Question About New England Excursions

[jr2804]

I am going to be cruising with Royal Caribbean this October for the New England/Canada cruise. I have only cruised one time prior to this with SilverSea to Europe and that ship setup was alot smaller and from what I'm told alot different from what I am about to experience. Thsi is my first time on this board so bear with me if I'm in the wrong place. But my question is, we are planning excursions in the different ports, do the excursions need to be purchased and secured ahead of time or can this be done while on the ship? Please help me.

 

Portland

Horse drawn wagon city tour

kennenbunkport

 

Bar Harbour

ocean trail hike

lighthouse and nat'l park tour

whale watching cruise

 

Halifax

bike tour

lobster and lighthouse

peggy's cove

 

If you have any advice on the excursions we are considering, please share, again, this is our first time so we're worried we will miss out on alot.

 

Thanks

[travelbig]

Are all of these ship excursions or are you looking for tour companies to book independently?

[mlleach]

Are all of these ship excursions or are you looking for tour companies to book independently?

 

 

I am looking to book directly. We are dong the ports mentioned and Saint John?

Any help would be appreciated.

ML

[travelbig]

Hi Mary,

I was starting to answer this and realized who you are. Hope my e-mail helped you.

Leslie

 

 

 

jr2804,

I have web sites for Halifax. If you want them, e-mail me

gthiel at tampabay.rr.com

[mlleach]

Hi Mary,

I was starting to answer this and realized who you are. Hope my e-mail helped you.

Leslie

 

 

 

jr2804,

I have web sites for Halifax. If you want them, e-mail me

gthiel at tampabay.rr.com

 

 

Thanks for all the info.

ML

[aliaschief]

We like to book ahead of time. Some popular excursions do sell out. Plus while aboard the ship there are better things to do than standing in line at the Excursion Desk.

 

Welcome to the boards. Planning ahead makes for good cruises.

[Pooh8941]

We like to book ahead of time. Some popular excursions do sell out. Plus while aboard the ship there are better things to do than standing in line at the Excursion Desk.

 

Welcome to the boards. Planning ahead makes for good cruises.

 

 

On my last cruise (IOS 1/24/09), I prebooked the St. Maarten Art Tour which was scheduled to leave around 9AM and end before noon. Once on board, I checked my tickets and the time had been changed to leave dockside at 7:15AM! :eek: I thought, oh well, I'll get up early. Then the day before the tour (while I was ashore in St. Thomas), another time change to 11:15AM was delivered to my cabin. This meant no lunch and almost no shopping. I had to cut short dinner in order to go to Excursions when they opened at 7:30 PM. I was told I could not cancel because I was inside 24 hours of the tour. After much discussion, the Supervisor later called my cabin and left a rude message and agreed to refund the cruise, provided I immediately bought the tickets to the Excursion counter. Between an aborted dinner, hasseling at the Excursion counter, going up and down the elevators, waiting in my cabin for calls back, returning tickets, etc.--it was a ruined evening and I was totally bummed out.

 

My plan for my Oct. NE/Canada cruise this year is to prebook nothing. Get up, check the weather, and then find a tour or a taxi when I leave the ship.

I hate having my day altered and dictated by an excusion company and then be hassled about a refund. And BTW, the St. Maarten cruise was not the first time I've had tours cancelled or time changed, only the worst of my experiences.

[travelbig]

Pooh,

I understand your frustration with that tour, but have you been on the NE/Canada itinerary before? We've been twice and I don't remember a lot of taxis waiting to do tours, especially at the US ports. Also, many of the beautiful sites are a bit of a drive and you don't want to waste time looking at the pier for tours. All of the tours I have reserved are going to pick us up at the ship or close by and so far none have even asked for a deposit. We will pay the driver in USD. If you would like the info I have, e-mail me

gthiel at tampabay.rr.com

[mymirabella]

I am going to be cruising with Royal Caribbean this October for the New England/Canada cruise. I have only cruised one time prior to this with SilverSea to Europe and that ship setup was alot smaller and from what I'm told alot different from what I am about to experience. Thsi is my first time on this board so bear with me if I'm in the wrong place. But my question is, we are planning excursions in the different ports, do the excursions need to be purchased and secured ahead of time or can this be done while on the ship? Please help me.

 

Portland

Horse drawn wagon city tour

kennenbunkport

 

Bar Harbour

ocean trail hike

lighthouse and nat'l park tour

whale watching cruise

 

Halifax

bike tour

lobster and lighthouse

peggy's cove

 

If you have any advice on the excursions we are considering, please share, again, this is our first time so we're worried we will miss out on alot.

 

Thanks

 

new england has a lot to do but I would not come with out a detailed plan things are very far apart and public transportation is not easy to find. the old port in portland is neat, the bush compound is in kennenbunkport , wale watching can be fun but you dont always see wales up here, october is awesome for foliage but weather can be very unpredictable so dress in layers.

[torpeedo]

jr2804 we are also on RCI October from Bayonne. We have done this cruise before and loved it. I would say it was among our top favorites after doing over 40 cruises.

Portland: We did the Kennebunkport last visit and it was very nice. Only down side is that Kennbunkport is quite a bus ride away from Portland so you spend probably half your time getting there at least. This trip we are doing the lighthouses of Maine.

Bar Harbor: The tour at Acadia National park is beautiful. The view from Cadillac mt is fantastic. We are doing it again this year

Hallifax: Peggys Cove it just beautiful. Picture postcard gorgeous. I believe there's a tour with lobster and Peggy's cove. That would be fantastic! This year we are doing some shopping along the boardwalk and eating Lobster.

Hope you enjoy!

[Grego]

Great information. We are interested in the Halifax options in addtion to the Cove and Lobster, although that's what we are leaning toward.