Best cruise to NE/Canada

[Beachiekeen]

I have been given the task of researching a 2025 cruise through New England and Canada for our best friend's wife's retirement cruise (which my husband and I would join them on).  I am a big planner and love cruising so it's a challenge I am up for!  I haven't cruised since 2019 (Covid, then my dad's health) so I am a little behind on information and would love to hear from those that have taken a similar cruise already.  The criteria so far is that it must include going up into Canada.

 

My favorite one so far I think is an 11 night cruise round trip from Boston on the Celebrity Silhouette--the itinerary looks good and I love that there is an overnight in Quebec.  Celebrity is also a line that we have not been on but would love to try (none of us have perks with any line so we are open to all of them).  Ports are Rockland, Halifax, Sydney, Quebec and Charlottetown (many of these I am very unfamiliar with). Any thoughts on this itinerary or ship?  I don't know anything about the ship but BFF's wife did like the ease of flying in/out of Boston rather than Canada.

 

I also looked at Princess which has 3 10-night cruises: Quebec to Boston, Boston to Quebec and round trip from NY. Would love to hear pros/cons on these if any.  I also looked at a 7-night Boston to Quebec on Norwegian Gem which includes Bar Harbor--a port I know is going away next year so I am wondering if that would end up being changed for some other port.  Also, I wondered if fall color is better starting in Quebec and ending in Boston if we are talking about mid or late September or early October, which are the choices.

 

If anyone has a favorite ship or itinerary for NE/Canada, I'd love to hear about it!

 

[mets123]

Where do you want to sail from?. Many lines sail from NY/NJ area.

[Beachiekeen]

We aren't picky about where we sail out of.  Boston/NY seem like obvious choices--we had to cancel a trip to NY last year so we could have some days before or after the cruise in NY which would be fun.  But I also feel like the one-way cruises offer more in terms of ports. Also wondering what ports offer the easiest access to see fall color.

Edited August 5 by Beachiekeen

[mets123]

Bar Harbor is the best in my experience, but most ships are not going there any more.

[paddingtonbear]

We booked a Princess Cruise from Quebec City to Boston in Sept 2025 for fall colours.  

I wouldn't wait too long before you make a decision because most of the cabins we were interested in have been sold already.  

 

I chose this cruise because of the itinerary.  I researched the ports and didn't want to go to go to NY or Rockland but we really wanted to go to Boston, Halifax (for Peggy's cove) Charlotte and Saguenay fjord.  But that was just my feeling.  I think you'd have to research them a bit and see what interests you.  

 

Edited August 6 by paddingtonbear

[QueenP]

Look up Azamara. 11 ports in 12 days for our Oct 25 cruise, NY to Montreal, small ships so Bar Harbour still on itinerary.....hopefully will stay there!

[lx200gps]

16 hours ago, Beachiekeen said:

 

I also looked at Princess which has 3 10-night cruises: Quebec to Boston, Boston to Quebec and round trip from NY. Would love to hear pros/cons on these if any.  I also looked at a 7-night Boston to Quebec on Norwegian Gem which includes Bar Harbor--a port I know is going away next year so I am wondering if that would end up being changed for some other port.  Also, I wondered if fall color is better starting in Quebec and ending in Boston if we are talking about mid or late September or early October, which are the choices.

 

If anyone has a favorite ship or itinerary for NE/Canada, I'd love to hear about it!

 

FWIW, we just did a 7 night round trip out of Boston on the Emerald Princess, though I am not sure how long they will continue to offer that particular itinerary, as it is a very new one for them.  Stops were Halifax, Sydney, Charlottetown and Portland. Excellent trip.

[Beachiekeen]

3 hours ago, QueenP said:

Look up Azamara. 11 ports in 12 days for our Oct 25 cruise, NY to Montreal, small ships so Bar Harbour still on itinerary.....hopefully will stay there!

Thank you, will look into this! I’ve been looking at smaller ships/lines but had not thought of this one.

