Help fall foliage colors - Oct 15?

[Coral]

I am looking at some fall foliage dates - I know fall foliage colors change yearly but traditionally - what are the colors like the week of Oct 15 in the following ports: Boston, Newport, Bar Harbor, St John, Halifax and NY.

 

Any other better weeks?

 

Thanks!

Theresa

[Druke I]

Certainly not an expert on Fall Colors - but have been told it all depends on when there is a "cold snap".

 

We've done that cruise twice, Oct 92, and again Sep 97 - hit the colors right the first time, and didn't hit it right second time - but still a great cruise.

 

Enjoy.

[arby70]

in Bar Harbor the first week of October several years ago. We definitely had fall color, but it was not the peak yet. It will vary from year to year tho. Bar Harbor is a great whale watching port too. Several whale watch charters there and some of them guarantee to see a whale (they did when I was there anyway). We saw a mother humpback and her calf. It was really cool because the baby was very curious about us and kept coming up close to the boat. Mom came right along with him, as I'm sure she wanted to protect her baby.;)

[KAJOKG]

I am looking at some fall foliage dates - I know fall foliage colors change yearly but traditionally - what are the colors like the week of Oct 15 in the following ports: Boston, Newport, Bar Harbor, St John, Halifax and NY.

 

Any other better weeks?

 

Thanks!

Theresa

You're going just about the right time. It could be slightly past peak in Nova Scotia and Maine, but you will still see colors. When we lived in NJ we always drove up to Maine for Columbus Day weekend and the colors were always great. Can be chilly, especially on board ship.

[land lover]

Went in Mid Oct. last year you really have to go inland to see the folliage..not very much at the shore line.....in Boston we took the Lexington tour beautiful colors.....last year leaves turned later than usual...it should have been peak for us but it was not.

[nmarsh]

Druke I is right, the colors do vary but I do think you picked the right week. I live in Maine and we go to Mount Desert Island/Bar Harbor most every year about mid October, it is usually a good time.

[Coral]

Thanks everyone!

 

I found this great website which has tracked the level of color/foliage every 3 days for the last 6 years (and there are nice maps to show coverage):

 

http://www.foliagenetwork.com/reports/northeast_us/

 

Just click on year and then the week and it will show you what that year looked like.

[nhcruiser]

Mid-October is the perfect time to see our fall foliage in full color!

 

As has been stated, the intensity of the foliage varies form week to week and from North to South but you will for sure see a nice variety depending on where you are and how far inland you go.

Land Lover mentioned the Lexington tour, it is for sure a great experience as well as being a beautiful area it is a very good educational experience with the National Park Ranger guided tours.

[Coral]

The only tour Princess has with "Lexington" in it is "Best of Boston, Lexington and Concord" - would this be the tour or did you do a separate Lexington tour? This is an all day tour.

[Pam in CA]

Mid-October is the perfect time to see our fall foliage in full color!

 

As has been stated, the intensity of the foliage varies form week to week and from North to South but you will for sure see a nice variety depending on where you are and how far inland you go.

Land Lover mentioned the Lexington tour, it is for sure a great experience as well as being a beautiful area it is a very good educational experience with the National Park Ranger guided tours.

Mid-October is generally accepted as "peak foliage" in New England. It'll be peak or past-peak in the mountains and changing color on the coast. Keep in mind that there's a two- to three-week transition between changing color and the leaves falling so that even if the foliage varies, your chances of seeing good foliage are best in mid-October.

 

As for Lexington, that's just inland and well south of the mountains so that you won't see a lot of difference in the leaves between Boston and Lexington. If you go towards NH, there'll be a bigger difference. As you go north, there'll be more color on the coast.

 

If you have the opportunity to drive up Route 93 in NH and go through Franconia Notch or the Kankamagus Highway, you'll see some of the most spectacular foliage anywhere. It's about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Boston. My daughter lives just north of there and when I visit her during foliage season, it's enough to take my breath away and put tears in my eyes.

[JohnLauben]

As everyone has said, it all depends, and varies from year to year. I was on the October 11, 2004 REGAL PRINCESS from Montreal to New York (last year). In my estimation, it was pre-peak in Montreal (10/11-12), at peak in the Quebec City area (10/13), and post-peak elsewhere. The previous cruise would probably have hit it just right! YMMV.

[Budget Queen]

Realize that the COASTAL areas aren't the foliage areas, you need to get interior, New Hampshire, Ma, Me etc. Best is to rent a car if it's a priority. Peak will probably be Ma. past Me. and north. A little too early for NYC which will run mid to late Oct. but just excellent foliage if you take Metro North to Poughkeepsi or the long boat trips that get up to at least West Point.

