Is anyone acquainted with the Quebec Cruise Port?

[WillisMeyer]

We'll be on the Jewel for the Fall Foliage cruise from Bayonne to Quebec. I've been arranging transportation for the airport (Quebec City) and planning our return flight. Unfortunately, Delta doesn't use that airport, and I learned the closest for them is Montreal. I'm unsure how to arrange transport from the port to Montreal, whether by car service, taxi, or train. Googling mostly provided info for Quebec airport, and while there's a nearby train station, I'm unfamiliar with trains. Any assistance would be appreciated, considering Montreal airport is about a 4-hour "train" ride, and I'm uncertain about driving.

[smokeybandit]

Is there a true need to use Delta? It may be your preferred airline but it'd be a lot simpler and less hassle to use an airline that flies out of Quebec

[bobroo]

You've got two obligatory requirements; book your flight with Air Canada and enroll in conversational French 101.

Quebec City is a stunningly beautiful city, not spending extra time there is selling yourself short. 

 

 

[whitsmom]

8 hours ago, WillisMeyer said:

We'll be on the Jewel for the Fall Foliage cruise from Bayonne to Quebec. I've been arranging transportation for the airport (Quebec City) and planning our return flight. Unfortunately, Delta doesn't use that airport, and I learned the closest for them is Montreal. I'm unsure how to arrange transport from the port to Montreal, whether by car service, taxi, or train. Googling mostly provided info for Quebec airport, and while there's a nearby train station, I'm unfamiliar with trains. Any assistance would be appreciated, considering Montreal airport is about a 4-hour "train" ride, and I'm uncertain about driving.

I just did this in October.  We rented a car from Hertz (thru Delta).  You have to take a taxi to Hertz.  We drove to Montreal airport for our flight.  We didn't do the trains either due to us not familiar with them either.  The only problem we had was trying to get to the rental return lot at the airport.  We finally pulled up to departures and hubby went in and asked.  The airport was about 2 hrs drive.  Once you get out of downtown (Hertz) you are on a major highway so the drive wasn't hard at all (except for the 5" of snow falling like crazy!).

[twangster]

I flew into Montreal and rented a car for the drive to Quebec City to board a cruise.   Easy.  

[cmich068]

VIA Rail is the national passenger rail service - similar to Amtrak. If you wanted to get to Montreal airport, you would want to book a ticket from Quebec Gare Du PALAIS to Dorval. This is roughly a four hour train trip.

VIA operates a free shuttle between Dorval Station and Montreal Airport, but the frequency leaves much to be desired - also Dorval is on the other side of the line from Montreal's central station, so what you'll find is every train from Quebec City stops at Montreal Central for 30-40 minutes before continuing on to Dorval as a Ottawa or Toronto bound train.

As an alternative to taking the train to Dorval, you could also take the train to Montreal Gare Central and find your own way to the airport to save some time, from there you're looking at a 20-30 min taxi or Uber ride but it'll obviously cost more than taking the train the whole way.

Driving is faster than the train, so renting a car is another option. You have two autoroutes that run between Quebec City and Montreal - Autoroute 40 on the west side of the St. Lawrence and Autoroute 20 on the east side. Both are multi lane interstate style expressways. Either way, this is about a 2hr 45 min trip without traffic.

Finally, your third option is to take a coach bus operated by Orleans Express - which also leaves from Gare du PALAIS. You can book a single ticket which includes a connection to the airport from the Montreal bus terminal.

One other consideration is that Montreal Airport has US Preclearance facilities - so you need to leave enough time before your flight to clear those formalities as well.

Flying out of Quebec City is going to be the easiest option, but there is limited direct service to the US so you may need to fly through Toronto to get to your final destination. Which opens its own can of worms....