Advice needed from past Canada/New England cruisers, please

[flashdog_1]

Yes' date=' we will go to ST John NB and are also sailing the first trip out (Sept 12). Thanks for the heads up about cold!! Had the leaves begun to color?

 

On your private excursion to Peggy's Cove did you have a van for 6, and could customize the trip? I've seen an ad for one that will do just that, where you pay by the hour regardless of whether the van is filled. If that is what you did, what other stops did you make, and where did you eat? Thanks

 

Phyllis we were on the NCL Majesty, one of her last runs from Philly to Canada/NE. We booked the Peggy's Cove tour with HalifaxTaxi company. I think it was $135 for the 4 of us. We told them we needed a mini van because one of our friends has a slight disability and we didn't want to be crammed in with other folks. They were very accommodating and I would highly recommend them. I know we had booked for about 4 hours but were out much longer. We ate at Peggy's Cove. Les, our driver recommended the gingerbread but we went to a little shop, toward the front and got a pastry of sorts that had steak in it. Wow, that was delicious, wish I had one right now. Our friends did get the gingerbread and they loved that too.

 

We left the very end of August last year, we were in Sydney on Labor Day and everything was closed. Unfortunately the leaves hadn't changed yet but we live in Philly and experience that seasonal change every year so we weren't too disappointed.[/quote']

 

 

Thank you for your response. I'll contact Halifax Taxi. Sounds perfect.

 

Questions, though:

 

Did you make any stops on the route, or get any "tour" type of Halifax or just "do" Peggy's Cove?

 

Was your driver knowledgeable about the history etc. of Peggy's Cove?

 

Is there any difficult walking involved?

 

Did you buy lunch for your driver? Thanks

[flashdog_1]

We don't offend easy, so don't worry.

 

I'm not as familiar with the other ports (besides Boston and NY). At Some point in the future my wife and I are going to visit your beautiful part of the U.S., any cruisers we have met from there have been as friendly and fun loving as most maritimers (the closest we have come to "visiting" was spending a day in Louisiana before a cruise from New Orleans!).

 

Have fun and enjoy your vacation! Inver

 

Glad I didn't offend you. You are helping me decide what to do in each port.

 

Yes, southerners (US) are known to be friendly. They are so friendly you can't tell who your enemies are. ha

 

And what a treat you had to be able to visit New Orleans before your cruise.

 

Yes, we will definitely enjoy the cruise. I've been on Dawn before and love many aspects of her.

[flashdog_1]

With the heat we have had in New England and the lack of rain, you will probably have a better chance at seeing some color the further north you go. It will not be full color but you will definitely see glimpses of the colors.

 

We can always hope. I didn't book the cruise for color, but for warmth. My DH hates cold, and this seemed to be the warmest sailing by NCL The color will be an added attraction if we get any.

[ute_fan]

This was also one of our favorite cruises -- in spite of some issues we had with the Dawn. I think it was just one of those weeks, however, as most people love the ship. We definitely plan on doing another Canada/NE cruise in the future, as we prefer the cooler weather ports to a day on the beach.

 

We didn't find the ports to be that similar -- but we did try to add a little variety to our excursions. In Halifax we went whale watching. In St. John we rented a car and drove to the Bay of Fundy. Fairly cheap, and wonderful scenery. In Bar Harbor we did a tour of Acadia National Park, and I could easily go back and spend a week or more in that wonderful town. We went to Rose Island Lighthouse in Newport, which was a fun experience as we'd never been that close to a lighthouse before.

 

Boston, unfortunately was experiencing the remnants of Hurricane Kyle. We'd pre-purchased tickets for one of the hop-on hop-off buses, but it was raining so hard (I think something like 7" of rain that day) that it wasn't a success. The tour company contacted me with a survey that I responded to and said I understood it wasn't their fault, but that I wouldn't bother to buy tickets in advance next time -- and they sent me a refund and included two free tickets for the next time we go. I was VERY impressed by that customer service.

 

Have a great time! We can't wait to go back.