Edited August 6 by Beachiekeen

[Beachiekeen]

1 hour ago, lx200gps said:

FWIW, we just did a 7 night round trip out of Boston on the Emerald Princess, though I am not sure how long they will continue to offer that particular itinerary, as it is a very new one for them.  Stops were Halifax, Sydney, Charlottetown and Portland. Excellent trip.

Thank you, we really enjoyed Princess to Alaska and Boston seems like a good departure city so will consider this. 

[Beachiekeen]

6 hours ago, paddingtonbear said:

We booked a Princess Cruise from Quebec City to Boston in Sept 2025 for fall colours.  

I wouldn't wait too long before you make a decision because most of the cabins we were interested in have been sold already.  

 

I chose this cruise because of the itinerary.  I researched the ports and didn't want to go to go to NY or Rockland but we really wanted to go to Boston, Halifax (for Peggy's cove) Charlotte and Saguenay fjord.  But that was just my feeling.  I think you'd have to research them a bit and see what interests you.  

 

The ports are definitely a consideration, probably the biggest one for my friend who is not a big cruiser so the ports are what she is most interested in. I’ve just begun the research. Scotland is her favorite destination and I know there is one port that resembles Scotland (I don’t have my notes in front of me) and I’ve read that Saguenay is beautiful too. The ports and the length of time in each one is definitely something I’m looking at. This sounds like a great itinerary and yes, I know we probably can’t wait too much longer! 
 

Just curious, was there a reason you chose Quebec to Boston rather than the reverse? This is also a question I have, the pros and cons of each. 

[CCJack]

20 hours ago, Beachiekeen said:

But I also feel like the one-way cruises offer more in terms of ports

Correct,  For cruises in this part of North America, I like 1-way.   It seems like R/T you are going to have sea days.   Only 5 ports on an 11 day cruise isn't the best.   

 

I would choose QC your starting or ending point and then you can stay in QC 1 or 2 nights.   It is a lovely city to visit and stay.     Same on the backend in NYC or Boston.  Maybe a shorter 1 way cruise then use the extra days for hotel stays.

 

Your airfare may be a little more the a one way, but I would price it out as compared to a longer cruise.

We loved our cruise in Canada / N.E.

 

Enjoy.

 

[Beachiekeen]

46 minutes ago, CCJack said:

Correct,  For cruises in this part of North America, I like 1-way.   It seems like R/T you are going to have sea days.   Only 5 ports on an 11 day cruise isn't the best.   

 

I would choose QC your starting or ending point and then you can stay in QC 1 or 2 nights.   It is a lovely city to visit and stay.     Same on the backend in NYC or Boston.  Maybe a shorter 1 way cruise then use the extra days for hotel stays.

 

Your airfare may be a little more the a one way, but I would price it out as compared to a longer cruise.

We loved our cruise in Canada / N.E.

 

Enjoy.

 

Yeah this is how I felt about our cruise to Alaska. I thought the one-way offered so much more. Good point about the number of ports (although the Celebrity cruise does offer the Quebec overnight. But then again, we could do Quebec on our own at the end too). 
 

Does anyone know if cruising the St. Lawrence River is like a scenic cruising day or is that just essentially a sea day? 

[CCJack]

6 minutes ago, Beachiekeen said:

Does anyone know if cruising the St. Lawrence River is like a scenic cruising day or is that just essentially a sea day?

Sequenay Fjord is beautiful to sail down, but you will only go in the Fjord if Sequenay is one of your ports.  

 

The rest of the St. Lawrence River is very large, you won't see land most of the time, so it is like a sea day.  

[Beachiekeen]

2 hours ago, CCJack said:

Sequenay Fjord is beautiful to sail down, but you will only go in the Fjord if Sequenay is one of your ports.  

 

The rest of the St. Lawrence River is very large, you won't see land most of the time, so it is like a sea day.  

Right I knew it had to be a port, but wasn’t sure if we actually sailed through the fjord on the ship or if that required a separate excursion. Thank you! 

