9 Night Canada & New England Cruise questions

[Folk Singer]

Lots to do and see here in Halifax. ns.

[dschultz56]

For anybody that has posted before or done these trips, a lot of posters are saying the crowd is older.

 

My Wife and I are early 30's would we be out of place or not have as much fun? (especially at night)

 

Not trying to generalize or be rude to anyone just wondering?

I don't think the older crowd will limit your fun. While it was an older crowd, everyone was doing the themed dance nights regardless of age. If you want to see different itineraries than the Caribbean, I wouldn't let the older crowd stop you.

[windjamming]

For anybody that has posted before or done these trips, a lot of posters are saying the crowd is older.

 

My Wife and I are early 30's would we be out of place or not have as much fun? (especially at night)

 

Not trying to generalize or be rude to anyone just wondering?

 

I don't think the older crowd will limit your fun. While it was an older crowd, everyone was doing the themed dance nights regardless of age. If you want to see different itineraries than the Caribbean, I wouldn't let the older crowd stop you.

 

We were on the August 9-night Explorer cruise this year. You would definitely not be out of place, and as dschultz56 said, the theme nights are the same fun. The only major differences we saw were that dining times were at 5:30 and 8:00, and the theater tended to get full early.

[Sunkissed Mommy]

For anybody that has posted before or done these trips, a lot of posters are saying the crowd is older.

 

My Wife and I are early 30's would we be out of place or not have as much fun? (especially at night)

 

Not trying to generalize or be rude to anyone just wondering?

 

We are a young couple, 31 years old. We brought our toddler along too. Yes we were younger than mostly everyone. Surprisingly, my son was not the youngest onboard!! We even had a few people ask us, no joke "What are you doing this cruise with all of us old farts?!?" We had a good laugh!

 

We enjoyed the trip and didn't feel out of place for one second. We actually went to bed before most people. The Schooner Bar and Pub were busy well in to the night!!

 

Feel free to check out my review (Brilliance), listed in my signature. We just got back a few weeks ago from this trip. it was a refreshing change from the Caribbean.

Edited October 29, 2014 by smileyperry

[hailmary25]

We are a young couple, 31 years old. We brought our toddler along too. Yes we were younger than mostly everyone. Surprisingly, my son was not the youngest onboard!! We even had a few people ask us, no joke "What are you doing this cruise with all of us old farts?!?" We had a good laugh!

 

We enjoyed the trip and didn't feel out of place for one second. We actually went to bed before most people. The Schooner Bar and Pub were busy well in to the night!!

 

Feel free to check out my review (Brilliance), listed in my signature. We just got back a few weeks ago from this trip. it was a refreshing change from the Caribbean.

Thanks I appreciate the feedback. Would I love to go to Bahamas or Caribbean seeing as I haven't done western yet, yes. But we do like Boston and that area too. So it's very intriguing

[Folk Singer]

Thanks I appreciate the feedback. Would I love to go to Bahamas or Caribbean seeing as I haven't done western yet, yes. But we do like Boston and that area too. So it's very intriguing

 

 

Enjoy what ever you decide.:)

[P&C4/16/67]

We did this past August 9 night on the Explorer. It was great and we're doing next August on the Liberty. In Boston, we did the combo, whale watch and Aquarium through Boston Harbor Cruises (they run the Boston ferry system). They guarantee whales or you get a free ticket for a future trip. We saw loads of humpback whales. We did the Aquarium afterwards which was fantastic. It'll fill the whole day. As far as young people are concerned, this past August cruise interfered with the first week of school but Labor day will be later next year and the cruise will end before school starts so expect loads of kids.

[hailmary25]

It's a little early for my wife to commit, guess she is worried I'm just in cruise mode cause we just booked a family cruise. I want to pick either the 9 day liberty for RCL or the NCL breakaway to Bermuda where you stay at kings wharf for 3 days. I'm more the cruise fanatic and that would combine her land based enjoyment with my cruise enjoyment. Unless she throws a kink in the whole thing and decides something completely different lol. Wish me luck.

[KelJ]

We did a nine-night Canada/NE cruise several years ago and loved it! Our weather was perfect. Please read my review in my signature below.

[KeywestK]

We did the 9-night NE/CAN cruise on EX in '08 and loved it. This itinerary is very different from the Caribbean sailings, as it's more of a sightseeing itinerary, in cooler weather, versus the beaches/warm weather of the Caribbean. We called it a "road trip," but using the ship to get us from port to port. Since our sailing was mid-summer, there were all ages on the ship, including many families with kids/teens. This was one of my favorite cruises.

[Folk Singer]

KelJ

 

nice review.

Edited October 31, 2014 by Folk Singer

[Chris931]

For those who did the 9 night out of NJ, do you remember what nights were formal nights?

[cruisexlife]

I cruised to St.John and Halifax on the Carnival Glory in August 2013. One of my favorite cruises to date. However, it is much different than a Caribbean cruise.

 

First, the climate gets colder. There was a weird feeling packing a coat, but I enjoyed the break from the August heat! I can't speak for the Freedom-class ships, as I've only been on the Enchantment for Royal, but on the Carnival Glory it didn't get cold enough to open the covered pool to children (it's adult only), but they heated the water, even the slide water :D.

 

Second, the vibe is different. The people are more for exploration and culture, rather than party, which you have encountered if you must cruise during holidays and the summer. Very nice experience though.

