Which is better itinerary?NY,Boston,Halifax,Quebec,Charlottetown,S ydney or St John...

[World Gallery]

My husband and I have been reading and trying to decide which NCL cruise to take and would love to hear from others. We have never done a New England/Canada tour.

The first is a 7 day on the Dawn leaving from NY to: Halifax, St. John, Bar Harbor, Boston, and Newport with one sea day.

The other is a 10 day on the Jewel leaving from NY to: Boston; Halifax; Quebec City; Charlottetown; Sydney with 4 sea days.

Boston and Halifax are the only two they both have in common.

Also, the 2nd one is Oct 20th - 30th. How cold can it get in the part of the country at the end of Oct? Can we still see the fall foliage or is it too late?

Thank you.

[Keith1010]

I think they are both nice. Personally I always like a little longer for a cruise so I would go with the second. It will likey be cooler in late October.

 

Keith

[SailBadtheSinner]

If the cost is no object, then I agree with Keith1010 about taking the longer cruise even though you are missing 2 of my favorite stops, Newport and Bar Harbor but I think visiting Quebec City will absolutely make up for that. If you go on the second cruse expecting to see fall foliage, I think you'll be disappointed unless it is a very late fall.

 

What are the dates of the first cruise? If your prime goal on the cruise is to see fall foliage and the first cruise is earlier in October, then I would recommend the first cruise.

 

For clothing on the sea days, I would consider long pants and a lined windbreaker or layer the tops. For ports, I think you could get by with shorts; I know I could.

[TheWog]

For bright, vibrant foliage, I agree that the earlier cruise would serve you better. Out of the two I would take the longer as well if I had a choice. Do you have a ship preference? That sometimes matters as well.

 

Layers. You will need long pants, shorts, sweatshirts, short sleeve shirts. If you start the day in layers and are able to take a sweatshirt or fleece type jacket off you will probably be most comfortable. It was 49 degrees this morning when we got up - just for reference. Could be warmer in October, but this has been a crazy summer.

 

Good luck deciding.

[hello]

We are thinking about next year - NCL is also offering a 14 day (B2B):

Boston

Bar Harbor

St. John's

Halifax

Sydney

Corner Brook

at sea

Quebec City

at Sea

Sept-Iles

Charlottetown

at sea

Halifax

Portland

Boston

 

Would this be too long and repetitive? It leaves October 9 - October 23 -- too early, too

late for leaf viewing?

 

 

 

Thank you.

[138east]

I can only comment on the Boston area. Usually Oct 9 (Columbus Day weekend) is the peak for fall foliage so I would imagine that places further north might be earlier. Have you considered the previous B2B? If you are going to be in Boston around Oct.9 you could stay and extra day and rent a car to get out of the city to see the leaves.

[Cruise_More_Often]

We took the NCL Jewel 10-day that left NYC on 10/10. The leaves had not yet turned when we got to Boston, but they had turned and blown away in Halifax. We saw some golds and browns in Quebec City and Prince Edward Island, but we saw quite a few reds and golds in Sydney.

 

For the person who mentioned wearing shorts in mid-October -- Not this year! It was darned cold in all ports except for Boston, which was chilly. In fact, the day we were in Quebec City, we had frost on the outside decks of the ship, and we were hoping for snow. Bring your hats and gloves; you can always leave them on the ship.

 

I think we had the perfect cruise and perfect weather, but I like fall weather. We're going to repeat that cruise in 2011, but we might try a date in late September.

[Coral]

My husband and I have been reading and trying to decide which NCL cruise to take and would love to hear from others. We have never done a New England/Canada tour.

The first is a 7 day on the Dawn leaving from NY to: Halifax, St. John, Bar Harbor, Boston, and Newport with one sea day.

The other is a 10 day on the Jewel leaving from NY to: Boston; Halifax; Quebec City; Charlottetown; Sydney with 4 sea days.

Boston and Halifax are the only two they both have in common.

Also, the 2nd one is Oct 20th - 30th. How cold can it get in the part of the country at the end of Oct? Can we still see the fall foliage or is it too late?

Thank you.

 

We had 5" of snow on Oct 22nd when we were in Quebec this year....

 

I would aim for the first one.

 

Too tough to tell on foliage. One year we left Oct 15th and we were early. This year, we left Oct 23rd and we were late for the most part. We did have a beautiful day in Boston (best fall day this year according to them).

[bar_20]

NCL offers two 14 day cruises both with the same itinerary. There is the one you mentioned leaving on October 9. The other leaves on September 25. Both are on the Spirit. The earlier cruise is slightly more, $100-200 per passanger, suites are about $500 more. Your answers here have convinced me to do the earlier cruise. It will be our first time in NE and E. Canada. I will be asking more questions in the near future.

[arby70]

NCL offers two 14 day cruises both with the same itinerary. There is the one you mentioned leaving on October 9. The other leaves on September 25. Both are on the Spirit. The earlier cruise is slightly more, $100-200 per passanger, suites are about $500 more. Your answers here have convinced me to do the earlier cruise. It will be our first time in NE and E. Canada. I will be asking more questions in the near future.

 

We went on the B2B Spirit cruise Sept. 2009 and there were some fall colors. Of course we did hit some rain at some of the ports, but some people said on the October B2B cruise they hit snow. I am glad we went on the Sept. cruise. Also we spent 5 days prior to the cruise in Boston and the weather there was fantastic during our stay.

[TomAndJane]

We were wanting to do this 14 day cruise in 2011 but for some UNKNOWN reason, NCL will only be doing 5 - 7 day cruises in 2011 on the Jewel. No more 10 day or 14 cruises to New England/Canada. Guess Bermuda and Caribbean makes them more money. Since NCL put a Revenue Officer on each ship they have really started changing the way they do business!!!!