Planning Ahead-NE/Canada 2017

[I Luv Crusin]

My DH and I are planning to do a New England/Canada cruise for our 35th anniversary late summer or fall of 2017. When might HAL open bookings for then?

 

Would you share your experiences with this itinerary? I really want to see Charlottetown, and Bay of Fundy.

 

Any benefit to doing a round-trip vs one way? I want to see Montreal too. I'm also curious, if doing a one-way about transportation. What about pre and post hotels/visits?

 

Thanks so much! I know it's a while off but I won't be cruising again until then and need something to focus on!

[jhannah]

It will be a while before bookings will open for fall of 2017. I'd suggest you look for the one-way, end-of-season from Montreal to Fort Lauderdale. There is one that goes the other way at the start of the C/NE season. It's the only itinerary that stops at Gaspe, which we found to be a very nice port of call. We also stopped at St. John (for the Bay of Fundy,) but the cruise planner doesn't show the same itinerary for 2015.

 

Pre- and post-cruise hotel choices are plentiful and easy to book on your own. Same with open-jaw flights (to one city and return from a different city.) Just go to your favorite travel site and select 'multi-city' and go at it that way.

 

Good luck with your research as you anticipate your special cruise.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

My DH and I are planning to do a New England/Canada cruise for our 35th anniversary late summer or fall of 2017. When might HAL open bookings for then?

 

Would you share your experiences with this itinerary? I really want to see Charlottetown, and Bay of Fundy.

 

Any benefit to doing a round-trip vs one way? I want to see Montreal too. I'm also curious, if doing a one-way about transportation. What about pre and post hotels/visits?

 

Thanks so much! I know it's a while off but I won't be cruising again until then and need something to focus on!

We stayed 3 days at a B&B in Montreal and than took a train to Quebec and caught a ship there to Ftl.fall 2017 might come out in 12-16 monhs

[CruiserBruce]

Based on the current trends, the Summer 2017 schedule will be out Mar-April of 2016.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have done several different Canada/New England itineraries.

We have done the Ft Lauderdale to Montreal one -- we stayed at the Downtown Sheraton for several days. Close to the underground with all the stores.

We did a round trip from New York (no longer offered).

We have also done the Boston to Montreal and back to Boston.

All were great cruises.

[RuthC]

I like jhannah's suggestion of doing the coastal, especially in the fall when the New England weather is better. Spring is just too early, which means wet and cold.

That itinerary has some sea days for recovery after the port-intensive first part, and longer is nicer anyway. ;)

 

If that isn't possible, then the 7-day New England/Canada itinerary is port-intensive, with only one sea day on the St. Lawrence River.

The advantages of doing this as a b2b are that you can get round-trip air (which is usually less expensive), and a real goodie is that you can do more in each port at a more relaxed pace. You don't have to see it all on the first stop!

The disadvantage, considering your desire to spend time in Montreal, is that you can only do that if you start and end there. Either that, or do only one week.

 

There are two 7-day itineraries. One is Boston/Montreal (or reverse), while the other is Boston/Quebec City (or reverse) The latter spends an overnight in Quebec City, which is great. The disadvantage is that it's hard to get to/from Quebec City from most US cities. Montreal has much better routes.

[sail7seas]

We have done the Boston to Montreal to Boston itinerary, b-to-b, many times and positively love it and never tire of the ports. The advantages are being able to see more of the ports when you have two visits and air is easier to manage if you are flying.

 

PEI/Charlottetown is a wonderful port and we always enjoyed the beauty, lovely people, wonderful mussels for lunch :) and the red soil.

 

With all our visit to Halifax, we never ran out of things to do and see.

Before we ever cruisesd, we visited Montreal a number of times and once we started cruising loved the turn around day. It is a fabulous, very large city with so much to see, do and the food is wonderful!! :)

 

The only reason I would not recommend the repositioning cruises from/to FLL is they are early or late in the season. It is often cold and rainy on those fall repo cruises and the reason those end season week sailings are priced lower is the weather is often less pleasant, if that matters to you. Of course, there are always exceptions and some prefer cold to warm.

Edited January 24, 2015 by sail7seas

[I Luv Crusin]

It will be a while before bookings will open for fall of 2017. I'd suggest you look for the one-way, end-of-season from Montreal to Fort Lauderdale. There is one that goes the other way at the start of the C/NE season. It's the only itinerary that stops at Gaspe, which we found to be a very nice port of call. We also stopped at St. John (for the Bay of Fundy,) but the cruise planner doesn't show the same itinerary for 2015.

 

Pre- and post-cruise hotel choices are plentiful and easy to book on your own. Same with open-jaw flights (to one city and return from a different city.) Just go to your favorite travel site and select 'multi-city' and go at it that way.

 

Good luck with your research as you anticipate your special cruise.

 

Jim,

thank you for the re positioning idea! Hmmmm

[I Luv Crusin]

Thank you all for your experience and ideas! I'll look at itineraries next year and in the meantime continue saving my pennies!