Canadian Cruisetour

[RRFPresident]

Can someone who has done the land/cruise Canada combo share what it was like on the land days? We've done the Connoisseur Alaska land/cruise combo where we had a tour in each city as a group with the option to add more for ourselves to do but the itinerary for this one sounds like you spend most of the time seeing the cities while you travel by bus to the next town instead of tours. Thanks!

[georgiacat]

Are you talking about the Maple Leaf tour prior to the Canada/New England cruise out of Quebec City?

 

If so, we did it a couple of years ago and loved it.  We were busy with tours during the day and yes, bus rides between cities.  They were not extremely long.  Breakfast was taken care of at the hotels.  I believe a couple of dinners were included.  There was some time for yourself, but not a lot.  We went to bed early at night because of the early rising and departures.

 

Let me know if you wish more details (if this is the tour you were thinking about).

[cheeseclan]

Or are you talking about the Canadian Rockies rail tour prior to cruising out of Vancouver?

[RRFPresident]

15 hours ago, georgiacat said:

Are you talking about the Maple Leaf tour prior to the Canada/New England cruise out of Quebec City?

 

If so, we did it a couple of years ago and loved it.  We were busy with tours during the day and yes, bus rides between cities.  They were not extremely long.  Breakfast was taken care of at the hotels.  I believe a couple of dinners were included.  There was some time for yourself, but not a lot.  We went to bed early at night because of the early rising and departures.

 

Let me know if you wish more details (if this is the tour you were thinking about).

 

10 hours ago, cheeseclan said:

Or are you talking about the Canadian Rockies rail tour prior to cruising out of Vancouver?

Sorry, should have been more specific. The itinerary starts in Toronto with 5 days on land ending in Quebec City where we board the Caribbean Princess for a 13 day sailing down to Fort Lauderdale.

[cheeseclan]

Sorry I have no idea about that tour. 

Ours was pre AK and we had a great time. I would hope yours would be just as fun.

 

Enjoy!!

[georgiacat]

That is the tour that we were on.  Do you have specific questions, or would you like a rundown of our days?  (I take notes.)

[RRFPresident]

7 minutes ago, georgiacat said:

That is the tour that we were on.  Do you have specific questions, or would you like a rundown of our days?  (I take notes.)

A rundown would be so helpful! I'm having a hard time finding reviews online about the land portion. For the time at Niagara Falls, did you feel like there was enough time there? Are these few tours they list ones that last all day or is there a lot of down time at the hotels? Thanks!

[georgiacat]

Sorry, if this is too long.  We had never been to any of these places before.

I felt that the time at Niagara Falls was enough.  We enjoyed the boat ride and even had enough time to shop.

Eating is important to us as my husband is a diabetic and has to be fed on regular intervals (besides we love to eat!).  This was in 2016.

 

Tuesday, Sept. 27 Atlanta to Toronto, Canada

11:05 am Air Canada flight to Toronto; good flight

Princess representative met us outside of luggage pick up.

Limo ride to hotel Fairmont Royal York, arrived 2:15 pm

Checked in.  Met James Saunders (our guide for land tour), very nice.

Walked around the corner to Tim Horton’s for lunch sandwich (panini, not impressed)

Walked down the street to find Blue Jay souvenirs at Rogers Center.

Expensive food restaurants; ate supper in basement of hotel at Piper (sports bar).  The hamburger was very good, about $20 each.

Exhausted; went to bed about 9:30 pm.

 

Weather:  about 70 degrees, windy, sunny

 

Wednesday, Sept. 28 Toronto

Woke at 5 am; breakfast buffet in hotel at 6 am, good.

Tour bus to Niagara Falls, Canadian side (2 hr and 15 min ride)

Very nice boat ride with Hornblower Niagara by the Falls.

45 min ride to Niagara on the Lake; nice town.  1 ½ hr to enjoy town

Ate lunch at Epicurean, quiche & salad, roast beef sandwich

Bought ice cream & fudge

2 hour ride back to Toronto

Supper at Casey’s (sports bar) across street; ribs were burnt

Connected with wifi to send email to kids at Casey’s.

