Private excurions or buy through the cruise line?

[Denise33]

My husband and I will be taking the NCL Gem to Canada/New England in October 2019.  Any suggestions about buying the excursions through the cruise line verses buying them on our own? 

Also, are there excursions that are must do and ones to avoid?  

 

Thanks in advance for any help!

[LHT28]

I think it is  a personal choice

but if you book private ones  & have to prepay or give  a deposit  make sure it is refundable in case  the ship does not make the port

 

as for the excursions  it depends on your interests ..I would look at what is popular in each port & decide if it interest you

jmo

 

[Host Carolyn]

Not sure what your ports are but in Portland, Bad Harbor, Boston and Halifax you can have a great day ashore picking up tours by locals when you get there or using the Hop On-Hop Off bus in Boston and Halifax. We have been to Bar Harbor twice and last time booked a your into Acadia Park with Woody's Taxi. Wonderful afternoon, totally customized, got out for all great views for photos. Also lots of excellent places for lobster, chowder etc for lunch on this itinerary

[Denise33]

Thank You! This is just what I needed to know!

[willow0325]

On 1/19/2019 at 9:15 PM, Host Carolyn said:

Not sure what your ports are but in Portland, Bad Harbor, Boston and Halifax you can have a great day ashore picking up tours by locals when you get there or using the Hop On-Hop Off bus in Boston and Halifax. We have been to Bar Harbor twice and last time booked a your into Acadia Park with Woody's Taxi. Wonderful afternoon, totally customized, got out for all great views for photos. Also lots of excellent places for lobster, chowder etc for lunch on this itinerary

We're considering doing the Hop on Off in Halifax.  The only one with availability is the Hop on for Hops, which is fine.  Did you feel you got to areas you wouldn't have otherwise gotten to on your own?  Thanks!

[Climes5]

For those of you who have been to both Bar Harbor and Saint John NB Bay of Fundy, which do you recommend?  I am deciding between 2 dates and 1 date goes to Bar Harbor, and 1 date goes to St, John.  The rest of the ports are the same.  Thanks!!

[maryann ns]

Here is some information for Halifax. Halifax for cruise ship visitors

[olemissreb]

I tend to do independent excursions.  Here's what I have planned for the cruise I'm taking with my mom at the end of Sept.

 

Portland - Cruise of Casco Bay followed by a ride on the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad, then lunch and a tour of Portland on an old fashioned firetruck

 

Bar Harbor - Oli's Trolley 2 hour tour of Acadia National Park followed by some shopping and relaxing

 

Saint John, NB - tour of the town on a City Transit Bus followed by shopping or maybe a "150 years of Beer" tour

 

Halifax - we're going to rent a car and drive up and tour a couple wineries. We'll have lunch at one of them before heading to the Grand Pre Historical Site (it's where the Acadians were chased out of Canada- we thought it would be neat since we lived in the New Orleans area where they ended up), then to tour the Fairview Lawn and Mt. Olivet Cemeteries to see the Titanic graves, then we'll return the car and head over to Nova Scotian Crystal to maybe buy some souvenirs to take home.

 

For me, I try to only plan for maybe 1/2 day excursions so I know I'll be back on the ship with plenty of time to spare.  For all the ones above, by far the day that will be the longest will be Halifax, but even then, we are in port for 12 hours and we might only be gone for 6 - 8.

[Climes5]

Thank you, thank you!! Awesome info! Especially the antique firetruck tour. My hubby is a 35yr veteran career firefighter, retired. And, we own an antique fire engine!! Would love to know what you think of your excusions after you go!! Thanks again!! 

[lynncarol]

We have done 3 New England/Canada cruises and we always do independent tours at each port. The one exception was Peggy's Cove near Halifax where we took the ship tour to the cove and Titanic Gravesite.  (Fairly reasonable, as I recall it was less than $75 each).  Why? Because Halifax experiences frequent dense fogs and we did not want to drive in such conditions.  Also, you really need a guide to get the best experience from the Titanic graves. For us it worked out perfectly:  There was terrible morning fog but by around noon when our bus left the ship, it was starting to break up.  Peggy's Cove was lovely and the grave-site very interesting.  However, returning to the ship there was a lot of traffic and we arrived 15 min. past final boarding call.  Since it was a ship tour, no problem.  Otherwise I would have been very worried.  

[maryann ns]

The fog off the Atlantic Ocean in Halifax and down the coast is much more prevalent in the late spring and early summer when the water is colder than the land. It is much less common in September and October.

[Climes5]

Thank you! Great info!

[Host Carolyn]

I would choose Bar.Harbor over Saint John. Been to both several times. Bar Harbor is gateway to Acadia National Park which is just beautiful. Good seafood restaurants, nice little town

[Climes5]

Thank you, thank you everyone!! 

[lynncarol]

On 2/6/2019 at 3:28 PM, maryann ns said:

The fog off the Atlantic Ocean in Halifax and down the coast is much more prevalent in the late spring and early summer when the water is colder than the land. It is much less common in September and October.

That may be true but this was several years ago in September.

[dutchclogs]

On 2/6/2019 at 9:28 PM, maryann ns said:

The fog off the Atlantic Ocean in Halifax and down the coast is much more prevalent in the late spring and early summer when the water is colder than the land. It is much less common in September and October.

