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Cruise line excursion to Peggy's Cove


Ali70
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I'll be on The Grandeur of the Seas in September. The cruise line offers an excursion to Peggy's Cove at 11am and 3 pm. I was just wondering is there a best time to visit. I'm sure it's going to be crowded no matter what time :D

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Your 3 pm visit is likely to be quieter, but any visit after the first week of Sept is bound to be better no matter the time simply because school will be back in and there will be less family visits. The area is more than just a light house and restaurant so even if it is busy in the main area, there is lots of room to venture away from the crowd and enjoy the beauty of the location. I'm there several times a year so feel free if you have any other questions.

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We took the 11 AM tour, ate at the local restaurant after the noon rush, enjoyed the gift shop, walked around the area to take pictures, and visited a small artist's business nearby that just happened to be open (many other places had already closed for end of season).

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Personally, I would grab a private tour or even a taxi that leaves a little earlier than the ship tour. That has three advantages. One, you'll get there before the ship excursion, so less crowds. Two, you'll probably save enough to more than pay for your lunch. And, third, you can pick the restaurant you want to eat lunch at (or skip it altogether) rather than having to eat at the excursion's choice.

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Personally, I would grab a private tour or even a taxi that leaves a little earlier than the ship tour. That has three advantages. One, you'll get there before the ship excursion, so less crowds. Two, you'll probably save enough to more than pay for your lunch. And, third, you can pick the restaurant you want to eat lunch at (or skip it altogether) rather than having to eat at the excursion's choice.

 

Can you recommend a private tour that takes you to Peggy's Cove? Also, if we took a taxi, do you know the approx. cost? Thank you,

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I'll be on The Grandeur of the Seas in September. The cruise line offers an excursion to Peggy's Cove at 11am and 3 pm. I was just wondering is there a best time to visit. I'm sure it's going to be crowded no matter what time :D
What time does your ship leave in the evening? It takes about an hour to get there. We were just there about a month ago any traffic was slow going in the city with a good amount of construction. We booked our excursion through NCL and it left about 11:30. An hour or so to get there, about an hour at Peggy's Cove, we also stopped at the Titanic Cemetery on the way back for about 20 minutes.

 

Some people like to drive themselves or do private excursions, and that's fine....until you run into a problem or your private tour bus breaks down and can't get you back to meet your ship in time. If you book the excursion through the cruise line they won't leave you if your tour is delayed. If fact another tour through our ship was delayed with all the traffic and the Captain held our departure so they could get on the ship. You may not get the best deal booking an excursion through the cruise line but sometimes it has it's advantages. Just something to consider. :-)

 

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Find me on Trip Advisor (same name and avatar, Nova Scotia forum) and send me a private message with your email address and I will send you my notes about taxis and private tours. These are notes I have gathered here and Trip Advisor over the past few years.

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Some people like to drive themselves or do private excursions, and that's fine....until you run into a problem or your private tour bus breaks down and can't get you back to meet your ship in time. If you book the excursion through the cruise line they won't leave you if your tour is delayed. If fact another tour through our ship was delayed with all the traffic and the Captain held our departure so they could get on the ship. You may not get the best deal booking an excursion through the cruise line but sometimes it has it's advantages. Just something to consider. :-)

This is not true - read your contracts, the only things that matter. No excursion is guaranteed to have the ship held for it. There are incidents reported here on CC where cruiseline tours were late enough the ship did leave without them. All that happens is they'll help you get to the next port to meet the ship on their dime - just like every private tour I've ever booked also guarantees...

 

Unless cruiseline pricing is as good as private (rare, but happens), uses same size vehicles/groups (again rare, but happens), or can be verified to be contracting the whole vehicles of the best providers of Tour X in Port Y (also happens) there's only one reason to book with them instead of a private alternative tour - you have OBC that you need to burn!

 

Rent your own car/just take a cab and I agree you're completely on your own so need to weigh the odds - but let's face it, how often does a new car/well-maintained cab actually crap out on you? I certainly wouldn't rent a car anywhere on vacation without good insurance coverage but that's more for the 'some idiot T-boned me' angle than the car breaking down and needing to find another way back to the ship.

