thorpemarlene

Bill Hinton, as far as the rental car from Quebec goes, on our Norwegian Cruise we flew from Quebec back, what we want to do in 2026 was rent a car and drive back to Portland, but I did not ask if we could or not. I think I need to call someone for sure on this, thanks for the warning.

To Euroguy: My wife and I have been on Carnival and MSC. Both are good no question. If i may suggest if you go on MSC you may want to consider the Yacht Club. It will be more money for sure, but if you are looking for a top of the line experience, this will be it. Either way, enjoy the ride...er cruise 🙂

For anyone who is not aware: If you purchase a min. of 100 shares of Carnival stock you will receive a 100.00 onboard credit for each cruise. This applies to all of Carnival's companies (i.e) Princess,Holland,etc. The BOD must approve this every year, but its really a given as they have done this for a long time. But here is the real bonus you may want to consider. Before covid, this stock was worth over 60.00 per share. Its currently trading at about 17.00 per share. Carnival, like all cruise ships had to take on a lot of debt during covid to survive. They like all lines are rebounding very fast, not only paying down the debt by a lot but ordering new ships to be built. They are really booked up this year, 2025 is about half booked up now with a lot of bookings already taking place for 2026. History will show that the stock will not only rebound to the pre-covid price but grow. now it may take a half a dozen years but do the math. In 5 or so years this could pay for that Alaska cruise/land tour or the Med. cruise. Just saying !! The worse, probally it stays the same (doubtful) but you get 100 OBC every cruise

We went on Norwegian for 8 days, it was great but on this trip it was all about the itinerary. Having said that, we have already booked another cruise to this same area in 2026 but on Princess instead. It's not like we had a problem with Norwegian but that Princess had the same stops except the cruise was two days longer, also stopping in Portland,Maine instead of Bar Harbor and the Bay of Fundy. It was 500.00 less which didn't hurt. The other thing we liked was that Princess was doing an overnight in Quebec City at the end. What this means is that we can spend two days in the city and not having to book an expensive hotel (and they are in the city). So on day one we tour the city, going back on board that night to eat or whatever, on day two we disembark, rent a car and tour a few hours more. Now instead of flying back to whereever, we drive down through Canada, entering Maine, New Hampshire and looking at the foliage. Car rentals are cheap in Quebec. To drive to Portland,Maine is 6 hrs. Portland is a lot less money to fly from than Quebec. Our cruise is from Sept 23 through Oct. 3 so this is peak foliage season, especially if you are driving through the western mountains of Maine and NH. 3 sisters look up foliage in NH or Quebec, i am sorry i am a little computer challenged as for some reason my computer (which i should replace) will not accept pics. from my phone) But pics of Seguarney, Bar Harbor, etc on the internet should convince him. Just tell him to stop being stodgy Ha! Ha!

My wife and I cruise a lot but this will be our first Princess cruise and we booked it for Sept 23. 2026. We just finished this nearly identical cruise on Norwegian and loved it so much we couldn't help ourselves when we say this cruise was the best we have ever taken. This looks like a fantastic cruise which spans 10 days, leaves Boston, visits Portland, St Johns (Bay of Fundy), Halifax, Sydney, Charlottetown, Sigourney and ends in Quebec City with an overnight. This itinerary is outstanding. You should see the most brilliant foliage, the Sigourney River which is off the St Lawrence is a fjord that runs about 50 miles approx. is beautiful. We saw a whale while other people saw multiples. In Halifax i would recommend going to the small fishing village of Peggys Cove with its lighthouse, the best lobster rolls ever, and the rock bound coast. Portland, Maine is a must visit going to the Portland Head Light. If you like mussels, in Sydney its the best and at Charlottetown, known for Anne of Green Gables fame is a great place to visit. The trip ends in Quebec City which is like going to Paris on a smaller scale. We cruise a lot and this was an incredible journey, we highly recommend it. If you have never been to New England/Canada i would suggest going near the end of Sept up until the middle of Oct. to see the foliage. It should be at its peak during this short season. Should you decide to extend your trip after it ends in Quebec, here is a suggestion: rent a car and travel down through Maine, NH, Ma and end up in Boston, this is very cost effective at you can rent a car for as little as 50.00 per day. You can easily reach Portland Maine in 5 hrs or Boston in 8 driving straight but make it a 2-3 day trip if you can. You won't regret it.

