New England - Nova Scotia cruise

[W1nniethepooh]

I am somewhat new to cruising having only been on 2 cruises - both Carnival Pride. I am planning a cruise on Royal Caribbean - Grandeur of the Seas to New England/Nova Scotia. Has anyone done this cruise? Do you have any recommendations on excursions? Our ports of call are Portland, Bar Harbor, New Brunswick and Halifax. I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks so much.

[kccrzr]

Debbie, we did a similar cruise on Royal Caribbean several years ago and had a fantastic time - the scenery is beautiful, the towns easy to get around and the people, friendly. We did not do any ship's tours.

 

In Portland, Maine, we rented a car and drove to the Portland Head Light (lighthouse) for a tour, then down to Kennebunkport for the best lobster rolls ever. On the way back to port we even had time to do a bit of outlet shopping and then had a locally brewed beer at a restaurant/bar with outdoor seating right by the port. It was a great, laid back day.

 

In Bar Harbor, we made arrangements to take a kayaking tour in the morning, had a traditional lobster and blueberry pie lunch and then poked around town for a while. When we make it back (which we hope to some day) we plan to go to Acadia National Park for the day.

 

Hope you have a great time on your cruise.

[WeatherFx]

I'll let you know in three weeks. :D

[maggie416]

This was an awesome cruise, we went on The Caribbean Princess. In Halifax we took the tour to the cemetery where the victims from The Titanic were buried, it was very fascinating. In Bar Harbor we did The Acadia National Park excursion, this was incredible! I really wasn't thrilled to do this cruise, I mean, where are the palm trees!!! LOL. But, it was great, you will enjoy this. We are from New England, so this wasn't new to us, but still a greet cruise.

Marguerite

[pspercy]

We did this on Jewel last year and had a good time. We didn't do many organized excursions, just walked all over town. Probably should've taken one in St John tho'.

 

In Bar Harbor we used Oli's Trolley (Long Tour) http://www.olistrolley.com/ , a good trip tho' it was foggy and rainy that day.

[teddie]

We went on this itinerary about three years ago, and can easily say it was one of the most enjoyable cruise ever for us. It was our first "long" cruise (9 nights), and that spoiled us forever! Since then, it's ten or more nights for us whenever possible.

 

Walked around Portland and had seafood. Took a light house boat tour of Casco Bay. Made history, as the Captain had to outrun a storm, arriving in Portland a day early, and made us the first cruise ship in Portland's history to remain docked overnight.

 

In Bar Harbor, we toured on Olly's Trolley up to Acadia and Cadillac Mountain, and had the greatest lobster roll ever in town.

 

St John's: walked the town, visited some historic sites. A lone bagpiper played a farewell to us as we sailed away (fabulous!!)

 

In Halifax, we walked to the excellent Maritime Museum, then toured the Citadel via a hop-on hop-off bus.

 

Boston, hit Fanieul Hall (more lobster rolls) via another hop-on-off thingy tour around town.

 

We very much enjoyed this cruise!!

 

Teddie

[ace1zoe2]

We did some of these ports last fall from Quebec City to New York. There is link in my signature to my trip report with what we did and tons of pictures. If you have a chance, take look. I think you might get some ideas of how to do the ports on your own for not a lot of money.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[cruisequeen10]

In Halifax, you just have to see Peggy`s Cove. The ride out there is spectacular and when you get there WOW.

[KeywestK]

We did a similar itinerary in '08 on Explorer, 9-nights. Loved it!! Here's what we did:

 

New London, CT (originally the itinerary had Newport, RI) - we rented a car and drove to Newport. Also stopped at Mystic Seaport.

 

Bar Harbor, ME - Booked a tour with Ollie's Trolley to Acadia NP and Cadillac Mountain. Walked around town and ate lobster rolls for lunch.

 

Halifax, NS - Peggy's Cove (this was the only ship's tour we booked.) Absolutely gorgeous! Wonderful photo ops.

 

St. John, NB - Walked around and went to the marketplace (lots of interesting stalls selling all kinds of stuff) and took a tour of the Jewish Heritage Museum.

 

Portland, ME - rented a car and drove to Kennebunport, and then up to the outlets. On the way back to the ship, we drove around the downtown waterfront area (very near the cruise terminal) and it was beautiful. If we ever went back, I'd spend more time investigating that area.

 

Boston, MA - We purchased tickets for the HoHo bus and spent the day sightseeing. We saw all the major sites, had lunch at Union Oyster House (oldest continuously run restaurant in the country,) and had a wonderful day.

 

We loved this cruise, and I wouldn't mind doing it again some day.

[chris2597]

Another vote for Olie Trolley in Bar Harbor. I suggest making online reservation as the trolley is a popular excursion. We took the ship excursion to Peggy's Cove in Halifax. We loved this place. Spectacular views.

[mjldvlks]

One of my favorite cruises. We did the same ports on Jewel in 2010.

 

In Portland we did a private tour that went around the city and out to the lighthouse. The price included a harbor tour in the afternoon

 

In Bar Harbor, we did a private tour to Acadia and Cadillac Mountain. Don't recall if it was Ollie's Trolley, but sounds similar.

 

In St John we took a private tour that went around the city and then out to one of the places where you can walk on the area that is uncovered by the Bay of Fundy's huge difference in water level between high and low tide.

 

In Halifax we took the ships tour to Peggy's Cove including lunch on the way back and then the cemetery and citadel in the city. We had enough time left over at the end to make a brief tour of the museum that has the Titanic artifacts and a friend and I went aboard the HCMS Sackville [the last of the class of ships featured in The Cruel Sea if you have read it]. We took the ship's tour because it was a member's cruise and it was included for us.

 

Highly recommend all of the tours we took with the possible exception of Portland [it was a little misty and chilly that day so maybe omit the "highly" on that one]. If I had it to do over, I might skip the harbor tour in Portland.

[Motorman23]

We did a similar itinerary in '08 on Explorer, 9-nights. Loved it!! Here's what we did:

 

New London, CT (originally the itinerary had Newport, RI) - we rented a car and drove to Newport. Also stopped at Mystic Seaport.

 

Bar Harbor, ME - Booked a tour with Ollie's Trolley to Acadia NP and Cadillac Mountain. Walked around town and ate lobster rolls for lunch.

 

Halifax, NS - Peggy's Cove (this was the only ship's tour we booked.) Absolutely gorgeous! Wonderful photo ops.

 

St. John, NB - Walked around and went to the marketplace (lots of interesting stalls selling all kinds of stuff) and took a tour of the Jewish Heritage Museum.

 

Portland, ME - rented a car and drove to Kennebunport, and then up to the outlets. On the way back to the ship, we drove around the downtown waterfront area (very near the cruise terminal) and it was beautiful. If we ever went back, I'd spend more time investigating that area.

 

Boston, MA - We purchased tickets for the HoHo bus and spent the day sightseeing. We saw all the major sites, had lunch at Union Oyster House (oldest continuously run restaurant in the country,) and had a wonderful day.

 

We loved this cruise, and I wouldn't mind doing it again some day.

 

We did that one with you, we also had a great time except for the fog in halifax (I think). We got great shots of peggy's cove, very scenic. Do you rememeber the fife and drum band on the forth of July in New London next to the ship as we arrived. From what I heard we were the first ship into that port in many years. New England is very scenic and a great trip for those that love scenery. My DW says it was a one time thing as she likes the beach and warmer weather of the Caribbean.

 

Mike

[teddie]

My DW says it was a one time thing as she likes the beach and warmer weather of the Caribbean. Mike

 

I also prefer a warm-weather cruise (when not considering Europe), but I am so glad we experienced the NE/Canada cruise. The demographics were on the more mature side...maybe that's why it was so peaceful and relaxing for us!

 

Teddie

[misty57]

We did this last fall... it was beautiful even though we missed the peak leaf season:(. Dress warmly if you go to Peggy's Cove. We did way too many HOHO tours.. kind of same song second verse for most of the stops. Did a train and bus tour in St John to see the reversing falls. It was interesting, so we can say we saw it. Our favorite stop was Bar Harbor. Would love to go again because we missed seeing all I wanted to see in Boston due to Hurricane Sandy.DH does not want to go back so I will have to take my history buff daughter with me:).

[Lumric]

I went on this cruise last fall as well, last clockwise run on the Jewel. If you like history this will be a fun cruise.

Portland was boring for me, if only cause I live near Boston and can really drive up to Portland if I really wanted to see something. :rolleyes:

Bar Harbor... it was raining fairly heavily so I can't give you much help there. Though walking around town was nice enough to pass the time. Though if it is a clear day you'd want to get up Cadillac Mountain.

St. John, did the train ride, I liked it, learning about the area and how nature works up in that area.

Halifax I did the Highlander experience at the Citadel. It was a little short but I had fun.

Also as others said, seeing as it's run in September and October, you find many, if any, school kids running around as they are just starting school.

 

Though for me the most memorable moment on this cruise had nothing to do with shore excursions. It was stumbling through my proposal to my fiancee. :o Then trying to subtly tell my mother about it.

[gandkinFL]

Loved this cruise. Went on the Jewel 3 years ago. Instead of Bar Harbor we went to Rockland. There were so many things to do in each port we will probably take it again some day. In Portland my husband wanted to go to the L.L. Bean store in Freeport, so we took the excursion there. Lots of outlet stores and our first of many lobster rolls. We took the HOHO tour in St. John's. Went to the reversing falls and various other places. My husband is a retired firefighter, so we had to find a fire station to visit near the route. We walked around Halifax on our own. The trek up to the Citadel made me question our decision, but once we got there we enjoyed it. Found a very nice restaurant for lunch and had our favorite lobster rolls of the trip.

