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Jim_Iain - First Non-Celebrity Cruise in 22 year - Ponant vs Celebrity Comparison

Jim_Iain

By Jim_Iain,
in Celebrity Cruises

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dock

dock

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Welcome to Toronto. 
Hope you have a wonderful time. 
 

Looking forward to seeing the city through your eyes. 
 

If you’re in the Distillery District and enjoy Mexican Food , El Catrin - casual but good food. 
 

Bloor St : Amal- great Lebanese , nice vibe. 
Eataly - some nice venues as well. 
Hazelton Hotel - lovely outdoor dining . Good food and great people watching.
Sassafraz - food ok imo, but also great for people watching. 
 

We have numerous great restaurants but these are just a few in the tourist areas. 
 



 

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Ex-Airbalancer

Ex-Airbalancer

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3 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

We took it from the Canadian side ...have they stopped that?  I know if you went under the falls you had to go from the US side.

2014, A bit of info 

https://www.toniagara.com/blog/is-there-a-maid-of-the-mist-on-the-canadian-side/#:~:text=Since 2014%2C the Maid of,the US and Canadian sides.

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Ex-Airbalancer

Ex-Airbalancer

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12 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

We are in Toronto.   Disembarkation is by a 3 color tag system.  
 

1.  Cars arranged by Ponant

2.  Tours and Bus Service

3.  Those using own transport

 

We will be last -  at 8am first group called.  We are due to depart at 9am

 

As we will not be able to check in until noon at our AirBnB I found a luggage storage area via an APP called Bounce.    The have luggage storage area  all over.  Many like the one we have is a Dry Cleaners.   Cost 8 Canadian per bag. 

What area of Toronto is your Airbnb located ? 

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Oceangoer2

Oceangoer2

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3 minutes ago, Ex-Airbalancer said:

2014, A bit of info 

https://www.toniagara.com/blog/is-there-a-maid-of-the-mist-on-the-canadian-side/#:~:text=Since 2014%2C the Maid of,the US and Canadian sides.

I see...just a new operator, not that you can't ride from the Canadian side...semantics...LOL.  I'm from 'the area', visited often and didn't know the company had changed. 

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Oceangoer2

Oceangoer2

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9 hours ago, miched said:

That was in 1969.   We were there on our honeymoon.  Corny but it was all we could afford at the time and it was only for 3 days.  We drove from Detroit.   We were able to walk at the bottom where the falls would have been.   Picked up a rock as a souvenir that has long been lost like many other useless pieces of mementos.   
 

They “shut” the  American Falls down with coffer damn built from dirt to study the erosion.   I don’t know if it really helped or did anything.  My understanding is that the Horseshoe Falls recedes about 3 ft per year.  Eventually there will be no falls, just rapids.  Way beyond any of our lives.   Like the the glaciers that formed the Smoky Mountains.  They receded way before I was born.   Nature keep changing the landscape.  

 

The Maid of the Mist goes close to the Horseshoe Falls.   It never goes under it as someone else mentioned.   If it did it would sink from the force of the water.  It would be worse than any tidal wave.  
 

We went on a tour that went behind the Horseshoe Falls at the bottom of it.   It was a walking tour on a boardwalk.   Don’t know if that is still available as the falls has receded a lot since then.  
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

Our honeymoon location as well....and...we stayed at the Honeymoon Hotel......not the most lovely spot...LOL, but DH somehow found it (no internet then) all by his 19 year old self and was proud of it.  We tried to find it for a special anniversary but no luck, torn down!

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go.without.you "Live from...." Rare

go.without.you

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26 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

Our honeymoon location as well....and...we stayed at the Honeymoon Hotel......not the most lovely spot...LOL, but DH somehow found it (no internet then) all by his 19 year old self and was proud of it.  We tried to find it for a special anniversary but no luck, torn down!

In 1987 our marching band took a trip to Niagara Falls and we stayed in the Honeymoon Hotel! 4 to a room so it wasn't very romantic. We rented the entire hotel and since everyone woke up at same time you had to get up an hour earlier if you wanted a hot shower. Also there was "porn" on the TV - mostly topless women but 15 year old boys can't be choosy. And remember this was way before the internet and access to anything 24/7.

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hcat "Live from...." Rare

hcat

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Good luck on the next phase of your amazing adventure.Hoping for some nice  posts..never been there!

