Canada/New England Fall Foliage Cruise Review

[bowlcoach]

We sailed October 3-16, 2009.

Here is a cruise for all you nature and landscape lovers; unlike the beaches of the Caribbean and the exotic sites of the Far East. However, if you were on this cruise with us, it was about as unpleasant as you could want.

We sailed aboard Celebrity Cruise Line's Constellation on what was to be a colorful trip up the coast of New England, down the St. Lawrence River to Quebec City, to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Little did we know that the weather would be a big factor in 11 of the 13 days of this cruise. Temperatures were 10-18 degrees BELOW average, the sun was out in only 1 port of call and a portion of another, and the wind and rain would blow and howl forcing us to buy winter coats halfway through our cruise. Even walking on deck while on the ship was impossible after day 3 of the cruise. Again, wind, rain and temperatures restricted any monnlight walks after dinner.

Let's look at the itinerary:

• Bayonne, New Jersey
• Boston, Mass
• Portland, Maine
• Bar Harbor, Maine
• Halifax, Nova Scotia
• Quebec City, Canada
• Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

BOSTON - our first stop. We had sunshine and fair temperatures. We really enjoyed the sites but thought our harbor tour was not very good. Did get to see the USS Constitution (OLD IRONSIDES) from the harbor. We captures a few good photos of some of the attractions and learned to speak without using any R's in the words. That should come in handy. The fall colors were about 75%-85% according to our local guide, but we didn't see much from the downtown area.

PORTLAND - this port-of-call had potential fro us, but the weather started to turn and it took away from the enjoyment we expected. Kennebunkport is a great area to visit. A tourist mecca, yes, but a beautiful place. (Probably more so in the warmth and with less wind). I had my first encounter with a lobster roll and loved every bite. Oh, how I wished lobsters were plentiful in Kansas. We did get to see some color in the foliage in this area, but again, it wasn't the best.

BAR HARBOR - the absolute worst weather of the entire cruise was here. Everyone we knew really touted Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. We'll have to take their word for it. Pouring rain, wind and fog that was so thick it was hard to find your bus before walking into it. We had our first lobster lunch in this port. That took our mind off the weather, at least for an hour anyway. We did end up spending some money here; to buy winter coats. We thought we were prepared for this cruise, evidently not. And, naturally, this was our only port where tendering to and from the Constellation was required. COLD & MISERABLE. They say the colors of fall were great. I have no idea.

HALIFAX - a break in the really bad weather, but overcast and a couple of showers with a bunch of wind. Another non-enjoyable stop, except, of course, for the lobster lunch #2. With one lobster lunch under my belt, I am now an expert at extracting the meat from those beautiful red shellfish. We went by small boat in the harbor to a lobster trap and listened intently for nearly 20 minutes learning about lobsters. Of couse the wind and wind chill kept that excursion from being enjoyable. My first thought here was, "what am I going to post for the Cruise Crazies to read to make the review a valueable tool for cruisers in the future?". Of course, the answer to that is....the weather is unpredictable and you'll never know what you are going to get.

QUEBEC CITY - a 2 day stop at this very pretty Canadian City. First day was, you guessed it, rainy and cold, while the 2nd day produced some sun after an early morning threat of snow. It warmed up to about 44 degrees and made that 2nd day tolerable. A beautiful city in my estimation, and certainly picturesque when preparing to dock. Old Town is a great place for the tourists. Shopping, eating, etc. all available in Old Town. We walked fom the pier to their farmers market of all places, and it was a huge building filled with fresh produce and seafood. Wow! An excursion to "see" the pretty foliage along with a stop at Montmorency Falls and a trip to a sugar shack was very enjoyable, albeit cold.

