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Comments on Maine or E. Canada Experiences?


Iluv4n6

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Hi All!  Like @Disneynorth we have a NE and E. Canada cruise coming up--over Labor Day weekend for us--with stops in Portland and Bar Harbor, ME, St John's, NB, and Halifax, NS.  At this point we are not overly-intrigued by the RC excursions offered through cruise planner so far, but might consider taking one.  Currently offered RC excursions are: Best of Portland & Kennebunkport, Arcadia National Park and Lobster Bake, and Best of Halifax.  We will peruse Trip Advisor for tips on some port activities, but wanted to hear from others on any experiences with this itinerary that stood out for them, not necessarily for an RC excursion, but that would be good info as well. 

We are also looking forward to sailing on Adventure of the Seas on this cruise out of Bayonne with sail-away around NYC and near Statue of Liberty...and sampling some great beer in the port stops!

Thanks for any feedback on what you liked best on cruising in the northeast!

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On 4/29/2018 at 11:56 AM, Iluv4n6 said:

Hi All!  Like @Disneynorth we have a NE and E. Canada cruise coming up--over Labor Day weekend for us--with stops in Portland and Bar Harbor, ME, St John's, NB, and Halifax, NS.  At this point we are not overly-intrigued by the RC excursions offered through cruise planner so far, but might consider taking one.  Currently offered RC excursions are: Best of Portland & Kennebunkport, Arcadia National Park and Lobster Bake, and Best of Halifax.  We will peruse Trip Advisor for tips on some port activities, but wanted to hear from others on any experiences with this itinerary that stood out for them, not necessarily for an RC excursion, but that would be good info as well. 

We are also looking forward to sailing on Adventure of the Seas on this cruise out of Bayonne with sail-away around NYC and near Statue of Liberty...and sampling some great beer in the port stops!

Thanks for any feedback on what you liked best on cruising in the northeast!

We will also be on this cruise! Looking forward to something different and seeing the AOS updates!

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With summer events winding down up our way, we can focus back in on the AOS Aug 31 sailing. ? So far we have reserved a 2-hr trolley bus tour of Acadia for the visit to Bar Harbor, but have not booked any formal excursions for St John or Halifax.  We will likely Lyft/taxi around some...or possibly rent a car to visit Peggy's Cove outside of Halifax.  Plus there are plenty of interesting-looking brewpubs in these ports, which will deserve thorough investigation   Which is one reason we opted out of the drink package on this cruise...the other being that we booked the Mystery Dinner....?  

Can't wait for this itinerary and our first cruise on Voyager Class!   

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1 hour ago, Iluv4n6 said:

With summer events winding down up our way, we can focus back in on the AOS Aug 31 sailing. ? So far we have reserved a 2-hr trolley bus tour of Acadia for the visit to Bar Harbor, but have not booked any formal excursions for St John or Halifax.  We will likely Lyft/taxi around some...or possibly rent a car to visit Peggy's Cove outside of Halifax.  Plus there are plenty of interesting-looking brewpubs in these ports, which will deserve thorough investigation   Which is one reason we opted out of the drink package on this cruise...the other being that we booked the Mystery Dinner....?  

Can't wait for this itinerary and our first cruise on Voyager Class!   

Yes, looks like these ports are going to be great for craft beer.  Especially Portland.  But all the ports appear to have brewpubs, or craft breweries, or both.

My family and I will be on the sailing right before yours.

The only port I booked an excursion though Royal is for Bar Harbor.  I thought about booking a tour privately, but I was worried about getting off the ship on-time since it's a tender port.

I've been to Saint John and Halifax before, but my daughter was quite young at the time (age 1 and 2) so we didn't do that much.  Just walked around a little in port.

Last time in Halafax we didn't make it up to the Maritime Museum, so we plan to visit there this time.  We'll just walk up there, I recall there being a beautiful walkway along the waterfront.

Last time in Saint John we went to the Tim Hortons and a small museum.  This time we plan to take a long hike down the Saint John Harbour Passage to see the "reversing falls".  By this point in the cruise, I'll probably need a several mile walk!