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This is not true - read your contracts, the only things that matter. No excursion is guaranteed to have the ship held for it. There are incidents reported here on CC where cruiseline tours were late enough the ship did leave without them. All that happens is they'll help you get to the next port to meet the ship on their dime - just like every private tour I've ever booked also guarantees...

 

Unless cruiseline pricing is as good as private (rare, but happens), uses same size vehicles/groups (again rare, but happens), or can be verified to be contracting the whole vehicles of the best providers of Tour X in Port Y (also happens) there's only one reason to book with them instead of a private alternative tour - you have OBC that you need to burn!

 

Rent your own car/just take a cab and I agree you're completely on your own so need to weigh the odds - but let's face it, how often does a new car/well-maintained cab actually crap out on you? I certainly wouldn't rent a car anywhere on vacation without good insurance coverage but that's more for the 'some idiot T-boned me' angle than the car breaking down and needing to find another way back to the ship.

Not necessarily guaranteed to wait, but you have a heck of a better chance having the ship wait if it's one of their tours that is late.

 

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Not necessarily guaranteed to wait, but you have a heck of a better chance having the ship wait if it's one of their tours that is late.

I would agree that, since the cruiseline will be hit with the costs, there's going to be more chance of a late departure if a ship's tour is running late. Given the potential extra charges levied by ports for late departures, or the possibility of no extra time being available as another ship is booked at that berth, it's a very minimal benefit. And again you have to look at the risks vs. the rewards - usually noticeably higher priced and often larger vehicles with cruiseline tours, therefore more wasted time getting on and off and less per person time with guides etc. to ask questions, or if a car rental/impromptu taxi tour total flexibility of route and timing for again almost always a saving vs. ship-sold tours.

 

 

Plus, even if you were on a private tour that does run late if it's because of traffic etc - anything larger-scale than being specific to your own vehicle - then ship's tours that go to same places will ALSO be running late... to me the risk analysis of private vs. ship's tours is worth at most a buck extra for the potential of being waited for by ship's tours, so if they're the same price as private and use same size vehicles/go to same places I will totally book via the ship (e.g. whalewatching in AK on a small boat tour cost the same for a couple, and I was able to verify it was the exact same company - Gastineau - who offered the ships tour and the private tour - so we booked through the ship).

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We did three excursions, all through NCL, for our last Canada/New England cruise in June. The Peggy's Cove & Titanic Cemetery excursion Halifax was well done and our guide was very informative and entertaining. We we slightly delayed due to the traffic and construction. An NCL excursion that left after us was really delayed and they held the ship for them.

 

Our excursion in Saint John was kind of a scavenger hunt and we were on our own exploring the city and it was fun.

 

In Portland we didn't do any excursions and just walked around on our own.

 

Or Bar Harbor excursion was a disappointment. "An Intimate Look at Acadia National Park". We got a rushed 20 minutes at the top of Cadillac Mountain and a rushed 15-20 at the Thunder hole. The rest was just driving around listening to stories from the guide. It was a little disappointing.

 

I guess in reality the odds of being delayed on either a private or cruise line excursion are pretty low, we just choose the little extra insurance of going through the cruise line.

 

Happy cruising everybody#

 

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we booked the anthem peggy cove and titantic tour. The only time they had available was at 3pm. We are in port 10am-7pm. I noticed the tour was 3 hours and 45 minutes so before I booked the tour, I called RC to find out if that is a problem considering the tour isn't over until 6:45. They told me since it's a ship sponsored tour, they will not leave without us.

 

I remember once my wife went on a rain forest tour in Mexico; it was ship sponsored excursion. I don't remember what happened, but they got back an hour after we were supposed to set sail. I'm glad they didn't leave them behind!

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  • 2 weeks later...

We have rented a car in Halifax and driven to Peggy's Cove ourselves. It was more cost efficient, we got there before the crowds, we had a leisurely lunch at an uncrowded spot nearby, and took our time getting back to Halifax. This is how I would do it if I were going there again.

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...

 

I notice your signature links to a sheet with a number of people's personal information. Are you aware that anybody can see that information and do you have all those people's permission to have their information posted on a public forum?