The fjord which is off the St Lawrence river runs about 50 miles. The fjord is very deep and the whales during sept. and oct. travel up it. I saw one whale going up and i know of a couple of people who saw multiple. The scenery is beautiful. We loved this cruise so much we just rebooked another one in the fall of 2026 on Princess, who had a good deal with 40% off. Its a 10 day cruise. We booked a balcony again with the total cost running under 5k leaving Boston, stops in Portland Maine, St Johns (Bay of Fundy), Halifax (Peggys Cove) Sydney, Charlottetown, Seguarnay, and an overnight in Quebec City. Peggys Cove is an hour bus ride from Halifax, a beautiful small fishing village. It has a lighthouse that you can walk out to. The whole shore is a smooth ledge that goes like forever where the waves in places can splash up and over. (if the ledge rock is dark, don't step on as it could be slippery). We had the best lobster rolls at a small takeout seafood shack with a price of 28.00 each, which is very reasonable. One of the best lobster rolls I had with so much lobster in it we needed a fork. We stopped at a local artist gallery and purchased a small painting he had done of the village (i am talking about 25-40 homes total approx.) with his autograph. On the way back to Halifax, the bus stopped at the Titanic cemetery to view the gravesites of the people who was pulled from the sea that were buried there. I would highly recommend this trip, foliage will be good from about mid Sept to mid Oct. I would not go anytime after Oct 10 as the weather could get cold, windy rain.

On our recent cruise from Boston to Quebec, one of the most beautiful places we cruised was up the Saguenay Fjord, which we did not realize how beautiful it was until we went on this 50 mile (give or take) journey to the city of Saguenay. We saw Whales and beautiful waterfalls and steep cliffs. At first we thought we had taken a detour to Norway and its fjords by mistakes. When we booked this cruise Boston, Bar Harbor,Halifax,Sydney,Charlottetown,Saguenay and Quebec we really did not understand what was there and its beauty. We are already talking about another trip in a couple of years. We have been on a lot of cruises but have never been so welcomed at the small cruise port as we were there, i will not tell you how we were welcomed because i do not want to spoil the surprise. My only tip is if you are going for the foliage, go from the last week of Sept through the middle of October. I am from Maine so I know when this small season is. We went the beginning of Sept. because we knew it would be a little warmer, calmer seas, and it was. GO on this trip and you will not be disappointed, one last tip, in Halifax, go to Peggy's Cove, it has the wow factor.

I think food always seems to be a topic of conversation on most of the lines, they are either great, average or awful. I have been on a few lines and really do not see a big difference in the buffet lines of most. The specialty dining is always better but cost. The free dining choice is a small step up from buffet, the only real difference to me is that someone serves you and it takes an hour, which i do not mind. I just returned from a Norwegian cruise and i knew before booking that if i wanted really good dining i would need to book their specialty dining. On the 7 night cruise we booked 4 specialty restaurants which were excellant, but it does cost. Since i have cruised them a few times, i knew what to expect. When it comes to MSC, we really like their buffet choices and dining. It is more European flavored but we like it. Its fresh, more appealing the way its laid out and never is crowded to us. I would suggest to always go to the "rear" dining area, less crowded. But the pizza, salads, pastas are always fresh. I have noticed that MSC have heard the complaints on the American ships and seem to be addressing it with more American style foods. We are a funny people after all. We overeat way to much. To us we believe that if you can't find something you like there may be a problem. Do you really have a choice at home of over 100 items on your menu?? Probally not. Go for the entire experience and obviously if you don't like the food, you may not want to go to Europe.

I use NCL quite often but never have used their flight offer until we cruised from Boston to Quebec City in Sept. of 2024. We flew Orlando to Boston on Jet Blue, back from Quebec on United. No problems. The problem i have is that the airfare went down about 3 months before the cruise by 190.00. Then shortly after the cruise went down in price by quite a bit since our original booking. When i called about the cruise being lower they said since i already received a credit on the air they couldn't do that on the cruise. What has one to do with the other ?? When i saw the air price which i originally paid 444.00 for (which i thought was a good price for 2) NCL paid 19.00 for the Orlando to Boston and 119.00 Quebec to Orlando. They credit me 190.00 on this which means they profited 196.00 on the air and more on the cruise since they refused to discount that price. Never again. I may cruise them again, but never the air.

We just returned to Florida from the NCL Gem which went Boston-Quebec Sept 6, 2024. It was one of the best cruises we have ever been on. From boarding to disembarkation everything on the Gem was great. On this cruise, it was not so much about the ship, though it was good, it was about the itinerary. We flew into Boston the day before (you should always do this) stayed at the Boston Omni (perfect) its a 7 min walk to the terminal and 30 min. walk to the historic district. Cab ride from airport 17.00. The cruise terminal is an old warehouse converted to terminal, its ok but needs updating. Bar Harbor was fine. I would highly recommend going to Peggy's Cove in Halifax, incredible views of the ocean coast and lighthouse, great lobster rolls. Onward to Charlottown which was good, Sydney was good, one the best though was Seguarney (mispelled) Canada. Going up the fjord was incredible, spotting a whale but maybe the best part was the welcome the ship got at the pier. You would have to experience it to believe it. They are the most welcoming people ever with about 20 locals in period costume greeting you with a square dance and talking to guest. All volunteers. A man with a bullhorn welcomes you before you get off the ship, a true "circus type" announcer, he was great. Onto Quebec which everyone needs to stay an extra two days, its like old Paris. Highly recommend.

