New England/Canada with kids

[Mjasp]

I am loving the itinerary on the Caribbean Princess for next August. But have always heard that the Canada/New England itinerary is usually older people, more adults on the ship.

 

Can anyone who has done this itinerary in August when the kids were out of school please let me know if there were a lot of kids on board or basically mostly adults.

 

Thanks

[benzygirl]

I am loving the itinerary on the Caribbean Princess for next August. But have always heard that the Canada/New England itinerary is usually older people, more adults on the ship.

 

Can anyone who has done this itinerary in August when the kids were out of school please let me know if there were a lot of kids on board or basically mostly adults.

 

Thanks

 

We have booked Explorer for the July 31st 08 sailing with two teenage boys. We live in FL so we are looking to head north to get out of the heat. We've done Alaska before which we all loved. I just hope these ports aren't too boring and there are some adventuresome things we can find to do. Atleast the ship is a fun ship to be on. I think New Enland cruises after Labor Day are all older people, but I'm thinking July would have to be a lot of families with the kids out from school and all. What sailing were you thinking of going on?

[Mjasp]

You are going to love the Explorer! But we are looking into the Caribbean Princess in August, because July doesn't work for us.

[02143]

I am loving the itinerary on the Caribbean Princess for next August. But have always heard that the Canada/New England itinerary is usually older people, more adults on the ship.

 

Can anyone who has done this itinerary in August when the kids were out of school please let me know if there were a lot of kids on board or basically mostly adults.

 

Thanks

 

My mother just completed the 8/31 Explorer of the Seas itinerary from New York and it was predominantly senior citizens, very few children. As you know most schools in the northeast open around Labor Day so parents would have had to keep their kids out of school on the first days of the new year, so it doesn't really address your question.

[Hootie&Pokey]

I think the reason that Princess Canada/New England cruises have a reputation as being an older crowd is that, unlike other lines, they usually haven't started these trips until September each year, after the kids are back in school. Consequently, there are very few kids on board. Most people we in there mid- 40s and older. This year the first 7 day Canada/New England trip leaves this Saturday the 15th. I'm sure it will be the same type of crowd.

 

We took this cruise on the Grand in late Sept. 2004 and loved it. And yes, there were very few kids. But it is a great trip, and I am sure if offered in July/August would attract more families. The bonus might be that you might avoid some overcrowding that seems to be common on Caribbean runs.

 

Good luck!

[Mjasp]

So next year the is the first year of the July/August cruises to New England.

 

I am seriously thinking of it. I'm starting to think I shouldn't care about not a lot of kids, because my kids hang out with us anyway, but is the ship "fun".

 

The Explorer of the Seas was fun.

 

Do you know if they offer special pricing as the cruise nears?

[Hootie&Pokey]

For Princess, yes. The past 2 summers they have only run 9 night Caribbean cruises in the summer out of New York. Prior to that, I think the earliest Princess cruises to Canada may have been the last week in August, and still too late for those with kids in school. Carnival has Canada cruises all summer, but they are only 4 or 5 nights and go to only 1 or 2 ports.

 

Pricing? Well, the summer cruises on the Crown this year were heavily booked and they lowest price I saw was $799 (inside). On the other hand, the Canada/New England cruises (also on the Crown) all dropped to $499 (inside) around the first of July. But again, this price reflects a 7 night vs. a 9 night, and cruises that depart after school starts, so probably a lower demand. But last summer, I did see 9 nights on the Crown for almost as low a price as this year's Canada/NE close to sailing. Maybe because it was a new itinerary?

 

Is the ship fun? There's no rock climbing wall or ice skating, but, yeah, I think it is fun. But I'm a grown up. I'm sure in the summer they'll run more kid-specific activities. But I really can't answer this question. All I can tell you is that we have cruised on Celebrity, RCI and Princess. Princess is by far our favorite & the line we keep going back to.

 

Best of luck in your planning!

[Mjasp]

I'm glad to see you like Princess. Most people who have sailed Celebrity and other lines always say Celebrity is their favorite, glad to hear another opinion.

 

My husband can't get over the fact that I WANT to go to NE and Canada. I told him we live less than 2 miles from some of the best beaches in the world and we NEVER go, so I don't want to always go where it is hot in the summer.

Now in February that is a different story, bring on the warm Caribbean beaches.

 

Decisions, Decisions

[ispooks]

We just came back from a cruise on grandeur of the seas - royal caribbean that left 8/24 and did canada/new england. we had our 14 and 9 year old sons with us...this left out of baltimore, md - i did not realize the schools went back in baltimore the week we left, so there was some concern over kids, because my kids enjoy the kid and teen programs - we all had a blast! there were only about 100 kids on board as opposed to the week before to the caribbean where there were about 400 on board, but there were enough in each kid group that my kids loved it!

