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sebas030
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If you are ever planning to come to Chicago maybe I can reciprocate. Unfortunately we don't have a cruise port but we do have quite a few world class attractions. :D

 

Thanks for the offer ! I usually travel to Chicago on business 3 ~ 4 times a year... so am quite familiar with the area... although if you ever score tix to the Cubs or the Sox...

Edited by p_mori7
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Thanks for the offer ! I usually travel to Chicago on business 3 ~ 4 times a year... so am quite familiar with the area... although if you ever score tix to the Cubs or the Sox...

 

I'm a Sox fan and see many games each year. Wouldn't go to a Cubs game if they sent a limo for me!

 

So you're a baseball fan even though the Expos are long gone from Montreal eh? Well you have the Alouettes to watch. Our new football coach for the Bears was a coach in Canada last year so it will be interesting to see how he does in Chicago. We are a city of sports fans. Even the Blackhawks avoided elimination last night by beating the Redwings, but they still must win the next two to advance.

 

Sorry to digress from Montreal attractions but when you mentioned the Sox you hit one of my hot buttons!:D

 

I can make recommendations for the finest restaurants in Chicago for whatever your tastes may be!

Edited by sugarcharlie
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Can you recommend any long term parking options near the Montreal port. We're driving in from Toronto and need to park for two weeks.

 

 

Below is the link for "Stationnements de Montreal" the organization which oversees public parking in the downtown area. Typically there are no 'weekly' rates...it is either daily or monthly...with monthly running about $120...there are a multitude of privately operated lots...but I would not leave my car there.

 

The webpage has an interactive google maps link that will show you the location and pricing for each lot. There are some within a half-mile of the cruise terminal...suggest you get a cab for that short distance though as dragging luggage through Old Montreal will not be fun at all.

 

http://www.statdemtl.qc.ca/?page_id=86&lang=en

Edited by p_mori7
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For pmori_7,

Again,

thank for all of your helpful information on Montreal. Sorry I have not acknowledged your helpful reply until now-many work conferences,several graduations(we do those early in the South!),family surgery,etc.

 

We did prepurchase tickets to the Mosaicultures exhibit at the Botanic Gardens as it opens a few days before we arrive. Is there any good buzz about it up your way?

 

Can you recommend the Grayline van tour which will basically be a city tour/orientation tour?

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For pmori_7,

Again,

thank for all of your helpful information on Montreal. Sorry I have not acknowledged your helpful reply until now-many work conferences,several graduations(we do those early in the South!),family surgery,etc.

 

We did prepurchase tickets to the Mosaicultures exhibit at the Botanic Gardens as it opens a few days before we arrive. Is there any good buzz about it up your way?

 

Can you recommend the Grayline van tour which will basically be a city tour/orientation tour?

 

 

You will enjoy MosaiCultures...it is a popular event.

 

I have neither positive or negative comments about Grayline as I've never used that service...I can tell you that Grayline is a reputable provider here in Montreal and has been for many years.

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In the summertime, Montreal is host to many "festivals", some of which may interest visitors before departing on a cruise or for those staying a few days after a cruise.

 

JUNE:

 

Internationale des Feux Loto-Quebec.

Annual world fireworks competition with displays usually on Wednesday & Saturday evenings at 10pm.

 

Schedule & Details here: http://www.internationaldesfeuxloto-quebec.com/en/programmation/calendrier.aspx

 

Montreal Folk Fest.

Annual Folk Music festival.

 

Schedule & Details here: http://montrealfolkfest.com/en

 

 

Festival Internations Montreal en Arts

Annual Arts festival...open air displays in downtown Montreal.

 

Schedule & Details here: http://www.festivaldesarts.org/eng/festival_fima_eng.htm

 

 

Montreal Jazz Festival

"The" Big Event of the summer in Montreal...big name "Pay For" concerts, but also lots of FREE outdoor concerts.

 

Schedule & Details here: http://www.montrealjazzfest.com/default-en.aspx

 

 

Complete guide to all the Festivals

This link will bring you to a webpage listing ALL the festivals in Montreal and surrounding area. Not all of them are in downtown Montreal, renting a car for the day might be needed for some of them...be aware that not all of the dates for 2013 are updated yet on the site.

 

Among my favorites outside of Montreal:

 

Festival International de Lanaudiere...held mostly in Joliette & surrounding area...lots of concerts...and outdoor plays and movies in an outdoor amphitheatre park in downtown Joliette.

 

Hot Air Balloon Festival in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu...balloonists from around the world along with concerts & food.

Edited by p_mori7
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From April thru November, Montreal offers a cheap & fun way to get around on your own... BIXI !

 

BIXI is a public access bicycle system. There are BIXI stations all over town, especially so in downtown Montreal and in Old Montreal. In fact, there is a BIXI station right next to Alexandria Quay where the Maasdam docks.

