JLMoran Posted August 23, 2018 Report Share Posted August 23, 2018 An open-jaw Fall Foliage cruise, northbound or southbound, is suddenly a lot less expensive than I'd thought. My utter lack of geographical knowledge had me thinking that Quebec City was north of Maine's northern border and a 12-hour drive minimum, making for a semi-mandatory flight to get there or back. But nope! It's a beeline due north on I-87 to QC-15, and a very reasonable 8 hour drive. I drove 6 hours for college several times a year; doing an 8 hour drive with the family, even stretching to 10 hours for lunch and stretch breaks, is totally doable. And renting a car one way is only a few hundred dollars, vs at least $800-$1200 for the four of us to fly there. If Matt doesn't do a July 2020 CA/NE group cruise, I may just book the late September / early October 2020 foliage cruise for a (very belated) 50th birthday trip! Also from the department of "I was not aware of that!" -- All of those cruises include an overnight stay in Quebec, either as the start (southbound) or end (northbound) of your cruise. So we get a day to explore Quebec city without having to pay for a hotel in order to extend the trip. When do those 2020 CA/NE itineraries come out again? bellemiche, Lovetocruise2002 and Baked Alaska 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted August 23, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2018 Kind of a side item to the above -- Why on earth do these itineraries on Adventure backtrack while in Maine? If you look at the northbound route, it goes to Bar Harbor first, then backtracks south to Portland, and then heads north again to St. John. The southbound route does the exact opposite -- St. John, pass Bar Harbor to go south to Portland, then backtrack up north to pay a visit to Bar Harbor. Why would the ships be routed this way, instead of just going in the logical northward or southward path? I'd think if the ships had a chance to go a shorter distance for a couple of nights and just go slowly, so they burn less fuel, they'd jump at the chance. Any ideas from the Canadian posse (@twangster, @Jerel, @monctonguy, @Lovetocruise2002)? That's the 10- and 11-night itineraries on Adventure. The 9-night itinerary on Anthem goes through Massachusetts and Maine in the "right" order -- Boston, Portland, Bar Harbor -- but then does its own little semi-oddity where it heads east and north to Halifax, then does a "U" to the south and west around the peninsula where Halifax is located to get to St. John. I can sort of see the reasoning for that one, as Bar Harbor is just south of the peninsula and it's more of a straight line to Halifax, and St. John is the northernmost point on the route. But it's still odd vs. going the relatively short distance to St. John, making the "U" in the opposite direction to get to Halifax, and then a beeline back to NJ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted August 23, 2018 Report Share Posted August 23, 2018 Lol...I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that I have almost zero knowledge of Eastern Canada. This is why I need @Matt to book a Canada/NE GC so that I have an excuse to go out there. Going to leave this question to @twangster or @monctonguy or @Jerel Baked Alaska 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted August 23, 2018 Report Share Posted August 23, 2018 21 minutes ago, JLMoran said: Why would the ships be routed this way, instead of just going in the logical northward or southward path? I'd think if the ships had a chance to go a shorter distance for a couple of nights and just go slowly, so they burn less fuel, they'd jump at the chance. Any ideas from the Canadian posse (@twangster, @Jerel, @monctonguy, @Lovetocruise2002)? Possibly US Customs may not have the facilities to process large volumes in Bar Harbor. That may dictate re-entry into the US at Portland. For Northbound it could be just the way they could negotiate the ports of calls with all the other lines vying for port space. The other thought me be territorial limits. I'd have to look in more detail but perhaps this route maximizes time in international waters keeping the casino and stores open among other reasons to try to stay out of US waters when possible (taxes on each drink served, different fuel burned within 12 miles, etc). Another thought - ships sail better at speed. A slow meandering ship in a moderate wave will rock all over the place. At 8-12 knots it's much smoother. By overshooting it makes for a better ride without a huge incremental fuel bill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted August 23, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2018 4 minutes ago, twangster said: Possibly US Customs may not have the facilities to process large volumes in Bar Harbor. That may dictate re-entry into the US at Portland. For Northbound it could be just the way they could negotiate the ports of calls with all the other lines vying for port space. Ahhh, customs!! I keep forgetting that whatever port you go to first after leaving the country is where you'll have to deal with that, not when you get to your final disembarkation port. So that probably does explain the southbound route. What you said about the northbound also makes sense; it could even be something as simple as that after working out the southbound route, it's simpler to just do the reverse of it when going northbound so the captains don't need to worry about keeping the two routes straight in the ship's navigation