Saint John by Foot- Possible?

[cruisexlife]

Hey!

 

I found a quick 4 day cruise on Carnival and I think I want to book it. The only port it calls at is Saint John, NB. I've been before but my mother hasn't, and she wants to hop on this cruise with me.

 

On my last visit, we got an excursion to St.Martin's and were suppose to tour St.John city, but they gave us 10 minutes to get onboard, eat, and come back. Well it was a huge ship at noon, so we missed it and walked around ourselves later.

 

I want to see the reversing tides. Do you think we can walk it take a taxi to a place where we can see them?

 

Also, what are some good tour companies? Mom wants to kayak in the Hopewell Rocks (This used to be a Carnival excursion) but it isn't on the excursion list anymore. Or we would like to tour the falls. Any good local tour companies?

 

Thanks!

[cruzrbachoua]

We did St John in 2012 on princess. We took a tour with one of their hop on hop off tours. It went to the reversing tides (not able to walk to) which if you cant see them at high and low was not much of a site for us. We got a map with the tour and would hop off at a spot and then hop on at another spot after walking. They have an above ground walkway through a mall and market which was neat. To me one of the most awesome things to see was that when we docked our ship was high above the dock and when we returned later in the evening the ship had dropped with the tide and the promenade deck was even with the dock and we went from 2 gangways to 1 due to the drop.

[maryann ns]

Check out this thread for information about Saint John, New Brunswick: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1367592

[Paraveina]

Hey!

 

I found a quick 4 day cruise on Carnival and I think I want to book it. The only port it calls at is Saint John, NB. I've been before but my mother hasn't, and she wants to hop on this cruise with me.

 

On my last visit, we got an excursion to St.Martin's and were suppose to tour St.John city, but they gave us 10 minutes to get onboard, eat, and come back. Well it was a huge ship at noon, so we missed it and walked around ourselves later.

 

I want to see the reversing tides. Do you think we can walk it take a taxi to a place where we can see them?

 

Also, what are some good tour companies? Mom wants to kayak in the Hopewell Rocks (This used to be a Carnival excursion) but it isn't on the excursion list anymore. Or we would like to tour the falls. Any good local tour companies?

 

Thanks!

 

You technically *could* walk to a vantage point for the reversing falls, but I wouldn't really want to - it's 3.5 km (Marco Polo terminal) / 4 km (Diamond Jubilee) if you take Chesley Drive, which is very industrial and the walk would include a steep hill.

 

The two places I've gone to view the falls are Fallsview Park and The Falls Restaurant (both should be relatively easy to find on Google maps). I've only ever been at the Falls Restaurant while actually eating, so I don't know if you can get in for free. You also need to time your visit based on the tides.

 

If you want to kayak by the Hopewell Rocks, I don't think you'd have time to do both. It's at least 4.5 hours just to drive there and back, and that's assuming no delays waiting for excursions to start, or getting a rental car.

[mcgratru]

A lot will depend on timing. The river only "reverses" during high tide and that is also the only time you could kayak at Hopewell Rocks (which is almost two hours away from the port). You will need to check the tide schedule for your day in Port.

[kazu]

You technically *could* walk to a vantage point for the reversing falls, but I wouldn't really want to - it's 3.5 km (Marco Polo terminal) / 4 km (Diamond Jubilee) if you take Chesley Drive, which is very industrial and the walk would include a steep hill.

 

The two places I've gone to view the falls are Fallsview Park and The Falls Restaurant (both should be relatively easy to find on Google maps). I've only ever been at the Falls Restaurant while actually eating, so I don't know if you can get in for free. You also need to time your visit based on the tides.

 

If you want to kayak by the Hopewell Rocks, I don't think you'd have time to do both. It's at least 4.5 hours just to drive there and back, and that's assuming no delays waiting for excursions to start, or getting a rental car.

 

There are viewing spots outside at the Reversing Falls but I wouldn't walk it.