In Portland I hope to check out "The Holy Donut" and a few breweries and brewpubs.

 

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On 8/18/2018 at 10:51 AM, karl_nj said:

Yes, looks like these ports are going to be great for craft beer.  Especially Portland.  But all the ports appear to have brewpubs, or craft breweries, or both.

My family and I will be on the sailing right before yours.

The only port I booked an excursion though Royal is for Bar Harbor.  I thought about booking a tour privately, but I was worried about getting off the ship on-time since it's a tender port.

I've been to Saint John and Halifax before, but my daughter was quite young at the time (age 1 and 2) so we didn't do that much.  Just walked around a little in port.

Last time in Halafax we didn't make it up to the Maritime Museum, so we plan to visit there this time.  We'll just walk up there, I recall there being a beautiful walkway along the waterfront.

Last time in Saint John we went to the Tim Hortons and a small museum.  This time we plan to take a long hike down the Saint John Harbour Passage to see the "reversing falls".  By this point in the cruise, I'll probably need a several mile walk!

In Portland I hope to check out "The Holy Donut" and a few breweries and brewpubs.

 

We are actually on the sailing after yours, leaving Sept 6, and we have brew bus tours for both Portland and Halifax. Portland is booked through Maine Brew Bus, and the Halifax one is actually through Royal Caribbean. Here's the link for Maine Brew Bus. We are really looking forward to it, as we are huge beer people and that's what we like to do whenever we are in a new place! I've dubbed this #beercruise because there's just going to be SO MUCH BEER in the ports. 

https://themainebrewbus.com/drinks-about-town/

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@hmills96, thanks for the suggestions about beer-cruising the Northeast!  We may check out the Portland brew bus on 9/2.  I don't recall seeing a Halifax beer-centric excursion through Royal for our cruise, but will have to double-checked this...CP has been a bit finicky for me tonight, so I will try again later to be sure one didn't pop up and I missed it.   With all the excellent beer options on this itinerary we are skipping the drink package this time...but if the drink card shows up half-way through our cruise we may have to mix in a few more onboard beverages.  ? 

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10 hours ago, Iluv4n6 said:

@hmills96, thanks for the suggestions about beer-cruising the Northeast!  We may check out the Portland brew bus on 9/2.  I don't recall seeing a Halifax beer-centric excursion through Royal for our cruise, but will have to double-checked this...CP has been a bit finicky for me tonight, so I will try again later to be sure one didn't pop up and I missed it.   With all the excellent beer options on this itinerary we are skipping the drink package this time...but if the drink card shows up half-way through our cruise we may have to mix in a few more onboard beverages.  ? 

Found it! It's Halifax Hop on for Hops. 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/shoreExcursions/product/detail/view.do?sourcePage=shorexByPort&ProductCode=HXB6&DestinationCode=

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There is LOTS to see and do in Halifax within walking distance from the ship. You do not need to book anything to be honest. I know there are a few brewery's in the downtown area that you could visit on your own. Also a lot of bars/shops/restaurants/parks all within a 5-20 mins area walk from the port.

 

But going to Peggy's cove and back is going to take up a lot of your day but you may still have some time to wander the downtown/port area of Halifax.

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12 hours ago, hmills96 said:

Thanks for sending the link, @hmills96.  CP is still giving me trouble this evening to see whether he Hop on Hops excursion is an option for our Aug-31 cruise.  

In the meantime, I came across a useful link to breweries/brewpubs in a map of the Halifax port area:

https://www.ratebeer.com/beermap?p=0&z=15&lt=4464182&ln=-6357389

As suggested by @monctonguy and visible on the brewery map, there are quite a few beer-infused establishments near the port.  So I think we'll do fine with a stroll around downtown.

10 hours ago, monctonguy said:

You do not need to book anything to be honest. I know there are a few brewery's in the downtown area that you could visit on your own.

We'll check on timing to for a side trip down to Peggy's Cove.  May depend on how early a start we get.??

Cheers!

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