computers or their heads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted August 23, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2018 For you, @Lovetocruise2002... Lovetocruise2002 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted August 23, 2018 Report Share Posted August 23, 2018 Yup...still have no clue mworkman and JLMoran 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted August 23, 2018 Report Share Posted August 23, 2018 Just now, Lovetocruise2002 said: Yup...still have no clue Thank goodness you are not a geography teacher. Wait. You are not a geography teacher, right? monctonguy, Boston Babe, Lovetocruise2002 and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted August 23, 2018 Report Share Posted August 23, 2018 3 hours ago, twangster said: Thank goodness you are not a geography teacher. Wait. You are not a geography teacher, right? Haha! Nope. No geography for me. Math and Science major JLMoran 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baked Alaska Posted August 23, 2018 Report Share Posted August 23, 2018 @Lovetocruise2002 I normally teach math, science, and music (sub), but today I got to teach block coding to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders! Love this age! JLMoran 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baked Alaska Posted August 23, 2018 Report Share Posted August 23, 2018 @Matt Just reminding you to schedule that July 2020 Canada/New England group cruise! Okay, I'm done. JLMoran, Matt and Lovetocruise2002 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted August 23, 2018 Report Share Posted August 23, 2018 9 minutes ago, Baked Alaska said: @Lovetocruise2002 I normally teach math, science, and music (sub), but today I got to teach block coding to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders! Love this age! I teach 7th and 8th grade too! And I could teach music too but I don't... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLMoran Posted August 23, 2018 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2018 41 minutes ago, Baked Alaska said: today I got to teach block coding to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders! Writer's block? Painter's block? I'm yanking your chain, I know you're teaching these kids the fundamentals of long-sequence encryption block chain so they can all become overnight zillionaires in the Bitcoin arena. Baked Alaska 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted August 23, 2018 Report Share Posted August 23, 2018 7th and 8th graders are pure evil. I have no idea how any of you keep your sanity with these deranged monsters. I have even more admiration for you all now than I did before. Lovetocruise2002 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted August 23, 2018 Report Share Posted August 23, 2018 Just now, WAAAYTOOO said: 7th and 8th graders are pure evil. I have no idea how any of you keep your sanity with these deranged monsters. I have even more admiration for you all now than I did before. You have to have a good sense of humour...that's all I'm going to say. Or maybe I have lost my sanity already lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpersons09 Posted August 24, 2018 Report Share Posted August 24, 2018 Yikes teens and tweens scare the beejeezus outta me, but back in the day I spent the day with 7 toddlers so I'm my own brand of crazy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted August 24, 2018 Report Share Posted August 24, 2018 Just now, kpersons09 said: Yikes teens and tweens scare the beejeezus outta me, but back in the day I spent the day with 7 toddlers so I'm my own brand of crazy That would 100%, without a doubt, cause me to lose my sanity. Big kids are so much better than little kids Baked Alaska 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted August 24, 2018 Report Share Posted August 24, 2018 13 hours ago, Baked Alaska said: @Matt Just reminding you to schedule that July 2020 Canada/New England group cruise! Okay, I'm done. This would be an interesting cruise for me to join..as its total my neck of the woods...would be a different perspective seeing these places and ports from Oceanside and not landside......I could organize my own tours for each port......better rates than Royal!..lol I would defn be interested in doing something like this...might finally get to join a group cruise if this happened! As for the schedule of port stops....I would say its all about customs..and in Bar Harbour there isn't much there and you have to tender in. But its a beautiful spot to say the least!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted August 24, 2018 Report Share Posted August 24, 2018 24 minutes ago, monctonguy said: I would defn be interested in doing something like this...might finally get to join a group cruise if this happened! @Matt note...1 more for a Canada/NE GC in 2020!! monctonguy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boston Babe Posted August 24, 2018 Report Share Posted August 24, 2018 24 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said: 1 more for a Canada/NE GC in 2020!! I'm doing it July 2019, but could ALWAYS do it again just to meet all of you fine people!! JohnUK and Lovetocruise2002 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted August 24, 2018 Report Share Posted August 24, 2018 I'm scheduled to do NE/Canada in Sept 2019 on Grandeur Boston Babe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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