[paddingtonbear]

12 hours ago, Beachiekeen said:

The ports are definitely a consideration, probably the biggest one for my friend who is not a big cruiser so the ports are what she is most interested in. I’ve just begun the research. Scotland is her favorite destination and I know there is one port that resembles Scotland (I don’t have my notes in front of me) and I’ve read that Saguenay is beautiful too. The ports and the length of time in each one is definitely something I’m looking at. This sounds like a great itinerary and yes, I know we probably can’t wait too much longer! 
 

Just curious, was there a reason you chose Quebec to Boston rather than the reverse? This is also a question I have, the pros and cons of each. 

We chose Quebec to Boston because I thought we'd be chasing the Fall colours down from the coolest to the warmer areas. We chose the last cruise in September.  Absolutely no idea if this will work out, it is so unpredictable. 

 

PS: I'd love to know which port resembles Scotland!  Iknow there is a lot of Scottish heritage everywhere.

 

Edited August 7 by paddingtonbear

[Beachiekeen]

15 minutes ago, paddingtonbear said:

PS: I'd love to know which port resembles Scotland!  Iknow there is a lot of Scottish heritage everywhere.

 

It’s Halifax! According to my notes anyway! 😀 And maybe resembles isn’t the right word, more that it’s Scottish-influenced.
 

Yeah, I think you are right about the colors. It’s tempting though to end in Canada and explore there afterwards. All great choices! 

Edited August 7 by Beachiekeen

[paddingtonbear]

2 hours ago, Beachiekeen said:

 

Yeah, I think you are right about the colors. It’s tempting though to end in Canada and explore there afterwards. All great choices! 

We are going to spend some time in the US and Canada before the cruise. 

[chengkp75]

16 hours ago, Beachiekeen said:

It’s Halifax! According to my notes anyway! 😀 And maybe resembles isn’t the right word, more that it’s Scottish-influenced.
 

Might be why they named the area "Nova Scotia"?  😉

[Beachiekeen]

9 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Might be why they named the area "Nova Scotia"?  😉

Hee! I guess so, duh! 😀

[chengkp75]

But seriously, don't miss Portland.

[Beachiekeen]

17 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

But seriously, don't miss Portland.

Hubby and his family did a driving NE trip last year (I couldn’t go because of my dad) and they spent a night in Portland on the way to Bar Harbor and were not impressed. I was surprised too because everyone seems to love it. But they did love Fort Williams and hubby took a wonderful picture of the lighthouse for me. And they had a lobster roll at Bite Into Maine which they said was the best one of the trip. 

[6986]

On 8/5/2024 at 4:06 PM, Beachiekeen said:

We aren't picky about where we sail out of.  Boston/NY seem like obvious choices--we had to cancel a trip to NY last year so we could have some days before or after the cruise in NY which would be fun.  But I also feel like the one-way cruises offer more in terms of ports. Also wondering what ports offer the easiest access to see fall color.

We are going Boston to Quebec in mid -September on Princess. Chose this direction for the date but now glad we did. We have not done this particular cruise before but I’ve since read several posts that discuss having to clear U.S. Customs in Portland if you start in Quebec and go to Boston. Apparently that takes an inordinate amount of time and requires an on board face to face interview with limited customs agents often impacting your available time in Portland. Sounds like some cruise itineraries go directly from their last Canadian stop to Boston or NYC to avoid this disruption. 

[6986]

From Tetleytea on another question regarding Scottish influence: I'm not a big fan of staying in town in Sydney.  I love their lifestyle that they live, but in terms of touristy stuff, there's the cruise terminal itself (which is mega-touristy) and that's just about it.  Cape Breton is all about the lakes and the greenery, and for that you have to get out.   And the Irish and Scottish culture, but that is more pronounced as you go out onto the countryside.

[Beachiekeen]

Good to know about customs in Portland. Novia Scotia and Canada are probably the most important ports for my friend I think. Now I just need her budget and number of nights and we’ll be ready to plan. Thank you everyone for your help!

Edited August 9 by Beachiekeen

[QueenP]

Anyone know how customs is going the other way? Saint John NB is our first Canadian port, what are the customs procedures like there?