 

St.John: We had an excursion to the St.Martin SeaCaves and saw the cool formations, collected rocks and shopped around the quaint villiage. We had 30 minutes in between to go back to the **** before our excursion went to the tides. It took 20 minutes to get onboard. So we ditched the last part of ur excursion and walked around the city. If you decide to have a chill port day there, walk to the lighthouse and get the typical tourist picture, it's actually worth it. The people are friendly and we loved going around to the shops and seeing the old buildings.

 

Halifax: We walked around, but it was raining in the morning, so we didn't get too far before we met for our excursion. The streets are actually better than in St.John, much more culture. I really liked it here.Our tour went to the Titanic graves, which were pretty cool. Next, it went to Peggy's Cove, which I really liked. One of my favorite cruise memories.

 

You'll have a great time, enjoy! :D

[windjamming]

For those who did the 9 night out of NJ, do you remember what nights were formal nights?

 

They were on day 2 and 7, both sea days.

[kunta67]

If we're looking at the August 27th sailing wouldn't the weather still be relatively warm because it's before labor day?

 

If you were going between this cruise and an Alaska cruise, which one would you choose?

[Cheryl H]

If we're looking at the August 27th sailing wouldn't the weather still be relatively warm because it's before labor day?

 

If you were going between this cruise and an Alaska cruise, which one would you choose?

 

I would think it would be warm still. Both our Canada/New England cruises were in October and we thought it was fairly warm then.

 

We loved Alaska and Canada/New England. I think it depends on what your reasons are to decide between the two.

 

To us, the scenery and seeing the whales made Alaska more amazing to us. But we loved the Canada/New England one too...lots of historical stuff in Boston, great seafood, lighthouses, etc. Financially for us the Canada/New England one was cheaper because the tours were less expensive than in Alaska.

 

I'm glad we did both. We are gearing up for our second trip to Alaska.

 

Have fun planning.

[windjamming]

If we're looking at the August 27th sailing wouldn't the weather still be relatively warm because it's before labor day?

 

If you were going between this cruise and an Alaska cruise, which one would you choose?

 

 

I was on last year's August 28th cruise. It was in the upper 60s/low 70s, and I wore a light sweatshirt on most days. Perfect walking weather in my opinion.

 

Tough call on which cruise to choose. Both are enjoyable in their own way. Coming from the Northeast, and if money wasn't an issue, I'd choose Alaska simply because of its unfamiliarity (to me), but the charm of New England and Canada towns and lobsters and lighthouses, especially in the fall can't be rivaled.

 

 

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[mlrack101]

If we're looking at the August 27th sailing wouldn't the weather still be relatively warm because it's before labor day?

 

If you were going between this cruise and an Alaska cruise, which one would you choose?

 

We live between the Boston and Portland area. It can still be very warm and muggy late August/early September the last few years. If you can I would suggest later in the year as their won't be any color that time of year and Boston can be a bit crowded as the college kids are all moving in and the other kids aren't back in school until usually after Labor Day.

 

Both cities are very easy to navigate and Boston has so much history. We love just going down for the day and seeing what we come across. The Freedom Trail is free and now that the Big Dig is complete (or is it:rolleyes::rolleyes:) the city is actually very tourist friendly

[kunta67]

The hard part is my wife would love both destinations although she feels like Alaska is a bit more family (we're 34 and 32 going to be married 5 years in August). We've been on Liberty once before a couple of years ago for a 4 day Western Caribbean cruise. She's excited for the food on both voyages but possibly the NE/Canada cruise a little more especially for lobster rolls!!

 

On this cruise, we were wondering if we could get some sun on the cruise and just lay by the pool.

[mlrack101]

Haha, we are known for seafood. IDK where you're coming from but I'd go for Alaska. Perhaps consider flying into New England renting a car and spending a few days touring Boston then driving to Portland among the route 1 corridor. There's so much you can do along the coastal area in NE it would be a shame to just spend a few hours in each port. As far as spending time by the pool. Is there an indoor pool? It could be 90 and muggy or 65 and cool lol. It is New England were if you don't like the weather just want an hour it will change. We run the hear in the car in the am and AC by noon 😉

 

 

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[bross2410]

The hard part is my wife would love both destinations although she feels like Alaska is a bit more family (we're 34 and 32 going to be married 5 years in August). We've been on Liberty once before a couple of years ago for a 4 day Western Caribbean cruise. She's excited for the food on both voyages but possibly the NE/Canada cruise a little more especially for lobster rolls!!

 

On this cruise, we were wondering if we could get some sun on the cruise and just lay by the pool.

 

My wife and I took the Canada/NE cruise on the Brilliance a couple years ago in the last week of September. We swam and got sun in Boston, it stormed the first at sea day, and during the second at sea day we lounged around and did the spa etc... Weather was sunny in Bar Harbor and Portland. But as others have said it's hit or miss in New England.

 

If your wife feels Alaska is more family, keep in mind that at 36 we were among the youngest guests on the ship. The demographic was such that they pushed the dinner times earlier and handed you a bingo card as you boarded. Not that any of that was any bother to us. We had a wonderful time - this is a great cruise.

[SLYScorpions]

Has anyone ever been on the RCI Salem excursion from Boston? I see that it takes you to the Witch Museum and that there is some free time at the Wharf. I am interested in touring the House of Seven Gables and was wondering if there would be time to do that with this excursion or if I should plan my on my own. Thank you for any input!