Speed restrictions in Gulf of St. Lawrence

I have not seen anything from Cunard about any change in itinerary for the annual cruise to and from Québec.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/cruise-ship-industry-quebec-speed-limit-1.4273807

The voyage from Saguenay to Gaspé is a fast one. Although Cunard does not give departure and arrival times on its site, these times are from the voyage I took last year. My travel agent's site and the sites for the ports of Saguenay and Gaspé say they are the same this year. Departure from Saguenay is set for 4:00 p.m. with arrival at anchor in Gaspé at 10:00 the next morning. As I recall we entered the St. Lawrence from the Saguenay fjord at 10:00 p.m. Perhaps the QM2's reserve power will make up for the several hours of reduced speed of 10 knots.

According to the article you linked the speed restriction was effective in August. The Quebec-NY itinerary in my VP shows the ship leaving Quebec on the 30th "depart afternoon" (embarking passengers board on the 29th) and still lists Saguenay on Oct 1 and Gaspé on the 2nd. One site lists 113 nautical miles between Quebec and Saguenay so we should make that port.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans indicates this temporary speed restriction is still in effect and there is no anticipated date for it being lifted. I note that the Celebrity Summit call at La Baie (Saguenay) for October 2 has been cancelled, although the Saguenay port listing has not been updated to show that.

On closer examination of the map I see that the QM2 will be in the restricted area for a relatively short distance en route to Gaspé. The ship will travel through the larger part of the restricted zone from Gaspé to Halifax. The "sea distances" Website shows the distance from the Gaspésie area (Chandler is the closest port to Gaspé that is shown on this site) to Halifax as 483 nautical miles. The site shows it will take one full day to do this portion at 20 knots or one day and eight hours at an average speed of 15 knots. Cunard is allowing two nights and a day for this segment, so that should not be a problem.

We have friends leaving on the Sept. 10 Celebrity N.E./Canada cruise and they have been informed of changes in arrival and departure times due to the speed restrictions. They had a shore excursion in Quebec cancelled because the ship will now arrive too late for it to take place.

Slowing down in the St Lawrence is now official for Cunard QM2.

Our Sept 29 2017 cruise from Quebec City to NYC has replaced Gaspe with Sept Isles as port stops .