Rubyfisch

Our tag was called at 8:46, and we were off the ship with our luggage at the bus stop across the street by 9:00. Buses in Montreal either require a transit card or are exact change only. We have Opus cards and I was able to use the Chrono app to buy us three day passes this morning. Loading cards from the app is finicky but definitely worth it. The bus stop was a little hard to find - but we are now on the 715 to our hotel. You can also take this to the 747 to the airport. Assuming you have a transit card, this is incredibly easy - the stop is across from the port and it's all flat. This stop looks like this:

Top deck pictures: Biosphere: Mount Royale: I think this is Habitat 67:

According to the app - 84 days 🙂 ... We actually booked it long before this one - it's a seven day on Zuiderdam, basically the same itinerary. And I may possibly have booked something for 2025 on board yesterday....

One last Lido breakfast:

Good morning from Montreal: We didn't get the all clear until about 7:20. We took the last set of tags as we are in no rush ....

The goodbyes have been said, the luggage is in the hall, and it's getting to the end. I'll post some stuff from Montreal if we do anything interesting, and maybe write some wrap ups at the airport on Monday morning. So we aren't quite done, but we are getting there.

After dinner, we went to the game show. We did last night as well. I've never really done these even though I've been on a bunch of cruises. They are really fun.

Sunset:

Dinner. I had the salmon trio and the tomato soup: The mushroom strussle (I remember this being amazing on the last cruise - this was different, still good, but not what I remembered): Cookie sundae: Views during dinner:

Sailing under a bridge we supposedly cleared by only 6 ft ...

After lunch, we went swimming and then to Landmark Trivia - we won with 16 points.

Lido lunch (I might have gotten seconds on the sushi and the spring roll):

More Quebec pics:

Views of the St. Lawrence:

We took the funicular up to the top. It appears they now take cards (the used to be cash only).

So, we ended up having to port at Quai 30, rather than 21/22. Quai 30 is the one they usually use for embarkation (it's where we stopped with the Zuiderdam last year). There was a labor protest involving an ongoing arbitration for the stevedores union that prevented us from docking where we were supposed to. They had shuttle buses, but it was a bit of a mess (worse than last year). We ended up just walking on the way there. It's a good 20 plus minute walk and there are no signs. And you have to go through a scary looking gate.

I've fallen behind today ... Let me try to catch everyone up...

The upper boardwalk in Old Town:

Random musings while we await gangway clearance - I think eight nights is the best length for a cruise that fits into most people's schedules. I feel like it would be perfect if this were the second to last night, rather than the last one.

Pilot boat (for the port pilots):

Quebec:

Apparently, the river currents were very strong, so we are slightly delayed into Quebec City. We also apparently needed the fourth engine to get here.

Lido breakfast - it is crowded in here. Not much wait for food, but it was hard to find a seat.

Good morning from almost Quebec:

I haven't had any issues with this before tonight, but the smoke from the casino is really kind of annoying in Mix, which is were the best love music is ... It's kind of frustrating. I know people have lots of feelings about whether or not smoking should be allowed, but if it is, the casino really shouldn't be in the middle of the ship with no doors....