Bar Harbor Maine - tours

[Sandifer]

What is your opinion? Is it better to book a tour of Acadia National Park or rent a car and do it on your own?

[smeyer418]

What is your opinion? Is it better to book a tour of Acadia National Park or rent a car and do it on your own?

 

rent a car---

[Afloat]

Car rental is a problem as the rental agencies are at the airport which is not near the tender pier. We made arrangements for a tour with At Your Service Taxi (they have a web site). We were able to personalize our experience, stopping for as long as we liked at Cadillac Mt. and Thunder Hole. Our driver was a wealth of information and gave us a great recommendation for lunch.:)

[smeyer418]

Car rental is a problem as the rental agencies are at the airport which is not near the tender pier. We made arrangements for a tour with At Your Service Taxi (they have a web site). We were able to personalize our experience, stopping for as long as we liked at Cadillac Mt. and Thunder Hole. Our driver was a wealth of information and gave us a great recommendation for lunch.:)

 

The car rental service picked us up at the pier and we left the car(with the keys in it) at the pier but either way is fine with me. I just like going on my own.

[Jan_In_Maine]

Exploring the Mt Desert area by car and going at one's own pace could be a lot of fun. I hadn't heard about the car rental picking up people, but I think that could be a great idea. (my opinion only) I'd stop at the Acadia National Park visitor center and gather information and ideas. Also plan your trip on the loop road and Thunder Hole visit by the tide schedule. Thunder Hole only booms when the tide is coming in (best right before full tide). I would stop at a lobster co-op for lunch along your route. If you would like details, or other questions, just let me know I'd be glad to help. Jan

[bigmjh]

Jan - Any idea of which car rental companies will pick you up at the pier? Also, which ones serve Bar Harbor? Thanks.

[isujim]

Afloat can I ask approximately how much your tour was with the taxi service? How long a tour?

 

I found no prices listed on their website, unless I missed them.

 

I presume they met you at the ship?

 

I plan on emailing them but just thought you might check here.

 

Thanks

 

Jim

[Jan_In_Maine]

Maybe this web site can help with both car rental and tours

 

http://www.bhbairport.com/services.html

 

Let me know if they end up working - thanks - Jan

[Afloat]

Isujim-sorry that I am just getting back to you now, but I was on a cruise on the Caribbean Princess.

If my memory serves me our tour of Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park was for four hours and cost $150 for a minivan. They met us at the tender peer. We were late disembarking from the ship due to U.S. Customs but I called the taxi service and they said there was no problem in waiting for us.

 

Our first stop was at the Park Visitor Center. As the weather was clear we immediately proceeded to the summit of Cadillac Mountain. We then went to Thunder Hole (schedule your trip when there is an incoming tide as this is when you get the full effect). You can find tide tables on the web. We went to Sand Beach, Otter Cliffs, and some gardens (the name escapes me). Then back into town with some other photo stops along the way. We were dropped off at the West St. Cafe for an excellent lunch of chowder, lobster rolls, and blueberry pie (not included in cost of tour).

 

Hope you enjoy your trip as much as we did.

[isujim]

Afloat

 

Thank you so much for the info........very helpful.........we will plan to contact them as we get closer to our cruise........we booked for the fall of 2007:eek:

 

Hope you enjoyed your cruise on the CP.........we were on that ship about 18 months ago.

 

Thanks again

 

Jim

[johardy]

We are visiting Bas Harbor on November 2nd from what I can find out all tours seem to stop at end of October ,do you know if this is correct

[Jan_In_Maine]

Yes - most of the town will be closed down - there will be some shops open - will you be on a cruise or land vacation? I have seen that day be either 60 degrees or rain or snow - make sure you dress in layers.

 

(November 2nd we will be in St. Martin) - warmth and sun!! Jan

[McDebbie]

Just how high is Cadilac Mountain and is the road going up fairly wide and low grade? I about had a heart attack going up the steep inclines in Tortola with the drop off cliffs next to the road so now I am squeemish. :D But I hate to miss something that could really be fabulous.

[johardy]

Many thanks for your reply,we will be visiting by sea on Sea Princess, disapointed to learn that most things will be closed down, wondering if ships tours will be available.

[Jan_In_Maine]

The road up the Mountain is a two lane road with some scenic turnouts - there is a bike lane also. It winds up the mountain and there are areas that you can see down, but there are also big rocks on the side of the road to keep vehicles from going off the side - I don't mind heights, but I hate edges, so I am very squeemish about the road, BUT I also think that you would be missing too much not to visit the top - it is beautiful. (The mountain is approximately 3,000 ft high).

[Cruise Lover Kathy]

Jan in Maine, where would you recommend in Bar Harbor for lunch? Last time we ate at the Mane Street Cafe and had a lobster combo lunch. It was very good but is there another place we should look at for this trip in October?

[Jan_In_Maine]

For lunch we always go to Getty's - you can get just about any type of food there - from lobster to brick oven pizza. Jan

[Mollynme]

The car rental service picked us up at the pier and we left the car(with the keys in it) at the pier but either way is fine with me. I just like going on my own.

Which car rental service did you use? There will be 5 of us in Bar Harbor next October and we were hoping to do it on our own also.

[halbfl2]

Afloat - How many people did the mini van taxi hold? I'm assuming 6 + the driver.:confused:

[judynorth]

Afloat - How many people did the mini van taxi hold? I'm assuming 6 + the driver.:confused:

 

That's right - six plus the driver - and the fee was $60 per hour for the van no matter how many people. It was a minivan too, not a van. We had the van for 3 1/2 hours and could have easily taken longer but they had another booking. There is a picture of the van at the link below in the Acadia National Park album.

