Canada/New England from California

[oaktreerb]

We are considering the Canada/New England cruises and prefer to go while most of the kids are in school. Since we have to fly on both ends of the cruise where should we begin? I'm thinking it might be easier to fly into Canada and cruise south to New York, Boston, or Ft Lauderdale. If so do you recommend Montreal or Quebec and why? Which would be best for an extra day? We usually have HAL make flight and transfer arrangements but how close are the airports for New York and Boston? Do you have any don't miss recommendations for sight seeing?

[trophy_23]

I really enjoyed Quebec City and if you take the Eurodam trip it overnights there giving you extra day without needing a hotel. It is nice as you dock right in town so you can come and go from the ship easily and the town is great to explore, lots to see and do. I also really enjoyed NYC and Boston. In Boston the planes were almost clipping the top of the ship as they took off (not really but the airport was that close). Quebec it was not far to the airport an easy cab ride 20min or so if I remember. Have not flown from NYC but if you end up doing a reposition to FLL the airport is quite close also, and the extra couple sea days were very relaxing after a port intensive itinerary. Hope this helps a bit, great trip any way you slice it!!

[kazu]

Montreal is an absolutely beautiful city. there is a new and old section to it. Old Montreal is historic, beautiful and very intriguing.

 

Well worth the visit.

 

I don't think you can go wrong with either choice, but Montreal is a must see IMO:)

[Gsel]

I agree with Kazu, Montreal is really not to be missed. It is worth going a day or two early and just walking the city and exploring.

[Krazy Kruizers]

we did a repositioning cruise from ft lauderdale to montreal one year -- we stayed in montreal for 4 days after the cruise -- and even that was not enough time to see everything

[sail7seas]

From airport to Black Falcon Cruise Terminal in Boston is ten minutes on Saturday when Maasdam sails seven day itinerary, Boston to Montreal. Eurodam is too tall to fit under the bridge so has to stop at Quebec City but Maasdam continues on the St. Lawrence River to Montreal. We love Montreal and enjoy our stay there every summer when we do Maasdam's cruise back-to-back. We love getting on in Boston, sailing to Montreal and staying aboard for the return trip back to Boston. That gives us the full day to spend in Montreal. :)

 

We also REALLY enjoy our day in Quebec City and that b-to-b gives us two visits each summer.

 

[OldCodger73]

If time and money aren't a problem, why not a 14-day (two 7-day back-to-back) cruise from Boston in May? I think the ports are the same both ways but an extra day in Quebec City, Sydney and Halifax would be great, plus you'd get a full day in Montreal.

[Softtop67]

If you go in or out of ny the closer airport to the pier is Newark, NJ not JFK or lagaurdia. A cab from the airport would run around 40 or you can take the train, nj transit from the airport to ny Penn station, and then take a short cab ride to the pier. Please be aware though that during rush hour it could take hours to go from the airport to the city if not on public transportation.

[oaktreerb]

Now that I have more insight on the itinerary as well as the Maasdam and Eurodam I will start looking at the sight seeing opportunities. If we did a back to back I would want to make sure that there were plenty of things to see and do. We enjoy port intensive cruising so wouldn't want to stay on board when in port.

[sansterre]

I would check airlines and their rates. We had a difficult time getting flights into Montreal. Sometimes round trip tickets are cheaper and some airports are better rates than others.

We enjoyed Montreal (did a pre-cruise day there) and Quebec and all the stops on the Canada Cruise.

Enjoy!

[DaveOKC]

We are doing the repo from Montreal to Fort Lauderdale (13 days) on Oct.15 on the Maasdam. We got a great one way fare on American (from OKC) to Montreal and SW always has decent fares out of FFL. We are staying 2 nights pre-cruise in Montreal.

 

We booked 6 months ago and prices have gone up since then, but this cruise is still very reasonable for the time (13 days) as compared to the 7 day ones.

 

Check out our Roll Call posting for this sailing.

 

DaveOKC