LIVE! Dragon OfTheSeas and the Snowbird Migration from Quebec to FLL Oct 7-20, 2019

[DragonOfTheSeas]

 

We ate dinner at Jack's Saloon.  It was just OK.  Service was very slow, but the food tasted good.  Also, they forgot to bring out my sandwich until we were finished eating. 

 

We both ordered sandwiches and an order of poutine.  Poutine was "invented" in a restaurant in Quebec.  It is well known Canadian pub food.  It is French fries, dijon gravy, and cheese curds--ours had smoked meat, too. It was very good, but eating it likely took a couple years off my life expectance.  🤣 Since I was waiting on my sandwich I "had" to eat some. [ PS we only ate a portion of that huge bowl]

 

 

 

poutine

 

 

Edited October 6, 2019 by DragonOfTheSeas

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Today we took a 4+ hr tour of the countryside around Quebec City.  It was arranged by a couple from our Cruise Critic roll call. [thank you Chris and Mike]  

 

But first we took a bus tour of the Plains of Abraham.  It is located just west of the Citadel on the river. The Plains of Abraham is the site of a battle between the British and French in 1759.  The British won.  The park is huge. [255+ acres]  We wanted to visit the park, but knew we would not be able to walk around enough to do it justice.  So we were happy when we started the day there. 

 

 

 

 

Quebec City sits on the narrow point on the St Lawrence River.

 

This is the Museum of the Plains of Abraham.  

 

There were some beautiful homes along the edge.

 

There were lots of nice gardens.

 

. . . and some fall color.

 

Edited October 6, 2019 by DragonOfTheSeas

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Then we left the city.  We crossed over onto the Ile de Orleans. This large island in the St Lawrence River is very close to the city--yet is very rural  [we can see it from our hotel window]  There is one road that goes around the island and three that go across and it only has one stop light and one gas station.

 

It is mostly a farming area.  This is apple picking time and we saw lots of pumpkin/fruit stands. 

 

The yellow crop in the foreground is canola--used to make oil.  Can you see the migrant workers in the background picking strawberries?  In Virginia strawberries ripen around Memorial Day. It seemed strange to us that they would be a fall crop.

 

I have to take pictures of the leaves.  I can't help myself. 

 

Our last stop on the island was at a chocolate shop.  We ate lunch in the restaurant upstairs.  [soup with ham and brie on croissants] Yum!  . . . and of course we had chocolate for dessert.

 

The chocolate shop is in a very old [historic] building.  This is not a very good picture, but it is the only one I took.  

Edited October 6, 2019 by DragonOfTheSeas

[cruise wizard]

2 hours ago, wishuponasea said:

We intend to book the Snowbird cruise for next year (when we are on Grandeur in 11 days). So we are Very interested in your reviews!  On Vision -- see you next year cruise wizard!  🙂  !

 

I just checked cabin availability - the only categories were V's (Insides) and N's (Outsides) - mostly on decks 2, 3 and 4..............very few on decks 7 and 8. All of the suites and balconies are sold out.

[reallyhooked]

Beautiful pictures. Hope to cruise next October for our anniversary. Canada/New England that includes Quebec.

[wishuponasea]

23 minutes ago, cruise wizard said:

 

I just checked cabin availability - the only categories were V's (Insides) and N's (Outsides) - mostly on decks 2, 3 and 4..............very few on decks 7 and 8. All of the suites and balconies are sold out.

That's O.K.  Hope we at least get a porthole to the outside world! Thanks for checking!

[cruise wizard]

8 minutes ago, wishuponasea said:

That's O.K.  Hope we at least get a porthole to the outside world! Thanks for checking!

 

Enjoy your Grandeur cruise - we are doing a B2B on her in June 2020. Hope to see you on Vision.

[Coralc]

That is an interesting wall! 

[DragonOfTheSeas]

1 hour ago, cruise wizard said:

 

I just checked cabin availability - the only categories were V's (Insides) and N's (Outsides) - mostly on decks 2, 3 and 4..............very few on decks 7 and 8. All of the suites and balconies are sold out.