[halbfl2]

Thanks for your reply about the Bar Harbor taxi. I see from your photos that you cruised Alaska on the Coral Princess. We are a group of 12 that will be doing the Island Princess SB in June. We're doing 3 land days first, + one extra day on our own in Fairbanks. Have you been contributing to the Alaska boards, too? I'm also trying to organize the group for the ports in Alaska. We prefer to book our own rental cars, or small van tours rather than using the ship excursions. I'd appreciate any comments you have about either trip--Alaska or NE/Canada especially in relation to the shore excursions. The main one is we are trying to decide whether to drive to the Yukon from Skagway or take the train part or all of the way. Also, in some ports, I hate to just venture off completely on my own as you don't learn as much. Are there vendors at the docks in those NE/Canada ports when you get off the ship that will take you on a tour of the area in smaller vehicles? as in most cruise ship ports? Even if we don't save any money, I just prefer not to be in a big coach and always waiting for everyone to get back on the bus.:o

[judynorth]

halbfl2,

 

We have been to Alaska twice and loved it both times, however, the second cruise on the Coral was about as perfect as you can get. I don't know if you have been to Alaska before, but all the port towns are small and they all have private tours available at the dock. I would highly recommend renting a car in Skagway and driving into the Yukon. We rented from Avis and it cost $100 total (car, gas, and shuttle from the dock) for 4 people. There is a guide on the web that you can print out that is a mile-by-mile guide to the trip. In Juneau we took a floatplane trip to Taku Lodge. It was WONDERFUL and well worth the money ($239pp). In Ketchikan we toured the town on our own. It is usually a short port stop and there is plenty to see on your own.

 

Which cruise are you taking to C/NE? We took the 10-day oneway trip from Quebec City to NYC. We took a ship's tour to Montmorency Falls in Quebec City and enjoyed it. It is easy to walk around the old city and that could easily occupy a good bit of the day.

 

In Sydney we rented a car from Budget ($41 + gas) and drove to Fortress Louisburg. We really enjoyed that. It is a wonderful restoration of an 18th century fortress.

 

In Halifax we took the shiip's tour to Peggy's Cove. I was surprised that we enjoyed it as much as we did. Peggy's Cove is definitely worth seeing. It wasn't a problem going in the motor coach because we went to one place and back - no getting on and off the bus repeatedly.

 

We reserved a car to rent in Saint John but the weather was terrible and we didn't rent the car after all. If the weather is nice, it is supposed to be a pretty drive to St. Andrews or many other places in the area.

 

In Boston we took the city bus (Silver Line) from the pier to downtown. We saved a bunch of money there ($2.50 round trip instead of $12). Then we took the Cityview Trolley tour (about $35pp). We enjoyed that but if I had had the stamina I think we would have opted to walk the Freedom Trail. You go to the same places but you walk instead of ride. There is a water taxi that will take you to the Constitution if you don't want to walk that far. It leaves from a dock close to Guincy Market and is about $1.50 each way.

 

In Newport we visited Rose Island Lighthouse instead of seeing any of the mansions. It was more to our liking since we had seen plenty of mansions before.

 

I did a more complete review of the cruise here so you might want to search for that.

 

If you have any more questions just ask.

[halbfl2]

Thanks for your helpful hints. We are on the NYC to Quebec (Grand Princess) trip Oct. 8. We will spend the night in NYC and after Quebec, will drive to Montreal for 2 days. I did check on rental cars and found that 2 ports only have them avail. at the airport. Have tentatively reserved one in all the other ports (they are easy to cancel). We have been to Boston and Newport before, but I'm sure there's always something new to see. The rest of the ports will be new to us.

 

As far as Alaska, we are thinking that riding the train all day from Denali to the ship may be enough rail travel and the car in Skagway will be a welcome change. Yes, I had already heard of "Murray's Guide" for the mile by mile narrative for the Carcross trip.

[judynorth]

I'm not sure that I would opt for renting cars in Boston or Quebec City. Neither is a good place to rent cars. There is enough to see relatively close to the ship to bother with a rental car. Boston is definitely a walk-around city. The traffic is terrible for driving. Will the ship be overnighting in Quebec City as it did on our cruise? If so, I would walk the old city on the full day in port and then rent a car the second day when you head to Montreal. The rental car agency is close to the pier in Halifax so renting should be no problem. Renting a car in Sydney was easy and a good choice I think. If you are at all interested in history, then visiting Fortress Louisburg is a must and it is an easy (but boring) 30-45 minute drive from Sydney. A hint, you can call the rental car agency from inside the visitor center at the port. The people there know the number and will make the call for you. We had no luck getting them on our cellphone. Friends that we met on CC were on the cruise with us and were met by other friends in Newport and rode around the area. They said that it was beautiful and a nice trip. There is a scenic drive that you could take with a rental car.

 

I can't believe that you are planning so far ahead. When are you going to Alaska?

[halbfl2]

Thanks for the New Eng. tips. Sorry I didn't make it plain that we wouldn't have a car in Boston or Quebec except to travel to Montreal.

 

The land part of the Alaska trip starts on June 15, and our SB cruise starts on June 18 with 10 others. Trying to organize that many takes time. We're hoping to plan as many excursions ahead of time as possible. Many of the others that contribute to CC have already made their reservations, also.

 

Where exactly can I find your Canada/New Eng. report?:confused: