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Alaska VS New England/Canada--have YOU done BOTH? thoughts??


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We LOVE Alaska cruises, but have done 6 already. Have not done the new England routes yet.

 

The dates we held so far are Oct 4 - 13, 2018-- wondering about this as it will be hit/miss for foliage and hurricanes can happen, making for rougher seas? This is on Royal's Anthem of the Seas 10 day RT out of New Jersey--ports are Boston, Bar Harbor, Portland, Halifax, St. John, back to New Jersey.

 

We could do NCL Dawn 7 day one way starting in Boston --with ports of Rockland, Halifax, Charlottetown, Gaspésie, La Baie over then night in Quebec.

 

Anyone done both Alaska and New England cruises and have any thoughts or advice?:confused:

 

Thought we would try something new, BUT still considering Sept 23-Sept 30, 2018 for Alaska too. (would be Holland's Noordam 7 day RT out of Vancouver)

 

Having a hard time deciding what to do.

 

thanks for any advice you guys can give!!! :)

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Have been on both and both on HAL. If you said you had been to neither, the answer would have been an easy "Alaska". But you've been there six times. Everywhere on the itinerary is nice but it's not Wow like Alaska. It would be a little stronger if you were going to Quebec. If I had been to AK six times, I would be leaning towards Canada/NE as something different.

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We alternate between the two. We done four Alaska cruises and four CA/NE cruises.

 

This is just my opinion, but I wouldn't do a Canada/New England cruise without the major portion of the cruise being in Canada. And having cruised out of Montreal twice, I would definitely recommend your starting or ending a one-way cruise there. There is such history and beauty in Montreal and Quebec City (and Prince Edward Island, Sydney and Halifax :D) that I think they are not to be missed.

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We alternate between the two. We done four Alaska cruises and four CA/NE cruises.

 

 

 

This is just my opinion, but I wouldn't do a Canada/New England cruise without the major portion of the cruise being in Canada. And having cruised out of Montreal twice, I would definitely recommend your starting or ending a one-way cruise there. There is such history and beauty in Montreal and Quebec City (and Prince Edward Island, Sydney and Halifax :D) that I think they are not to be missed.

 

 

 

Is it worth the extra money on Holland? They seem to be much more expensive then the rest! But they go to Montreal. Which route is better starting or ending in Canada?

 

Thanks!!

 

 

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We started in Boston and ended in Quebec. I don't have a preference on direction. I do not remember HAL being more expensive. We had a guarantee ocean view and it was quite reasonable. That said, if HAL and RCCL or Princess were the same price, I would go with the others.

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Is it worth the extra money on Holland? They seem to be much more expensive then the rest! But they go to Montreal. Which route is better starting or ending in Canada?

 

Thanks!!

 

 

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Because of Montreal, we would go with HAL. Additionally, we love the smaller ships that HAL uses on the Montreal itineraries. We have only done the Montreal to Boston route, but the itineraries on both routes look similar. If not, choose the better itinerary.

 

If you choose another cruise line that emarks or disembarks in Quebec City but you want to visit Montreal, it's easy to get there using either the train or bus.

 

Have fun planning your cruise. We're now thinking about our next CA/NE cruise in 2019. :D

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We LOVE Alaska cruises, but have done 6 already. Have not done the new England routes yet.

 

The dates we held so far are Oct 4 - 13, 2018-- wondering about this as it will be hit/miss for foliage and hurricanes can happen, making for rougher seas? This is on Royal's Anthem of the Seas 10 day RT out of New Jersey--ports are Boston, Bar Harbor, Portland, Halifax, St. John, back to New Jersey.

 

We could do NCL Dawn 7 day one way starting in Boston --with ports of Rockland, Halifax, Charlottetown, Gaspésie, La Baie over then night in Quebec.

 

Anyone done both Alaska and New England cruises and have any thoughts or advice?:confused:

 

Thought we would try something new, BUT still considering Sept 23-Sept 30, 2018 for Alaska too. (would be Holland's Noordam 7 day RT out of Vancouver)

 

Having a hard time deciding what to do.

 

thanks for any advice you guys can give!!! :)

 

 

We LOVE Alaska too!! Have been 8 times (cruises, RV trip,etc.) and was scheduled for this summer but had to cancel due to a health issue.

 

Last year we did the Celebrity 14 day round trip out of Cape Liberty with an overnight in Quebec. We thoroughly enjoyed the NE/Canada itinerary!! We went during the first part of October and the fall color along the St. Lawrence was breathtaking!! Loved all of our ports.

