I was also in a holding pattern until I got our flight confirmation. But I was surprised as I received the flight confirmation from NCL about a week ago (our cruise is for Sept.16), so about 6 weeks ahead of the cruise. I booked the train as soon as I got the itinerary, and there was still decent availability. I'm actually super excited because I love train travel, and this me an excuse to book a train trip. I hope there is good scenery between Quebec and Montreal! Also, as a side note, we got really good flight times from NCL. Our flights depart around 10 am and we arrive by 6 pm at both destinations, so no red eye flights.