Canada/New England on Caribbean Princess June 22

[fl.princess]

My husband and I are taking the Canada/New England cruise on the Caribbean Princess on June 22.

 

This is our 2nd Princess cruise. The first was Alaska on the Diamond Princess.

 

I've read some of the reviews on this board and wondering on a few of the ports.

 

We don't want to book any excursions through Princess, but at the same time want to plan a few things to do and make the best of our time at each port.

 

We are only in Sydney, NS a short time from 1:00-7:00. What would be the best use of our time?

 

What to do in Charlottetown and Halifax?

 

We are possibly planning a bus tour in Acadia National Park, but then will still have some free time when the tour is over. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks!

[Toto2Kansas]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

I would chech with those on the roll call for this cruise for ideas and possibly tour shares. You can locate it here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1262927

[fl.princess]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

I would chech with those on the roll call for this cruise for ideas and possibly tour shares. You can locate it here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1262927

 

Thank you!

[willysgrandma]

In Halifax, we did a Hop on Hop Off bus. There is a Maritime Museum there that we found fascinating - they had Titanic relics but we also learned about a collision of two ships in Halifax that destroyed the city years ago.

 

They also brought the Canadian Mounties on the ship while in port in Halifax and they did a short show that was interesting. we happened to be back on the ship at the time of the show so we didn't miss it.

 

Unfortunately, I didn't do the other two ports you are going to, so I don't have any suggestions except to tell you to enjoy the cruise - we did!

[Roses2]

There is a complete review and discussion of the Canada/New England cruise at:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1420534

[Thoth]

I just got back from Sydney and Charlottetown. I used ship tours to see Louisbourg Fortress from Sydney, and.... the Anne of Green Gables farm & the national park from Charlottetown.

Be to honest, you might better re-consider a ship sponsored tour if you wish to visit either of these places.

With the exception of folk arts in the Sydney terminal, they didn't appear to be much within walking distance of either port.

 

In Halifax, the Citadel is an uphill climb, but easily within walking distance. Getting to the Maritime Museum is so very easy.

No tour bus is needed and as a matter of fact, Halifax is much better on foot...in my opinion.

Bar Harbor Maine offers some lovely shops and eateries within walking distance. Acadia National Park will require a tour bus or taxi.

So with the exception of Halifax, one should consider a ship tour, taxi, or a rental car.

[maryann ns]

You would learn a great deal by checking out the search feature at the top of every page. For Canada go to the Ports of Call - Canada page. Look to the right of the blue bar above the listings. To the right in pink look for search this thread. Put in key terms such as Sydney and see what comes up.

 

For Sydney, I would rent a car and go to Louisbourg.

 

For Halifax either stay in town and walk around (or take FRED the hoho bus) OR rent a car and go to Peggy's Cove and/or Lunenburg. There are too many great options for Halifax.

 

For Charlottetown I would rent a car and drive to the North Shore including Cavendish.

 

There are past posts with details about all of this.

[fl.princess]

You would learn a great deal by checking out the search feature at the top of every page. For Canada go to the Ports of Call - Canada page. Look to the right of the blue bar above the listings. To the right in pink look for search this thread. Put in key terms such as Sydney and see what comes up.

 

For Sydney, I would rent a car and go to Louisbourg.

 

For Halifax either stay in town and walk around (or take FRED the hoho bus) OR rent a car and go to Peggy's Cove and/or Lunenburg. There are too many great options for Halifax.

 

For Charlottetown I would rent a car and drive to the North Shore including Cavendish.

 

There are past posts with details about all of this.

 

Thanks, I have searched quite a bit on here. It's very overwhelming! Lots of info to look through (which is good!)

[sapper1]

As wonderful as the Fortress of Louisbourg is, you only have six hours in port. Since it will be about 1:30 before you can disembark and you will have to be back aboard by 6:30, you are now down to five hours. It takes about 45 minutes to drive to the fortress. After you arrive you have to walk to the visitor centre and purchase tickets. You then have to wait for a shuttle bus to take you out to the fortress.

 

The fortress covers a large area and you can easily spend many hours there. When you are ready to leave you have to line up and wait for the shuttle bus again. You then have to drive 45 minutes back to Sydney over a two lane road with little opportunity to pass. The picking up and return of your rental car will take about half an hour out of your time.

 

The time you would have at the fortress would be so little that it would hardly be worth the effort and I would be afraid of missing the ship.

 

You could rent a car and drive down to the village of Baddeck and tour the Alexander Graham Bell Museum. It is run by Parks Canada and is very well done. It takes about 45 minutes to drive to Baddeck as well but touring the museum is much less time consuming.The trip to Baddeck offers some very scenic views as well.

