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Best time to see fall leaves, best cruise line, best itinerary


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My husband and I are 36 and 31, and neither of us particularly enjoy the beach. We are going on a cruise to Alaska in August, but I'm already planning our next one. Since we don't like beaches, hot weather, Caribbean cruises, I thought the Canada/New England itinerary would be great. We also own a landscaping company, so there are certain times of the year that will not work. September/October is the best time, as the grass is not growing as fast and it's not yet snow plow season. With that being said, I thought maybe a fall cruise would be good, when the leaves were changing. I know it's hard to pinpoint, but what would be the best time? We also like Royal Caribbean, but are open to other lines. Would also like to know which itinerary would be the best (looking for the least amount of cruising days, most amount of ports). Thank you!

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Depending on the length of time you have to cruise, I would suggest Celebrity as it sails out of and returns to New Jersey. We chose this cruise because it resulted in a 14 day cruise and booking flight out or to Quebec were not favorable for us.

 

What ever you decide, I am sure you will have a great cruise.

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my 2¢, somethings to consider.

 

Whatever cruise you take, make sure the ports of call include Bar Harbor, and the visit there should be around Columbus Day. Acadia National Park is on BH's doorstep. 5 minutes after leaving BH, you'll be in ANP. No other port of call is that close to a NP.

 

If you can do a 14 day cruise, go with Celebrity, The cruise starts and ends in NJ. The cruise gets to Quebec before it returns, and does not visit any port of call more than once.

 

SBtS

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If you'd like more Canadian ports, Holland America has great itineraries. We just got back a few weeks ago. Montreal, Quebec City, Charlottetown, Sydney, Halifax, Bar Harbor and Boston. It was wonderful.

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If you'd like more Canadian ports, Holland America has great itineraries. We just got back a few weeks ago. Montreal, Quebec City, Charlottetown, Sydney, Halifax, Bar Harbor and Boston. It was wonderful.

 

Look at Royal's Snow Bird Migration - Quebec City (overnight) and continues on to Fort Lauderdale. I'm booked for 2019.

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Sprockie,

Which nights of your cruise were your "gala nights"? We're going June 9th, and I'm trying to find out ahead of time, so I can plan which night to eat in the Pinnacle Grill. Thank you for your help.

 

To the original poster, we have been on several Canada/NE cruises, mostly in September/Early October, on Carnival and Princess. They were great cruises, but you don't really see too much foliage near the NE coast until mid-October. I did take one cruise from NY to Quebec in mid-October on MSC. We saw some really nice foliage, BUT Canada is really cold at that time of the year. Much colder than the NYC area. AND, the Canadian national parks are down to a skeleton crew in mid-October. I visited the Citadel in Halifax, and there was practically no one there. I didn't mind seeing less tourists, but there were hardly any staff, either. The MSC ship was really beautiful, but the entertainment, activities, were seriously lacking. The dining room portions were laughably small. Holland America has itineraries that go from Boston to Montreal, and Montreal to Boston. You can go earlier in the season, because the foliage peaks inland much sooner than on the coast. I would suggest mid to late September or early October. Of course, this is an educated guess, because it all depends on the weather, and changes each year. Whatever you choose, I hope you have a great time.

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Mid to late October is great for a New England/Canada cruise. Peak foliage in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Maine, still generally seasonally balmy. My DH and I did the Norwegian Dawn Quebec to Boston (our home port) and it was great. You can also do a 14 day b2b out of either Boston or Quebec City and both have lots of other exciting sights should you choose to arrive early or stay post cruise. NCL is our favorite cruise line. We love Freestyle Cruising and the week long Spa Pass is our favorite amenity on the Dawn. 2019 it will be the Gem sailing out of Boston. We rented a car and drove from Boston to QC staying a few days in Montreal which was fabulous. We recommend Hotel Alt in Montreal. It is about a 2 hour drive from Montreal to QC, and the ship overnights in QC so you have time to explore the very cosmopolitan city. Stops in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Bar Harbour were wonderful. We loved Acadia National Park and Oli’s Trollys.

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We did a 2 week Canada/NE on Celebrity Summit out of Bayonne, NJ and really loved it. However it departed Sept 24th and in retrospect I would have taken a cruise a couple of weeks later for the better foliage.

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Last fall we were on a B2B2B series on the Summit. The first two itineraries were Canada/New England cruises. We were on the same cruise as was TeeRick. The second Canada/New England itinerary departed October 8th (if my memory is correct), and we definitely had better colors on the October 8th cruise.

