Help: Victory Canada Shore excursions

[CTMak]

Sailing Monday 8/4. DW narrowed the choice of shore excursions down to the following:

 

Halifax: Fisherman's Cove; Halifax & Peggy's Cove; Halifax City Tour;

 

And St. John:Costal Kayak; Flowers, Farms & New Brunswick (never mind this one, I am taking it off the list. Flowers? Sheesh!); St John Highlights.

 

I've read through all the Victory posts, but if anyone can help me narrow this down it would be great. The ones I've come up with -- The Pub Crawl -- she's not too crazy about.

 

Thanks

 

CT Mak

[trock]

Sailing Monday 8/4. DW narrowed the choice of shore excursions down to the following:

 

Halifax: Fisherman's Cove; Halifax & Peggy's Cove; Halifax City Tour;

 

And St. John:Costal Kayak; Flowers, Farms & New Brunswick (never mind this one, I am taking it off the list. Flowers? Sheesh!); St John Highlights.

 

I've read through all the Victory posts, but if anyone can help me narrow this down it would be great. The ones I've come up with -- The Pub Crawl -- she's not too crazy about.

 

Thanks

 

CT Mak

 

We went on this cruise... Our friends went to the reversing falls and loved it..

We went shopping... Sorry can't offer too much

 

The harbortown was quaint and the people lovely!

[Crusin6]

In St. John---we had a private driver thru Freedom Tours--about $65 per person take us to the Reversing Falls, a scenic overlook and then out to St Martin's on the Bay of Fundy. Excellent touring!

 

Halifax--I don't think you need a tour but if you prefer to go that route I am sure you will love it.

 

We stopped in a Pier21 right at the dock and DH gave a first person account (pre arranged) to one of the curators about his immigration entry from Italy to Halifax when he was a child! Pier 21 is the Canadian Ellis Island! DH was quite emotional recalling his very early childhood experience there and his reunion with his father who had left Italy earlier to set up a home in Montreal for the family.

 

Then a cab ride, or we could have walked, up to the Citadel (wow, what history Halifax has!) then a walk back down to the dock to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic (Titanic and Halifax Explosion exhibit among many other fabulous ones) a little people watching and a quick stop at the very convenient brewery at the dock and off we went.

 

Next time we will add the Titanic Cemetery and Alexander Keith's Brewery!

[CTMak]

In St. John---we had a private driver thru Freedom Tours--about $65 per person take us to the Reversing Falls, a scenic overlook and then out to St Martin's on the Bay of Fundy. Excellent touring!

 

Halifax--I don't think you need a tour but if you prefer to go that route I am sure you will love it.

 

We stopped in a Pier21 right at the dock and DH gave a first person account (pre arranged) to one of the curators about his immigration entry from Italy to Halifax when he was a child! Pier 21 is the Canadian Ellis Island! DH was quite emotional recalling his very early childhood experience there and his reunion with his father who had left Italy earlier to set up a home in Montreal for the family.

 

Then a cab ride, or we could have walked, up to the Citadel (wow, what history Halifax has!) then a walk back down to the dock to the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic (Titanic and Halifax Explosion exhibit among many other fabulous ones) a little people watching and a quick stop at the very convenient brewery at the dock and off we went.

 

Next time we will add the Titanic Cemetery and Alexander Keith's Brewery!

 

 

Thanks AT!

 

CT Mak

[LemurCat]

I did the hop-on, hop-off City Tour of Halifax and loved it. I'm a fan of those sorts of tours, I've taken them a lot of different places. Halifax's was very enjoyable. You get enough history, shopping, site-seeing and general gawking in without missing much. I know there are other folks who disagree, and that's great, but I usually do the city tour on my first trip to the destination to see if I *like* said city. I do the rest in detail if I plan on coming back for another visit.

