barharborinfo.com/Things-to-do.aspx

https://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/newport.cfm?ID=33

http://www.exploreacadia.com/index.htm

 

Bar Harbor Walking Map:

http://www.barharborinfo.com/BarHarborChamber/media/Bar-Harbor-Media-Library/PDFs/Getting%20Here/Maps/BHbyFOOT_09_web.pdf

 

Saint John (New Brunswick) Cruise Port:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/newport.cfm?ID=125

 

Halifax Cruise Port:

https://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/newport.cfm?ID=32

 

Things to do at Halifax:

Halifax Public Gardens

Halifax Farmers' Market

Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21

Maritime Museum of the Atlantic

Titanic Gravesites

Halifax Citadel

Peggy's Cove - the lighthouse (30 min drive) southwest of Halifax - rent a car or take a shore excursion with the cruise ship.

 

Map of Halifax:

http://www.cruisehalifax.ca/our-city/city-map/

 

Other sites:

http://beyondships.com/Ports-Halifax.html

http://beyondships.com/Ports-Bar-Harbor.html

http://beyondships.com/Ports-StJohn.html

http://www.beyondships3.com/cruise-destination---portland.html

 

 

http://www.destinationhalifax.com/travel-trade/cruise/shore-excursions

 

 

On Peggy's Cove:

http://www.peggyscoveregion.com/

 

 

Enjoy. :)

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Thanks, I've read through a lot of that in my searching. Still haven't found anything for New Brunswick aside from renting a car. The only tours I've been able to find have been really expensive, one was $465! A rental car is only $40.

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I'm looking at a NE/Canada cruise that leaves Cape Liberty and goes up to Portland, Bar Harbor, Saint Johns NB, and Halifax NS before returning.

 

....

 

Portland Maine:

.....

 

Bar Harbor:

It would be late June, early July so I'm pretty sure the Island Explorer is running? That will get us into and around the park easy enough.

 

Saint Johns NB:

....

 

Halifax NS:

....

 

This year, the Island Explorer started operating on 6/23. Keep in mind that IE does not go to the summit of Cadillac Mountain.

 

SBtS

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Thanks, I've read through a lot of that in my searching. Still haven't found anything for New Brunswick aside from renting a car. The only tours I've been able to find have been really expensive, one was $465! A rental car is only $40.

 

Renting a car is your best option. Be sure to check the tide table before planning your trip to Hopewell. If the tide is high, you won't be able to walk around the rocks. St. Martin's is also better if the tide is out so you can visit the caves, although it is still beautiful during high tide, as well. The restaurant at the beach in St. Martin's has the best seafood chowder, fish and chips and lobster rolls.

 

I am not sure that you would really have time to do both Hopewell and St. Martin's. Hopewell is a long drive on back roads. Once you reach the park, you have to wait for a shuttle to take you to the rocks. there is a very long set of stairs down to the rocks (ocean floor). I don't recommend eating there. Very expensive for poor quality take-out food.

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Renting a car is your best option. Be sure to check the tide table before planning your trip to Hopewell. If the tide is high, you won't be able to walk around the rocks. St. Martin's is also better if the tide is out so you can visit the caves, although it is still beautiful during high tide, as well. The restaurant at the beach in St. Martin's has the best seafood chowder, fish and chips and lobster rolls.

 

I am not sure that you would really have time to do both Hopewell and St. Martin's. Hopewell is a long drive on back roads. Once you reach the park, you have to wait for a shuttle to take you to the rocks. there is a very long set of stairs down to the rocks (ocean floor). I don't recommend eating there. Very expensive for poor quality take-out food.

 

Yes, low tide is 10 AM and we arrive at 7 AM. Rental car agency opens at 8 AM, so should hit it right at low tide!

 

But you're right, very little time. Have to be back before 3 PM and have to account for returning the car.

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Yes, low tide is 10 AM and we arrive at 7 AM. Rental car agency opens at 8 AM, so should hit it right at low tide!

 

But you're right, very little time. Have to be back before 3 PM and have to account for returning the car.

 

Then your best option is St. Martin's. You will be hard pressed to get to Hopewell, enjoy the rocks, get back to Saint John, return the car and get to the ship by 3pm. If you just do St. Martin's, you will have time to take a gander at Reversing Falls (Rapids). Walk along the Harbour Passage (Cranberry Trail) to get there,

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Then your best option is St. Martin's. You will be hard pressed to get to Hopewell, enjoy the rocks, get back to Saint John, return the car and get to the ship by 3pm. If you just do St. Martin's, you will have time to take a gander at Reversing Falls (Rapids). Walk along the Harbour Passage (Cranberry Trail) to get there,

 

I think you're probably right, it's too bad we leave so early in the afternoon, but probably has to do with said tides.

