Need help picking an itinerary for fall cruise

[CruisingGoddess]

I'm looking into a Canada/New England cruise for Sept or Oct and need some insight on the 7-night itineraries we're considering.

 

Below are the cruises we're considering along with the oceanview price (though we'd consider booking a balcony too) and ports of call. We are pretty open to any embarkation port and we prefer Princess but have sailed all 3 lines.

 

NCL: Norwegian Dawn - $619 pp

Boston, Massachusetts | Portland, Maine | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island | La Baie, Canada | Quebec City, Quebec

 

NCL: Norwegian Dawn - $670 pp

Quebec City, Quebec | Corner Brook, Newfoundland | Sydney, Nova Scotia | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Saint John, New Brunswick | Bar Harbor, Maine | Boston, Massachusetts

 

Royal Caribbean: Jewel Of The Seas - $800 pp

Boston, Massachusetts | Portland, Maine | Bar Harbor, Maine | Saint John, New Brunswick | Halifax, Nova Scotia

 

Princess Cruises: Caribbean Princess - $852 pp

New York, New York | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Saint John, New Brunswick | Bar Harbor, Maine | Boston, Massachusetts | Newport, Rhode Island

 

I know it's a subjective question but which of these do you think has the best itinierary and are there any ports of call you think are a "must" for a Canada/New England cruise? Any preferences on one ship over the others?

 

Thanks in advance!!!

[Earl Rosebery]

I'm looking into a Canada/New England cruise for Sept or Oct and need some insight on the 7-night itineraries we're considering.

 

Below are the cruises we're considering along with the oceanview price (though we'd consider booking a balcony too) and ports of call. We are pretty open to any embarkation port and we prefer Princess but have sailed all 3 lines.

 

NCL: Norwegian Dawn - $619 pp

Boston, Massachusetts | Portland, Maine | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island | La Baie, Canada | Quebec City, Quebec

 

NCL: Norwegian Dawn - $670 pp

Quebec City, Quebec | Corner Brook, Newfoundland | Sydney, Nova Scotia | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Saint John, New Brunswick | Bar Harbor, Maine | Boston, Massachusetts

 

Royal Caribbean: Jewel Of The Seas - $800 pp

Boston, Massachusetts | Portland, Maine | Bar Harbor, Maine | Saint John, New Brunswick | Halifax, Nova Scotia

 

Princess Cruises: Caribbean Princess - $852 pp

New York, New York | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Saint John, New Brunswick | Bar Harbor, Maine | Boston, Massachusetts | Newport, Rhode Island

 

I know it's a subjective question but which of these do you think has the best itinierary and are there any ports of call you think are a "must" for a Canada/New England cruise? Any preferences on one ship over the others?

 

Thanks in advance!!!

Quebec City is unique. It is a must if you haven't been there before.

[Kamloops50]

I'm looking into a Canada/New England cruise for Sept or Oct and need some insight on the 7-night itineraries we're considering.

 

Below are the cruises we're considering along with the oceanview price (though we'd consider booking a balcony too) and ports of call. We are pretty open to any embarkation port and we prefer Princess but have sailed all 3 lines.

 

NCL: Norwegian Dawn - $619 pp

Boston, Massachusetts | Portland, Maine | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island | La Baie, Canada | Quebec City, Quebec

 

NCL: Norwegian Dawn - $670 pp

Quebec City, Quebec | Corner Brook, Newfoundland | Sydney, Nova Scotia | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Saint John, New Brunswick | Bar Harbor, Maine | Boston, Massachusetts

 

Royal Caribbean: Jewel Of The Seas - $800 pp 2nd Choice

Boston, Massachusetts | Portland, Maine | Bar Harbor, Maine | Saint John, New Brunswick | Halifax, Nova Scotia

 

Princess Cruises: Caribbean Princess - $852 pp 1st Choice

New York, New York | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Saint John, New Brunswick | Bar Harbor, Maine | Boston, Massachusetts | Newport, Rhode Island

 

I know it's a subjective question but which of these do you think has the best itinierary and are there any ports of call you think are a "must" for a Canada/New England cruise? Any preferences on one ship over the others?

 

Thanks in advance!!!

 

Don't consider NCL in the same class as Princess or Royal Caribbean.

 

My preference is always Princess over HAL , RCI especially NCL.