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Thanks all!

I’m not sure I could convince hubby to be away from work for two whole weeks. I’m looking primarily at 7-10 day. Royal Caribbean is my preferred line, but definitely open to others, but kind of hesitant as the only other line we have sailed was Norwegian and I hated it.

I’m looking at one out of Baltimore, which would be great because we can drive there, but the price is double some of the others and I know I can fly Pittsburgh to Newark for under $200 per person.

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We have chosen a 10-day Holland America cruise out of New York City to Quebec City. This cruise was appealing because it's the only one that goes up the Saguenay Fjord off the Saint Lawrence Seaway. Plus it's only $57 from Dulles to NY and then Porter Airlines out of QC back to Dulles for excellent prices. I highly recommend Porter due to their free lounges and onboard snacks and beverages.... including alcoholic beverages. To get the best sale prices you need to subscribe to their email list, otherwise you'll pay more.

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Ok, I found a 9 night on the Anthem sailing out of New Jersey for $1099 p/p, which I think is a great deal. Leaves Oct. 10th, 2019. Considering this one, however, the price jumps almost $200 for midship. How awful are forward or aft rooms? I've only ever had midship. If I stay with the forward cabin, it's less than $3000 total.

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  • 1 month later...
Ok, I found a 9 night on the Anthem sailing out of New Jersey for $1099 p/p, which I think is a great deal. Leaves Oct. 10th, 2019. Considering this one, however, the price jumps almost $200 for midship. How awful are forward or aft rooms? I've only ever had midship. If I stay with the forward cabin, it's less than $3000 total.
Hi Mountaineer. We are booked on Anthem New England Oct 19 sailing. This will be our 2nd time on Anthem and 2nd Canada & NE cruise. The ship is large enough and is sailing the coast on this itinerary so don't expect too much movement. Cabins forward should be ok unless you have problems with sea sickness even with minor movement. Have you been on Anthem before? Great shows and you'll want to prebook those as soon as you can. Have fun planning.

 

Sent from my SM-G960U using Forums mobile app

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Hi Karen604, I too grew up in Boston/NH. I only go home to visit family the first 2 weeks of October. It takes my breathe away every time.

Mountaineer0313 - Did you find your cruise?

Im going on Royal Caribbean Oct 14, 2018. We have 1 day at sea and the ports are:

Boston

Halifax - Nova Scotia

St John -

Bar Harbor ME

Rockland ME

Portland ME

Boston, MA

And it was $929 pp, while they were running the buy on second guest 50%.

Not sure of whats still available but you can take a peek.

Hope that helps,

Roberta

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Hi Mountaineer. We are booked on Anthem New England Oct 19 sailing. This will be our 2nd time on Anthem and 2nd Canada & NE cruise. The ship is large enough and is sailing the coast on this itinerary so don't expect too much movement. Cabins forward should be ok unless you have problems with sea sickness even with minor movement. Have you been on Anthem before? Great shows and you'll want to prebook those as soon as you can. Have fun planning.

 

Sent from my SM-G960U using Forums mobile app

Correction: Sail out is October 18.

 

Sent from my SM-G960U using Forums mobile app

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ransrider...since you have aleeady done the New England cruise on the Anthem is there anything you can tell us to do as far as port tours, etc. any help would be appreciated. Glad to see you are doing it again...we are booked for the October 18 sailing as well.

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Great posts and advice for you on choosing your NE cruise. Personally, I wouldn't go too early in Oct. and definitely not Sept.! I'm doing a positioning cruise this year, Oct. 26, Quebec to Ft. L, which might be a little late for Fall colors. I live in NE Wisc., Midwest always, I'm not doing this cruise for Fall foliage.

 

My main thought for you is, research your ports, decide what is most important and do not let what weather "might" be sway you too much. Layers are key, a rain poncho, maybe ear muffs and gloves, good to go. I prefer when there are less tourists in small towns, I travel a little off season no matter where I go. Of course, being retired helps!

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Depending on the length of time you have to cruise, I would suggest Celebrity as it sails out of and returns to New Jersey. We chose this cruise because it resulted in a 14 day cruise and booking flight out or to Quebec were not favorable for us.

 

What ever you decide, I am sure you will have a great cruise.

Hi, doing the Summit cruise next month, probably same itinerary. Are you able to share what you did (good and maybe not so good) r things you wished you'd done? We never really do ship excursions (far too expensive) but like to do our own thing if we can. Your help would be appreciated.

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