Is Canada/New England on your horizon?

[PEB]

This is one cruise I hope to take in the next few years. It would be someplace new for me to go and looks interesting to me.

[OctoberKat]

Opinions as to cruise lines offering these routes and best ports of call welcome!

[biker@sea]

Hi, sail7seas, it's an amazing trip and I can't believe I've only done the cruise part twice (two different cruises, one on Holland America, the other on the St. Lawrence Cruise Line). Have a hankering to go back!

 

Carolyn

 

The B2B Boston Quebec with an overnight in Quebec city was fantastic !

 

Nothing like the View of Le Chateau Frontenac all lit up at night high above the river . :D

 

.

Edited June 6, 2015 by biker@sea

[ontheweb]

We were seriously considering this for a cruise this summer, but then the date we wanted ended up in conflict with my 50th high school class reunion. We just may do it (either Boston to Montreal or vice versa on HAL) next summer.

[sail7seas]

Opinions as to cruise lines offering these routes and best ports of call welcome!

 

You have to trade off pleasant summer weather to really see and enjoy all the ports or go in the middle of fall and risk rain and cool/cold temperatures to see fall foliage. Of course, the trees turn earlier in the season the further north you go so I would suggest starting in either Montreal or Quebec City. You may see foliage color there but will not see it in Boston the same time. It is not possible to promise when the trees will turn as it depends upon so many variables from year to year.

 

While an overnight in Quebec City is truly fantastic, you miss Montreal if you do that. HAL's Maasdam and sister ship Veendam are among the few who can sail the river to/from Montreal as the other ships are too tall to fit under the bridges. Maasdam does not have a lot of clearance and it is wonderful fun to stand on top deck and see how close to the bridge we are. :)

 

Veendam does the overnight in Quebec City while Maasdam goes to Montreal. I think I read this may be Maasdam's last season, after many years, to do that itinerary.

 

[dorisis]

it is one of the few places We have yet to cruise. I believe a land trip is better in that area for color and history.

[navybankerteacher]

Hi Carolyn,

 

My late DH and I sailed Boston to Montreal to Boston on HAL's Maasdam b-to-b year after year and never tired of that cruise. We are from Boston and had never seen any of these locations but for Boston and Montreal when we started doing that cruise.

 

It is one of HAL's best short cruises, IMO, and most people are amazed how much there is to see and do.

 

I hope to do it again one day soon. :)

 

Sail - I have noted your referring to many sailings on Maasdam (my favorite) and your Boston location - and I couldn't help wondering if you might have been on Maasdam from Norfolk, VA to the Eastern Caribbean in February of 2005.

[sail7seas]

No, we never sailed from Norfolk. We probably should have but DH loved starting in FLL in warm weather. :)

 

[navybankerteacher]

No, we never sailed from Norfolk. We probably should have but DH loved starting in FLL in warm weather. :)

 

 

It is good to enjoy warm waters the entire cruise, but my favorite overall experience was sailing down the Hudson on Noordam in January 2007 -with the sun setting behind the Statue of Liberty- after muster drill in 15 degree temps with the wind howling over the occasional ice floes - followed by 30 foot seas all night after clearing the outer harbor - only to find ourselves, by mid-afternoon the next day, in 70 degree Gulf Stream water off the Virginia Capes with the sun's warmth steadily growing.

 

Now, that was an escape from winter.

[sail7seas]

THAT is a cruise we may have been on together.

We sailed Noordam, January 6, 2007 and it was a fabulous cruise. I remember how warm the weather the day we boarded. We had lunch outside on embarkation wearing only light jackets. :)

 

Seeing we had very different embarkation day weather, you must have sailed a later date? Maybe you got on when we left? I would have enjoyed meeting you. :)

 

I so agree about the special experience of sailing down the Hudson. We were aboard Noordam during her Inaugural in NYC but did not sail then. We stayed aboard either one or two nights.

