Cruising to New England, Nova Scotia

[tajgmj]

We live just outside of Philadelpha and are trying to avoid flying to pick up a cruise ship to keep costs down. We are thinking of taking a cruise during summer of 2009 from a Northeast Coast port and stopping in ports along New England/Nova Scotia. We'll be travelling with 2 boys, ages 14 & 11. Is there enough to keep their interests in these ports? Which cruise line would you recommend for this situation? Thanks for any advice -- it will be our first cruise as a family.

[wanderingfool]

I grew up in NS and Halifax is a beautiful little city. If your boys are into history/war, there is the Halifax Citadel, the huge hill/fortress overlooking the city. There are "harbour hopper" tours with an amphibian truck/jeep (or at least there were recently) which is kind of fun. There is also the Busker festival (street performers) each summer - if you timed it right you would be in Halifax during that which is pretty fun (although very crowded.) The cruise port is a 5 min taxi drive from downtown; once downtown there is lots to see on foot - shops, restaurants and parks.

 

i can't really advise on the New England portion, sorry.

 

One thing to bear in mind is that it might not be overly warm/dry in the summer (esp. August) so if you/kids are keen on the pool deck or the sun, you may end up a bit disappointed. But as Maritimers like to say "If you don't like the weather, just wait 5 minutes for it to change!" :D

 

Happy planning!

[VillaHappy]

We were on Royal Caribbean's itinerary for Canada/NE in July 2008. There is lots to do! I'm not sure if they are offering the same itin. for next year. In Halifax, there is a beautiful walk along the water that leads to shops, restaurants, and museums. My 8 yo son and I went to Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. They had an exhibit about Titanic, which fascinates him. You can even go to the graveyard where they buried a lot of the Titanic victims.

 

Lots more info over on the ports board!

[VillaHappy]

Came back to post the link to the Canada ports board:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=39

[ispooks]

we did this itinerary last summer with 2 boys who were then 9 & 14... we don't live that far from you - we are outside philly in bucks county... we did grandeur of the seas - royal caribbean from baltimore...

 

we all had a great time - we had really good weather - we went approx 3rd week in august and it was 68-72 every day and sunny most of the time...

 

my older son liked some of the touring better than my younger son, but he had a good time - we just got back to the ship a little sooner with him so he could go to the kids club...

 

they both loved the kids and teen club... hardly saw them when we were at sea...

 

in portland we did a trolley tour to the lighthouses and had lunch - and wandered around the town

 

in halifax we did the harbor hopper - like ride the ducks and also wandered around halifax and they had a titanic museum my older son liked

 

in st johns we walked around to the bay of fundy to see the tide rise - they enjoyed just sitting on the rocks and watching the levels rise (also wandered around stores in town)

 

boston we split up and wandered around freedom trail and quincy market...watched some street shows and toured uss constitution...

 

our favorite stop was bar harbor - wandered around the stores, and did a tour on our own - diver eds dive in theatre - u can google it - a guy, his wife and dog go out on a boat - he dives underwater and videos sea creatures, he then brings them onboard and everyone can hold them - we got great pictures holding lobsters, starfish, etc...nice quaint town...

 

any other questions, feel free to ask:)