Charlottetown and Sydney: need ideas

[mrspaper]

On 3/23/2023 at 2:27 AM, jdavid said:

I live in Halifax so commenting. Expect weather to be 18 to 22 that’s 60 to 75 Fah if sunny and nice. Of course you could also have fog or rain. That said you are on an early Canada New England so layers are good. Sydney and Charlottetown will be easy Port walks. Especially Charlottetown with historic district if not planning a trip out to Cavendish or a golf game. In Sydney, not sure if Louisbourg Fortress will be open but that is good for a private tour from a local vendor. Halifax has many great options for private tours as well. Happy travels 

Is the fortress in walking distance to the port? Can tours be booked when we arrive at port?

[jdavid]

4 hours ago, mrspaper said:

Is the fortress in walking distance to the port? Can tours be booked when we arrive at port?

The Fortress is about  a 45 minute drive from the Port. I would not take a chance on  a shoreside excursion 

[mrspaper]

1 hour ago, jdavid said:

The Fortress is about  a 45 minute drive from the Port. I would not take a chance on  a shoreside excursion 

thanks

 

[ladysail2]

On 5/19/2023 at 9:21 AM, genealogyfan said:

In the United States, we have Labor day too and most touristy areas and places with alot of tourists open retail stores and restaurants, etc to attract  tourists and their money on Labor Day. As I said I think it was extremely poor planning on the city of Sydney, as they lost so much potential money lrom the ship passengers and crew that day. Also poor planning on Norwegian too.

That’s your opinion. ‘Down  East’ as the Maritime provinces are called are not wholly money driven. It’s a typical conservative part of the country. In fact, they only just allowed Sunday shopping not that long ago. Their idea of Sunday is for church and family times. Not working on Labour Day is the best way to show appreciation of one’s workers. Not everyone pursues the almighty dollar.  It’s a different culture than what you are used to. I doubt if they mourn the loss of tourist dollars on one day. 

[twotravellersLondon]

6 hours ago, ladysail2 said:

That’s your opinion. ‘Down  East’ as the Maritime provinces are called are not wholly money driven. It’s a typical conservative part of the country. In fact, they only just allowed Sunday shopping not that long ago. Their idea of Sunday is for church and family times. Not working on Labour Day is the best way to show appreciation of one’s workers. Not everyone pursues the almighty dollar.  It’s a different culture than what you are used to. I doubt if they mourn the loss of tourist dollars on one day. 

 

We're visiting area in the not to distant future and really do appreciate the insight that you've offered. It's so easy for a small minority of folks in any  "cruise bubble" to forget that that they are just ephemeral visitors to a place and that it's not a "theme park" for them.

 

We've often stayed in small ports that accept cruise ships... and have often quite wrongly have been assumed to be "locals" by cruise passengers... as they've "cunningly" attempted to get us in the background of their selfies and suchlike. Even in one case making vert condescending personal comments because they assumed that we would't understand their language.

 

Sometimes it's been amusing and we've played them along and had our own fun but we can very well understand the patience that is required in some areas by the people who live and work there all the year.

 

We plan to see the main sights of Charlottetown and Sydney but, as always, we believe that its best to respect places as if they were our home and to respect people as if they were our neighbours. It's always a privilege and quite humbling to be guests in someone else hometown!

 

 

 

[ladysail2]

40 minutes ago, twotravellersLondon said:

 

We're visiting area in the not to distant future and really do appreciate the insight that you've offered. It's so easy for a small minority of folks in any  "cruise bubble" to forget that that they are just ephemeral visitors to a place and that it's not a "theme park" for them.

 

We've often stayed in small ports that accept cruise ships... and have often quite wrongly have been assumed to be "locals" by cruise passengers... as they've "cunningly" attempted to get us in the background of their selfies and suchlike. Even in one case making vert condescending personal comments because they assumed that we would't understand their language.

 

Sometimes it's been amusing and we've played them along and had our own fun but we can very well understand the patience that is required in some areas by the people who live and work there all the year.

 

We plan to see the main sights of Charlottetown and Sydney but, as always, we believe that its best to respect places as if they were our home and to respect people as if they were our neighbours. It's always a privilege and quite humbling to be guests in someone else hometown!

 

 

 

I agree with you wholeheartedly. One has to respect the culture and livelihoods of places we visit. I’ve never visited a place that had absolutely nothing to offer. One can always find something. Sydney and Charlottetown aren’t ‘hubs’ of the tourist industry like Paris or London..but they have their own beauty and personality.  I hope you enjoy your visits!

[LHT28]

In parts of Europe  if it is  a Holiday   they are closed  they do not care if there  are  ships in port

It is  their holiday

[ms sjsky]

On 4/2/2023 at 3:25 PM, ddaz said:

 

Howdy tring,

 

I would recommend a rental car and driving yourself out to the Fortress of Louisbourg and the nearby Louisbourg Lighthouse.  This permits you to be on your own time and you can spend as much or as little in both locations.

 

ddaz

 

On Edit:  We rented our vehicle from Budget Rental at 224 Welton St, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada-(YY5)

 

I'm showing that the Budget Rental is about 1.7 miles from the cruise port, did they have a shuttle to take you there?

[ddaz]

1 hour ago, ms sjsky said:

I'm showing that the Budget Rental is about 1.7 miles from the cruise port, did they have a shuttle to take you there?

Howdy sjsky,

 

Yes, they offered a shuttle from the port to the rental car location.  I am actually in the process of attempting to verify this same shuttle exists for a rental car.  If I confirm it, I will update this post.

[lissie]

On 5/23/2023 at 7:38 AM, ms sjsky said:

I'm showing that the Budget Rental is about 1.7 miles from the cruise port, did they have a shuttle to take you there?

We've rented from the same location using Avis (its the same company) - I've seen confirmed elsewhere on this board that there is no shuttle post Covid. Your options are a 40 min flat walk - a local bus which runs hourly and costs ?$2.50? or a taxi if you can find one. 

[Peteymil]

On 5/19/2023 at 8:21 AM, genealogyfan said:

In the United States, we have Labor day too and most touristy areas and places with alot of tourists open retail stores and restaurants, etc to attract  tourists and their money on Labor Day. As I said I think it was extremely poor planning on the city of Sydney, as they lost so much potential money lrom the ship passengers and crew that day. Also poor planning on Norwegian too.

Remember, this is not the United states, and money may not be the priority on a national holiday.