2012 Guide - Places to See in Saint John New Brunswick for Cruise Ship visitors

[Amy1118]

2 blocks

Will it be obvious which direction to walk or can you give more specific directions? The web site was not very specific about the pick up/drop off location.

[Acey-SJ]

Will it be obvious which direction to walk or can you give more specific directions? The web site was not very specific about the pick up/drop off location.

 

Sorry about that - it is very obvious once you exit terminal - you will be turning left. Local ambassadors will direct you if you need help. The bus is parked in front of Loyalist Plaza artisan market on Water Street.

[KBSUE]

I know this is a crazy question but...Will the bus take US Dollars or do I need to have Canadian money? What about the market?

[vakamalua]

How can I find out what span of time on September 14 you can walk on the beach and see the St martins sea caves?

 

Thanks

[Amy1118]

Sorry about that - it is very obvious once you exit terminal - you will be turning left. Local ambassadors will direct you if you need help. The bus is parked in front of Loyalist Plaza artisan market on Water Street.

Thank you. This sounds like a good option for Saint John.

[Acey-SJ]

I know this is a crazy question but...Will the bus take US Dollars or do I need to have Canadian money? What about the market?

 

Bus will take $USD along with artists. Stores also take it at fair exchange and will give change back in $CDN unless they have a sign stating $USD change provided. Many now provide US change

[fundy]

Almost all the shops and taxis take USD exchanged at par. For those thinking of the Fundy Trail, they are closed for the season after the Canadian Thanksgiving long weekend on Oct 8. I believe the Jet Boat ride is closed as well then too. Just to let you folks know before planning your tour of our city. Oct is the month to enjoy the fall foliage.

[Scrapgirl]

I understand the Fundy Trail is closed after the Canadian Thanksgiving. I will be in St. John on Oct. 16. I understand there is still access to the walking trails, just not driving the Fundy Trail or renting bikes.... is it still worth renting a car and exploring this area on foot even though the Fundy Trail is closed?

[fundy]

The trail is close to 10miles long and will be very difficult to walk it in a short time. It's still worthy renting a car and exploring the area. Make sure you get the tide timings and plan around it. You need to be in St Martin at low tide and not high tide. Also take the scenic route on your way there. Check out http://fundytour.com they have a list of places you can plan your tour and also have a table of tide schedule.

[zebra]

I have a question. Is the City Market at Market Square or are they two seperate places? If they are, how do we reach each of them from the ship.

[LiftLockCouple]

I have a question. Is the City Market at Market Square or are they two seperate places? If they are, how do we reach each of them from the ship.

 

They are two different locations. One, Market Square, is at the bottom of King Street and is the closest to the ship. City Market is at the top and to one side of King Street. King Street is a few minutes walk from the ship.

[fundy]

I have a question. Is the City Market at Market Square or are they two seperate places? If they are, how do we reach each of them from the ship.

When you come off the ship you will be on Water Street. If you follow the street straight for about 5 min walk Market Sq will be on your left and you'll be standing at the bottom of King Street. Turn right and go uphill of King Street about 3 min until you hit Germain St and City Market (rear door) will be on your left again on corner of King & Germain.

[zebra]

When you come off the ship you will be on Water Street. If you follow the street straight for about 5 min walk Market Sq will be on your left and you'll be standing at the bottom of King Street. Turn right and go uphill of King Street about 3 min until you hit Germain St and City Market (rear door) will be on your left again on corner of King & Germain.

 

Thanks for great directions. Looking forward to our day in St. John.

[fundy]

You are welcome. The temperature in SJ is in the mid 40s to mid 50s till end of Oct. it has been raining frequently lately. Just a heads-up for those still coming to visit our city this month. Cheers everybody.

[zebra]

Have all the leaves fallen off the trees already???

[fundy]

Have all the leaves fallen off the trees already???

Half of them have. The other half is awaiting your arrival. ;)

[Keith1010]

Excellent information on this thread.

 

Keith

[greatexpectations]

We chose Roy Flowers (royscab@hotmail.com) for our Oct 17, 2012, tour of the Bay of Fundy (St. John, NB) because he had been so highly recommended by previous travelers. Roy did not disappoint! In fact, Roy made the entire trip (a cruise on the NCL Dawn from Quebec to Boston) a success for us. We were 3 couples whom had never met before (from Boston; Newport Beach California; and, Medicine Hat, Alberta). We all loved Roy and thoroughly enjoyed the long-day (10:30AM to 5:30PM) thanks to him. We could not help but become enthused ourselves from his true excitement about each of the sites he showed us.