 

See all the detailed information here: https://bixi.com/ride-with-bixi/functioning

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For those who would like to save a bit of money getting to/from downtown Montreal & the Airport, The Montreal Transit Authority (STM or Societe des Transports de Montreal) runs a SHUTTLE BUS 7 days a week, 24 hours a day between the Airport and the Downtown Bus Station.

 

The cost of the service is currently $9.00 per person. The bus has luggage racks. The bus also has WI-FI !

 

One big advantage, the $9.00 fare includes a 24 hour pass for the entire Montreal bus & subway network which makes it really easy to get around town. Depending on which hotel you are at, you will most likely need a cab to get there from the bus station, but it will be a much shorter & more affordable trip.

 

See the details here:

 

http://www.stm.info/english/info/a-747.htm

 

 

747.png

 

 

.

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Here is another suggestion for those of you that are staying a few days in Montreal either before or after the cruise:

 

Cavalia OdysseO.

 

Cavalia is a theatrical circus production on a grand scale...with horses ! Kind of like Cirque du Soleil.

 

The theatre / ring is in Laval, just a few minutes drive north of Montreal.

 

Here is a link with all the info:

 

http://www.cavalia.net/en/odysseo/tickets-info/laval-qc-can

 

 

odysseo.png

 

 

cavalia.png

 

 

 

.

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For pmori_7,

Would you recommend the concert at Le Balcon on June 28 with Jeff Corea and The Heads-there is an hommage to The Beatles,Rolling Stones,Temptations,etc?

There is also a dinner prior to the show?

It appears to be within easy walking distance from our hotel, but now I am not sure my 84 year old mom would enjoy it,but I probably would!

Thanks in advance.

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For pmori_7,

Would you recommend the concert at Le Balcon on June 28 with Jeff Corea and The Heads-there is an hommage to The Beatles,Rolling Stones,Temptations,etc?

There is also a dinner prior to the show?

It appears to be within easy walking distance from our hotel, but now I am not sure my 84 year old mom would enjoy it,but I probably would!

Thanks in advance.

 

 

I've never been there, nor do I know the artists.

 

I did take the time to read the reviews on tripadvisor, and they are mixed.

 

Personally, I would give it a try.

 

Personally, I would not bring an elderly relative.

 

If you choose to go, I think you will find OK food, and Good entertainment. I think you will find the drinks somewhat expensive.

Edited by p_mori7
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Hi P Mori! Thanks for replying to everyone after OP offered and left.

 

I was wondering if you have any ideas about luggage storage. We are visiting Montreal before our cruise (back to back) and when we return, we don't fly home until later in the evening (I think around 7pm if I'm correct). I'm wondering if you have suggestions of what to do with our luggage during the day in order to make good use of the day. I tried asking elsewhere but really didn't get a good reply. It's me and my mom who is a senior so I don't want her lugging her bag around. She asked me whether we can just bus to the airport and then drop it off and go back to town. That sounds like a waste of a time. Do you know if hotels would store luggage (We are staying at LHotel pre cruise) or there's a place close by? Any suggestions would be great!

 

Also if we have to take our luggage with us all day, do you have any suggestions of what to do? Thanks!

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I was wondering if you have any ideas about luggage storage. I'm wondering if you have suggestions of what to do with our luggage during the day in order to make good use of the day. She asked me whether we can just bus to the airport and then drop it off and go back to town. Do you know if hotels would store luggage (We are staying at LHotel pre cruise) or there's a place close by? Any suggestions would be great!

 

Also if we have to take our luggage with us all day, do you have any suggestions of what to do? Thanks!

 

 

Sorry for the delay. I am out of town on business, and have very little access to Internet / Email.

 

I have never done what you are asking about, so my suggestions here would need a bit more legwork on your behalf to see if they are viable.

 

I know there are storage lockers at the Central Bus Station, but I don't know how big they are. Here is the website link for the bus station, there is a phone number you could call to ask:

 

http://www.gamtl.com/en/bienvenue/default.aspx

 

If they do have adequate sized lockers, then you could take a cab from the Quay to the bus station ($10~ish), store your bags, do your sightseeing or tour, then collect your bag nd take the 747 Airport bus to get to the airport (see previous post on that).

 

I would imagine that hotels in the area would also be able to accomodate your luggage...for a fee....perhaps inquire with your pre-cruise hotel to see if they can do that for you afterwards ?

 

Going to the airport, then back, only to go back again later in the day is a complete waste of time in my opinion.