 

What is likely mid-July?  Also curious if the ship's pool will be comfortable enough to swim  when in port. TIA

[maryann ns]

July is generally sunny and warm but there would be breezes off the harbour and I have no idea what the pool's temperature would be.

[dutchclogs]

On 2/9/2019 at 2:58 PM, maryann ns said:

July is generally sunny and warm but there would be breezes off the harbour and I have no idea what the pool's temperature would be.

 

Thank you. If I understand correctly the pool is unheated so we'll just have to wait and see

what it's like on the day.

[wannasail4ever]

On 2/5/2019 at 6:55 PM, olemissreb said:

I tend to do independent excursions.  Here's what I have planned for the cruise I'm taking with my mom at the end of Sept.

 

Portland - Cruise of Casco Bay followed by a ride on the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad, then lunch and a tour of Portland on an old fashioned firetruck 

 

Bar Harbor - Oli's Trolley 2 hour tour of Acadia National Park followed by some shopping and relaxing

 

Saint John, NB - tour of the town on a City Transit Bus followed by shopping or maybe a "150 years of Beer" tour

 

Halifax - we're going to rent a car and drive up and tour a couple wineries. We'll have lunch at one of them before heading to the Grand Pre Historical Site (it's where the Acadians were chased out of Canada- we thought it would be neat since we lived in the New Orleans area where they ended up), then to tour the Fairview Lawn and Mt. Olivet Cemeteries to see the Titanic graves, then we'll return the car and head over to Nova Scotian Crystal to maybe buy some souvenirs to take home.

 

For me, I try to only plan for maybe 1/2 day excursions so I know I'll be back on the ship with plenty of time to spare.  For all the ones above, by far the day that will be the longest will be Halifax, but even then, we are in port for 12 hours and we might only be gone for 6 - 8.

We will be in Portland on Monday, Sept. 23rd.  I'm interested in your Cruise of Casco Bay plus other things.  Did you find a local provider for that?  Or is it ship sponsored.  We've been there before and this sounds great.

Macy

[olemissreb]

19 hours ago, wannasail4ever said:

We will be in Portland on Monday, Sept. 23rd.  I'm interested in your Cruise of Casco Bay plus other things.  Did you find a local provider for that?  Or is it ship sponsored.  We've been there before and this sounds great.

Macy

We are not in Portland now until October 5th (looks like we are on the cruise after you).  Mom and I decided to do the Lighthouse Tour with Portland Discovery Land & Sea Tours (portlanddiscovery.com).  It's only $21/adult for an hour long tour.  Mom loves lighthouses, so this will be fun.  We are actually going to do the Firetruck tour first thing in the morning since they will pick up at the cruise dock instead of us having to walk to their place of business.  It's shaping up to be a fun day.

 

The Firetruck Tour is through Portland Fire Engine Company (portlandfiretours.com) and it's only $25/adult ($23/seniors).

 

The Maine Narrow Gauge Railway (mainenarrowgauge.org) is only $10/adult ($9/seniors) and includes admission to the museum.

 

I have to rework my timeline, but it looks like we can include all of that at a somewhat leisurely pace plus lunch and be back on the ship by about 3pm (maybe earlier) for a 6pm set sail.

 

I found most of these things on Trip Advisor (CC's sister site).  It's full of wonderful things to do.  I once found a cooking class that was done out of a couples house in one of the Caribbean islands. I was all set to book that when we had to cancel that cruise.

[Smiths4164]

Anyone have any suggestions for Montreal which is where we disembark sailing HAL May 11, 2019 on Zaandam. We were hoping to see a bit of Montreal but tour and airport drop off is $120.00 American each which is kinda expensive for us. We are staying at Sheraton out by airport for early morning flight the next day. From what I understand airport is a distance about 45.00 to airport so we don’t want to take cabs back and forth to drop off a bag. Any suggestions? Anyone aware of private companies near port that would do this?

[Boiler]

I am booked on the Norwegian Gem in October 2019.  How far in advance should I book excursions?  I want to book Oli's Trolley 4 hour trip in Bar Harbor and one of the Anne of Green Gables tours at PEI.

[olemissreb]

2 hours ago, Boiler said:

I am booked on the Norwegian Gem in October 2019.  How far in advance should I book excursions?  I want to book Oli's Trolley 4 hour trip in Bar Harbor and one of the Anne of Green Gables tours at PEI.

I'm sailing in late Sept/early Oct and I'm booking my Oli's Trolley tours already.  I do it so that if I have to pay online, it will all be paid for by the time I step on the ship. 

 

[shipgeeks]

On ‎3‎/‎12‎/‎2019 at 5:22 PM, wannasail4ever said:

We will be in Portland on Monday, Sept. 23rd.  I'm interested in your Cruise of Casco Bay plus other things.  Did you find a local provider for that?  Or is it ship sponsored.  We've been there before and this sounds great.

Macy

Check out the Casco Bay Ferry website for all the information.  No need to book in advance.  The boat is just a very short walk from the cruise port.  I believe you can just show up for a 10am roundtrip, and perhaps other times/routes.  Just make sure you will be back in plenty of time!

[antmaril]

I was on the NCL Gem to Canada/New England in 2015.  In Bar Harbor, we used Oli’s Trolley for an excursion to Acadia National Park.   It was great.  I can highly recommend.