2018 New England and Canada?

[jabrown40]

I have been considering HAL for Canada, because of their itineraries in the summer, and love the idea of the 14 day that is combined with Bermuda. Does anyone with HAL experience know when the itineraries for 2018 might appear?

[ZSandy25]

I recently received my Cruise Planner from HAL but it only covers April 2017 thru April 2018, the next mailing of the cruise planner should include what you will be looking for. Others may have more knowledge in regards to your question.

 

We did do an itinerary that took us from Quebec all the way to Texas in the fall of 2015, great cruise.

[sail7seas]

I have been considering HAL for Canada, because of their itineraries in the summer, and love the idea of the 14 day that is combined with Bermuda. Does anyone with HAL experience know when the itineraries for 2018 might appear?

 

I have inquired a about booking that combination. To do it this year will require sailing both Masdam and Veendam an synching them to both be in port the same day. (Montreal)

Edited January 15, 2017 by sail7seas

[OnTheJourney]

I have inquired a about booking that combination. To do it this year will require sailing both Masdam and Veendam an synching them to both be in port the same day. (Montreal)

 

There was a sailing out of Montreal a few years back that really interested me. At the time it conflicted with other trips we already had booked, and then it seems that the same itinerary never showed up again. I believe it visited several ports along the St. Lawrence that most cruises don't seem to include. Hopefully that itinerary will appear again sometime. My only experience with HAL was on the Veendam to Alaska...loved that ship! It looked so much like what I still think of as a sailing ship compared to what I refer as the 'floating hotel' design of most newer ships.

Edited January 18, 2017 by three4rd

[3rdGenCunarder]

I hope they throw in a 1-week Boston-to-Boston again next year. I know it does't go to as many ports, but it's so easy for a quick getaway. I'd also like to see more variety in the one-way cruises. I don't want to do a B2B that repeats all the same ports. Why can't they go to Saguenay or Gaspe once in a while on the 7-day cruises? The repo cruises at the ends of the season have more interesting/varied ports.

[OnTheJourney]

I hope they throw in a 1-week Boston-to-Boston again next year. I know it does't go to as many ports, but it's so easy for a quick getaway. I'd also like to see more variety in the one-way cruises. I don't want to do a B2B that repeats all the same ports. Why can't they go to Saguenay or Gaspe once in a while on the 7-day cruises? The repo cruises at the ends of the season have more interesting/varied ports.

 

Yes..I'd love to do another Canada / New England cruise that stops at Boston. Have never visited there by cruise but did a 3-day bus trip there last month. Very enjoyable. I agree totally about not doing a B2B that would be the same itinerary. We were on a ship one time and talked to a lady who was doing the same cruise over and over for 6 weeks! I'd be ready to jump overboard half-way through!

[3rdGenCunarder]

Yes..I'd love to do another Canada / New England cruise that stops at Boston. Have never visited there by cruise but did a 3-day bus trip there last month. Very enjoyable. I agree totally about not doing a B2B that would be the same itinerary. We were on a ship one time and talked to a lady who was doing the same cruise over and over for 6 weeks! I'd be ready to jump overboard half-way through!

 

The 7-day itineraries are OK, but I've been to Halifax and Bar Harbor many times and don't need to do them twice in the same cruise. There are so many other possibilities for port stops!

[porsena]

We did the end-of-season cruise in 2015, Quebec City to Ft. Lauderdale. It did not visit Bermuda but the Saguenay and Gaspe stops were pretty interesting.

[OnTheJourney]

The 7-day itineraries are OK, but I've been to Halifax and Bar Harbor many times and don't need to do them twice in the same cruise. There are so many other possibilities for port stops!

 

I did a 14-day with Celebrity that stopped at Corner Brook, Newfoundland. That was part of the reason we picked the itinerary. Also had an overnight in Quebec City. I agree...lots of options for ports. There is a smaller ship cruise line I've been looking at that stops at Iles de la Madeleine, Gaspe, Perce, Lunenburg (NS), Baie-Comeau, and Saguenay Fjord. I think I'll have to do that sometime since the bigger lines don't go to many of those...perhaps can't. The same itinerary also goes to Montreal - would love to get back there again also.

Edited January 19, 2017 by three4rd

[OnTheJourney]

The 7-day itineraries are OK, but I've been to Halifax and Bar Harbor many times and don't need to do them twice in the same cruise. There are so many other possibilities for port stops!

 

I see you have listed that you've done a Uniworld river cruise. How did you find them to be? I have one booked with Tauck, but it seems that Uniworld is also rated as being among the highest ranked riverboat companies.

 

For that matter, how did you like the American Cruise Line...I see you have them listed also? I receive their brochures...the trips look quite interesting.

Edited January 19, 2017 by three4rd

[3rdGenCunarder]

I see you have listed that you've done a Uniworld river cruise. How did you find them to be? I have one booked with Tauck, but it seems that Uniworld is also rated as being among the highest ranked riverboat companies.

 

For that matter, how did you like the American Cruise Line...I see you have them listed also? I receive their brochures...the trips look quite interesting.

 

Uniworld was excellent! Comfortable cabins, good food and service. They were very organized and the included tours were good. The ship has its own set of radio mikes/receivers, so they're always charged in the morning when it's time to go out. It was a tough choice between Viking and Uniworld. At the time, Viking gave free internet and Uniworld gave free wine with lunch and dinner. So we went with the wine. The funny thing was they had just upgraded the internet on our boat and they could not get the charge codes to load, so they gave us the internet for free. The only reason we haven't done a second European river cruise is that HAL and Cunard keep coming up with good sales and/or special itineraries. And we can never agree on which river cruise to do next.

 

American Cruise Lines was a huge disappointment and I would never sail with them again. To be fair, they no longer have the boat we were on (Queen of the West), but almost everything the brochure said was a lie--windows did not open (brochure touted "large windows you can open"), cabins were smaller than stated, DVD players were missing (just an empty space in a cabinet). Rooms were shabby, beds uncomfortable, bathroom smelly. Sample menus on the website showed more choices (3 per course) than we actually got (2 per course). When I booked, I was told that for booking early, our excursions would be complimentary. But no, the two extras we signed up for showed up on our bill. When I said I was told our excursions would be complimentary, the answer was that only the included excursions (which everyone got) were complimentary. Just too much bait-and-switch. Not everyone hates them. We met a couple on our Christmas cruise who had done the same itinerary on the boat that replaced Queen of the Worst, and they were happy with the cruise.

 

Like you, I have looked at the small ships that do the St Lawrence trips. They look tempting, but these companies go in and out of business constantly! And you never know who owns the ship. The owner leases the ship to a company that makes deals with yet another company to sail the ship. Another company (or two or three) is contracted to sell the cruises, and they all make it sound like it's THEIR ship. All those shell companies make me uncomfortable. At least I know who owns the HAL ships and who owns HAL.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

It might be out in 5 weeks

[OnTheJourney]

Uniworld was excellent! Comfortable cabins, good food and service. They were very organized and the included tours were good. The ship has its own set of radio mikes/receivers, so they're always charged in the morning when it's time to go out. It was a tough choice between Viking and Uniworld. At the time, Viking gave free internet and Uniworld gave free wine with lunch and dinner. So we went with the wine. The funny thing was they had just upgraded the internet on our boat and they could not get the charge codes to load, so they gave us the internet for free. The only reason we haven't done a second European river cruise is that HAL and Cunard keep coming up with good sales and/or special itineraries. And we can never agree on which river cruise to do next.

 

American Cruise Lines was a huge disappointment and I would never sail with them again. To be fair, they no longer have the boat we were on (Queen of the West), but almost everything the brochure said was a lie--windows did not open (brochure touted "large windows you can open"), cabins were smaller than stated, DVD players were missing (just an empty space in a cabinet). Rooms were shabby, beds uncomfortable, bathroom smelly. Sample menus on the website showed more choices (3 per course) than we actually got (2 per course). When I booked, I was told that for booking early, our excursions would be complimentary. But no, the two extras we signed up for showed up on our bill. When I said I was told our excursions would be complimentary, the answer was that only the included excursions (which everyone got) were complimentary. Just too much bait-and-switch. Not everyone hates them. We met a couple on our Christmas cruise who had done the same itinerary on the boat that replaced Queen of the Worst, and they were happy with the cruise.

 

Like you, I have looked at the small ships that do the St Lawrence trips. They look tempting, but these companies go in and out of business constantly! And you never know who owns the ship. The owner leases the ship to a company that makes deals with yet another company to sail the ship. Another company (or two or three) is contracted to sell the cruises, and they all make it sound like it's THEIR ship. All those shell companies make me uncomfortable. At least I know who owns the HAL ships and who owns HAL.

 

Interesting about American Cruise Line. I've encountered similar comments from reviews I've seen. BTW...was your saying "Queen of the Worst" deliberate or a typo? LOL I am seriously trying this Pearl Seas line - again, has mixed reviews. The thing is, these smaller lines are NOT cheap so people are definitely expecting a luxury cruise for the considerably higher price, and I don't think that is the correct expectation to have the way it seems. Good point about knowing who owns the bigger lines, although I think it is somewhat ridiculous that Celebrity and RCCL are the same company, and yet many people talk about Celebrity as being better in certain ways than RCCL. That seems crazy...I guess Celebrity is supposed to be the more classy of the two.

Edited January 20, 2017 by three4rd

[3rdGenCunarder]

Interesting about American Cruise Line. I've encountered similar comments from reviews I've seen. BTW...was your saying "Queen of the Worst" deliberate or a typo? LOL I am seriously trying this Pearl Seas line - again, has mixed reviews. The thing is, these smaller lines are NOT cheap so people are definitely expecting a luxury cruise for the considerably higher price, and I don't think that is the correct expectation to have the way it seems. Good point about knowing who owns the bigger lines, although I think it is somewhat ridiculous that Celebrity and RCCL are the same company, and yet many people talk about Celebrity as being better in certain ways than RCCL. That seems crazy...I guess Celebrity is supposed to be the more classy of the two.

 

CC never published my review--I guess it was too scathing. But there was another review published that called the ship "Queen of the Worst," which I thought was appropriate, so I've called it that ever since. Pearl is owned by the same people, so I'm leery of them. They were selling Cuba cruises before they had permission. They never did get permission, and the first few cruises were cancelled very last-minute, which was inconsiderate. They finally faced up to cancelling all Cuba cruises.

 

The small-ship companies that do the St Lawrence and New England cruises are US-flagged and subject to regulations that make them expensive. So they can't give people the combination of service and price of a European river cruise.

 

I haven't sailed RCCL in a long time and never sailed Celebrity, but it does make sense to have them differentiated. If you look at the lines Carnival Corp owns, there's a good spectrum to choose from, providing something for everyone.

Edited January 20, 2017 by 3rdGenCunarder

[OnTheJourney]

I recently posted a thread about Pearl Cruises and got a reply from a guy (who has been a guest lecturer on many different lines) who was on the Pearl Mist. His review speaks not only well of it but makes it sound terrific. I think I like the itinerary enough to have a go at it. Interesting about the regulations applied to small ship companies. As to the price of a European River cruise, I don't find them to be cheap by any means.