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I am working on a document to help cruise passengers in Halifax. It is not finished but so far has information about renting a car and some good links for other information. You can find it here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BjAtDscML-9Ce3VWUUsOrsVhPL7KIxb7Go_9SRi82dE/edit?usp=sharing

 

 

 

Thank you! I found it helpful!

 

 

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We did Peggy's cove with ship excursion - lucky to be the first bus to arrive - not that crowded, but as more and more busses arrived started to get rowdy - primarily around the parking area.

... as you can see from my video , not that bad

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I notice your signature links to a sheet with a number of people's personal information. Are you aware that anybody can see that information and do you have all those people's permission to have their information posted on a public forum?

Well, since any information beyond first names and hometowns was posted by the individuals themselves on this site, and since I'm not posting it anywhere except on this site, I'm not too worried. But, thank you for your concern.

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Today there were no parking spots left for private vehicles near the lighthouse or in area lots. There were however empty spaces for tour busses in the lot behind the restaurant. Many folks parked on the main road and walked through the village. I live about an hour from Peggy's Cove and have never seen it so busy and it did not appear to be a ship in port. No one had the famous cruise tour stickers on their shirts! Consider your own mobility level if you get there and you have a longer walk than you expect. Peggy's Cove is unique but there are many other scenic coves between Halifax and Chester to explore if you have a rental car.

 

 

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Well, since any information beyond first names and hometowns was posted by the individuals themselves on this site, and since I'm not posting it anywhere except on this site, I'm not too worried. But, thank you for your concern.

 

And email addresses. In today's world, that a lot of personal information to be mined in one simple click to your spreadsheet.

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Ashland, I cannot find information about Dave's Taxi Tours in Halifax. Are you thinking of them in New Brunswick?

Yes...sorry...my bad :o

It's Paul with Titanic Historical Tours that goes to Peggy's Cove.

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We did three excursions, all through NCL, for our last Canada/New England cruise in June. The Peggy's Cove & Titanic Cemetery excursion Halifax was well done and our guide was very informative and entertaining. We we slightly delayed due to the traffic and construction. An NCL excursion that left after us was really delayed and they held the ship for them.

 

Our excursion in Saint John was kind of a scavenger hunt and we were on our own exploring the city and it was fun.

 

In Portland we didn't do any excursions and just walked around on our own.

 

Or Bar Harbor excursion was a disappointment. "An Intimate Look at Acadia National Park". We got a rushed 20 minutes at the top of Cadillac Mountain and a rushed 15-20 at the Thunder hole. The rest was just driving around listening to stories from the guide. It was a little disappointing.

 

I guess in reality the odds of being delayed on either a private or cruise line excursion are pretty low, we just choose the little extra insurance of going through the cruise line.

 

Happy cruising everybody#

 

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

 

Hi there Bitterman---- we were just thinking of going on the Intimate Look at Acadia National Park and came across your comments about it. I see where you say it was disappointing (i.e.just driving around ---and I wondered whether we would have the same opinion) In your opinion, while you were driving around is it a lot of repetitious sights (i.e. trees, coastline) or was there enough in the way of scenery to keep one interested albeit from the view out the window? I'm trying to choose between this excursion and the Bar Harbor and Cadillac Mountain (about 1/2 the time and just goes through Bar Harbor and up to the top of the mountain) Thank you so very much---really appreciate your time

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We did an Anthem of the Seas cruise visiting bar Harbor September 25 2016 - a round trip in Acadia Nature ParkBar Harbor on Mount Desert Island in Maine is a tender port - we sailed from Anthem of the Seas into the harbor in small local tender boats. Took a ship tour to Acadia Nature Park, covering the majority of the island. We drove from Bar Harbor to the south along the rugged rocky coast and through dense forests to the top of Cadillac Mountain, with a nice view over the island.Back in Bar Harbor we walked through the town and a path along the water - very nice walk.In Bar Harbor is a great difference between the tide and at 1 pm Bar Island was connected to Mount Desert. We walked on a sandbank to Bar Island. Below a video from our day

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