The Official Trippingpara's Chasing the Canadian Sunshine in the Maritimes Review

[DCCruiser1013]

Thank you! Yeah, that's why I was surprised that I didn't blunder into any of your photos. When I was reading your review, I noticed that we always seemed to be in the same place at about the same time. I believe that you were right in front of us at Avis/Budget. When you showed a photo of your van, I remembered seeing it pull out as we waited for our Chrysler 300 to be pulled up. I believe this is your van parked on the right at the sea caves too.

 

 

Yep! That's the one. Funny how you managed to capture it since I don't think we were in this area for more than 10 minutes. I looked back through the pictures of the sea caves area that we didn't post, and I still don't think I see you in any of them, so you're safe for now!

[trippingpara]

Wednesday, August 9th – Saint John, NB, Canada (cont.)

After exploring all that we could with the sea caves and with the tide starting to chase us away, it was time to continue our tour of St. Martins. We drove back to the center of the small fishing village. Remember before when I posted pics of the fishing boat sitting high and dry on the ocean floor? Well, they were now starting to bob in the current. There was still a long ways to go to reach high tide, but they were now floating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm just curious...what are the chances that this is a fishing village?

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[miss tea]

Can't wait to finish reading your review.

[trippingpara]

Can't wait to finish reading your review.

 

Hi miss tea, thank you for joining the party. Glad you are enjoying it.

[trippingpara]

Wednesday, August 9th – Saint John, NB, Canada (cont.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[trippingpara]

Wednesday, August 9th – Saint John, NB, Canada (cont.)

The crowds were really starting to pour in now as tour bus after tour bus off-loaded tons of our fellow cruisers into St. Martins. It was time to go. There were too many people and all tranquility was now lost. We piled back into our Chrysler 300 and headed back towards Saint John. We stopped briefly at a small church along the way, just on the outskirts of St. Martins. It had a quaint little cemetery next to it and a great view of the sea caves a ways away.

 

Notice how the sea caves are completely covered now.

 

After taking a few photos, we headed back down the road. About an hour later, we entered the city and we headed over to see the Reversing Falls. This is another phenomenon that is caused by the incredibly unusual and extremely high tides in this region.

 

 

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[NWACruiser]

After taking a few photos, we headed back down the road. About an hour later, we entered the city and we headed over to see the Reversing Falls. This is another phenomenon that is caused by the incredibly unusual and extremely high tides in this region

 

I saw this phenomenon on the Wakarusa River outside of Lawrence, KS back in 1993. The Kansas River was so far out of flood stage, it was backing up into its tributaries.

[trippingpara]

I saw this phenomenon on the Wakarusa River outside of Lawrence, KS back in 1993. The Kansas River was so far out of flood stage, it was backing up into its tributaries.

 

Wow, that would have been neat to see. I never heard of that happening, but then again, all bets are off with a flood.

[LzyCruiser_NWA]

Thanks for the review.

Did you have to go through the fundy park and trail system to get to the sea caves?

 

Our up coming cruise visit St. John Oct 12th and they closed oct 9th.!

[DCCruiser1013]

Thanks for the review.

Did you have to go through the fundy park and trail system to get to the sea caves?

 

Our up coming cruise visit St. John Oct 12th and they closed oct 9th.!

 

Don't want to step on your toes, Trippingpara, but I can take this question.

 

The sea caves are just before the Fundy Parkway starts, maybe a few miles before. So to answer your question, no, you don't have to go through Fundy's park and trail to get to the sea caves.

[pacruise804]

Wonderful review so far (at least I'm hoping you have a little more for us). My husband and I are taking this same itinerary on Regal Princess in October for our anniversary. Our first cruise was to Saint John on Carnival Glory in 2012 and loved it. This time we are planning a Kayak excursion through the ship that also includes a lobster lunch, but if we go again I think we will see about renting a car and exploring the caves. We went to Luray Caverns in Virginia this summer and just loved the formations, I think the sea caves would be neat too.