[maryann ns]

Quebec City is very special. There are many other cruises besides the ones you are considering. Halifax, Sydney and Charlottetown are interesting ports.

 

If you want to see the autumn leaves aim for the second week in October.

[Chloegirl]

Rebecca, I would chose the Jewel of the Seas or the Caribbean Princess--you can't go wrong with either.

 

We chose the Jewel for our Canada/New England cruise last fall, in part because Boston is a very easy embarkation port (it's just a few minutes' drive from the airport), and there's lots to see and do in Boston before or after the cruise.

 

However, the Caribbean Princess includes Newport in the itinerary, which is one of my favorite places in the country.

 

We loved Bar Harbor--it's exactly what you would picture a pretty New England fishing village to be.

 

We also found Halifax very interesting, with its ties to Titanic history and learning about the heartbreaking explosion that occurred in 1917.

[CruisingGoddess]

Thanks for everyone's feedback! We decided to book the NCL Dawn from Boston to Quebec City. While we do prefer Princess over NCL, the dates will allow us to spend the weekend in Quebec City without taking any more time off of work so it worked out the best for us.

 

Bar Harbor also sounds amazing though! We'll have make sure our next Canada/New England cruise includes it!

 

Thanks again!

[Chloegirl]

That's a great price for the Dawn--enjoy your cruise!

[Cheryl H]

I wouldn't worry too much about missing Bar Harbor. It was a nice stop. We took the bus tour up to Cadillac Mountain, which to me didn't seem like a huge mountain compared to the Rocky's, but it was nice. We walked down to a photo spot for a nice view of the ship below. Then we walked around downtown, shopped, and had lunch.

 

I was more impressed with Portland. We had a tour there to Kennebunkport. It had a stop at the lighthouse, and we drove through the town of Portland on our way to Kennebunkport. All the homes and buildings in Portland were so pretty. Then we came to Kennebunkport which was a cute fishing village. We ate at Federal Jacks.

 

There are pictures of Bar Harbor in my photos below. Just click on the photos page and you'll see the snapshots from our New England cruise in 2008.

 

If you can get to Boston early, that was a neat city. For post cruise, we ended up getting a room at the Hilton at the airport I think for 80 dollars. Then we took the free shuttle to the water taxi stand at the Hyatt. We took a water taxi across Boston Harbor to Long Wharf. We had lunch at Legal Seafood (best fish and chips all week). Then we had pre-purchased tickets for Old Town Trolley hop on hop off. Their place was just around the corner from Legal Seafood. We first hopped off in Charlestown. We followed the brick trail over to the USS Constitution. We got in line for the free navy tour. It was really interesting to hear and see what the sailors experienced on board. We also walked around the Cassin across from the Constitution.

 

Then we hopped back on and went to the Old State House (restrooms here in the lower level) and if you go in the wrong door, you'll be on the T.

 

I wish we would have had more time to hop off in the Beacon Hill district. It looked pretty neat. We finished up our trolley ride back at the first stop and walked across the street and under the glass canopy to visit Quincy Market. Then we simply went back to the water taxi stand and called for a water taxi. Then we called for the hotel's free shuttle to pick us up.

 

We also did a hop on hop off in Halifax. We hopped off at the Citadel. It was pretty neat, but I wished we had gone to the visitor office first and asked for a guided tour. I saw a man giving some a personal tour and I think it was free. Then we hopped off and toured the Maritime Museum. That museum details the Titanic and also an explosion that occurred there in the harbor years ago. Then we walked over to the boardwalk and turned left and walked past the Historic Properties to a restaurant called Salty's. Then we walked the boardwalk some and got back on the hop on/hop off back to the ship. It was raining a little bit here.

 

We are going again in October.

 

By the way, you were a big help in us planning our Alaska trip! Glad I can chime in with a little help for your New England plans. Have fun!

[Cruise_More_Often]

CruisingGoddess, you won't be sorry you chose that itinerary. We did a similar cruise a couple years ago on the NCL Jewel, and we chose it because we really wanted to see more of Canada than just Nova Scotia. Quebec City is simply gorgeous, and Charlottetown is idyllic (we rented a car and drove around the northern part of the island).

 

There are quite a few photos of Boston, Halifax (don't miss Peggy's Cove), Sydney, PEI and Quebec City in my albums on Webshots--link in my signature.

 

I am envious!