 

I think the tour busses operated by Grayline might be able to store your bags in the luggage compartiments of the bus while they are driving you around if you take a tour with them...suggest you give them a call to check out that option...they might even have a tour that starts at the Quay and ends at the airport:

 

http://www.grayline.com/things-to-do/canada/montreal/

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Thanks!! I appreciate you giving me suggestions. I wasn't really even able to come up with ideas. I kept thinking if someone asked me that for Vancouver, I wouldn't know what to say. I emailed the hotel and hopefully that would be an option with a fee. It's close to the port and we won't have to worry about taxiing elsewhere or whatever just to store the luggage. Thanks again!

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P Mori7,

Since you are from Montreal, maybe you can answer this.

We are scheduled to fly from Chicago to Montreal (United) in Sept and then have a connection on Air Canada to Quebec City. The airline has considerably changed our first flight time, so now we will only have 1 hour 15 minutes for the connection. *Assuming* our flight is on time, is this enough time to go through customs in Montreal and make the connection? It is a Thursday flight, if that matters. Do you know if we would also have to pick up our luggage for customs since this is the first stop out of US? The airline rep said our bags would be checked thru to Quebec City, but I'm not sure I believe them. I have never been to Montreal airport before, so have no idea of the logistics.

 

We have time to work on a Plan B in the event our first flight gets delayed and we miss the connection - presuming train would be the best option? I just wonder if we should insist they change our Air Canada flight time also, since we had originally planned for 2+ hours leeway for the connection.

 

Thanks for any helpful advice!

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We are scheduled to fly from Chicago to Montreal (United) in Sept and then have a connection on Air Canada to Quebec City. The airline has considerably changed our first flight time, so now we will only have 1 hour 15 minutes for the connection. *Assuming* our flight is on time, is this enough time to go through customs in Montreal and make the connection? It is a Thursday flight, if that matters. Do you know if we would also have to pick up our luggage for customs since this is the first stop out of US? The airline rep said our bags would be checked thru to Quebec City, but I'm not sure I believe them. I have never been to Montreal airport before, so have no idea of the logistics.

 

We have time to work on a Plan B in the event our first flight gets delayed and we miss the connection - presuming train would be the best option? I just wonder if we should insist they change our Air Canada flight time also, since we had originally planned for 2+ hours leeway for the connection.

 

Thanks for any helpful advice!

 

Good question !

 

I fly Chicago/Montreal on UA or AC pretty regularly, but have never had a following connection to Quebec City.

 

EDITED for CORRECT INFORMATION !

 

You do need to clear customs in Montreal. It will be very tight.

 

See below link to the Montreal Airport info page:

 

http://www.admtl.com/Passengers/Formalities/ConnectingFlight.aspx

 

 

 

:)

Edited by p_mori7
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Good question !

 

I fly Chicago/Montreal on UA or AC pretty regularly, but have never had a following connection to Quebec City.

 

EDITED for CORRECT INFORMATION !

 

You do need to clear customs in Montreal. It will be very tight.

 

See below link to the Montreal Airport info page:

 

http://www.admtl.com/Passengers/Formalities/ConnectingFlight.aspx

 

 

 

:)

 

Thank you.

 

We spent quite a bit of time on the phone this morning with United to get the connection flight switched. The next two connecting flights are completely booked which makes me even more uncomfortable with such a small window of time to clear Montreal customs. Lots of time spent on hold while conferring with supervisors.

 

In the end, they moved us to a non stop direct flight to Quebec City the night before at no cost to us. My husband's ticket is non-rev so this flight was not originally available to us. We told them we are okay with covering hotel expense as long as they get us to our final destination in a time frame that works for us!

 

I feel much better about this plan!

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We will be arriving early morning via rail & only be in Montreal for a day before flying out. In order to try to see as much as possible we thought we would do the HOHO. Unfortunately it stops running at 4PM so everything must be walkable after that. We are trying to decide whether to stay in downtown Montreal or Old Town. We are not shoppers, however, we would like to see the underground city. For reference sake, we love the energy of New York's Times Square especially at night; however, we also love the quaintness of Old San Juan, PR during the day. Any help is appreciated.

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We will be arriving early morning via rail & only be in Montreal for a day before flying out. In order to try to see as much as possible we thought we would do the HOHO. Unfortunately it stops running at 4PM so everything must be walkable after that. We are trying to decide whether to stay in downtown Montreal or Old Town. We are not shoppers, however, we would like to see the underground city. For reference sake, we love the energy of New York's Times Square especially at night; however, we also love the quaintness of Old San Juan, PR during the day. Any help is appreciated.

 

 

Downtown Montreal & Old Montreal are not very far apart. You will have a greater slection of hotels, and easier access to subway & underground Montreal if you stay downtown. The subway operates all night long, but the trains are less frequent late at night. Underground food plazas & shopping etc usually shuts down by 9pm. Old Montreal is pretty lively after 9pm all the way to 2-3am because there are lots of pubs / restaurants / clubs. Same for downtown.

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