barbaralois

Hi,

I live in New Hampshire and my sister lives in Hamilton, Ontario. We are talking about doing a three or four day get-together in early July and are looking for places to meet and go. I am going to be doing a lot of driving this summer so don't want to spend a lot more time driving. We could fly somewhere and meet but not too far away since it's such a short time. I thought there might be a 2 or 3 day cruise out of Boston and even thought I remembered something about an overnight cruise from Boston to Nova Scotia, but haven't been able to locate anything on google. Does anyone have any information about short cruises from Boston?

marvelousmouse

I'm thinking this is probably not what you are thinking of, as it leaves from Portland Maine instead, but it has both night and day crossings:

https://novastarcruises.com

barbaralois

You know - that must be what I was thinking of. We are only about 2 1/2 hours from Portland so that could work. Have you done that cruise?

tch912

Google cruises from Boston.

barbaralois

I did, tc912 but I couldn't find any as short as two or three days.

marvelousmouse

Nope, sorry. Just bookmarked it last year when I was considering going to Boston again, as I didn't make it to Maine last trip. If you go, I'd love it if you posted a trip report

tch912

I am going to try the Nova Star ferry and stay a couple of days in Halifax, but it probably won't be until next year. I already have plans for this year's travel. Good luck in your planning barbaralois.

barbaralois

That cruise from Portland to Yarmouth sounds really good, I just emailed it to my sister to see what she thinks.

Thanks for the suggestion.

dfrostnh

Suggest you think this through. We did a similar ferry trip so there was an overnight going to Nova Scotia. Then we drove around with an overnight in Halifax then return to Yarmouth for trip back to Portland. Fortunately, someone advised booking a cabin for the day time return trip. This would still be a driving vacation unless you stayed in Yarmouth.

I think a better idea would be to fly someplace to meet then enjoy a city using public transportation and/or cabs. Two years ago I flew direct from Manchester to Chicago. It's a fun city to explore with great public transportation.

DonTopaz

Hamilton (on the escarpment between Toronto and Niagara Falls) is not 2-1/2 hours from Portland unless you have a private airplane.

A nice weekend in Montreal (fly for you, train for her) might work.

travelgourmet

I did this trip over 20 years ago. Unless something has changed, it is a ferry, not a cruise.

I'd meet in a city instead.

barbaralois

travelgourmet - it looks like the NovaStar just started in 2014.

Don topaz - I meant 2 1/2 hours from where I am in New Hampshire, not from Hamilton. My sister could fly here and then we could drive together to Portland.

And dfrostnh - did you go on the novastar? I'd love to hear from someone who did. And I think if we do it, we would just plan on spending a day in Yarmouth.

But I have to say I'm leaning against this trip because of all the not so positive comments and my sister didn't sound that thrilled about it either. Now I'm thinking maybe a couple of days in NYC and see a show or two.

china_cat

Have you considered maybe flying to Bermuda and spending a couple days relaxing there? its such a short flight, and July is a nice time to be there. Good beach weather.

Just another idea to consider.

barbaralois

that's a good idea and I love Bermuda but my sister thought nova scotia was too much travelling time for her so probably bermuda falls into the same category.

barbaralois

We ended up deciding to spend a couple of nights in New York City coming up next week - I'll post a report after we go.

dfrostnh

barbaralois, sorry, I was away when you asked the question about the ship. Our trip was years ago so not the Novastar. I think you will be happy to have chosen to meet in NYC. Loved the tenement museum and Chelsea Market food tour.