[Cruise_More_Often]

. . . Boston, unfortunately was experiencing the remnants of Hurricane Kyle. We'd pre-purchased tickets for one of the hop-on hop-off buses, but it was raining so hard (I think something like 7" of rain that day) that it wasn't a success. The tour company contacted me with a survey that I responded to and said I understood it wasn't their fault, but that I wouldn't bother to buy tickets in advance next time -- and they sent me a refund and included two free tickets for the next time we go. I was VERY impressed by that customer service.

I concur with the great customer service, Susan. We used the Boston Hop-on Hop-off Trolley, which may have been different from your company. We'd purchased advance tickets, too, and found out the day we arrived that Boston was having a huge parade, which closed many streets downtown. The trolley driver called out to us at our stop that they had suspended service due to the parade. A number of us said there was no indication on the website or we wouldn't have purchased tickets. The driver felt sorry for us, picked us all up, and took us on a trip through "her" Boston. She got a big tip from us, and I wrote a long letter telling management what a wonderful employee they had. I got a nice thank you back from them with two free tickets for the next time we're in Boston. What a great company.

[flashdog_1]

This was also one of our favorite cruises -- in spite of some issues we had with the Dawn. I think it was just one of those weeks, however, as most people love the ship. We definitely plan on doing another Canada/NE cruise in the future, as we prefer the cooler weather ports to a day on the beach.

 

We didn't find the ports to be that similar -- but we did try to add a little variety to our excursions. In Halifax we went whale watching. In St. John we rented a car and drove to the Bay of Fundy. Fairly cheap, and wonderful scenery. In Bar Harbor we did a tour of Acadia National Park, and I could easily go back and spend a week or more in that wonderful town. We went to Rose Island Lighthouse in Newport, which was a fun experience as we'd never been that close to a lighthouse before.

 

Boston, unfortunately was experiencing the remnants of Hurricane Kyle. We'd pre-purchased tickets for one of the hop-on hop-off buses, but it was raining so hard (I think something like 7" of rain that day) that it wasn't a success. The tour company contacted me with a survey that I responded to and said I understood it wasn't their fault, but that I wouldn't bother to buy tickets in advance next time -- and they sent me a refund and included two free tickets for the next time we go. I was VERY impressed by that customer service.

 

Have a great time! We can't wait to go back.

 

I had some interesting experiences on Dawn, too, that took several trips and calls to the front desk to resolve. We had no black leather folder in the room (that contains all info plus the room service menu which is why I wanted the folder). When I told the steward we needed this book he looked confused. He did give us the breakfast menu hang tags.

 

I contacted the front desk. She had more breakfast hang tags sent. When I finally went in person I asked to SEE one of the black leather folders and she showed me. I told her that's what was missing from my cabin. She could not give me hers. She said she'd have one sent within 20 minutes. So I bathed and waited. Nothing. WEnt down to reception and asked again. I think it was the 4th day that we got it, with an apology from the head of house keeping. But these things happen. It did not ruin our cruise. Just kept us from ordering room service earlier in the week.

[philly50's]

Thank you for your response. I'll contact Halifax Taxi. Sounds perfect.

 

Questions, though:

 

Did you make any stops on the route, or get any "tour" type of Halifax or just "do" Peggy's Cove?

 

Was your driver knowledgeable about the history etc. of Peggy's Cove?

 

Is there any difficult walking involved?

 

Did you buy lunch for your driver? Thanks

 

We did some of Halifax, after visiting Peggy's Cove. We saw the Citidel and a lot of the city, it was great.

 

Our driver Les, was so kind and very knowledgeable

 

One of our traveling companions has some physical limitations and he did very well on this tour.

 

Les, our driver, left us alone at Peggy's Cove so we didn't have the opportunity to buy him lunch but we would have gladly done so. We made it up in our tip to Les

[ute_fan]

I had some interesting experiences on Dawn, too, that took several trips and calls to the front desk to resolve. We had no black leather folder in the room (that contains all info plus the room service menu which is why I wanted the folder). When I told the steward we needed this book he looked confused. He did give us the breakfast menu hang tags.