 

1 hour ago, wishuponasea said:

That's O.K.  Hope we at least get a porthole to the outside world! Thanks for checking!

Actually we had the same problem when we booked this cruise.  We had to do an OV GTY because everything above that was booked.  However, after final payment  I noticed that a balcony gty was not much more than we paid for our OV gty yesterday.  You may be lucky, too.

 

I called and after more than an hour I got the upgrade for $149 or maybe $147.  This is the first time I have booked without using a travel agent. [booked onboard and did not transfer in time]  Let me describe my experience. This is not intended as a rant. I consider this a humorous situation. 

 

I called and  I told an agent "I have an OV gty and see that the least expensive balconies are not much more."  I gave him my res# and asked him to price out a balcony GTY  cabin for me.  He said he would put me on a short hold. It was 26 minutes before he came back.  He told me to get an assigned OV cabin would be $700 more.  I explained I did not want that and I told him again I wanted a GTY balcony cabin.  So, he said Ok and put me on hold again. 

 

It was only 6 minutes this time.  He said it would be almost $2000 more for the balcony.  I mentioned I had seen the rate on the RCL website and it was much lower than his quote. [I was prepared for him to tell me there was a restriction to new res]  But, no, he said oh well, that must have been a gty.  I explained that is what I am looking at. [I am sure I said this at the beginning--but, OK] 

 

He came back a few minutes later with a figure around $500  and I asked if that included my D+ discount?  He put me on hold again and came back with $157.20.  Woo hoo!  I will take that and told him so.  I said I have my credit card and can give you the number when you are ready. . .  He said Oh, you want to buy this. I said yes, and he said hold a minute.  

 

It was more than a minute, but he came back and said it was actually $149 and I gave him my CC #.  The difference between my old and new receipts is actually only $147.  [no biggie]  But, the whole conversation does not fill me with confidence. 

 

Wishuponasea--Good Luck!

 

 

Edited August 19 by DragonOfTheSeas

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Our next stop was the Montmorency Falls. [Parc de la Chute-Montmorency] The 275-foot falls on the Montmorency River are taller than Niagara Falls. There is a cable car which looked like a fun ride.  We did not have time to ride.  It had a longish line.  Also, they were doing several construction projects.  

 

[Guided tours are offered in French or English until Labour Day weekend]

 

The walkway from the top to the bottom was closed.  

 

cable car

 

 

 

 

 

There was a temporary walkway to a viewing platform. I think this would be better in season when everything is open.  However, I enjoyed seeing the falls.

Edited October 6, 2019 by DragonOfTheSeas

[DragonOfTheSeas]

The tour organizer talked the driver into taking us to the Mont St Anne ski are to look at more leaves.  

 

There was a large crowd there.  They had activities for children and a live band. Lots of mountain bike riders in the are.  They had a bike washing station by the parking lot.  Those bikes were very dirty.  There must be lots of mud on the mountain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 6, 2019 by DragonOfTheSeas

[wishuponasea]

cruise wizard....We usually book well in advance, so we are just taking our chances on Vision next year for the Snowbird cruise. Hope we have good luck like you did (w/o all the rigmarole).  For now, looking forward to 9 nights pre-winter relaxation on Grandeur (1st time on Grandeur).

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Our last stop was the shrine of Sainte Anne De Beaupre.  They started building it in 1922. 

 

It is a very impressive church, especially when you consider the city of Saint Anne only has 8,000 citizens.

 

The setting was beautiful

 

Another leaf picture. 🙂

 

 

This picture of the copper doors does not do them justice.  They were quite impressive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Each of the pews has a North American animal carved into the side.  I liked these two.

 

'

Edited October 6, 2019 by DragonOfTheSeas

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Well today is the day we board the Adventure of the Seas to head up the St Lawrence. However, we will stay in port until tomorrow evening.  We have had overnight stays before, but never at embarkation.  . . . but we will be glad to spend another 2 days in Quebec. 