This is what i think happens with Norwegian. I think they are brilliant in how they advertise their cruises. If you notice they always advertise a LOT of FREE stuff, i.e. free specialty dining (2) free internet (150 min) free air for the (second person) sometimes free drink pkg and so forth. I do not think any of this is free. I think they build the pricing of this into their cruise cabin per person pricing. If you go online and compare apples to apples the similar lines, they usually are 400-600 more per cruise, but people like the "free" stuff. If you look for example at MSC they are usually a lot cheaper but do not include all of this "free stuff". Now i know you don't have to take the free air on NCL , so i am wondering if you said to the agent when booking, what if i do not want the 150 internet. Do i get a credit?? Same with the dining pkg. ? I have never done that, but i am going to ask the next time. I have checked out HAL,Princess, and Celebrity pricing recently and all are either identical or slightly more than NCL, but not by a lot and these are rated "higher quality" lines and they also give away some free stuff, but not as much, it just makes you think.

MSC Voyager finally responded with a new website, that works!! I always consider all cruise lines having been on a lot of different ones. We have been on Norwegian for a few but they seem to have become more expensive, but i am not locked into anyone really. We leave on a Norwegian in 6 days from Boston to Quebec. We have two next year on MSC, private isl. for 2 days and Greece, Italy and Turkey in the fall. Norwegian in the spring on 2026. I am hoping MSC will get into the Alaska mkt. in the fall of 2026 or 2027, if not we are planning a Norway cruise on probally MSC at that time. We think all the cruise lines are good, if you look hard enough you can pick apart anyone but overall they are good.

I do not know how many of you know this but... if you book a cruise on Norwegian (i am pretty sure other lines do this as well) but if you also take them up on their free airfare for one person while the 1st pays full price it sounds great but consider: 1. The cruise company get special pricing, as an example my wife and i booked a early fall cruise from Boston to Quebec with free air for the 2nd person. It cost us 444.00 from Orlando to Boston and return from Quebec City to Orlando. Thats a pretty great deal. The flights were good hours etc. When i saw the tickets later on, it cost Norwegian approx. 39.00 for the Boston leg and 110.00 for the Quebec return. They made a pretty good profit. I had no real problem with that. I received a credit back on my credit card for about 190.00, great. Now the kicker.... the price of the cruise went down by quite a bit but they will not give a credit of any kind when this happens if the airfare had gone down. I realize when you book a cruise you never know if the cruise cost will go down or not, but in this case, i would have been better off booking my own airfare and then receiving a markdown on the cruise. This is just something people should be aware of that could happen, maybe. They are not going to point this out when you originally book it. Bottom line, the airfare for me was super cheap, i paid the price for the cruise originally pretty happy. I also have a cruise to California Coast with them next fall, i booked my own flights 🙂

Its 200.00 plus per person ! Uggh. My guess is you can hire the same excursion on shore for half that but hey, everyone needs to make money right? Keep the economy going. The fog is a problem though anywhere along the coast because it can be so thick you cannot see the ocean. The best time to visit is the last week of Sept into the first week of October, this is when the foliage is at its fullest. I have traveled all over the United States and in my opinion, nobody has foliage like New England because of maple trees which produce the reds and oranges. If anyone has extra days before or after a cruise, travel the White Mountains in New Hampshire, stunning!! We live in Leesburg, Florida full time, love it. Bar Harbor, like most all towns in Maine is very very safe, you can walk anywhere. There are a few factors as to why Maine has become expensive along with the excursions. 1. Its seasonal so the excursions have to factor that in, the opportunity for employment in the winter is limited. 2. The residents have changed from original "Mainers" to people "from afar" like New York, Ct. Ma etc. they want the lifestyle and have the money to pay top dollar. They buy up the ocean front property, tear down the houses and build their dream home. 3. The internet has really allowed this happen as they can make the move and work from home. Obviously inflation has really driven up the cost of everything, the labor rates, fuel, food etc. So, be a good cruiser, spend the money and enjoy the trip. Carpe Diem 🙂

We retired to Florida, Bar Harbor is a wonderful place to visit, if anyone did not want to do an excursion they will have a wonderful day just walking around the town, if you wanted to explore on your own outside, rent a bike or walk the shoreline or hike inland. A lot of people rent a car and go to Arcadia on their own. In my opinion, along with the millions who have visited, go on an excursion to Arcadia. This is one of the most visited National Parks on our country and one of the smallest. It is beautiful with stunning views of the ocean. It is typical Maine with the rock bound coast. As long as its not foggy or raining (which it can be a lot) you will not be disappointed. The excursions from the ship is not cheap though, you can expect to pay around 200.00 pp which is crazy money in my opinion. Of course, that's what we are going to do which includes a Lobster cook-out at the end. We always go on the ship excursions if it's a distance from a ship, this ship is the Gem.