CHARLOTTETOWN - this stop on Prince Edward Island completed our 6 stops for this cruise. A quaint little town with a lot of charm and the home of "Ann of Green Gables". My last of 3 lobster lunches was here. We traveled out of the city to Prince Edward Island Preserve Co. and had our lobster lunch. What a wonderful place! Besides the fall colors starting to appear, the crispness in the air told us winter was closer than we thought and soon the ice breakers would be working on the waterways. They have a nice large cruise terminal complete with photo opportunities with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

SUMMARY - As I stated earlier, I cannot really judge this cruise as a fall foliage cruise, because we were able to see so little because of the weather, but I can say that this area of the world has things to offer. For those of you who can't get enough lobster, or for that matter, lobster at all, this would be a MUST DO. Besides doing your homework on the average weather for the area, prepare for Mother Nature changing it for you. Prepare for the worst during the late fall season in New England and Canada. Maybe being from the Midwest made us a little naive about the weather, even though we did our research. See as many of the local sites as you can and enjoy them; you'll never know if you'll be returning to the area.

Recommendation is 50/50

[murr]

Mike,

Go back to Canada again. We went in July last year and it was fantastic. Even September is great. Sorry the weather sucked.

[DebbieandJerry]

NE had so much rain this summer. Doesn't surprise me.

For us in the 100's up until about Wed., any doom and gloom would have been welcomed. But most certainly not the entire time.

Kinda how we felt on our 5 days to and 5 days back from San Diego/Hawaii. We had thought it would be Caribbean like and it wasn't.

Thanks for the forewarning.

[GottaCruz]

So sorry to read about the weather you experienced . Glad you enjoyed the lobster and some of the excursions. Thanks for sharing with us your honest review.

[Lisa63]

....the weather is unpredictable and you'll never know what you are going to get.

Unfortunately, that pretty much sums up our New England weather... year-round, actually. I am sorry you did not have better weather. This was a particularly odd autumn. I recall exactly the week you visited. Even we New Englanders brought out our gloves and scarves.

While I love my New England cruises, I really don't like the way many of them are marketed. In many cases, pax will not see the brilliant fall foliage shown in the brochures. Sure, there will be some beautiful colors, but the best of the leaf peeping is done inland, not within a few miles of the coast. And, the timing of when the leaves are at peak color changes from year to year. I wish more of the brochures would highlight the history of these ports, as they are remarkable.

OK... off my soapbox now. Thank you for the review... and I loved the part about the lack of Rs in Bostonians' speech. I've been here 20 years and I still can't understand everyone.

[cruisinmama]

We sailed October 3-16, 2009.

Here is a cruise for all you nature and landscape lovers; unlike the beaches of the Caribbean and the exotic sites of the Far East. However, if you were on this cruise with us, it was about as unpleasant as you could want.

We sailed aboard Celebrity Cruise Line's Constellation on what was to be a colorful trip up the coast of New England, down the St. Lawrence River to Quebec City, to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Little did we know that the weather would be a big factor in 11 of the 13 days of this cruise. Temperatures were 10-18 degrees BELOW average, the sun was out in only 1 port of call and a portion of another, and the wind and rain would blow and howl forcing us to buy winter coats halfway through our cruise. Even walking on deck while on the ship was impossible after day 3 of the cruise. Again, wind, rain and temperatures restricted any monnlight walks after dinner.

Let's look at the itinerary:

• Bayonne, New Jersey
• Boston, Mass
• Portland, Maine
• Bar Harbor, Maine
• Halifax, Nova Scotia
• Quebec City, Canada
• Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

BOSTON - our first stop. We had sunshine and fair temperatures. We really enjoyed the sites but thought our harbor tour was not very good. Did get to see the USS Constitution (OLD IRONSIDES) from the harbor. We captures a few good photos of some of the attractions and learned to speak without using any R's in the words. That should come in handy. The fall colors were about 75%-85% according to our local guide, but we didn't see much from the downtown area.