[Monty'sMum]

As someone who lives in the area, yes, you'll want to visit Peggy's Cove while in Halifax and if there is an excursion from Saint John that takes you to 'The Rocks' including kayaking if it's high tide or just walking on the bay/ocean floor if it's low tide, that is a must-see too!

 

I'm not familiar with the actual shore trips the ships have set-up but personally I'd make sure to see both of these things on my trip. Very unique aspects of the Maritimes.

[CTMak]

Thanks everyone.

 

Though it's sounding more and more like the Pub Crawl Tour.!!!!!

 

CT Mak

[wolfcel]

As someone who lives in the area' date=' yes, you'll want to visit Peggy's Cove while in Halifax [/quote']

 

 

Monty'sMum....quick question for you...Peggy's Cove in Halifax...why is that a must see in your book?

 

I'm asking because our cruise leaves on 8/23...this is my 2nd trip Halifax & St. John. We did visit Peggy's Cove (back in 2002) but I don't think I'd go back. As lovely as it is...I didn't think there was anything else to do.

 

Any input is greatly appreciated.

[Monty'sMum]

Well, Peggy's Cove certainly isn't a place that's filled with lots of bells and whistles... it's your quintessential Maritime fishing village. The way they used to be with cute buildings and homes painted in bright colours, etc. and then there's the lighthouse and rocks where you can see the waves crashing in.

 

That's really what the attraction is... the lighthouse, ocean and village way of life. If you live near the sea or have been before it's not necessarily something that would be up your alley. I always like going there just to look around, see the boats and climb on the rocks.

 

As an FYI for anyone thinking they would just go it alone when you arrive in Halifax and perhaps rent a car... there was a big feature on the news here in the past day or so about how there aren't any rental cars to be had anywhere in Nova Scotia as there has been such an influx of tourists this summer and there are a number of festivals and events taking place.

 

Soooo, if you plan to rent a car, make sure you book ahead of time and have your confirmation printed off to be sure of a vehicle.

[dotshub]

We did the "Halifax & Peggys Cove", it covered most of the city sights enough to skip the Halifax city tour.

[Bilu444]

Hi.

You absolutely have to do Peggy's Cove. I went in June. It is the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Here are a few pictures of it.

 

 

 

 

 

[suezducruz]

We just got off yesterday...If you are the adventurous type, I would highly reccomend the thrills jet boat ride in St. John. my husband and children loved it (except my 10 yo who couldn't go, min age is 13)!

 

We spent about 50% the cost of the ship excursion by taking cabs to the reversing falls restaurant where they show a movie for 2.50 pp that describes how the reversing falls occurs. Then we walked to the jet boat ride location (about 10 minutes). It was a great walk because you cross the bridge over the reversing falls location which is pretty cool, then you take a left and wander through a residential section that is very homey. The locals were very friendly, and one even became sort of our personal tour guide. It's also better to do it this way if not all members of the party want to actually experience the boat ride. Don't be fooled by the cruise announcements that the excursion is booked. We heard that and it was only about a 10 minute wait to go on a boat ride. The only other recommendation I have is that you make some arrangements for the cab to come back and pick you up or you take down their phone #. I'm glad we did, that as they are not readily available out there.

 

We chose not to got to Peggy's Cove in Halifax because our daughter wanted to stay at Camp Carnival and I didn't want go that far from the ship. My oldest son stayed on board also and I wanted to be more available if she needed me. That being said, we found the information people in the terminal to be very helpful with a map in which they highlight different areas of interest. It was a wonderful walk along the waterfront, and we visited a historical pub called "TheOld Tyme?" or something like that. It was very good food and again our server was very informative about the local area. Planned to visit the Maritime museum, but just enjoyed the food and shops instead. It was a very pleasant low key day...they also had a schooner trip (I'm sure at a much cheaper rate than a ship excursion) and a "frog hopper" tour which is a land/amphibian vehicle....looked like alot of fun but seemed to book early.

 

Hope this helps...let me know if you have more questions about this journey!

:)