[Janet524]

There are viewing spots outside at the Reversing Falls but I wouldn't walk it.

 

Viewing the Reversing Falls requires "timing" since the phenomenon is associated with tidal flows. Before making the trip to the falls, I'd suggest checking tidal charts so you won't be disappointed.

[cefm]

Hi folks, I live in Saint John and can answer some questions. Most of the tourist area of Saint John can be seen by foot as most activity is on the "Central Peninsula" (aka Uptown and South End) the Reversing Falls is a 35 minute walk (about 4km) from the terminal (mostly up hill near the end) there is also the local city busses (#1 and #2) that will take you there for $2.75 each way every 30 minutes.

 

St. Martins is about an hour outside of town and Hopewell is about 2 hours away. This also results in the tides being different for the different locations.

 

 

---

CharlesFM

 

Carnival Fantasy Feb 2015

Carnival Valor Feb 2014

[MHF]

Hi folks, I live in Saint John and can answer some questions. Most of the tourist area of Saint John can be seen by foot as most activity is on the "Central Peninsula" (aka Uptown and South End) the Reversing Falls is a 35 minute walk (about 4km) from the terminal (mostly up hill near the end) there is also the local city busses (#1 and #2) that will take you there for $2.75 each way every 30 minutes.

 

 

 

Thank you for the bus idea! Is there a bus stop near port and hopefully well marked?

 

We used a bus to get to Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau and it worked great. We usually do an event like that in the morning and save the walking around town for the afternoon. Don't want to encounter an accident or other road closure on the way back to port.

[cefm]

The bus stop is very easy to find from the Ship. Here is a link to a map with directions. https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zTD0WZxUd7dk.kDeZtwfobPyc

[skateycat]

not to divert from the original questions (which i am also interested in....) but does the public transportation bus allow off and on boarding? i also saw something about a pink bus? i am not fond of doing tours with 3,908,367 of my closest friends on those buses. i find i can do a better job finding local tours on my own. any you would recommend? we'd rather walk around and also take a bus maybe to get an overview of the city. we like funky shops, antiques, goodwill store, thrift stores, etc. have many of those there? thanks...we are travelling in october.

[cefm]

No, Saint John Transit charges $2.75 per ride and has a one paper transfer in the same direction system.

 

Most of "tourist/business/historic" Saint John is in a central peninsula there are a few places out side that that you may want to take the bus to.

 

1. Carlton Martello Tower (15 mins; #15 bus to (B) and from (A) uptown)

 

Walking Distance from here:

 

Assumption Church (right at the tower site)

 

King Sq. West and the Monument our first Mayor

 

Head west on Whipple St toward Fundy Dr (140 m)

Turn right onto Fundy Dr (190 m)

Continue onto Charlotte St W (350 m)

Turn left onto Lancaster St Destination will be on the left (350 m)

Once here there is a bus stop for the #15A/B on Duke St West near the Nursing Home.

 

2. Reversing Falls/Rapids (5 mins; #1 or #7 (new run starting in May)) bus from town or #2 or #8 to town.)

 

(if going from 1. to 2. #15A to Lancaster Mall (our west shopping district) and transfer to the #2 or #8; for the reverse get on the #1 or #7 to Lancaster Mall and transfer to #15B)

 

3. Retail District (Thrift shops, box stores) (20 mins; #2 or #4 from town, or #1 or #3 back to town)

 

not to divert from the original questions (which i am also interested in....) but does the public transportation bus allow off and on boarding? i also saw something about a pink bus? i am not fond of doing tours with 3,908,367 of my closest friends on those buses. i find i can do a better job finding local tours on my own. any you would recommend? we'd rather walk around and also take a bus maybe to get an overview of the city. we like funky shops, antiques, goodwill store, thrift stores, etc. have many of those there? thanks...we are travelling in october.

[skateycat]

thanks so much! so it sounds like for less than $10 a person, we can see most of what we want walking/busing on public transport. we like to do public transportation and chat with the locals.