 

we were on crown princess last year, my kids liked the kids clubs, but did not love them as much as RC or NCL... there may be more kids on your ship, because nyc schools start later... movies under the stars was really cool on princess and the food was better than ours this year...

 

any specific questions, ask... we did some tours not booked thru the ship - how old are your kids?

[Mjasp]

Thanks for the reply.

 

My kids will be 16 & 12 at sailing time. I can't believe my husband doesn't want to do this trip, My 16 yr old and I want it, so maybe we will go together just the two of us

[ispooks]

my husband was not sure about the itinerary either - he loved it! it was much nicer weather than the islands, 75-80 every day, not 100 - lol...

 

there was touring things to see and the scenary is gorgeous. bar harbor and halifax were the nicest... in halifax we did the harbour hopper and the titanic museum... in boston quincy market, they did the uss constitution, paul revere house, lots of street shows going on, bar harbour this boat ride where the guy goes under water with a camera and pulls up sea creatures and everyone gets to hold them, really cool!, portland did a trolley ride and wandered - nice shops in bar harbour, too... local art and foods... it was really nice the whole vacation! we would do this itinerary again sometime...try to convince him!;)

[benzygirl]

my husband was not sure about the itinerary either - he loved it! it was much nicer weather than the islands, 75-80 every day, not 100 - lol...

 

there was touring things to see and the scenary is gorgeous. bar harbor and halifax were the nicest... in halifax we did the harbour hopper and the titanic museum... in boston quincy market, they did the uss constitution, paul revere house, lots of street shows going on, bar harbour this boat ride where the guy goes under water with a camera and pulls up sea creatures and everyone gets to hold them, really cool!, portland did a trolley ride and wandered - nice shops in bar harbour, too... local art and foods... it was really nice the whole vacation! we would do this itinerary again sometime...try to convince him!;)

 

Which tours did your kids like the best? I'd like to book some fun things for my boys who will be 14 and 19. Do you remember who you booked through?

Thanks,

[ispooks]

we did a trolley tour in portland - http://www.mainelytours.com - it was nice - about an hour, not ultra exciting, but they enjoyed it - got to get out at a lighthouse for a picture break...

 

bar harbor - booked a private tour - they enjoyed this the most, i think - don't remember the exact web site - google diver eds dive in theatre bar harbor maine... it was very cute. got to hold live sea creatures... funny tour guide.

 

did harbor hopper in halifax - like ride the ducks, then they went to the titanic museum, older son liked that... went to bay of fundy in st. john, climbed on the rocks, they liked that too - just watching the water rising...while being on the rocks.

 

boston went to uss constitution - older son enjoyed that, too - younger son and i went to quincy market and shopped and ate... great pizza place inside the market...

 

it was just nice walking in some of the local shoppes, especially in bar harbor - there were some more adventorous tours like kayaking and biking, but we are not that adventuresome - lol:rolleyes:

 

any specific questions, feel free to ask...

[Terpnut]

Which tours did your kids like the best? I'd like to book some fun things for my boys who will be 14 and 19. Do you remember who you booked through?

Thanks,

The NE/Canada itineraries are loaded with great hiking/walking/biking options so hopefully your boys like to do one or all of these types of activities. In Portland, you can take an excursion to Kennebunkport, but whether you go there or stay in Portland, plan to spend the day walking around one of the towns. In Bar Harbor, if you like the outdoors, definitely have to spend the day hiking or biking in Acadia NP--not to be missed. Bar Harbor itself is fun to walk around (assuming you have any energy left after a tough day in Acadia!). Halifax is also a great walking city with lots of history, and adding a tour/ride out to Peggy's Cove is very scenic and worthwhile (albeit time-consuming). Boston is an old historic town so I recommend spending the day walking some of the Freedom trail. In summary, the NE/Canada itineraries include great walking cities with loads of history, and one FANTASTIC national park in Acadia NP. Hopefully your kids enjoy either walking, history and/or scenic beauty! :)

[pa_heather]

We just got off the Crown today and there were definitely A LOT of senior citizens. I saw only a handfull of children and they were young (toddlers). These aren't really high activity ports like the Caribbean. It's a lot of sight-seeing and history. We enjoyed it (we're both in our early 30's with no kids), but I remember going to places like this as a kid and being bored. It just depends on your children's tolerance for more grown-up activities.

[beckcab]

I just booked the Canada/NE cruise on the Caribbean Princess for August 24, 2008. We have a daughter who will be 14 and she's not too thrilled about the idea but hopefully she will "warm" to the idea! I've been looking at some of ports of call and I think it's going to be great!

[Mjasp]

I'm leaning towards booking it more and more.