 

In my experience whale watching is only OK out of Bar Harbor, greatly superior out of Gloucester.

 

Consider walking the Freedom Trail downtown Boston for a great history day, and the Boston Duck tours are the orginal and BEST of any. :) As for Concord and Lexington, OK, not as good as the varied Freedom Trail, and better to drive to since depending on where they go and stop it can be too long and drawn out. I've seen plenty of buses stopped at the Minute Man and everyone just waiting and waiting for reboarding while a few look over everything.

[cornellcindy]

Hi Theresa,

Curt and I did b2b on the Grand last Oct 17 and 24. We had wonderful weather except for our last port day in Newport - rain. But we didn't see much color except when we ventured out of Boston down the coast to Plymouth Rock. I do think last year was not a good color year anywhere along the east coast. But just sailing into and out of NYC makes the cruise wonderful and we had a great time in all the ports, Boston for the Freedom Trail, Bar Harbor for Lobster, Halifax and Canada for the people. Mornings are quite chilly, take hat and gloves. Email me if you have any questions and go!

 

Cindy :D

[Coral]

Thanks everyone! This is the only Golden sailing with a balcony or minisuite available (for fall foliage) - Princess had some promos and since I didn't think I was going to cruise, I ignored them so all the other sailings have booked up.

 

I thought I would be too late for fall colors but from the maps - it looks like I may be right on target. Not going necessairly for the colors but if it works out that I see them - it is a plus.

 

I just started researching the ports and I have only been in NYC and Boston before - all the others are new to me and it is pretty exciting to research new ports!

 

--------

 

Cindy - thanks for your insight - I may email you later this week and find out what you recommend. Cool weather sounds really nice about now. Ever since we got back from Alaska it has been really hot here. I am sure it is hot where you 2 are also.

 

Thanks everyone!

[Cruiseteach]

I live on the coast of Maine (well, within a few miles, anyway). Oct 15 is the optimum time for foliage along the coast. I did find it rather amusing that the Princess brochure shows the Portland headlight, but the itnerary goes nowhere near it :)

[Coral]

I live on the coast of Maine (well, within a few miles, anyway). Oct 15 is the optimum time for foliage along the coast. I did find it rather amusing that the Princess brochure shows the Portland headlight, but the itnerary goes nowhere near it :)

 

Thank you! I booked the cruise and am frantically trying to figure out what to do - there is so many places I want to see - I know I will return to the area next year also!

[sammiedawg]

You will enjoy the cruise with or without fall foilage colors. We did this trip mid October and didnt see much color, as others have said you need to be more inland.

[Cruiseteach]

As I previously said, I live along the coast of Maine. Prime time for coastal foliage is around Columbus Day (Oct. 12). As has been stated, the real vivid colors are more inland, although they will be pretyt in Bar Harbor. (If you look at a Maine map, the coast of Maine slants sharply upward, so Bar Harbor is actually much farther north than southern Maine. I highly recommend you take the Acadia tour up Cadillac. The view from there will be awesome. As for whether or not you wil see the best colors- it all depends. First thing needed is a wet spring- had that, all right!! Next is a hot, dry summer- 96 degrees yesterday. Last is a sudden "killing" frost in late Sept. We'll just have to wait and see. BTW, did you know that the colors don't really "change"? The colors you see in the leaves are the actual colors. They are just covered in spring and summer by chlorphyll.(sp?) Once the frost kills that, the true colors come through. Just a little science lesson for ya! :)

[Coral]

As I previously said, I live along the coast of Maine. Prime time for coastal foliage is around Columbus Day (Oct. 12).

 

Thank you for all your information! I am really looking forward to this cruise!

[Coral]

Cruiseteach - can you email me? The link is in my signature. I am struggling with 3 different excursions in Bar Harbor and would like your input. Thank you!

[bjkTX]

Our first cruise 3 years ago was this one - same time. That year we were a bit early for the colors to be showing, but it was still beautiful and the weather was perfect except for a bit of drizzle one day.

 

We had a mini-suite and I ordered the Anniversary Package (champagne, roses and chocolate dipped strawberries) that was on our balcony as we sailed out of New York. It could have rained the whole rest of the trip and I would still have been in good shape :-)

 

We are scheduled for our 3rd cruise in Feb - and we will probably take the Fall Foliage cruise again sometime we enjoyed it that much - of course everyone always has fond memories of thier first....