 

Roy and his taxi van greeted us at the dock unobtrusively. We all piled in and the tour started with a stop right away at the courthouse in town. Since we had all just settled into Roy's van, stopping so quickly was a pain, especially because it was a chilly morning, albeit sunny, in St. John. Roy kept encouraging us with "...I want to show you something you will see no where else...". Sure, sure. sure. It is a courthouse right? What are we going to see that is so unusual -- perhaps an ornate, old courtroom? We have all seen those and they are nice, but for that I need to get my body out of the warm van? No, no. It was a 100+ year old, 3 story spiral staircase hand-made of stone which had survived the 19th century fire which had destroyed the entire town. Okay, nice but so what, you say? The spiral staircase had no supports. That's right, open your sleepy eyes and look again at the staircase. It is not only old and beautiful, but each of the individual stairs is attached to the circular column in which the stairway sits without any vertical supports, held up in the air only by the placement of each stair on the one below (I did think twice before standing under the incredible structure until Roy told us the story of how it was tested!).

 

Okay, Roy, nice start, but what's next? Onto the town's largest.oldest and highest church. Oh no, out of the van again quickly. But this time, having been pleasantly surprised by Roy's spiral staircase, we did not complain and bounded into the old Catholic church to see beautiful stained glass and hand-carved wood panelling. Okay, so we here we are again in another church which, forgive me, albeit very nice, look pretty much the same. But then Roy starts in as he did in the courthouse with stories about what happened here (...the poor used to be able to come in out of the cold and use the church to stay warm during our 30 degree below zero winters until someone stole the century-old candlesticks...). Then Father Dan appears almost as if on cue from Roy. Welcomes us warmly and starts to tell his stories. Wow! Everyone knows Roy (this went on the entire day, wherever we went) and they go out of their way to greet him and treat his customers as friends too!

 

Back to Ray's van. Roy made us look at St. John's famous Reversing Falls so when he brought us back 6 hours later we would understand, We learned about the Irving Family Empire (petroleum refining, chemical plants, pulp factory, etc) and the incredible impact by them on the local economy. We even visited one of their 'Circle K' gas stations (...Irving makes sure that their washrooms are super clean and you will want to use the facilities before we head to St. Martins...) and then a Tim Horton's for a wake-up cup of great coffee (and a few Timmy Bites purchased by our Canadian couple to keep us going until lunch). Roy drove us through the countryside to St. Martin's, the Caves, and the start of the Bay of Fundy Trail with a stop for a lunch of fresh seafood chowder and lobster rolls. I will not go on with all the details of the entire day because I do not want to spoil all the surprises for you, but you get the idea. Other tour drivers tried to follow us, I kid you not -- that is just how good Roy Flowers is! Roy Flowers is without doubt The Best Tour we have ever had anywhere, anytime!

[serene56]

when is whale season?

[alexandra cruiser]

I can vouch for the city tour, very easy and nice tour for the right price. Here is the web site for it.

 

http://www.saintjohn.ca/en/home/cityservices/transportation/transit/services/citytours.aspx

 

and just says it runs on cruise days,,but from where? How much?no contact number seen.

Also, same info for HOHO bus tour,,,info PLEASE>

[fundy]

2013 is here!! Welcome to Saint John all visitors.

[princess_mom]

Hi fundy - Just read through this thread, copied out lots of ideas for my group who will be arriving on the Carnival Glory in late Aug. Thanks for all the great info!

Two questions that I'm still looking for answers on:

- when is whale watching season there?

- temps in late Aug?

 

Thanks again!

[serene56]

Everything I read about whale watching tells me that where we dock is too far away to go to whale watching.

 

I am hoping that by May a lot of web pages will be up and running coz August is right around the corner and I need to know what I am going to do

[fundy]

Hi fundy - Just read through this thread, copied out lots of ideas for my group who will be arriving on the Carnival Glory in late Aug. Thanks for all the great info!

Two questions that I'm still looking for answers on:

- when is whale watching season there?

- temps in late Aug?

 

Thanks again!

 

 

Whale watching is quite a distance from Saint John and not so many people would do that coming out of a cruise ship for a limited amount of hours in the city. As for the temps, its normally in the low 70s in August.

[emarismom]

Where can I find information on the times of high and low tide at the sea caves? We will be there on June 11th.