 

Weather:  warm, low 70’s, mostly sunny

 

Thursday, Sept. 29 Toronto to Ottawa

Woke 5 am; suitcases out in hall at 5:30 am

Buffet breakfast at hotel

7:30 am bus to Ottawa; stopped every 2 hours or so

 

Boat cruise ride of Thousand Islands from Gananoque to Ivy Lea.

Lunch on boat: lasagna, salad, roll, carrot cake

Similar to Lake Lure, NC; no mountains

No commentary on boat ride (disappointed)

3:30 pm arrive hotel Fairmont Chateau Laurier in Ottowa

Walked down to Dunn’s Deli for supper:  giant Rueben & onion rings & club sandwich

 

Friday, Sept. 30 Ottawa to Montebello

6 am wake up

7 am buffet breakfast at hotel

8:50 am board bus

1 ½ hour City Tour with Margo

Visited gardens of the Queen’s representative at Rideau Hall.

Went to Museum of Civilization; nice exhibits, especially of First Nations (We loved the museum, but others were given the choice to go shopping)

Lunch in cafeteria: 2 hamburgers, 2 diet Cokes & cookies $31

2 pm back on bus for 1 ¼ hours ride to Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello; very nice resort on the Ottawa River.

Walked around.

Nice dinner (ladies should dress up a little).

 

Saturday, Oct. 1 Montebello to Montreal

7 am woke up; breakfast at hotel

10 am bus left Montebello for Montreal.

Arrived hotel in Montreal, disembarked for lunch at McDonald’s.

1 pm back on bus for City Tour.

3:30 pm back at Marriott hotel (the cheese grater) for check in to rooms.  Nice rooms, lovely windows

5 pm back on bus for supper.

Went to Old Montreal restaurant for supper (steak), very good.

Back to hotel at 8:30 pm.

 

Weather:  sunny, warm, about 70 degrees, nice

 

Sunday, Oct. 2 Montreal to Quebec City (ship)

Woke 5:30 am

8 am left hotel

2 stops before Quebec City; arrived about noon.

On ship 1 pm; lunch at Horizon Court.

Walked around Quebec City; took funicular up and down.

Enjoyed boardwalk in front of hotel Chateau Frontenac; ate ice cream

Had to go through inspection again instead of going straight to ship.

7 pm folkloric show, good

Did laundry $3 each wash & dry

 

Weather good, sunny, little wind

 

Enjoy your trip.  We would definitely go again.

[RRFPresident]

Thank you georgiacat, this information was very helpful!

[Storm Monkey]

There is a lot more to do at Niagara Falls than just the hornblower boat ride depending on your interests. This part of Canada is very easy to do on your own with a rental car and booking hotels yourself if you are able to/comfortable driving. You could fly to Toronto and tour the city and Niagara Region on your own in a car and then book ViaRail from Toronto’s Union Station to Quebec City. You would see great scenery. And if you didn’t want to miss the museums and such in Ottawa you could do a stopover there off the train.
there are many places where I would do a guided bus land tour - but I don’t think this is one of them unless you are really not one to drive in unfamiliar places. 

[RRFPresident]

13 hours ago, Storm Monkey said:

There is a lot more to do at Niagara Falls than just the hornblower boat ride depending on your interests. This part of Canada is very easy to do on your own with a rental car and booking hotels yourself if you are able to/comfortable driving. You could fly to Toronto and tour the city and Niagara Region on your own in a car and then book ViaRail from Toronto’s Union Station to Quebec City. You would see great scenery. And if you didn’t want to miss the museums and such in Ottawa you could do a stopover there off the train.
there are many places where I would do a guided bus land tour - but I don’t think this is one of them unless you are really not one to drive in unfamiliar places. 

Thanks for the advice! We're definitely leaning toward going into Toronto early and touring some on our own as well.

[BarbinMich]

We live in the Detroit area and have driven out that way numerous times starting with our honeymoon 50+ yrs ago,  but still did a Can/NE cruise a few years ago on Celebrity Summit.  More relaxing to let them "do the driving" and provide the room and meals <g>.  Sometimes our TAs have also stopped at a few of the ports on such a cruise.  Have really enjoyed all our visits!