 

We enjoyed it so much that since we had to cancel our summer cruise, we are scheduled on the Anthem of the Seas this fall for the NE/Canada itinerary again.

 

It is a wonderful trip!

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The second week of October is generally best for fall colours, at least in Halifax and Sydney.

 

I don't like either of the above itineraries but the NCL one does have interesting stops in Quebec in Gaspesie and Malbaie. Try to include an overnight or a start or finish in Quebec.

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We have taken 3 Alaska cruises and 2 Canada New England cruises. Love both itineraries and yes would repeat again.

First C / New E trip was in 2004 and second was 2014.

Both had good amounts of Canadian ports, 2014 sailing from Montreal to Miami. It was a 16 day trip and well worth getting the extra time on holiday from work.

The fall colors on these itineraries are beautiful, but depending on dates Canada can be cold.

If you are able to get holiday time from work I would definitely chose the Canada New England. For us we chose itineraries over ship choice. Jean.

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We have done both. Love the calving of the glacier at Glacier Bay.

Not having tried the Canada/NE, suggest you take it. Princess sails out of Brooklyn NY and has a date around your intented one for a one way Quebec-NY. An ideal period for the fall foliage.

 

 

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We LOVE Alaska cruises, but have done 6 already. Have not done the new England routes yet.

 

The dates we held so far are Oct 4 - 13, 2018-- wondering about this as it will be hit/miss for foliage and hurricanes can happen, making for rougher seas? This is on Royal's Anthem of the Seas 10 day RT out of New Jersey--ports are Boston, Bar Harbor, Portland, Halifax, St. John, back to New Jersey.

 

We could do NCL Dawn 7 day one way starting in Boston --with ports of Rockland, Halifax, Charlottetown, Gaspésie, La Baie over then night in Quebec.

 

Anyone done both Alaska and New England cruises and have any thoughts or advice?:confused:

 

Thought we would try something new, BUT still considering Sept 23-Sept 30, 2018 for Alaska too. (would be Holland's Noordam 7 day RT out of Vancouver)

 

Having a hard time deciding what to do.

 

thanks for any advice you guys can give!!! :)

it would be a shame to come all the way from Texas and miss Montreal and especially Quebec City. One large port city ( New York, Boston, Portland, Halifax , St. John, )is similar to another.

The St. Lawrence river, Saguenay river and Quebec City should be on everyone's bucket list for their history, beauty and charm. i heartily recommend a smaler ship. At least half will be in protected waters.

OTOH If your only reason to cruise is to live it up on the ship, you might as well cruise from Miami.

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  • 2 months later...

I have only taken 3 cruises, my first was to Alaska with Holland and it was amazing. Our second cruise was with Holland to the Caribbean, which was just okay. Our third was a Canada/New England with NCL and it was right up there with Alaska but I liked Alaska more. We are taking our 4th cruise and we are going with Canada/New England again but with a few different ports (with NCL again). It is easier for us flight-wise to do the New England since we live in the eastern US. I will definitely go to Alaska again but if you enjoy beautiful scenery and history, I don't believe you will go wrong by doing Canada/New England.

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The second week of October is generally best for fall colours, at least in Halifax and Sydney.

 

I don't like either of the above itineraries but the NCL one does have interesting stops in Quebec in Gaspesie and Malbaie. Try to include an overnight or a start or finish in Quebec.

We decided that one looked good to us, too, Maryann. After cruising out of Montreal twice, we're looking forward to spending a night in Quebec City after the cruise. We're hoping the first week in October next year will be good for fall colors.
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  • 3 weeks later...

We've done 3 Alaska cruises and about 7 Canada/NE cruises, and enjoyed all of them. My husband's favorite is AK, but Canada/NE is closer for us, so much more affordable. HAL is one of the only lines with small enough ships to get under the bridges between Quebec City and Montreal. I've only seen Quebec City on one of the C/NE cruises, and I can't wait to go back. Also love the other ports on HAL's itinerary. Having grown up in New England, I can tell you that the middle of October is the beginning of the foliage on the coast, but peak inland. So Montreal and Quebec will likely have peak foliage, but Halifax and St. John will be just starting. (It varies every year, but this is the average.) Right about the middle of October, the Canadian National Parks cut back to a skeleton crew. This affects the Fortress of Louisbourg near Sydney and the Citadel in Halifax. Also, bring warm clothing, because mid-October in Canada is COLD. (At least, it was when I was there.) Still, there are plenty of things to see and do, and the people are welcoming. We're booked on the Maasdam in June, and can't wait! (I fully expect it to be cold then, too. But I'm OK with that. We'll just bring sweaters.)

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