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Canada/ NE with kids


applequeen
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My husband and I have always wanted to do this trip and assumed it would be one we did without our kids. Unfortunately it's difficult for us to leave our kids for this long (childcare) so we've decided to just make it a family trip.

 

I booked it for June 2020...so over a year from now so that our kids will be a little older (they will be 10 and 7 1/2) at the time. We are sailing with NCL.  Both have cruised before and enjoyed it but it's always been to warmer/ beachy places that are easy to find kid friendly things to do.

 

Can someone give me some honest opinions on if this trip is something the kids will enjoy? I'd rather know now so that we have plenty of time to rebook to a trip that is more family friendly. 

 

I copied the ports below (we are sailing on the Pearl)

CRUISE PORTS EMBARK New York (New York); Halifax (Nova Scotia);Saint John, Bay of Fundy (New Brunswick); Bar Harbor (Maine);Portland (Maine); Newport (Rhode Island); DISEMBARK New York (New York)

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There would be lots of interest for your kids in Halifax including the Discovery Centre (on the waterfront), Citadel Hill, walking the waterfront, taking a ferry or going on Theodore Too, taking the Harbour Hopper, and so on.

 

You could also rent a car and visit Peggy's Cove, beaches and other fishing villages.

 

Here is a link with information for Halifax:   Halifax for Cruise Ship Visitors

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  • 1 month later...

I took my twins on a Canada/NE cruise  on RCCL when they were 9.  They absolutely loved the Citadel in Halifax and hiking in Bar Harbor.  We are an outdoorsy type family and do a lot of hiking so anywhere we can take them hiking, we usually do.  We did the Victorian mansion in Portland, which they also enjoyed, and the freedom trail in Boston.  My husband took them for a little hike around town in Saint John.  That is not my favorite port, but the others we really enjoy.  I wish we had gone to Newport as I love Newport, but our cruise didn't stop there.  

 

We are actually headed to Canada/NE again this year - Quebec to NYC.  Of course they are much older now (15), but still enjoy the cold weather cruises just as much as the Caribbean cruises.  They have been on 5 cruises including the Canada/NE cruise and one to Alaska.  Most of our cruises are to the Caribbean, but my husband prefers the Canada/NE route, so we try to do one every few cruises.  My daughter just told me the other day she has never been on a cruise she didn't love.  Cruising is her favorite vacation.  😁  

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  • 3 months later...

In Portland, we have gone on The Lucky Catch and learned about lobsters.  We baited the boxes, hauled up the boxes or cages, measured the lobsters and enjoyed the time on the boat.  It is about a ten minute walk from the ship.  Then you can buy the lobsters for a very reasonable price and take them next door and they will cook for your dinner. Our adult daughter has returned multiple times to take her friends on this tour.  Kids would like it.

We have also gone on the fire engine tour.  I think the kids would like the lobster boat more.  But there could be time for both.

Portland is a wonderful city.

 

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On 8/4/2019 at 10:35 AM, Missdoug said:

In Portland, we have gone on The Lucky Catch and learned about lobsters.  We baited the boxes, hauled up the boxes or cages, measured the lobsters and enjoyed the time on the boat.  It is about a ten minute walk from the ship.  Then you can buy the lobsters for a very reasonable price and take them next door and they will cook for your dinner. Our adult daughter has returned multiple times to take her friends on this tour.  Kids would like it.

We have also gone on the fire engine tour.  I think the kids would like the lobster boat more.  But there could be time for both.

Portland is a wonderful city.

 

What is the name of the restaurant?  

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I don't know. It's right by the boat, or next door.  You just ask them, where will they cook it for me?  Im guessing it costs about 20 for the dinner now.  To buy the lobster, was less than ten.  only 5 the first time we bought one.

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We cruise a ton with our kids on Princess and Celebrity. (10-12 cruises) When there is an excursion the boys don't want to do, the boys are happy to stay in Kids' Club. It's not extra except for 2 hours on Celebrity when they take them to lunch/dinner-fee is minimal.

This fall we will be cruising the New England/ Canada with our boys. There is a Lulu Lobster Tour that we are doing. Also there are 4 dessert places that we are going to visit in Bar Harbor. We may rent bikes in Bar Harbor. There is Freedom Walk, Paul Revere/(Boston) We are going to do the Boston Tea Party Tour. We are doing the Fort Adam Tour in Rhone Island.  I haven't had a chance to look up Halifax and Saint John, yet.  

 

Oops, I forgot to say that our boys are 8 & 12 years old.

Edited by cynthia808
need to add more details
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  • 2 weeks later...

I think my 13 (going on 14) year old son would have my head if he knew I used him as an example in a post about "kids" but here goes.  Last Columbus Day weekend we drove up to Boston. We did the hop on hop off bus, a little pricey but a good way to see the city if your port stop allows it time wise. It started near Fanueil Hall/Quincy Market.  We got off and toured the Constitution (worth the stop). The bus then went down Boyleston Street past the Boston Common (start of the Freedom trail) and the Granary (Paul Revere's grave) and Central burial grounds.  The burial grounds intrigued my son.  We did not have time to stop then but that's what we'll be doing on our July 2020 Empress cruise for our 7 or so hours in Boston. Easy to get to the Common via the T.  Might not appeal to every teen but it does to my son

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The burial grounds near the common are very interesting - I still like to go occasionally and wander around.  Ben Franklin is there and Mother Goose.  It's very easy to walk around following the freedom trail.  There are also some interesting graves of early puritans near the old North Church.  

 

 

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On 3/27/2019 at 1:16 PM, maryann ns said:

There would be lots of interest for your kids in Halifax including the Discovery Centre (on the waterfront), Citadel Hill, walking the waterfront, taking a ferry or going on Theodore Too, taking the Harbour Hopper, and so on.

 

You could also rent a car and visit Peggy's Cove, beaches and other fishing villages.

 

Here is a link with information for Halifax:   Halifax for Cruise Ship Visitors

Wow - great information!  Thanks so much for all the work in putting this together.  Very helpful.

 

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  • 5 months later...

I am so happy I found this thread! We were thinking of doing a ship sponsored excursion, just my husband and I, in Halifax with a lobster ship and lobster lunch. But for half the price it looks like all four of us - including my kid (5 and 9) can do Lucky Catch, and Lucky Catch looks alot more interactive! My kids will love this!

 

Question: we had originally planned to leave the kids in the kids club for Portland and do a foodie / drinking tour. They will love helping to catch the lobsters but probably won't care for cooking them up and eating them afterwards at the restaurant nextdoor.

 

How far is the cruise terminal from Lucky Catch, and do you think it is possible, timing wise, for my husband to take the kids back to the ship and drop them at the kids club while I get the lobsters cooked and then he can come back to join me to eat them and go bar hoping in Portland? Or is that too time consuming? This is only our second of this type of big cruise so I don't have a good feel for whether getting on and off and back on and back off the cruise ship is doable.

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  • 6 months later...

I want to thank the folks on this thread who recommended Lucky Catch. 

 

When our cruise got cancelled, we changed our vacation over to 12 days between Mount Desert Island / Acadia and Portland so we could still do all the things we looked forward to with the cruise.

 

Yesterday we went out with Lucky Catch. It was our last full day of vacation (we just arrived home this morning), and all four of us (kids 5 and 9) agreed that the Lucky Catch tour was the most fun activity of the whole trip! And our lobsters tasted delicious too 💗.

 

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