Which cruiseline to New England?

[cjnky]

Search hasn't helped me on this one! Has anyone taken more than one cruise and can compare them? I REALLY want to plan this for next fall!!

[kman48]

I tend to think people are goofy, who post only to say that they do not know the answer to the OP's question, but that is pretty much what I am doing here.

 

I can't compare two lines, I am afraid. DW and I cruised Celebrity Constellation Can/NE 3 years ago and are doing it again in 2 weeks. We enjoyed the first immensely and expect this one to be as good.

 

I believe you will have pretty much the same ports available, regardless, so dates, prices and any personal preferences you may have, for one line over another, might drive your choice. I will say that 13 nights, each cruise, enabled us to cruise RT N.Y. or N.J., rather than a one-way cruise. We are really glad to have been able to go down the St. Lawrence to Quebec City and to overnight there.

 

On other itineraries we have cruised Princess and HAL, several times, each. It has seemed to me, over the years, that HAL usually is charging more for the Can/NE than the others; between Princess and "X", I just prefer the X experience, over Princess.

 

Kent:D

[VicKen]

Did you see that Princess is offering 2 different trips/ships in 2008? The Royal is doing Montreal/NYC and the Sea is doing Quebec/NYC. What intrigued me about these two was only one day at sea and lots of stops. We ulitimately chose the Royal for 3 reasons - the small ship experience, the chance to spend a day or two in Montreal pre-cruise, and the stop at Ville Sangueay, the only fjord in North America.

 

We always choose by itinerary not cruiseline so have been on Princess, Norwegian and Celebrity before and enjoyed all of them.

[SailBadtheSinner]

VicKen wrote: ...........the stop at Ville Sangueay, the only fjord in North America..........

 

 

What about Sommes Sound in Maine: ......... the only fjord in the eastern United States.:D

 

http://iceagetrail.umaine.edu/content/viewLocation.php?mapNumber=4

 

 

 

SBtS

[Host Caroline]

I've done this itinerary once and taking new DH from Baltimore on a 9-dayer this fall.. I would have preferred a one-way or longer one that went to Quebec (don't do a one-day port call there.. start there or be sure you have an overnight... go back every couple of years to vacation and never tire of it)... The ports are wonderful, charming... it's difficult to say which itinerary is best. I can say that Halifax, Bar Harbor, all of them really ex. Sydney are walkable if you want to or easy to plan when you get there... Sydney's Louisbourg Fortress is fabulous day but part of it closes in mid-Sept and fog can be an issue so I'd be prepared for that during that time frame. If you are interested in convenient, Baltimore and Cape Liberty are easy to sail from ... IMHO New York is the most hassle.. did that once and I love the city but it was a mess with cabs and traffic on the bridge from LaGuardia during the week. Princess sails from Brooklyn really and you can fly into Kennedy ... if that's a consideration at all.

[NancyIL]

I'm also looking at this for next October, since my husband nixed going to Italy! I'm considering a 7-night on Jewel of the Seas out of Boston that goes to Portland and Bar Harbor, Maine; Halifax, NS; and Saint John, NB. The other ship is Explorer of the Seas out of Cape Liberty, NJ - going to Sydney, NS; Charlottetown, PEI; Saguenay River; Quebec City; and Halifax, NS. The only way my DH will agree to do this is if the price isn't too high.

[NancyIL]

In the same price range as the cruises I mentioned above, the Caribbean Princess has a nice itinerary out of NY, going to Halifax, Saint John (NB), Bar Harbor, Boston, and Newport (RI). So folks, which would you choose - Jewel of the Seas out of Boston or Caribbean Princess out of New York?

 

Jewel of the Sea

Boston

Portland, ME

Bar Harbor, ME

Saint John, NB

sea day

Halifax, NS

sea day

Boston

 

Caribbean Princess

New York

sea day

Halifax, NS

Saint John, NB

Bar Harbor, ME

Boston

Newport, RI

New York

[davejohn]

Which would I choose? Having been to Boston several times, I'd pick the Jewel. I've pretty much seen all I want to see in Boston, including a Red Sox game.

 

If I had never been to Boston, I'd go with the Princess.

 

That said, we're doing the same cruise on the NCL Dawn in Sept., it's easier for us to sail from NYC.

