Excursion suggestions - New England/Canada

[Renster]

Folks,

 

We are booked on Aurora, cruise R911, visiting the likes of New York, Quebec etc.

 

Can anyone offer any thoughts on which ports of call are worth doing an excursion, and which we are best doing our own thing?

 

Thanks!

 

Steve

[JTor]

You don't mention which ports you are visiting. I have been on a similar cruise with a different ship. You will likely find all the cities you visit to be easy to navigate on your own; most people in the tourism industry in Quebec will speak English and of course, everyone does in the other ports. I would take an excursion only if there is some special activity offered which appeals to you. Certainly New York City and Quebec City are both tons of fun to explore on your own - both are great walking cities, and the subway in NYC is quite easy to use if there are parts of Manhattan a little further away that you would like to visit.

[Renster]

JTor - thanks for the reply...

 

NYC and Quebec are on the itinerary - and your comments confirmed our suspicion that they are two ports we may as well do ourselves. Beyond that we have Wilmington (for tours to Philadelphia), Newport, Boston, Portland, Bar Harbor, Halifax, and St John's (newfoundland).

 

My folks have been to Boston, and like NYC and Quebec, apparently that's easily done "unaided". Portland has an excursion that appeals, as does Bar Harbor; beyond that, we have a few other's booked (easily cancelled if we change our minds!) hence our posting (and I admit it was not helpful of me to post the itinerary before!!).

 

In particular, we'd welcome comments on Wilmington and Philly - none of the excursions appeal particularly, and we've struggled to get info on public transport to Philly - the problem almost seems to be that bizarrely trains don't seem to run between the two on a Sunday!?

 

Many thanks again!

 

Steve