Rental car vs ship excursion for Cabot Trail

[stekay]

Hi,

We will be cruising into Sydney on September 1, 2009 and we will be at port for approx. 8.5 hours. The ship offers an 8 hrs Cabot Trail excursion for $139.00US/person. Costly but the ship will wait for us should we be late returning. Does the ship excursion do the entire circle drive of the Cabot Trail or just a partial? Should we decide to rent a vehicle, how far is enterprise from the cruise terminal? I understand Budget is close to the cruise terminal, however, they charge 15 cents per kilometer after 200kms and enterprise offer unlimited kms. If we decide to do the Cabot Trail on our own, do we have sufficient time? Is there exits on the Cabot Trail should we decide to return to Sydney because of time restraints? I don't want the ship to sail away without us on it. Any feedback would greatly be appreciated.

[Gator70]

We are on the June 6 cruise and they cancelled the Cabot Trail tour due to timing. We're in port 9 hours, the tour is 8 & they said that was cutting it too close. The have to be out of port by 5:00pm, no exceptions, & that is why they cancelled the tour. Any suggestions for alternate tours in Syndey?

[ilovhywd]

Last year there was a big discussion on this board about doing the Cabot Trail on your own. A local person who seemed very knowledgeable tried to discourage people from doing it on their own due to time constraints and possible traffic jams. You can do a search on this Board to find the discussion.

 

Don't forget that by the time you get to the car rental office and do the paperwork, you've already killed at least a half hour.

 

So you can either take the ship's tour which involves a lot of time on the bus, or you can choose an a different tour such as the Fort, which is also a popular trip.

 

Another alternative is to do some sightseeing in a private taxi or van with 4-6 people. There is an office in the terminal which has a big sign of suggested tours. Last August, we chose a partial Cabot Trail with some of the Bras d' Or (not sure of spelling) Lake with time for lunch and walking in the cute fishing village of Baddeck. Yes, we were disappointed not to do the full scenic circuit of the Cabot Trail, but it was a lovely day nonetheless.

 

The town of Sydney is pleasant, but there is nothing to see there. You must get out of the town in order to see anything picturesque.

 

This year, we will visit Sydney at the end of May, so I will FINALLY get to do the boat trip to see the puffins!

[Dans_mom]

Last year there was a big discussion on this board about doing the Cabot Trail on your own. A local person who seemed very knowledgeable tried to discourage people from doing it on their own due to time constraints and possible traffic jams. You can do a search on this Board to find the discussion.

 

Don't forget that by the time you get to the car rental office and do the paperwork, you've already killed at least a half hour.

 

So you can either take the ship's tour which involves a lot of time on the bus, or you can choose an a different tour such as the Fort, which is also a popular trip.

 

Another alternative is to do some sightseeing in a private taxi or van with 4-6 people. There is an office in the terminal which has a big sign of suggested tours. Last August, we chose a partial Cabot Trail with some of the Bras d' Or (not sure of spelling) Lake with time for lunch and walking in the cute fishing village of Baddeck. Yes, we were disappointed not to do the full scenic circuit of the Cabot Trail, but it was a lovely day nonetheless.

 

The town of Sydney is pleasant, but there is nothing to see there. You must get out of the town in order to see anything picturesque.

 

This year, we will visit Sydney at the end of May, so I will FINALLY get to do the boat trip to see the puffins!

 

We are on the May 22nd Maasdam trip from Montreal to Boston and spent a lot of time today talking about the possibility of driving the Cabot Trail or doing the boat trip to see the puffins. I'm interested in how you did the partial Cabot Trail with a stopoff in Baddeck. Did you arrange for this ahead of time or just sign up once you got into the terminal in Sydney? We are also considering doing the Cape Breton performance. Do you know anything about this?

[ilovhywd]

Dear Dan's Mom -

 

Believe it or not, I am also the mother of a Dan!

 

We are also on the Maasdam - May 23 (not 22) from Montreal to Boston!! Please check in on our roll call board! There are 15 of us so far. We are having a get-together 15 minutes after the lifeboat drill is over so that we can all meet.

 

To answer your question, we got off the ship early and walked into the terminal where there were signs suggesting different taxi tours. Two couples that we met onboard wanted to join us, so we approached a van and told the driver we wanted to spend six hours seeing the countryside. She suggested the route and the lunch stop in Baddeck. We got back early enough to walk around in town a little.

 

I'm not sure what the Cape Breton performance is.... but it might be the music show adjacent to the terminal on the dock. There is a large statue of a fiddle on the front of the building. You can buy the tickets on the dock.

 

I am looking forward to meeting you!

 

Ilene

[Dans_mom]

Dear Ilene: Thanks so much for the info about what you did in Sydney. We will probably join you for the get-together after the life boat drill. We haven't posted anything on the roll call, but we are the other couple traveling with Bob and Gail. We look forward to meeting everyone.

[stekay]

Thank-you everyone for your feedback. After reviewing feedback, we will probably do a partial tour of the Cabot Trail with lunch in Baddeck. Again, many thanks.

[themerle]

 

 

....... we approached a van and told the driver we wanted to spend six hours seeing the countryside. She suggested the route and the lunch stop in Baddeck. We got back early enough to walk around in town a little.

 

 

Ilene

 

If you don't mind, what was the price for your tour? How many people went on the tour?

[ilovhywd]

I think the tours were around $50-$60 per vehicle per hour. So it's good to find another couple to share a taxi with you or two other couples to share a van with you. Splitting the cost two or three ways makes a private tour alot more affordable!

 

We sometimes arrange this with other people on our roll call board, or else we ask the people at our dining room table, or other people that we meet on board. And we have been very lucky hooking up with people as we are getting off the ship who are also looking for a taxi!

[themerle]

I've been lucky in finding others to share tours with us too. Thanks for the info on the price!