 

I contacted the front desk. She had more breakfast hang tags sent. When I finally went in person I asked to SEE one of the black leather folders and she showed me. I told her that's what was missing from my cabin. She could not give me hers. She said she'd have one sent within 20 minutes. So I bathed and waited. Nothing. WEnt down to reception and asked again. I think it was the 4th day that we got it, with an apology from the head of house keeping. But these things happen. It did not ruin our cruise. Just kept us from ordering room service earlier in the week.

 

Our problems were more with the dining room service. First of all, the MDR's always had a wait. We tried eating early -- we tried eating late. We tried both dining rooms. We tried asking for seating with others, we tried eating alone, and there was at least a 20 minutes wait each night. This was so different from our prior NCL cruises that we really had trouble figuring out what the cause was.

 

Then, the hostess that week was fairly rude, actually. We've normally (especially when it's just my DH and I traveling), asked for the same wait staff for dinner if we find someone we really like. She acted like that was a great imposition, and considering how busy the dining room was, I'm sure that's what she was feeling -- but she wasn't even polite in the way she answered. On our other cruises, when we've requested a particular waiter, we may not always be able to get them -- but the answer has always been a very apologetic "I'm sorry, there's nothing in their section", or "I'm sorry, they're busy with a large group tonight", and we don't make a big deal about it. When we asked on the Dawn, her response was something like "We don't allow waiter requests".

 

Luckily, our next cruise on the Star was back to polite hostess service.

[hello]

Jerseyboy1, I loved your photo's ...thank you!

[InverStone]

Glad I didn't offend you. You are helping me decide what to do in each port.

 

Yes, southerners (US) are known to be friendly. They are so friendly you can't tell who your enemies are. ha

 

And what a treat you had to be able to visit New Orleans before your cruise.

 

Yes, we will definitely enjoy the cruise. I've been on Dawn before and love many aspects of her.

 

 

oops! Alos realized I goofed after re-reading this...I thought one of your ports was St. Johns as opposed to Saint John. Sorry...

 

Inver

[flashdog_1]

We did some of Halifax' date=' after visiting Peggy's Cove. We saw the Citidel and a lot of the city, it was great.

 

Our driver Les, was so kind and very knowledgeable

 

One of our traveling companions has some physical limitations and he did very well on this tour.

 

Les, our driver, left us alone at Peggy's Cove so we didn't have the opportunity to buy him lunch but we would have gladly done so. We made it up in our tip to Les[/quote']

 

Exactly what I needed to know.

 

One more question,though.

 

Was anyone uncomfortable with the seating arrangement in the van? There's another thread going where people are describing how they had to sit on a bench seat with two others, IN THE MIDDLE. ha I'm really looking for bucket seats for all 3 of us.

[flashdog_1]

Another question or two.

 

Did you go IN the Citadel?

 

Did you go IN the public gardens?

 

or just drive around them without stopping? Thanks

 

I googled Halifax Taxi and did not get anything. There were taxi companies IN Halifax given, and they all seemed to give the tour, but I want the best one, of course.

[philly50's]

My life is so crazy. I work all week and then visit my mom, who is in a nursing home most nights. I don't generally get home until after 6 PM and by the time I cook dinner and we finis up it is after 7 and by them I am often too tired to go on CC. Anyway, here is the e-mail address I used. webmaster@hftaxi.com. Les was the guy I was in contact with and he was great. We did not go into Citadel, our choice, but did have a great tour of the public gardens. We are now scheduled for the Pearl, November 2010, back to the Caribbean. Yeah!!!!

[flashdog_1]

My life is so crazy. I work all week and then visit my mom' date=' who is in a nursing home most nights. I don't generally get home until after 6 PM and by the time I cook dinner and we finis up it is after 7 and by them I am often too tired to go on CC. Anyway, here is the e-mail address I used. [email']webmaster@hftaxi.com[/email]. Les was the guy I was in contact with and he was great. We did not go into Citadel, our choice, but did have a great tour of the public gardens. We are now scheduled for the Pearl, November 2010, back to the Caribbean. Yeah!!!!

 

Thanks philly50's

With your hectic life you need that cruise on Pearl in November.