PORTLAND - this port-of-call had potential fro us, but the weather started to turn and it took away from the enjoyment we expected. Kennebunkport is a great area to visit. A tourist mecca, yes, but a beautiful place. (Probably more so in the warmth and with less wind). I had my first encounter with a lobster roll and loved every bite. Oh, how I wished lobsters were plentiful in Kansas. We did get to see some color in the foliage in this area, but again, it wasn't the best.

BAR HARBOR - the absolute worst weather of the entire cruise was here. Everyone we knew really touted Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. We'll have to take their word for it. Pouring rain, wind and fog that was so thick it was hard to find your bus before walking into it. We had our first lobster lunch in this port. That took our mind off the weather, at least for an hour anyway. We did end up spending some money here; to buy winter coats. We thought we were prepared for this cruise, evidently not. And, naturally, this was our only port where tendering to and from the Constellation was required. COLD & MISERABLE. They say the colors of fall were great. I have no idea.

HALIFAX - a break in the really bad weather, but overcast and a couple of showers with a bunch of wind. Another non-enjoyable stop, except, of course, for the lobster lunch #2. With one lobster lunch under my belt, I am now an expert at extracting the meat from those beautiful red shellfish. We went by small boat in the harbor to a lobster trap and listened intently for nearly 20 minutes learning about lobsters. Of couse the wind and wind chill kept that excursion from being enjoyable. My first thought here was, "what am I going to post for the Cruise Crazies to read to make the review a valueable tool for cruisers in the future?". Of course, the answer to that is....the weather is unpredictable and you'll never know what you are going to get.

QUEBEC CITY - a 2 day stop at this very pretty Canadian City. First day was, you guessed it, rainy and cold, while the 2nd day produced some sun after an early morning threat of snow. It warmed up to about 44 degrees and made that 2nd day tolerable. A beautiful city in my estimation, and certainly picturesque when preparing to dock. Old Town is a great place for the tourists. Shopping, eating, etc. all available in Old Town. We walked fom the pier to their farmers market of all places, and it was a huge building filled with fresh produce and seafood. Wow! An excursion to "see" the pretty foliage along with a stop at Montmorency Falls and a trip to a sugar shack was very enjoyable, albeit cold.

CHARLOTTETOWN - this stop on Prince Edward Island completed our 6 stops for this cruise. A quaint little town with a lot of charm and the home of "Ann of Green Gables". My last of 3 lobster lunches was here. We traveled out of the city to Prince Edward Island Preserve Co. and had our lobster lunch. What a wonderful place! Besides the fall colors starting to appear, the crispness in the air told us winter was closer than we thought and soon the ice breakers would be working on the waterways. They have a nice large cruise terminal complete with photo opportunities with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

SUMMARY - As I stated earlier, I cannot really judge this cruise as a fall foliage cruise, because we were able to see so little because of the weather, but I can say that this area of the world has things to offer. For those of you who can't get enough lobster, or for that matter, lobster at all, this would be a MUST DO. Besides doing your homework on the average weather for the area, prepare for Mother Nature changing it for you. Prepare for the worst during the late fall season in New England and Canada. Maybe being from the Midwest made us a little naive about the weather, even though we did our research. See as many of the local sites as you can and enjoy them; you'll never know if you'll be returning to the area.

Recommendation is 50/50

OH NO ...I'm in the middle of canuck land and the weather here has been so off this year we had +30 temps one week then the next +8..maybe the East has been on the same roller coaster. I've never been that far East and have always wanted too. So I did enjoy your review.. I've never liked lobster but have been told until you get fresh I can't say I don't like it..sorry that weather was not on your side this Cruise.

[cruisetarp]

Sorry about the weather Mike but thanks for the great review of all the ports. Sounds like you made the best of the weather situation and enjoyed yourselves anyway. Just the thought of all that lobster .....yummy!

[lindasuelucas]

i have thoroughly enjoyed reading every review you do.  the same with this one.  sorry the weather wouldn't cooperate.  thank you for your attention to detail and your honesty...