Category: Canada

From Saint John NB

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After Boston we heard complaints about the boarding but no actual facts about the reason for the delays. The occasional rumour pops up about possible Coast Guard involvement or an unknown person on board. The truth will remain forever a mystery.

The overnight voyage to Portland ME was uneventful. We awoke to a bright sunny day. Quite a contrast to the rainy day in Boston. There was still very little colour change visible from the port. There was nothing of interest near the port so we remained on board. Later we made our regular trip to the hot tub then later to the dance floor. Princess has been trying to create a comedy club in the aft most lounge. Last night’s comedian was one of the better performers. He got a lot of laughs pursuing two themes; “happy wife, happy life” and “if mama’s not happy, no-one’s happy”.

Overnight we chased our partner Enchanted Princess up the coast to Saint John, NB. Canada Border Services took our paper declarations, performed 15 random inspections and that was that. The weather cooperated for most of the day. Rain began about 3:30 and our departure will be between 6:00 and 7:00 PM so some tours will have a wet ending.

During our walk along the waterfront we encountered the typical port shops but with a twist. The stores were constructed from shipping containers. The village consisted of about 25 shops including a performance stage with a live performance. The shops ranged from food services to souvenirs. Some travellers could even try Beaver Tails.

Joe Abercrombie, Last Argument of Kings

Travel brings wisdom only to the wise. It renders the ignorant more ignorant than ever.

Boston Turnaround

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No, you haven’t missed a post. Sydney, Halifax, St John to Boston and barely a leaf changed colour. Those who came specifically to find fall colours must be terribly disappointed. One can’t rush mother nature. Having visited most places in the region on previous trips we have not repeated tours.

Our stop in St John should have been good for tours of the bay since a low tide coincided with our arrival and we remained long enough to see a full change. Even at our berth in St John the ship must have risen at least 20 feet over the tide cycle.

This morning Boston is bleak. Fog shrouds the city such that only the profiles of tall buildings defines the horizon. The rain is falling sometimes harder than others. In the open areas staff are busy mopping up rain water or pushing it toward drains.

We will need to visit US Immigration at some point today but on the basis of announcements we have heard the process is running about two hours behind schedule. Meanwhile room stewards on five decks are busy recycling cabins to receive passengers boarding. Until every arriving passenger and crew has been processed through US officials no-one will be boarding. Turnaround days are always interesting.

I will post a few more photos and hope to share some colour change with you on the return trip.

David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

Travel far enough, you meet yourself.

Charlottetown PEI

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We had another pleasant day for our stop in Charlottetown. Unfortunately, we passed under the Confederation Bridge at night so we couldn’t see it. We did take a short walk along the port area. A vendor was giving away oyster samples and he had plenty of willing samplers. Lobster was available at several restaurants near the port.

There was a large market on the pier and they were doing a brisk business with passengers from the four ships in port. The Zuiderdam and the Emerald shared the dock while two smaller ships tendered. All four ships left the port shortly after 4:30. A couple of the ship’s tours ran a bit late so we had passengers coming to the dining room at 5:00 directly from embarkation.

Over the past two days there has been comedy club running with several standup comics. As usual, some get better audience reaction than others. We saw a couple of them and got a few chuckles. One assistant cruise director probably got the biggest laugh by introducing one comedian as coming from misery rather than Missouri. One would think they’d check things like that but apparently not.

We had an interesting experience visiting one of the many hot tubs. Sitting in the water chatting with another chap and the pump shut down. They are on timers so that was not unusual. The pump would not restart. That was unusual. Even more unusual was the water began to drain. We took that as in invitation to vacate, so we left, since the second tub at that location was covered with netting, the normal way of indicating a closure.

The dining room food on this cruise is stunningly mediocre. It is quite apparent that they are trying to reduce food waste with smaller portions and discouraging over ordering. There are now at least five extra cost food services including a steak house, Italian restaurant, pub style eatery, sea food speciality and bar-b-que specialty. Never-the-less we don’t have to prepare it nor do the clean up. One of the best aspects of the food and beverage services is the number and variety of people we meet. We are also at the point in the cruise where we are beginning to meet the same people for a second or third time simply because we have similar eating schedules. The passenger list is dominated by Americans with Canadians a distant second. We come across Brits, Australians and New Zealanders quite frequently.

Next stop will be Sydney, Nova Scotia.

Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration

Whenever you go on a trip to visit foreign lands or distant places, remember that they are all someone’s home and backyard.

Saguenay stop and beyond

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We departed Quebec City on the evening of September 28 and arrived at the port of Saguenay, which is actually the town of La Baie, early the following morning. The ship’s arrival was greeted by a group of singers and dancers performing on the pier. Two smaller cruise ships were anchored in the harbour and their tenders were shuttling passengers to the pier at which our ship was berthed.

The morning began with cool temperatures but by mid morning the sun had warmed things up to a very comfortable level. The walkway along the harbour was busy with locals and cruise ship visitors who were not on tour busses. A helicopter was flying passengers on 12 or 17 minute tours for those willing to spend $120 or $170 per person. We were not among them. Gail’s position is that the only way she would be in a helicopter is if it was a CARE flight and she was anesthetized.

After increasing our step count walking beside the beach we spent much of the day wandering the ship a d finding new people with whom to talk. Meeting new people is one of our favourite things to do on board. The many lounges and dining rooms offer multiple opportunities to socialize and it is rare to find anyone unwilling to chat. Of course, the fact that every venue has a wine and cocktail menu helps the process.

The ship began sailing south down the Saguenay Fjiord at about 4 PM. As we sat in the dining room for our evening meal we had a sea level view of the western bank of the seaway. There is no beach strip as the mountains plunge directly into the water. Shortly after the sunset the ship turned eastward into the St Lawrence River and slowly, as there is a speed limit to protect whales, made our way toward Prince Edward Island.

By the morning of September 30 we were located In the Gulf of the St Lawrence and Anticosti Island traveling eastward at less than 10 knots (18 kph or 11 mph). We expect to arrive at Charlottetown, PEI early Tuesday morning. We will spend the time on board meeting new friends, drinking good wine, eating delicious food. listening to a variety of musicians and ocassionally venturing to the dance floor.

The music on board has been provided by a couple of solo musicians and four groups. The largest is a an eight piece show band that plays for the stage shows and guest singers. Another five piece group called Gravity is referred to as the “party band” whose main claim to fame is “LOUD”. They are a good group with a decent repertoire but stay pretty much in the pop and rock genres. There are two duos playing alternately in different venues. La Boheme is a string duo sometimes supported by a recorded backing track. Their repertoire is extensive covering pop classics to such things as “Oblivion” by Astor Piazzolla and classical works for strings. They often use unique arrangements of well known melodies. Los Brilliantes is the second duo which we have not seen too much of yet.

The first stage show of the cruise was rather different from the traditional Las Vegas style. It was a performance of a Steven Shwartz show “Magic to do” crafted for performance on the cruise ship stage. It was a success judging by the attendance and comments shared after the show. This link may provide additional information about the show. I know we enjoyed the performance.

Lailah Gifty Akita

It is never too late to take another voyage.