 

 

Edited June 9, 2015 by sail7seas

[navybankerteacher]

I was on the next sailing - January 17 (a 10 day itinerary - I believe they alternated between 10 and 11 days) -- you might have had a tough time coming back from the Catibbean to the bitter weather on the 17th. It's too bad that HAL has ceded the NY-Caribbean market to NCL; I guess they couldn't compete

[flyingv4me]

Definitely on my list! I love Quebec City and would love to visit the other areas. Hope to do this in 2016 or 2017!

[navybankerteacher]

I would like a back-to-back, with an overnight in Quebec, from either New York or Boston. Quebec is a lovely city I want to visit again, but it is almost impossible to get to otherwise with reasonable expenditures of cash and time. The foliage does not really matter that much - very little can be seen from a ship, and I get my fill of it anyway in Connecticut autumns.

[sail7seas]

I was on the next sailing - January 17 (a 10 day itinerary - I believe they alternated between 10 and 11 days) -- you might have had a tough time coming back from the Catibbean to the bitter weather on the 17th. It's too bad that HAL has ceded the NY-Caribbean market to NCL; I guess they couldn't compete

 

You're right our ride back to NYC was a lot chillier than going south. :)

 

I'm sorry we missed each other........

Noordam is a wonderful ship. :)

 

[vms]

Yes- this is on my cruise bucket list. I've never been to New England or the Maritimes. The history, especially in Boston & Quebec City, intrigues me. I'd love to hike in Acadia and have a true Maine lobster roll. And I'm interested to see if the fall colors can beat what we have here in Minnesota. :)

[angelwinks_ca]

Hi. We're curious about Canada/New England as a cruise region and would love to know: Is it on your bucket list and if so, why? What about the region appeals to you? And if this region, which features ports like Boston, Bar Harbor, Halifax, Prince Edward Island, Trois Rivieres, Quebec City and Montreal

 

Living in Southwestern Ontario, we see fall foliage yearly. AND too much snow for that matter!

 

To escape the long winters, we love heading south! HOWEVER...this is definitely on our bucket list! For many reasons!!

 

1 - We LOVE cruising!

2 - We can drive to the port in New York City (which is where we'd like to go out of) This saves us money as we usually have to fly!

3 - New York City is my one of my favourite places in the world!

4 - I've never seen the east coast of Canada and I've heard it's BEAUTIFUL!!

5 - I can use Canadian $'s and use my cell phone! LOL

6 - I'd likely not take the cruise to Quebec because then I'd have to fly. This cruise would be a "save me money cruise since I can drive!!" Been to Quebec already! BUT not to Quebec City. Also on my bucket list!

 

Since this will likely be a sight seeing trip as apposed to adventure type trip, we'll likely wait until we're much older to go! For now...Caribbean for us!

[MicCanberra]

Sure is, autumn colours.:D

Edited June 11, 2015 by MicCanberra

[hubofhockey]

I live and work in Boston and wouldn't mind taking a summer cruise north if I could find a good price on a newer ship. I would do this to relax. At this point, in Boston, the ships I see in the harbor are the older ones and the prices definitely aren't cheap.

[sail7seas]

We've sailed Maasdam 35+ cruises including in Europe, Caribbean, and Canada/New England.

Maasdam is one of HAL's two ships that sail Canada/NE from Boston and we have done that itinerary many times as I mentioned above. BY FAR, we pay the highest per diem for the identical same cabin number on that cruise than on any of the others we sailed Maasdam. We book category "S" (Neptune Suites) on all HAL ships and the average cost for 2 of us is about $7,000 per week...... sometimes even higher. We always do the b-to-b, Boston to Montreal back to Boston and it always cost in the range of $15,000. Maasdam is a very beautiful ship I clearly love or would not have sailed so many times. She has a fantastic crew. Sure, some come and go from the ship but it seems there is always a big enough core remaining that keeps the crew top notch... IMO.

Edited June 11, 2015 by sail7seas