Are they any small local 2 - 4 days cruises leaving from Halifax or Vancouver or Quebec City?

[gam888]

We have booked a Royal Caribbean cruise in July. We are very discouraged by the constantly changing ambiguous policies regarding the mix-vaccines. It got to the point that we just want to cancel it and wait things out. We love cruising, so instead of going on a major cruise line, we are thinking of exploring either the the East coast or the West Coast of Canada. At least we are welcome and respected as fully vaccinated people. In Ontario, we have some very small local cruises that go for 3 or 4 days  on the St Lawrence River visiting a few very small local ports. In fact, I haven't checked to see if they are still running this season. Having said that, I wonder if there are such local cruises sailing out from Halifax, or Vancouver, or Quebec city, that lasts for a few days, and make a few small stops on the way? A totally drastic change from the ocean cruises that we love, but we are just thinking of what other alternatives are out there that we can explore in our own country. Any ideas are welcome. Thank you in advance.

[Fouremco]

Here's one option, a 6-night cruise between Quebec City and Kingston:

 https://www.stlawrencecruiselines.com/cruises/canadian-connection-west/

 

The company offers a variety of other itineraries, and is operating in 2021.

 

There are few East Coast cruises, and those I'm familiar with aren't offering 2021 cruises. I think that the Maritime Bubble opened too late to allow planning anything for this year.

 

We used to live in Halifax and, until the pandemic, would drive down every couple of years for a land vacation. It's not a cruise, but you could easily hit all the usual Maritime ports of call.

[netpj]

We certainly agree about the vaccine policies.  Certainly hope they become standardized and clear.  We received Covishield (first dose) and Astrazeneca (same vaccine, different manufacturer) second dose.  We're not even clear if Astrazeneca will be accepted.  We're due to sail in January.  It's interesting stlawrencecruiseline can operate as there is still a Federal Level 4 Avoid all cruise ship travel Advisory.  I guess they are small enough so they don't come under the "ban".

[K_e_short]

53 minutes ago, netpj said:

We certainly agree about the vaccine policies.  Certainly hope they become standardized and clear.  We received Covishield (first dose) and Astrazeneca (same vaccine, different manufacturer) second dose.  We're not even clear if Astrazeneca will be accepted.  We're due to sail in January.  It's interesting stlawrencecruiseline can operate as there is still a Federal Level 4 Avoid all cruise ship travel Advisory.  I guess they are small enough so they don't come under the "ban".

 

The ban was for cruise ships over 100 people. 

[Fouremco]

1 hour ago, netpj said:

We certainly agree about the vaccine policies.  Certainly hope they become standardized and clear.  We received Covishield (first dose) and Astrazeneca (same vaccine, different manufacturer) second dose.  We're not even clear if Astrazeneca will be accepted.  We're due to sail in January.  It's interesting stlawrencecruiseline can operate as there is still a Federal Level 4 Avoid all cruise ship travel Advisory.  I guess they are small enough so they don't come under the "ban".

 

14 minutes ago, K_e_short said:

 

The ban was for cruise ships over 100 people. 

The cruise travel advisory has nothing to do with ship size. Instead, it advises not to travel on any cruise outside Canada:

 

Avoid all travel on cruise ships outside Canada

Canada is advising Canadian citizens and permanent residents to avoid all travel on cruise ships outside Canada until further notice.

 

As St, Lawrence Cruise Lines operates within Canada, there is no problem.

 

The 100 passenger issue was related to the Transport Canada 2020 ban on cruise ships entering Canadian ports if the capacity was greater than 100. This year, of course, it was a total ban.

[Alberta Quilter]

I was going to suggest Montreal to the Magdalene islands via CTMA but in checking their website I see that they have cancelled their 2021 cruise season due to the pandemic.  Maybe keep it in mind for next year if you still want to cruise within Canada.  

 

[Fouremco]

2 hours ago, Alberta Quilter said:

I was going to suggest Montreal to the Magdalene islands via CTMA but in checking their website I see that they have cancelled their 2021 cruise season due to the pandemic.  Maybe keep it in mind for next year if you still want to cruise within Canada.  

 

I was aware of their ferry service from PEI to les Îles de la Madeleine, but not the cruise from Montréal. Good to know, so thanks for the post! 👍

[Alberta Quilter]

1 hour ago, Fouremco said:

I was aware of their ferry service from PEI to les Îles de la Madeleine, but not the cruise from Montréal. Good to know, so thanks for the post! 👍

You're welcome.  Here is the website if you or anyone else is interested:  https://www.croisieresctma.ca/en/select-your-cruise/itinerary-and-stopovers  Technically it is an 8 day/7 night cruise because the ship docks in the islands for three days so pax can tour and use the ship as their home base.  I looked into it a few years ago after spending a day on les Iles with HAL a few years ago but we had other places to go.