Can someone please help me with ideas for our Canada cruise

[cruizinisthebest]

Thanking you in advance for any help!

 

We will be taking a Canada cruise this summer for the first time and really have no idea what is available to do for a family of 4 (two teenagers). 

 

We will be visiting Saint John and Halifax. I know for fact that my daughter wants to see the Titanic Cemetery, but I'm not sure what else we would do with the day. We also wanted to go whale watching, but our cruiseline (at least so far) offers no excursions for it. We don't care for ship excursions anyway. We don't mind paying for a decent private tour in at least one port. The other, I presume, we could just walk around and explore. Shop, eat, etc. But I don't know what port would be better for which. We don't mind walking, we love to eat lol, and really looking forward to this cruise. I want to make the most of it. 

 

Any help would be appreciated. 

[marys350]

We rented cars in Saint John, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia for our party of 4 during our Canada/ New England cruise about 7 years ago. There are car rental locations close to the cruise terminals. Not sure how expensive or how available rental cars are currently. Depending on how long you are in port,  it may be worth checking into for DIY flexible touring.

In Saint John we drove out to St. Martins, drove part of the Fundy Trail Parkway, which was very scenic, stopped at the Sea Caves, and ate at a seafood restaurant near the caves.

https://fundytrailparkway.com/

https://destinationstmartins.com/

In Halifax, we drove out to Peggy's Cove, and made several other stops including the Citadel in Halifax. We could have stopped at the cemetery, but decided not to. 

Edited February 23, 2023 by marys350

[BklynBoy8]

We enjoyed the QM2 last September 14 day NE/CANADA.

 

Boston, Quebec, Halifax, Sept, Sagnauy....

[Ashland]

Book a private tour in Halifax with Halifax Historical Titanic Tours and Paul McNeil. One of the most amazing tours we've done and many post about on these boards. If you're going to only book one excursion then this is the ONE for you.

 

St John NB...check out Dave's Taxi Tour Guys another great option we've enjoyed.

 

 

[shipgeeks]

Apart from the cemetery, both cities are great for walking on your own. Both also have a HOHO bus which can be a good introduction to the area, and an opportunity to get off at places that interest you.

[mets123]

For just walking around, recommend Halifax. As soon as you get off the ship, you're on the boardwalk. It's loaded with shops and plenty of places to eat.

[BklynBoy8]

9 hours ago, mets123 said:

For just walking around, recommend Halifax. As soon as you get off the ship, you're on the boardwalk. It's loaded with shops and plenty of places to eat.

 

Ditto.........

 

We've exhausted most of the excursions and now just stroll...

Edited March 5, 2023 by BklynBoy8

[mets123]

4 hours ago, BklynBoy8 said:

 

Ditto.........

 

We've exhausted most of the excursions and now just stroll...

Do you try the Alexander Keith brewery tour? It was reasonably priced (3 years ago) and no reservations were needed.

[BklynBoy8]

5 minutes ago, mets123 said:

Do you try the Alexander Keith brewery tour? It was reasonably priced (3 years ago) and no reservations were needed.

 

Didn't know about it. Did mostly tourist sights very local.

[mets123]

1 hour ago, BklynBoy8 said:

 

Didn't know about it. Did mostly tourist sights very local.

It's about a half mile down the boardwalk, then up less than a block up.

[1kaper]

What are you interested in? Nature/scenery? History? Food/wine/breweries? Your Nova Scotia stops have all. It's hard to narrow down recommendations without knowing what you would be interested in.