 

  Is the  Cunard  crossing up next?

 

We fly  south to Fl tom..nothing exciting...Have to check on our place. and deal with a  pesty Armadillo

.May be a rainy week there..finally!

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mjfship

mjfship

Posted
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I want to express my gratitude to Jim and Iain for providing such a valuable comparison between X and Ponant. Just like you, we have been loyal to X for the past two decades, but recently decided to explore other possibilities. We have always respected your opinions on reviews and mostly shared the same observations. However, after carefully examining the detailed overview and photos of your current journey, we have made the decision to exclude Ponant from our future research.  

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hcat "Live from...." Rare

hcat

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6 minutes ago, mjfship said:

I want to express my gratitude to Jim and Iain for providing such a valuable comparison between X and Ponant. Just like you, we have been loyal to X for the past two decades, but recently decided to explore other possibilities. We have always respected your opinions on reviews and mostly shared the same observations. However, after carefully examining the detailed overview and photos of your current journey, we have made the decision to exclude Ponant from our future research.  

we feel the same but loved the review

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MamaFej

MamaFej

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5 hours ago, go.without.you said:

In 1987 our marching band took a trip to Niagara Falls and we stayed in the Honeymoon Hotel! 4 to a room so it wasn't very romantic. We rented the entire hotel and since everyone woke up at same time you had to get up an hour earlier if you wanted a hot shower. Also there was "porn" on the TV - mostly topless women but 15 year old boys can't be choosy. And remember this was way before the internet and access to anything 24/7.

This made me smile!

 

I was a marching band geek in the 1980s (no trips) and chaperoned 9 marching and jazz band trips in the 2010s. We definitely made sure the hotel locked out porn access to the rooms. Of course, nearly all of the kids had smartphones, so...

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Oceangoer2

Oceangoer2

Posted
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6 hours ago, go.without.you said:

In 1987 our marching band took a trip to Niagara Falls and we stayed in the Honeymoon Hotel! 4 to a room so it wasn't very romantic. We rented the entire hotel and since everyone woke up at same time you had to get up an hour earlier if you wanted a hot shower. Also there was "porn" on the TV - mostly topless women but 15 year old boys can't be choosy. And remember this was way before the internet and access to anything 24/7.

Wow!  and you weren't even on your honeymoon....do we share an opinion on the 'state' of the rooms?  We crossed the border the next day and finished our honeymoon at the Sheraton which was nicer!

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Oceangoer2

Oceangoer2

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26 minutes ago, Oceangoer2 said:

Wow!  and you weren't even on your honeymoon....do we share an opinion on the 'state' of the rooms?  We crossed the border the next day and finished our honeymoon at the Sheraton which was nicer! And we felt we were having an international vacation...LOL...so great to be young and naive!

 

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Jim_Iain "Live from...." Rare

Jim_Iain

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6 hours ago, hcat said:

Good luck on the next phase of your amazing adventure.Hoping for some nice  posts..never been there!

 

  Is the  Cunard  crossing up next?

 

We fly  south to Fl tom..nothing exciting...Have to check on our place. and deal with a  pesty Armadillo

.May be a rainy week there..finally!

No Cunard won't be until about a year from now.  I booked it to replace the November 2024 cancelled Lisbon to Buenos Aires.      We switched the 1st half of a b2b that wasn't cancelled to a TransAtlantic to FLL    I decided we would try an eastbound TA from New York to Southampton.   

 

We decided to stay at the same AirBnB in Lymington as last years Covid Retreat.   We loved the Town.     It will also allow us to visit Iain's Family in Scotland as we arrive in UK 2 weeks before our cruise.

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Jim_Iain "Live from...." Rare

Jim_Iain

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3 hours ago, mjfship said:

I want to express my gratitude to Jim and Iain for providing such a valuable comparison between X and Ponant. Just like you, we have been loyal to X for the past two decades, but recently decided to explore other possibilities. We have always respected your opinions on reviews and mostly shared the same observations. However, after carefully examining the detailed overview and photos of your current journey, we have made the decision to exclude Ponant from our future research.  

 

It's definitely different.   By the end of the cruise we agreed we might sail them again but would have to be itinerary based and something that can be put together as a B2B of at least 14-21 days.   

 

We have discussed with many we have met on Ponant and Silverseas really comes highly recommended.

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