We flew into Boston a couple of days early, so we could do the tourist thing. It was the first trip there for both of us.

Great trip. Highly recommend it.

[MrBanana1240]

I am somewhat new to cruising having only been on 2 cruises - both Carnival Pride. I am planning a cruise on Royal Caribbean - Grandeur of the Seas to New England/Nova Scotia. Has anyone done this cruise? Do you have any recommendations on excursions? Our ports of call are Portland, Bar Harbor, New Brunswick and Halifax. I would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks so much.

 

I went to St. John, NB and Halifax, NS. We had a great time. In St. John visit St. Martins. It is a beautiful village and the sea caves are beautiful. Walk down from the ship headed towards the lighthouse and you can get a nice picture of the lighthouse and the ship.

 

In Halifax visit Peggy's Cove. It is so beautiful and bring tennis shoes because you will be climbing on rocks. The Titanic cemetery is cool too.

 

Now to the ship: I didn't love the Enchantment of the Seas like I do Carnival Pride. Watch. The Grandeur isn't decorated like the Pride and you may think she lacks activities.

 

Either way enjoy yourself because a cruise is a cruise!!!

[sha88]

We really enjoyed our NE / Canada cruise. In Halifax we did a tour to Peggy's Cove in sidecars on motorcycles. What a great way to see the itinerary. It was one of the most enjoyable excurisons ever. Not through ship. Booked it on our own. The husband/wife team are so knowledgeable and you are outfitted with microphones in the helmets so you can hear all about the sites, etc. GREAT!

 

http://www.bluenosesidecartours.com/

 

Shahira

[reedl]

I live in Massachusetts, have family that lives in Maine and did the 7 night out of Boston three years ago on the Jewel. I enjoyed the cruise, but it was weird waking up the next morning in Portland, ME which is a 1.5 hour drive from my house. The only cruise excursion I did was one in St John's which was a photography tour of a couple of water falls, the reversing river, and a couple of beaches. The guide was quite good.

 

It was called: "Bay of Fundy Coastal Photography Tour - NB14"

 

Our cruise was the one that did not go to Bar Harbor (which is just as good as I have been there many times). We instead went to Rockland and tendered into port. It was kind of weird being in this little Maine village with thousands of people descending on the town. The town of Rockland is definitely more a "locals" town.

 

The only negative is that I am around 50 y/o and there were a lot of older people on this cruise. It was not for the younger set. The other weird thing is that even though it departed from Boston there were extremely few people from the East Coast on the ship. Most people were from somewhere else.

 

But I enjoyed the cruise very much.

[ShakyBeef]

I'm subscribing to this thread because this is a cruise I plan to do in 2014. We did a 5-Day Canada Cruise from NYC on Carnival Glory a couple years ago; and we did a 2-week land (motorhome) vacation several years ago all over New England and New Brunswick. So we have visited all of these ports already. But I love the idea of visiting them again on a longer cruise out of Baltimore.:)

 

Another vote for the Maritime Museum and the Citadel in Halifax. We walked around St. John and Halifax on our own and found a lot to enjoy.

 

If you've never experienced the incredible tides of the Bay of Fundy, make sure you do. The difference between high and low tide is amazing.

[sideways2]

We ended up with this same itinerary when our cruise to Bermuda was re-routed due to Hurricane Fabio some years ago and was one of the best cruises I've ever been on! As posted earlier, the scenery is gorgeous and the townspeople so friendly.

 

Since it was a last minute diversion, there weren't many shore excursions so, in Halifax, we just walked around the town which was so quaint and delightful. In New Brunswick, the ship was greeted at the pier by members of the Chamber of Commerce who thoughtfully brought plenty of sweatshirts/pants and jackets to sell since passengers were packed for tropical climes and not quite prepared for the brisk temperatures of Canada! There was also an Elvis impersonator who was wonderful. Upon debarkation, the ladies received a rose; the men, a pin of the town's crest. Don't know if they did this for every ship or just us last minute arrivals but was a very nice touch. We visited the Bay of Fundy and did a tour of the Moosehead brewery after which we went to a pub for another complimentary beer. Our tour guide was a retired history teacher and we did some extra stops at local historical sites and learned so much about the town.

 

In Bar Harbor, we walked the town, ate delicious lobster rolls, and enjoyed the unique shops. In Portland, we again explored the town and found a fabulous place for lunch: Gilbert's Chowder house. Great food, fabulous prices. You could watch the boat pulling up to the back dock with fresh fish.

 

I wouldn't hesitate to take this cruise again!

[Karma5]

If you go to the roll call section you can find out a lot more information on this subject..............