 

It is a pity that your stop in Sydney isn't longer as the Fortress of Louisbourg is such a gem to visit.

[fl.princess]

sapper1,

Thank you for the tips. I know the time is so short in Sydney that I have to wonder if it's worth spending money to do anything when we have more time at the other ports.

[smitty3000]

I am on this same cruise with you. We can't wait.:) I know you did not mention Newport but you can easily do that town on your own. Last year we were on Carribean Princess and we walked right over to the visitors center and caught a bus for about $5.00. I went to the Marble House Mansion and The Breakers Mansion. I also Walked on the Cliff Walk that has beautiful scenery. It cost me less than $31.00 pp total to do this and made for a great day. This time we are going to The Elms Mansion. We joined the Newport Historical Society for $75 for two people. This also includes a Behind The Scenes Tour at The Elms. Princess has this same tour for $129.00 pp which to me is way overpriced. From what I have read you can even have lunch at the Elms. We have less than three weeks to go. Wooo Hoooo

[sapper1]

sapper1,

Thank you for the tips. I know the time is so short in Sydney that I have to wonder if it's worth spending money to do anything when we have more time at the other ports.

I have posted a link to the Cape Breton Miners' Museum which is about 30 -40 minutes from Sydney.

http://www.minersmuseum.com/

 

I have never been there but I hear it is quite nice.

 

You don't have time for the Cabot Trail, which is truly spectacular, as it is a full day venture. Some cruise ships offer a partial circuit but if it is foggy you will see nothing and will have wasted your money. Also, you would spend so much of your time driving up to, and back from, the really good sections that you would not see much anyway in your allotted time.

 

I always enjoy Baddeck and the Bell Museum as well.

 

Sydney itself is a small Maritime city. You will be very pleased at the friendliness and hospitality you will receive there and anywhere else in the Maritime provinces. You can stop anyone on the street and ask directions and they will be happy to help you. We are very welcoming to visitors in this part of the world. Don't expect much in the way of shopping. Save that for Halifax.

 

Since most of the areas tourists would be interested in lie just outside of the city, I find it surprising that the ship doesn't stop longer. Even two more hours would make such a difference in terms of making a rental car visit to Louisbourg practical. I almost think I would pay for the ship's tour of Louisbourg. That way you would gain time by not having to deal with a rental car and lining up for tickets. I am guessing here but I suspect that the tour people would be taken directly to the fortress and not have to deal with a shuttle bus. Maybe someone who has done a ship's tour could jump in here and answer that.

[fl.princess]

I am on this same cruise with you. We can't wait.:) I know you did not mention Newport but you can easily do that town on your own. Last year we were on Carribean Princess and we walked right over to the visitors center and caught a bus for about $5.00. I went to the Marble House Mansion and The Breakers Mansion. I also Walked on the Cliff Walk that has beautiful scenery. It cost me less than $31.00 pp total to do this and made for a great day. This time we are going to The Elms Mansion. We joined the Newport Historical Society for $75 for two people. This also includes a Behind The Scenes Tour at The Elms. Princess has this same tour for $129.00 pp which to me is way overpriced. From what I have read you can even have lunch at the Elms. We have less than three weeks to go. Wooo Hoooo

 

Thanks for the info on Newport. We were planing on the Cliff Walk as one thing to do. I didn't know about the buses, so that will be good to do! We haven't booked anything yet as far as tours. I feel like we are so behind in thinking about it all! It's going to be here before we know it!

[teacherman]

We never do a ship's tour if we can find a way to do it ourselves. We are doing this cruise July 19, and after much research, we are doing the ship tour to the Louisburg fort.. The time constraints made it to "chancy" for us to rent a car. Also, the weather can be bad, which makes renting and driving much less enjoyable. This may be only the third ship tour we have ever taken in all of our cruises. Hope you enjoy your cruise and PLEASE write a review when you return so that I, and others, can get some new ideas of things we may want to see.

[Thoth]

I wholeheartedly agree that the people of this area sure do their part to make the visit pleasant. Sydney offers homemade souvenirs. I came home with a handmade tie with the Nova Scotia tartan pattern, some hand-crafted refrigerator magnets, some tea flavored chocolates, and two jars of Prince Edward Island jams.

Louisbourg and Anne's Green Garbles are worth the trip. Halifax's Citadel is a first rate fort in my book. The kilted soldiers are fun to talk with.