Your pictures are amazing, and your writing style is very engaging too. I think Lady Trip and I would make fast friends if we ever cruised together.

[trippingpara]

Wonderful review so far (at least I'm hoping you have a little more for us). My husband and I are taking this same itinerary on Regal Princess in October for our anniversary. Our first cruise was to Saint John on Carnival Glory in 2012 and loved it. This time we are planning a Kayak excursion through the ship that also includes a lobster lunch, but if we go again I think we will see about renting a car and exploring the caves. We went to Luray Caverns in Virginia this summer and just loved the formations, I think the sea caves would be neat too.

Your pictures are amazing, and your writing style is very engaging too. I think Lady Trip and I would make fast friends if we ever cruised together.

 

Hi pacruise804. Thank you so much for such kind words. Yep, there is plenty more to come. I must apologize for my slow progress in this report. I'm having some trouble trying to find the time to write here more often. I'll try harder!

 

Kayaking around Fundy Bay sounds like a blast. I was thinking about that when we were at the Reversing Falls and wondering what the current would be like for a kayaker or small boat. But to see that coastline from a kayak would be awesome! And yes, I'm quite sure you and Lady Trip would become fast friends. She's easy to like!

[trippingpara]

Wednesday, August 9th – Saint John, NB, Canada (cont.)

Okay, so after visiting the Reversing Falls, we drove back into downtown Saint John and dropped our rental car off. We then walked into the main area of downtown to see King's Garden, the Loyalist Burial Grounds (Lady Trip has a thing with graveyards - she's such a sweet lady but she scares me sometimes!!), the City Market and Market Square.

 

The downtown area is pretty small so it was an easy stroll through it. Here are some shots from our little jaunt.

 

 

 

Some Canadian beavers. There's a joke somewhere in there but I'm going to leave that one alone.

Gravestones in the Loyalist Burial Grounds

The City Market

The Public Library in Market Square

 

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[trippingpara]

Wednesday, August 9th – Saint John, NB, Canada (cont.)

Here's a couple shots from right outside the cruise terminal:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up...Departing Saint John and Chef's Table.

 

 

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[trippingpara]

Wednesday, August 9th – Saint John, NB, Canada (cont.)

 

So, we finally waved our goodbyes to good ol' Saint John (and yes, you always spell out the 'Saint' - never abbreviate it, and it's a singular 'John', not plural - just in case you were curious. What? You weren't? Well, tough munchies, now you know!).

 

Anyways, we strolled back onto Carnival Sunshine amid bright blue skies and yep, you guessed it, plenty of sunshine! By the time it took us to grab an elevator and get into our cabin on Deck 11, this is what we saw:

 

 

What the...? Geez! I was chatting with a local a few minutes before we boarded and he mentioned how lucky we were with such a beautiful day as the town is usually shrouded in fog. No kidding, eh? Take off you hoser! (little McKenzie Brothers reference there - remember the Great White North? I loved that skit and Strange Brew ranks as one of my all time favorite movies. Dumb as snot but I still laugh my tushy off at it every time!

 

About 30 minutes later, we were pushing away and you could barely see the dock that we just left. Now THAT is some thick fog, eh!!

 

 

We couldn't have timed that any better now could we? (Not that we had anything to do with timing of the fog, but all of us on that ship sure did luck out!). Now, shortly after I booked this cruise, I sent my email in to the maitre'd to reserve a spot at the Chef's Table. We did it for the first time on the Vista's inaugural and we LOVED it!

We took our showers, changed and generally cleaned up some when our phone rang. It was our waiter for the Chef's Table. He was confirming for us to meet down in the lobby at 6:15 pm. Of course, we showed up early, because that's what we do. It's the Marine in me...hurry up and wait!!

Before we knew it, our waiter approached and asked if we were who we are, so we said yes. He handed us a glass of champagne. We were happy. A few minutes later, the rest of the group showed up. There were supposed to be 12 of us, but for some reason one couple cancelled that afternoon and another couple didn't show up. So that made our little party of 8 that much tighter. Lady Trip and I were actually the odd ones out as the other 6 were all together. Thankfully, they were a great group and made us honorary family members for the night.