[benzygirl]

we did a trolley tour in portland - http://www.mainelytours.com - it was nice - about an hour, not ultra exciting, but they enjoyed it - got to get out at a lighthouse for a picture break...

 

bar harbor - booked a private tour - they enjoyed this the most, i think - don't remember the exact web site - google diver eds dive in theatre bar harbor maine... it was very cute. got to hold live sea creatures... funny tour guide.

 

did harbor hopper in halifax - like ride the ducks, then they went to the titanic museum, older son liked that... went to bay of fundy in st. john, climbed on the rocks, they liked that too - just watching the water rising...while being on the rocks.

 

boston went to uss constitution - older son enjoyed that, too - younger son and i went to quincy market and shopped and ate... great pizza place inside the market...

 

it was just nice walking in some of the local shoppes, especially in bar harbor - there were some more adventorous tours like kayaking and biking, but we are not that adventuresome - lol:rolleyes:

 

any specific questions, feel free to ask...

 

In Bar Harbor, were you talking about the Dive In Theatre? Did you get that inside Arcadia Park or somewhere else? Did you go to Arcadia at all?

Thanks so much.

[Terpnut]

In Bar Harbor, were you talking about the Dive In Theatre? Did you get that inside Arcadia Park or somewhere else? Did you go to Arcadia at all?

Thanks so much.

The Dive-In Theater (http://www.divered.com) is in Bar Harbor and not in Acadia National Park (BTW, it's Acadia--not Arcadia). Personally, I recommend taking the free Park shuttle and spending the entire day there! Acadia is a national treasure and one of the most scenic and beautiful places in America--not to be missed!

[ispooks]

Benzygirl: we picked up the free shuttle right in bar harbour - i believe we took the #3 shuttle, but u can check that for sure... was about a 10 - 15 minute ride to the university of the atlantic where dive in theatre meets. was approx. 2 hr. tour, then took free shuttle back to town, so plenty of time to have a nice lunch and shop or do some touring.... we had some younger kids on board, but my husband enjoyed it as much as the kids - holding everything - great pics and something we do not get to ever do, holding the sealife up close and personal... they do 3 tours daily, if u do the early one u are back early afternoon and have the rest of the day...any other questions, feel free to ask...:)

[whale-watcher]

In Bar Harbor, were you talking about the Dive In Theatre? Did you get that inside Arcadia Park or somewhere else? Did you go to Arcadia at all?

Thanks so much.

 

The Dive-In Theater (http://www.divered.com) is in Bar Harbor and not in Acadia National Park (BTW, it's Acadia--not Arcadia). Personally, I recommend taking the free Park shuttle and spending the entire day there! Acadia is a national treasure and one of the most scenic and beautiful places in America--not to be missed!

The dive-in theater was the highlight of the cruise for my then 7 year old son, My 15yo daughter thought it was fun as well.

My older son and I opted to go whale watching, and did see some close whales, but the boat was huge and filled with crochety people unprepared for the cool and misty weather and rough conditions typical for late season whale watching in New Enlgand. In retrospect, I wish we had done the dive-in theater as well!

We did have time to combine our offshore activities in the afternoon with hiking and touring Acadia National Park in the AM.

[whale-watcher]

Which tours did your kids like the best? I'd like to book some fun things for my boys who will be 14 and 19. Do you remember who you booked through?

Thanks,

In addition to the dive-in theater, my kids really liked taking a sailboat trip in Portland Maine through the Portland Schooner company...this left right where the boat docked. Shopping at LLBean was a big highlight for dw and dd.

 

In Saint John, we heard good things about the reversing falls Jet Boat excursion, but my youngest was below the age cutoff, so we rented a car from avis (very close to the dock) and drove to the reversing falls to watch them at both high and low tide, as well as to a nearby park on the bay of fundy where we could hike around a bit, explore tidepools, and climb on rocks.

[groupleader]

Benzygirl,

 

Just letting you know we are traveling on Explorer, July 31st. We are a

group of 70 and we have about 12 teens traveling with us that are 17 and

18. How old are your kids? Hopefully there will be many families since it

is the middle of the summer

[benzygirl]

Benzygirl,

 

Just letting you know we are traveling on Explorer, July 31st. We are a

group of 70 and we have about 12 teens traveling with us that are 17 and

18. How old are your kids? Hopefully there will be many families since it

is the middle of the summer

 

 

groupleader, sorry i didn't see this post. My two sons are 14 and 20. We are from FL, but DH and I grew up in NJ. Where is your big group from? Are you part of an organization or just a lot of friends traveling together? It is more fun when you know and see people on the ship. :)

 

Also.....we are in a JR. Suite but would like to upgrade to an owner's suite, however they are presently sold out. If anyone in your group has one and decides to cancel, would you keep me in mind and let me know before they release it? Thanks so much.