As most of you knew, I sailed on the Holland America Maasdam cruise ship on the May 17th voyage from Montreal to Boston. They call it the Canada / New England itinerary. When asked by my brother-in-law, why I chose that cruise, I answered that we were always curious about Eastern Canada and the Eastern seaboard. Now I can say that I have been to the Maritimes and visited Bar Harbor in Maine and Boston.
I did not want to spend a lot of money on shore excursions so I kept to a budget. I also did not fall for the marketing ploy that most shore excursion desks seem to do, hurry me to preorder before the cruise sails in case a particular tour sells out. I normally wait until I get onboard, attend the port talks then decide the best tour for the value.
Here are the shore excursions that I took:
1. City Tour of Old & New Quebec – If I knew what I know today, I would have skipped this tour and walk into Old Quebec myself. The main sight is the Chateau Frontenac which you see on top of the hill when you sail in. It’s a nice walk from the ship and if climbing stairs is not your thing, you can take a funicular up the hill for a small price.
2. Panoramic Island Drive – Charlottetown is pretty bland for our taste so if we had skipped a tour, we would have been bored. The drive was ok with the highlight being the Confederation Bridge and the souvenir shops they take you to. My advice: skip buying the Paderno cookware and save yourself lugging it home. You can buy Paderno at Winner’s when you get home.
3. Titanic Tour: The Halifax Connection – After reading comments on the internet about this tour, I was prepared to be sombre when we began this tour. They drive you through residential streets to various houses owned by passengers who sailed the Titanic then they visit the Fairview cemetery where most of the victims are buried. The tour also includes admission to the Maritime Museum where they have a collection of recovered artifacts from Titanic. We spent the morning touring the Halifax port and the Citadel on our own and left the afternoon for the bus tour.
4. Sydney, Nova Scotia – We decided to skip the tours and walk into town ourselves. One of the best sights that we saw was the Jost Heritage house located at 54 Charlotte Street. The admission fee was $2 and it was well spent because volunteers greet you and tell you some history about the house, its inhabitants and how life was back in the 1800’s. Another house up the block called the Cossit House, was not worth the $2 admission that they charge. We also visited a local craft show at a church and talked to some of the locals. (Next time around, weather permitting – visit the Bird Islands of Cape Breton to see puffins, eagles and seals)
5. Acadia National Park – For $39, you don’t get a lobster out of it but you save yourself $60 and you still see the main sights of what Bar Harbor has to offer. The bus winds its way up from the port to the top of Cadillac Mountain where you have a 360 degree view of the area. It is spectacular up there but it will be more dramatic if you go in the fall.
6. Boston City Highlights & Airport Transfer – Considering a taxi would have cost just $20 from port to airport, this tour was not worth it. They charged $71 each and for $50, we had a drive-by of MIT, Boston Tea Party wharf, downtown Boston and where the Celtics play.
Aside from the shore excursions, I would highly recommend that you skip the tours that includes lobster on the menu and order it on the ship (at the Pinnacle Grill where you get 2 tails for a $10 fee). In Bar Harbor, go to the Westside Cafe on West street and tell them you want the special that the ship advertises on their newsletter. For $24.95 (a saving of $4), you get a whole lobster, a cup of New England chowder and a slice of their delicious blueberry pie.
And you ask…how did I gain my 2 extra pounds?
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