After we drank our champagne, the chef took us on a tour of the galley. It was funny walking through the MDR towards the galley being led by the chef. Everyone was staring at us trying to figure out why we were so special. Now, the other 7 people with me all paid money to be special. But I lick windows so that makes me pretty special in my own right! But then again, I paid money too. Hmm, maybe I'm not so special.

Any who, here are a couple shots from the galley:

 

 

Here is the menu from our Chef's Table. This was a different menu from what we had on the Vista, however the chef explained that a new menu was created just for the Vista. Well, aren't they special?!

 

Next up...Food Porn!

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[trippingpara]

Wednesday, August 9th – Saint John, NB, Canada (cont.)

 

The Chef's Table was held in the Library Bar. They closed half of the space off for us, so we had a nice, intimate little dining area. It was really nice.

Beet Blanket

 

Duck Textures

 

Bisque our Way

 

The two different types of tomato bisque now poured out

 

Sea Bass

 

Wagyu

 

 

Next up...Halifax, Nova Scotia

 

 

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[pacruise804]

Chef's table looks great. I don't know how much I'd enjoy all the food (really not a fan of beets no matter how pretty they are), but hope to try it at some point.

Never saw the movie, but grew up with the Take Off song on the radio. I grew up on Lake Erie and we would get Ontario channels sometimes.

Looking forward to your Halifax review. Hoping we don't have as much fog when we are in Saint John, maybe someday we will also go to St. Johns.

[trippingpara]

Chef's table looks great. I don't know how much I'd enjoy all the food (really not a fan of beets no matter how pretty they are), but hope to try it at some point.

Never saw the movie, but grew up with the Take Off song on the radio. I grew up on Lake Erie and we would get Ontario channels sometimes.

Looking forward to your Halifax review. Hoping we don't have as much fog when we are in Saint John, maybe someday we will also go to St. Johns.

 

When I look at a Chef's Table menu, I always think there is no way that I am going to like 95% of what they're serving. Yet, every time I'm astonished at how delicious every dish is. I don't like beets at all, but their beet dish (in a grape soup) was awesome! Mainly because you couldn't even taste the beets. And who ever heard of a grape soup? But man, was that good!

 

I grew up on Lake Erie too! I was born and raised in Erie, Pennsylvania, halfway between Cleveland, Ohio and Buffalo, New York. We used to get Ontario radio and T.V. stations too. I always found their censoring funny. When watching a movie that used the term M(bleep) - F(bleep), they would censor the 'Mother' part but not the other part, the exact opposite of American T.V.

 

Hopefully, you'll get lucky and not have the fog in Saint John. I would love to visit St. Johns too someday. In the meantime, I'm just careful not to confuse the two. They take their Saints and Johns pretty seriously up there! It ranks right up there with hockey!

[pacruise804]

If the beet soup doesn't have the "beet" taste I probably would like it. Our son doesn't eat many vegetables but does like beets so I tried grilling some this summer. The parts that were overcooked and charred didn't have any beet taste left and were awesome!

 

I was also born in Erie, grew up in Girard, and worked several summers at Waldameer. We could see the lake from a hill near our house and I think those views contributed to my love of the water.

 

One of my best friends in high school moved to RI after graduation. Small world!

[trippingpara]

Wow, small world!! I pretty much grew up at Waldameer and hanging out on Presque Isle each summer. I knew when I moved away from Erie that I couldn't venture too far from the water. I've bounced around since then but always on the coast (San Diego, Boston and Rhode Island).

[trippingpara]

Thursday, August 10th – Halifax, NS, Canada

The day we’ve been waiting for. Last year on the inaugural cruise for the Vista, we met several awesome couples that we have remained in touch with ever since. CarnieAddict and Lady Carnie was one of those couples who just happened to live in Prince Edwards’ Island, Canada, which is roughly a couple hours away by car from Halifax. So, being the super awesome couple that they are, they decided to come on down and spend the day with us and give us a grand tour of Halifax.