My review...if any help.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=83571

[wellingtonmom]

We are on your cruise and have not booked anything. We are platinum princess cruisers but usually caribbean cruisers. What have u booked? Omg starting to panic!!!

[fl.princess]

We are on your cruise and have not booked anything. We are platinum princess cruisers but usually caribbean cruisers. What have u booked? Omg starting to panic!!!

 

We haven't booked anything! We will be doing either the bus or trolley tour in Acadia National Park. Not sure whether to pay in advance though or if we can just reserve. We don't have plans for Sydney or Charlottetown yet. Halifax, we may just explore on our own. Boston - we are deciding still if we want to do the hop on hop off trolley or just take a cab to Freedom Trail and explore from there.

 

I've been looking at the weather and all I see is rain right now for the first few ports we stop. I hope it doesn't rain at all of our ports!

[missjanet]

We are cruising with you, too, on the June 22nd sailing. You might want to check out our roll call because there is a lot of good tour information there.

 

We've been on a cruise to Canada before & we did the ship's tour of Louisbourg because of the short time in port. It worked out very well. On this cruise we are doing the Bell Museum tour.

 

In Halifax we've done the HOHO bus & the Maritime Museum - both very worthwhile. This time we are taking the ship's tour to Lunenburg.

 

Last time in Charlottetown, we did a tour that included Anne of Green Gables, lobster lunch at the PEI Preserves Company, & some sightseeing. This time we're not booking anything. My husband loves PEI mussels & we're going to have a very nice lunch somewhere, & play any sightseeing by ear.

 

In Bar Harbor, we're doing a trip to Acadia National Park.

 

In Newport, we're doing the Cliff Walk and touring the Breakers.

 

In Boston, we're touring Fenway Park.

 

So that's what we've got booked at this point. We've decided not to get too ambitious about sightseeing, especially since we've been to some of these places before. DH REALLY needs a vacation & I want him to relax as much as possible.

 

Good luck with your trip planning! And if you feel like it, check out our roll call & see if you'd like to come to our Meet & Greet on our first day at sea. :)

[fl.princess]

missjanet,

Thanks for all the good ideas! I have checked and posted some on the RollCall. My hubby is not interested in the M&G, so we will not be participating.

 

Which tour are you doing of Acadia Ntl. Park? Oli's Trolly or the other one?

 

We plan to do the Cliff Walk also in Newport.

[missjanet]

Our excursion in Bar Harbor is called Acadia National Park, Loop Road & Cadillac Mountain. I was trying to maximize the amount of time in Acadia & trying to see as much as possible. I'm sure my husband would have liked to do some hiking there, but that's not going to happen so I picked the excursion that seemed to be most comprehensive. I decided to go with the ship's trip after pricing elsewhere, too. I don't feel comfortable having to pay for outside tours ahead of time.

 

I've read good things about Cliff Walk so we did the only excursion that included it, plus I've heard the Breakers is beautiful & worth seeing, too. I'm sure all of the mansions are worth seeing, but I thought my husband would prefer getting some exercise as well as sightseeing.

 

There is so much to do in each of these ports. It is very intimidating trying to sift through the choices & select just one. Good luck with it!

[miamiensis]

Hi, also sailing on CB on June 22. There are three of us from Miami. Im not very interested in any of the tours listed (more of a foodie and prefer on my own but would be pleased if any other serious foodies are out there) but I am trying to arrange some nice things fro my Mom and her lady friend. They both use canes but, especially my Mom, would like to see everything. Any ideas, also happy to have them join with others (they are nice Catholic ladies into all kinds of social things and education).

Help!

[fl.princess]

Hi, also sailing on CB on June 22. There are three of us from Miami. Im not very interested in any of the tours listed (more of a foodie and prefer on my own but would be pleased if any other serious foodies are out there) but I am trying to arrange some nice things fro my Mom and her lady friend. They both use canes but, especially my Mom, would like to see everything. Any ideas, also happy to have them join with others (they are nice Catholic ladies into all kinds of social things and education).

Help!

 

I'm not sure what kind of tours you are looking for, but you may get a better response if you started a new thread.

[Acey-SJ]

Hi, also sailing on CB on June 22. There are three of us from Miami. Im not very interested in any of the tours listed (more of a foodie and prefer on my own but would be pleased if any other serious foodies are out there) but I am trying to arrange some nice things fro my Mom and her lady friend. They both use canes but, especially my Mom, would like to see everything. Any ideas, also happy to have them join with others (they are nice Catholic ladies into all kinds of social things and education).

Help!

 

Perhaps in Halifax your group would enjoy a stroll in the Public Gardens - very beautiful.