 

Before we start a new day I better finish last night.  

 

We rested for a couple of hours [and DH got his sports fix on TV]  before we headed back to the walled city for dinner.  The restaurant, Polina, was discussed on Cruise Critic in a couple of threads and a good pizza place. I do not like the pizza on the ship, so I wanted to get my "pizza fix" before we boarded.  

 

You can see by the picture how close it is to the Frontenac Hotel.  

 

 

The pizza was excellent.  It was a thin crust with lots of cheese and very rustic pepperoni slices.  They shredded a topping of parmesan cheese after they brought it to the table.  The have 8/10/12 inch pizzas.  We shared a 12 inch and it was plenty.  I would have been happy with a 10 inch--but, I doubt DH would. 

 

I ordered a Quebec cider.  You can see it below.  I tasted more like champagne to me.  It was very good. 

 

 

The trip back to the hotel was very peaceful.  All of the crowds had gone home.

 

I tried to get pictures of the fountain lights at night.  But they do not look very deep here.  They generate too much light.

 

 

Edited October 7, 2019 by DragonOfTheSeas

[A&L_Ont]

I don't know if anyone has said it yet, but welcome to Canada.

[DragonOfTheSeas]

26 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

I don't know if anyone has said it yet, but welcome to Canada.

Thank you we are enjoying our stay. 😁

[suesnake2002]

Can not wait to hear what cabin you got!!

[DragonOfTheSeas]

This morning we visited the Parliament building.  They give free tours of the building and I have read many excellent reviews of these tours.  However, DH is not much for organized tours and we were both history and government teachers.  We really did not want to get a lecture on a parliamentary system.  They give tours in English and French.  . . . One thing I need to mention is that while you can do a self-guided tour as we did, all of the signage is in French. You need to do your research before you arrive.  We had done that.

 

There is a new visitor center that opened just a few months ago.  It is beautiful! Enter just to the left at the bottom of the stairs at the fountain entrance.  You will need a photo ID and you go through an airport type security.  Our first stop was the library.  We had read how beautiful it was.  It did not disappoint.  There were several very old texts.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is the layout

 

The periodicals and microfilm was down the stairs. 

Edited October 7, 2019 by DragonOfTheSeas

[SilkySal]

Wonderful pics!! DH and I are planning this cruise for the fall of 2021 and hope to snag our cabin when the itinerary is first released!!

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Next we visited the Parliamentary assembly room.  We asked directions and the woman said to walk around the circle until we got to the red wall and go through the tunnel of lights.  Wow!  Beautiful. On the other side of the tunnel we were in the old section of the building. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The stairwell to the assembly room

 

 

 

 

Edited October 7, 2019 by DragonOfTheSeas

[DragonOfTheSeas]

4 minutes ago, SilkySal said:

Wonderful pics!! DH and I are planning this cruise for the fall of 2021 and hope to snag our cabin when the itinerary is first released!!

I think that is when the best prices and cabins are available.  We just did not decide to do this in time. Good Luck. 😁

[DragonOfTheSeas]

Then we visited the room where the upper house used to sit.  This upper house was disbanded some time ago.  It was similar to the House of Lords in that it was made up of the upper class.   

Then we went back through the tunnel with the lights and passed the theatre.  There is a 7 minute film [English subtitles]  shown each hour. 

 

We still had "liquid sunshine as we exited the building.    . . . but, who cares?  We are going to the ship!!  See you later.🤣

[Beav1279]

Loving all the pictures! Thanks for doing a live review and enjoy your trip!

[NKS50]

Avidly reading your review!  We will sail a similar itinerary next year, 2020, with a slight change-  we are booked the last half of October, from Montreal to Miami, on the Empress!  Hope to keep track of your restaurant/ food recommendations and tour operators...  and I finally get to see the cities of Montreal and Quebec!  Love the pictures, too...

[Tree_skier]

I'm enjoying reading your review so far.  I'm hoping to schedule this cruise for 2021 when the new Itineraries come out.