We were very excited to see them again and were anxious to get off the ship, especially since we knew that they were waiting for us at the main cruise terminal. Unfortunately, we received word late the night before that we would not be docking at the main cruise terminal but would be docking at a nearby wharf that did not permit any pedestrian traffic. So, we were now going to be tendered by bus to the main cruise terminal.

 

Thankfully, we always purchase the Faster to the Fun so we got priority tendering. Whew! We showed up at our appointed time in the appointed place (Liquid Lounge) and waited. And waited. And waited some more. Finally, Emma our cruise director come on the loudspeaker and announced that customs had still not cleared us. Really? We were just in Saint John yesterday. What was the big hubbub?

 

We finally got clearance but then had to wait for them to board the shore excursions or else they would be late returning back to the ship. I’m one of those people that cruise for the ports, not the ship. So, I really don’t like it when I lose any of the precious few hours that I get at a port. It was now a little over any hour later before we were able to leave the ship. I really feel worse for those that did not have a ship excursion and did not have priority. They really had to wait.

 

Okay, I’m off my soapbox now. We jumped off our bus and met our friends in front of the Queen Mary 2 that was docked in our spot. I called it our spot but I guess it’s a first come, first served kind of thing. They were there first, so I guess it’s only right. The Holland America ship, Maasdam was there too (the Rotterdam would replace it in Sept.). It was absolutely dwarfed by the QM2.

 

The four of us jumped into their fancy new Rubicon Jeep (yes, it was very nice but no, I’m still not buying one Carnie!), and headed out to Peggy’s Cove. Wow, was that beautiful! Just be careful when traversing around the rocky grounds. Unfortunately, right when we got there a gentleman had gotten hurt and needed to be stretchered out of there. It looked like he had hurt his ankle or leg pretty bad. I’m not sure exactly what happened but I could definitely see someone getting hurt on those rocks. The ground was very uneven and rather unforgiving. I hope that gentleman has a speedy recovery.

 

We walked around grabbing photos and chatting away. It really was so good to see them again. Being a photographer, I was trying not to run all over the place getting photos and not spending any time with them. They had taken time off from work and drove quite a way to visit us, but I have to admit sometimes my photographer’s brain just took over and off I went. Sorry guys!

 

Here's a few shots to give you a taste of the splendor of Halifax and Peggy's Cove.

 

Pulling into Halifax

George's Island

The Queen Mary 2 and HAL's Maasdam

Lady Carnie looking at the beautiful landscape of Peggy's Cove

A painter giving us his rendition of Peggy's Cove lighthouse

[JaniceB]

Really enjoying your pictures of Canada. I remember seeing the caves and being in awe of the tide. Did you happen to notice the gangway getting to or from the ship?

[sjn911]

Appreciate this fabulous review so much. Your hotel in NYC reminded me of feel of one I first stayed in on first flying on an airplane trip summer before sixth grade..lol...now 57. It was called The Statler (sp) Hilton.

Oh your words, pictures, everything is just wonderful...how to thank you?? The armchair travel is so appreciated and the Sunshine looks wonderful and your candid review of pros and cons so great. This looks like a super trip to me...thank you, Sarah.

[bitemebaby]

Thanks so much for this review- the photos and review are Top Notch!

[trippingpara]

Really enjoying your pictures of Canada. I remember seeing the caves and being in awe of the tide. Did you happen to notice the gangway getting to or from the ship?

 

Yes, the gangway difference was insane! When we departed in the morning, the gangway was on the ground (it looked like we exited Zero Deck). Anybody that had Oceanview rooms on Decks 1 and 2 would have been staring at the side of the concrete pier. When we returned later that afternoon, Deck 3 was now standing where you expect it...3 stories in the air. The tide there is crazy!