which date?

[Luxlight17]

My husband and I plan to take the NCL Canada/New England cruise Fall, 2010. We would like to take advantage of possible Early Bird discounts and go ahead and book this cruise now. This cruise is typically round-trip New York; however, twice each fall NCL has a one-way cruise which begins in Boston and ends in Quebec City. The one-way cruise is the one we are interested in. My question concerns the choice of date. Here in the South, our trees change color late in October. Which cruise do we have the best chance of seeing gorgeous color, the one beginning Sept. 25, or the one beginning Oct. 9? The ports are: Bar Harbor; Saint John (Bay Of Fundy); Halifax; Sydney; Corner Brook; Quebec City. We want to have good enough weather to be able to enjoy our balcony cabin, which makes me lean toward the Sept. 25 cruise; however, we don't want to miss out on the color, which makes me lean toward the Oct. 9 cruise. Obviously, we want to have our cake and eat it too - warm enough weather for the balcony, but cool enough for the leaves to have changed! Please advise!

[Langley Cruisers]

Last year, we took a cruise departing Sept. 25 and went to some of the ports you mentioned. There was some colour but it wasn't over-the-top fabulous. On the plus side, the weather was lovely and mild, and we really enjoyed walking around in port. However, leaves can change quickly and you may find the October deaprture is just too late. I don't know. I guess it depends on the weather in fall, as several factors come into play regarding the colour-change.

 

Quebec City is magnificent. We spent two days there since we missed a port due to Hurricane Kyle, but it was phenominal. Have fun.

 

(BTW, there are other threads on this subject; I've seen it discussed here before. Perhaps you might try using the "Search this Forum" button for more threads.)

[sapper1]

My husband and I plan to take the NCL Canada/New England cruise Fall, 2010. We would like to take advantage of possible Early Bird discounts and go ahead and book this cruise now. This cruise is typically round-trip New York; however, twice each fall NCL has a one-way cruise which begins in Boston and ends in Quebec City. The one-way cruise is the one we are interested in. My question concerns the choice of date. Here in the South, our trees change color late in October. Which cruise do we have the best chance of seeing gorgeous color, the one beginning Sept. 25, or the one beginning Oct. 9? The ports are: Bar Harbor; Saint John (Bay Of Fundy); Halifax; Sydney; Corner Brook; Quebec City. We want to have good enough weather to be able to enjoy our balcony cabin, which makes me lean toward the Sept. 25 cruise; however, we don't want to miss out on the color, which makes me lean toward the Oct. 9 cruise. Obviously, we want to have our cake and eat it too - warm enough weather for the balcony, but cool enough for the leaves to have changed! Please advise!

Here in the Saint John area the leaves peak around the 10th of October.

I am taking the Sept 26th Eurodam cruise from Quebec City to Fort Lauderdale and am not bothering with a balcony as it will be cold at sea at that time and the only time we would use the balcony is in port. It is cold at sea around here even in the summer.

[jp2001]

I would opt for October 9 for the best chance to see fall folliage. Around Quebec, the peak time varies A LOT from year to year (I would say from late september to mid/end-october). With October 9, you have a good chance to see the colors at their peak at one port or another (our leaves were almost all gone and when we went to Bar Harbor but theirs just started to change).

 

There is a chance that I will also be on this cruise next year (I'd like to book the B2B Qc City-Boston-Qc City) but I'm waiting for better prices (such as the ones for 2009). The itineraries are fantastic (the Boston-Qc City being the best IMHO). Also, you should plan to stay in Quebec City a few extra days, it's totally worth it.

[Luxlight17]

Thanks for all the great advice! Right now I think we are leaning toward the Oct. 9 sailing - and maybe forgetting about the balcony for this cruise. As I read your replies, my thoughts are gelling about what we really want out of this cruise, and I think the fall color tops the list. jp2001, maybe we'll meet on the cruise!

[jp2001]

jp2001, maybe we'll meet on the cruise!

 

If we book, I'll join the Roll Call and hopefully see you there.