jdaa

How long it will take to clear customs in Bar Harbor?

We're scheduled to be in port from 8am to 5pm, and I've booked a private tour for that day to begin at 9:30am. Our guide will meet us as we exit the tender. Now I'm wondering if that is too early?? We're on a fairly small ship (780 total passengers and crew) if that helps. We're in Halifax the day before Bar Harbor.

Thanks so much!

With whom are you booking the tour? Thanks!

 

 

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At Your Service Tours

Thank you hrwi for your input! So nice to have the opinion of someone who is familiar with the area!

The itinerary for the 5 hour tour is:

Historic district of Bar Harbor

Acadia National Park

Seal Harbor

Northeast Harbor

Lunch at Beals Lobster Pound in Southwest Harbor

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse

The 4 hour tour ends after Northeast Harbor (no lunch or Lighthouse).

The 3 hour tour appears to be Acadia National Park only.

We are having great difficulty deciding between the 4 and 5 hour tours, so any feedback is appreciated! We have a maximum of 7 hours shore time, and three ships in port that day. Our first time in the area.

The parking beside the terminal should open on Sept. 9th. It is very close to the terminal. So, for your cruise date, you should be ok, but I would have a plan B just in case. Other parking alternatives are nearby.

 

The luggage consignment service is available both for embarking and disembarking passengers from 7:00 to 17:00, 4.00 CAD per bag.

 

More info. for parking and luggage consignment in this link:

http://www.port-montreal.com/en/access-to-berths.html

 

I don't know which car rental company you are using, but several have offices near the terminal. Here is a link with the adresses and maps to get there from the terminal:

http://cruises.alamontreal.com/access-to-montreal/

 

Also, maybe you are aware of this already, but all road signs in Québec are in French. So, I would bring a GPS along. Because of traffic, I would enter downtown Montréal after 9:00 to avoid rush hour.

Great information!! Thank you so much!!!

If part of your tour includes passing through Southwest Harbor at lunch time, then stopping there is fine. Beal's gets 4.5 stars out of 5 in the TA rating. I wouldn't go there unless it is part of your tour travels. The food is good but it is not convenient to Bar Harbor.

 

SBtS

The itinerary they have suggested for the 5 hour tour is:

Historic district of Bar Harbor

Acadia National Park

Seal Harbor

Northeast Harbor

Lunch at Beals

Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse

The 4 hour tour ends after Northeast Harbor, in which case we'd go back to Bar Harbor for lunch on our own.

We're really wavering between the two options. Was thinking since it will be crowded in Bar Harbor, we might be better off eating lunch out-of-town? Also hoping the scenery would make the extra driving worthwhile? Your thoughts/advice is appreciated!!

This will be our first time in the area. My husband is very interested in a lobster lunch--no fresh lobster where we live!

I have this exact same question. There will be three ships in port the day we are there. Will Bar Harbor be overrun with tourists (weekday, mid-September)?

For some wonderful seafood lunch just outside the port head to Water Prince Lobster Shop. They have something for everyone. Try the seafood chowder and Island mussels. Kelly Ripa was here a few years ago and loved this little restaurant so much she raved about it on her show.

 

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Will we need dinner reservations for Water Prince Lobster Shop? We'll be there on a Monday night (September 18).

Has anyone ever been to Beal's Lobster Pound? It's in Southwest Harbor, which is a bit of a drive from Bar Harbor. We're doing a private tour, and that's where our guide has suggested we have lunch.

I would really appreciate your help! We're sailing September 12, 2017 on the Quest.

Our cruise documents say "PIER: IBERVILLE PASSENGER TERMINAL A, check in starts at 0200P"

And the port schedule indicates our berth is H3.

We will have a fair amount of luggage. Is the parking area reasonably close?

This question is for anyone familiar with the newly-renovated Montreal Cruise Terminal. We'll be driving in the day our cruise departs in a rented car, and I'm trying to figure out the logistics. I'd like to park at the Terminal, leave our luggage, then go return the rental car . We'd return to the terminal on foot, after exploring the area for a few hours.

I plan to drop luggage around 10:00 AM, and our ship does't begin boarding until 2:00 PM. I see that short-term parking is available at the Terminal, so assume that's no problem. My question is: will we be allowed to drop off luggage at the Terminal before the ship officially begins boarding?

We've done this a couple of times before at very small ports, when we can drive right up to the ship. Just not sure if it is allowed at a larger, more organized Terminal where there may be several ships boarding at the same time?

Fabulous information! Thanks so much MightyQuinn!!

Thank you ab21au for the suggestion and the link to the church. It sounds like there is not much to do at this port!

There is a HOHO bus in Sanguney (not extremely efficient). There is not a lot to do in the vicinity of the dock in sanguney.

It is an easy walk into the town at Baie Comeau. There were a few shops and some walking trails that we enjoyed; it is a small town.

In Gaspe we chose to do one of the ship's excursion to Pierce Rock ( we enjoyed it). There is also a terminal where the ship docks in Gaspe

Is the HOHO bus in Sangunay an independent bus, or is it provided by Seabourn? (I was under the impression that Seabourn always provides a bus to town, if the ship is not docked within easy walking distance. At least that has been our experience on previous cruises.)

Also, do you recall how you located the walking trails in Baie Comeau? That is exactly what we'd like to do.

What about shuttles for other ports on the Canadian cruise? Does anyone have information on shuttles in Saguenay, Baie-Comeau and Gaspe? Thanks!

Too bad!

Slightly off topic, but I is there any recognition if you attain a new level during the cruise? We'll attain enough days to go from silver to gold during our upcoming cruise.

Another vote for more overnight ports! Late (11:00 P.M) departures are nice too, love being able to enjoy an evening in port!

How far in advance can one reserve an outdoor table at the Colonnade? I assume we must wait until onboard.

Also, our first cold weather Seabourn cruise is this Fall. It will be a bit chilly for dining outside at night, are there heaters? And is dinner served on the Patio in cooler weather?

I'd definitely book in June. We did a 21 day Med cruise a few years ago, starting on June 19th. We had really lovely weather the first 2 weeks, and then the weather turned very hot starting July 4th. After that point it was too hot to enjoy the ports. Friends who boarded the day we got off the ship experienced the same hot weather for the next two weeks. They said they'd never cruise the Med in July again.

Our cruise included 6 of the ports in Yachtsmen's Med itinerary if you have any questions.

Thank you both so much--I think we'll give it a try!

We are considering renting a car in Messina and driving to Taromina and Castelmola. I'm wondering what the drive is really like. In older threads on this board, some posters say it's fine and others say they would never attempt it. I'm especially interested in the opinion of anyone who's made the drive in the past couple of years.

We're very comfortable with driving in general, but a little concerned about some of the previous reports.

We're doing a very similar itinerary in September. Will look forward to your posts!

The credit did not appear in our final cruise booklet, and a call to Seabourn revealed that the credits are MIA. We now know that follow-up is needed on our part. Thanks for the advice!

For previous cruises, our onboard credit has shown up in our pre-cruise documents. The docs arrived yesterday and there is no mention of OBC (we were expecting two). Has this changed? Is there any way to verify OBC's online?