 

I actually live in Massachusetts, so Saint Johns is only a ~6 hour drive, but there is just something fun (and more relaxing) of letting someone else do the 'driving'. But, also means if we like what we see, and want to see more, it isn't insurmountable to visit again at a leisurely pace.

 

Thanks for the info all!

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We were only in Saint John from noon to 7. We rented a car from Avis using Costco rate and drove to St. Martin. We stayed about an hour or maybe an hour and a half in the town. (It was not totally low tide, but certainly low enough to get to the caves, and to have plenty of time to get back to shore. There isn't much to see INSIDE the caves, as they don't go back very far, but I enjoyed walking to the front of them and back.) Then we went to the nearby Fundy Trail Parkway (around $6 to drive it). We didn't spend a lot of time there, but drove a bit, and I did get to walk over a kind of cool bridge, plus see a waterfall. (I wouldn't consider the trail a "must see," however. You may instead want to take the car back in plenty of time to see a little bit of the town of Saint John.) I kind of wanted to go see a lighthouse too, but by then my husband was getting a little bit worried about dawdling too much so we headed back.

 

I notice "Shoretrips.com" site offers a trip to St. Martin but unless they offer an earlier start time on your cruise date, the timing wouldn't work for you. Maybe you can find some people on your Roll Call to share a car or private excursion.

 

For Portland Head Light, there might possibly be a cruise that would go by the light and a couple other ones in the Portland area. You might want to google. I was interested in the mail boat run when I was in Portland on a cruise, but we didn't have time for that.

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For Portland Head Light, a cab or uber would be best, but its still a 20 minute drive each way, and if you're just wanting to see the lighthouse and get pictures, get up early as the ship arrives in Portland, and you can get photos from the different perspective of seeing the light from the sea, as the ship sails very close by. Lots of things to do in the city better than two 20 minute cab rides.

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You have done your homework.

 

For Halifax it is very walkable.

 

We will walk along the harbor on the boardwalk and then make our way into town. It is a beautiful walk.

 

DSC_1632.jpg

 

DSC_1631.jpg

 

The Citadel is within a 30 minute walk.

 

In addition to the Citadel, we enjoyed visiting the Gardens.

 

DSC_1642.jpg

 

 

DSC_1649.jpg

 

 

It's also fun to just leisurely walk the city.

 

DSC_1654.jpg

 

Keith

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You can download your destination ports' pdf file on Toms Port Guides. The file:

 

 

  • has maps so you can see the cruise ship dock relative to the tourist attractions,
  • has maps that show walking tour, public transit, and rental car driving routes,
  • Cite elevation change to quantify difficulty walking up/down steep streets or trails,
  • has photos and descriptions of things to see and do so you can decide how to spend your time, on your port excursion, for your priorities.

https://www.tomsportguides.com/port-guides.html

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For Portland Head Light, a cab or uber would be best, but its still a 20 minute drive each way, and if you're just wanting to see the lighthouse and get pictures, get up early as the ship arrives in Portland, and you can get photos from the different perspective of seeing the light from the sea, as the ship sails very close by. Lots of things to do in the city better than two 20 minute cab rides.

 

 

 

Hi, chengkp! Thank you for this helpful information!

 

This will be our first trip to that area... Adventure of the Seas, June/July 2018. Do you know if the ship sails in with the light on starboard or port side of the ship?

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Hi, chengkp! Thank you for this helpful information!

 

This will be our first trip to that area... Adventure of the Seas, June/July 2018. Do you know if the ship sails in with the light on starboard or port side of the ship?

 

The light will be on the port side. Mid-summer will be great, the sun will be well up at the time the ship passes the light (maybe 45 minutes to an hour before arrival at the dock). Check with Guest Services or the CD staff to get an approximate time from the bridge staff the night before.

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You have done your homework.

 

For Halifax it is very walkable.

 

We will walk along the harbor on the boardwalk and then make our way into town. It is a beautiful walk.

 

The Citadel is within a 30 minute walk.

 

In addition to the Citadel, we enjoyed visiting the Gardens.

 

It's also fun to just leisurely walk the city.

 

Keith

 

I snipped your pictures for space, but wanted to thank you for this. Our plan is very similar, plus add some pubs and try donair. It was nice to see a picture of the gardens and see things to do in town vs going to Peggy's Cove.

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  • 2 weeks later...
The light will be on the port side. Mid-summer will be great, the sun will be well up at the time the ship passes the light (maybe 45 minutes to an hour before arrival at the dock). Check with Guest Services or the CD staff to get an approximate time from the bridge staff the night before.

 

 

 

Thank you! As always, you are very helpful [emoji846]We have the port side corner aft, so it will be perfect!

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