New England 9 night

[cawagner]

Has anyone done this cruise? There are stops in Boston Mass., Portland Maine, Saint John New Brunswick, Halifax Nova Scotia and Bar Harbor Maine.  We were wondering if the ship docks where you can just walk around on your own to see the sights/shop ect without taking excursions? Any suggestions if any? We cruise in August. Thanks!

[grneyes]

Great cruise, You can walk everywhere

No need to book excursions' unless you want to see places that interest you  that are far away.

.But for the most part you can get off the ship and be in town.

Check out the excursion's 

[cruzpoor]

Hi

You picked a great cruise. We have done that itinerary several times.

In Boston, I suggest a taxi to The USS Constitution. There you can tour the Constitution and the historical artifacts.

From there, walk up to Bunker Hill. It's a easy walk. See the sights there and then walk the Freedom Trail back to Quincy Market. Just follow the red bricks. From Quincy, a quick cab ride back to the ship. 

You'll hear about the Hop on Hop Off. It's less expensive and easier to use a taxi. 

Bar Harbor - Definitely book the Acadia National Park tour yourself. Here's the link

https://www.acadiatours.com/

Simply get of the tender and walk straight up the hill. You'll see their buses. Great tour. Take the morning one and then spend the rest of the day getting a bite to eat and walking the shops. Everything is very close to the tender pier.

Portland - Great shops and artisan type stores. They renovated a warehouse district years ago. Easy to walk to.

Halifax - Peggy's Cove tour is nice. Or you can walk the boardwalk. The ship docks at the boardwalk. Many shops and restaurants there. 

Feel free to ask me any questions.

Ron

[lovelife]

Have done this sailing - one of our favorites - several times and doing it again in the fall.  All are walkable except Boston where you'll need to take transportation into town.

[shippmates]

This is a great cruise.  We have done it several times and just did most of the ports on our own.  Boston is the only port that you need to get transportation into town as the port is out of town.

[1025cruise]

You might want to ask on the Canada/New England ports of call board.

[mets123]

In Boston, you can take a shuttle or Uber to Quincy Market. They run every 15 minutes. The only thing close to the port is Harpoon Brewery, just two blocks from the port. Like others have said, the other ports are very doable.

[kccrzr]

In Boston, if you are reasonably fit and so inclined, you can walk to and/or from town. We took a taxi first thing In the morning to the USS Constitution Museum so we could be there when it opened. After seeing the museum and the USS Constitution we took a ferry to Long Wharf. 

 

We then walked the North End seeing  Copps Hill, the Old North Church and Paul Revere’s House before having a very nice Italian lunch with wine at Carmelina’s.

 

 After our lunch break we walked to Faneuil Hall and then back to the ship seeing some interesting architecture and artwork along the way; we even had time for a drink or two at Harpoon Brewery. It was a beautiful day and a pleasant walk of about 3 miles. 

 

 

[little britain]

8 hours ago, shippmates said:

This is a great cruise.  We have done it several times and just did most of the ports on our own.  Boston is the only port that you need to get transportation into town as the port is out of town.

We easily walked from the port into Boston and back again. Very pleasant stroll along the waterfront. 

Edited February 6, 2020 by little britain

[Another_Critic]

13 hours ago, lovelife said:

Have done this sailing - one of our favorites - several times and doing it again in the fall.  All are walkable except Boston where you'll need to take transportation into town.

 

13 hours ago, shippmates said:

This is a great cruise.  We have done it several times and just did most of the ports on our own.  Boston is the only port that you need to get transportation into town as the port is out of town.

 

The walk is long, but not difficult.  We walked from the port to Bunker Hill (with some side trips), climbed the 294 steps to the top of the monument, toured the USS Constitution, and back to port.  And this is me with bad knees an my brother with a hip replacement.

[Crazy planning mom]

In Bar Harbor, definitely go to Acadia National Park.   This is a cant miss attraction.   We took Olli's trolley 2.5 hour tour.

You will still have time afterward to walk the town which is cute but Acadia is truly memorable.

[Crazy planning mom]

Alanacadia.jfif

Edited February 6, 2020 by Crazy planning mom

[mjldvlks]

All great suggestions.  You might also consider a walking food tour in Portland. Did that once and greatly enjoyed it. In Halifax there are several Titanic sites the museum is a short walk from the ship.  Theres also a flower class corvette - the Sackville in the harbor. Interesting if you've read "The Cruel Sea."

[LoveCruisin']

Very excited - we are going on a 7 day May 18th on Empress of the Seas.  First non-tropical cruise.  My sis-in-law and hubby are going also, but he can't walk very far.  Any suggestions of what not to miss?  In search of some great Lobster Rolls and it would be perfect if there were things at each port we could see.  What are some things not to miss if we leave him back on the ship?  Pics look amazing!

[Paulette3028]

On 2/5/2020 at 6:28 PM, cawagner said:

Has anyone done this cruise? There are stops in Boston Mass., Portland Maine, Saint John New Brunswick, Halifax Nova Scotia and Bar Harbor Maine.  We were wondering if the ship docks where you can just walk around on your own to see the sights/shop ect without taking excursions? Any suggestions if any? We cruise in August. Thanks!

We loved this cruise.  Our first stop in Boston we took a cab to Fenway Park, so we could be on the first tour of the day.  Whether you are a baseball fan or not, Fenway Park is a must see...so great.  Then we hopped on the T to downtown and museums to end at the Aquarium....then a Lyft back to the ship.  The other ports were fabulous also.  Lots to see and enjoy.