[NancyIL]

Thanks, Dave. Now I'm back to preferring an itinerary with more ports in Canada, such as Explorer of the Seas mentioned above, or HAL's Maasdam or Eurodam that do one-ways between NJ/NY and Montreal/Quebec. Or maybe we'll skip the cruise, fly to Boston or Montreal, and DRIVE! :)

[Host Caroline]

We considered the port times on Explorer and nixed it for that reason i.e. they are short calls (that's why she can get up to Quebec and back in 9 days)... I would never go to Quebec and Halifax on that short a port call. We are doing Grandeur for ports and going to Quebec as a separate location. I would do whichever (Jewel or CB) depending on airfare etc. if I wasn't driving.. not crazy about 1 sea day itins but IMHO the best of the longer ones is the Constellation bec. it's roundtrip from NJ and you get the overnight in Quebec.. if you have the time that is a great itin.. we just didn't have $$ with the house remodel etc. and not wanting to give up our other cruises so cut back to a less expensive one to Canada/NE that didn't involve flying etc. Grandeur has a nice itin and DH has not been up that way so anything is new for him!

[NancyIL]

Well...I booked the Explorer yesterday - short port times and all! My husband wanted to go to PEI and Quebec. The HAL itineraries had better ports times, but were a lot more money, as well as very port intensive. I didn't give serious consideration to Grandeur because it was more expensive, and had only 2 Canadian ports.

[wwaggone]

On the HAL one way cruises, Boston-Montreal and Montreal-Boston, which direction is better?

[LonW]

Where are you in western KY? We booked on RCL for this fall.

[loveysbydesign]

We're looking to take our kiddos on a short cruise out of Philly, NJ or NY and cancelling the Sky in August..which cruise line might be best for them?

[NancyIL]

On the HAL one way cruises, Boston-Montreal and Montreal-Boston, which direction is better?

 

I think it depends on when you go. If you're trying to see the fall colors, you'll want to start in Montreal if leaving later in the season and in Boston if its earlier.

[CruisnGram]

We're looking to take our kiddos on a short cruise out of Philly, NJ or NY and cancelling the Sky in August..which cruise line might be best for them?

 

 

 

Check out NCL. They have 6 and 7 day cruises out of NY for New England. Decent itineraries and excellent prices.

[NancyIL]

Check out NCL. They have 6 and 7 day cruises out of NY for New England. Decent itineraries and excellent prices.

 

We're on the 9-night Explorer of the Seas out of Bayonne, NJ in October - with all Canadian ports. Next time we'll do one that also goes to some ports in New England.

 

**All right - you edited your post while I was composing mine!

[CruisnGram]

We're on the 9-night Explorer of the Seas out of Bayonne, NJ in October - with all Canadian ports. Next time we'll do one that also goes to some ports in New England.

 

**All right - you edited your post while I was composing mine!

 

LOL I got confused! I saw that some of the dates for some of these postings dated back to 2007 and thought yours was one of them! Thought it was real dumb for me to be recommending a cruise to someone who has already sailed and returned! :o

[NancyIL]

LOL I got confused! I saw that some of the dates for some of these postings dated back to 2007 and thought yours was one of them! Thought it was real dumb for me to be recommending a cruise to someone who has already sailed and returned! :o

 

My first post was at the end of 2007, while considering which cruise to take! Nope - our Canada cruise is till 5 months away. :)

[CGinMTL]

I am from Montreal and cruised HAL Maasdam in May 2005.

Note that only the smaller ships will come all the way to Montreal. ( this is because there is a bridge between Quebec city and Montreal that the larger ships cannot clear.

That being said. The ports are very similar. Therefore, I would pick according to which one has a better price when you want to go.

But it is a great itinerary and I don't think you can go wrong.

[Stevesan]

.. I would have preferred a one-way or longer one that went to Quebec (don't do a one-day port call there.. start there or be sure you have an overnight... go back every couple of years to vacation and never tire of it)...

 

I'm glad to see your comments about Quebec City. My Sea Princess NB cruise overnights there. I booked a hotel for the second night, and my flight on the third day doesn't leave till 5PM Thank you for reinforcing my decision to give Quebec city additional time.

[NancyIL]

I'm glad to see your comments about Quebec City. My Sea Princess NB cruise overnights there. I booked a hotel for the second night, and my flight on the third day doesn't leave till 5PM Thank you for reinforcing my decision to give Quebec city additional time.

 

I considered the Sea Princess, but it was considerably more expensive than Explorer of the Seas. I hope there will be a future Canada/New England cruise for us down the road, and next time we will go to Quebec City, too.