We are thinking about taking a New England/Canada cruise in Oct.to see the fall foliage. Is this too late for Canada? What are some of the highlights we should be looking for?

Depending on which ports you are going to..and with the rotten rainy weather only "mother nature" knows when foliage is coming out.. that said.. Portland is a great city, Halifax, St. John and if your stopping in my Boston... it's a very popular cruise..

Personally, I'd never take a cruise to see the fall folliage. It is much more impressive driving through it than looking at it from out at sea. On the other hand, a New England/Canada cruise is fantastic at any time...gorgeous country, great history. Nova Scotia offers a spectacular coast line along with along with a different look at the 18th century.

The fall Foliage for Canada varies every year. Early October should be fine. Late October, you will probibly see nothing but barren trees.

You will love it here in the Maritimes though no matter what. We have lots of history and great people, if I do say so myself

I live in New York, I agree a cruise is not the way to see foliage- you need interior not the coastal areas. Begining of Oct will be about just past peak in Canada, would be peak probably in Maine.

Thanks to all who responded. I realize driving is the best way to see the foliage but my husband has leg problems and must walk around as often as possible. A ship would be better than a car for him. I guess we should be considering going in late Sept. Now we must decide on a cruise ship. We are seniors. Any suggestions?

My wife and I (both seniors) were on a 7-night NY-to-Montreal cruise last Oct. 13-20. Fabulous!

Port stops were Boston, Bar Harbor, Halifax, Quebec City and Montreal. Fall colors were gorgeous in Bar Harbor and the nearby Acadia Nat. Park, Halifax and along the route to Peggy's Cove, and at the banks of the Saguenay River. They were spectacular along much of the Adirondack train route from Montreal to NYC (this relatively inexpensive one-day AmTrak trip which was our return route to New York is highly recommended; purchased senior tickets online for $105 for two). Great scenery along the periphery of Lake Champlain and through the Adirondacks - even without the autumn leaves, I would venture to say.

All of the port stops have interesting sights and places to visit. (Though Boston is among our favorite American cities, we had visited that wonderful place not long before the cruise thus did not leave the ship at that stop.). Acadia Nat. Park at Bar Harbor and Peggy's Cove near Halifax are worthwhile bus excursions to take - both very scenic and can be appreciated and enjoyed with minimal walking from the excursion stops. Quebec City and Montreal, needless to say, are replete with points of interest. If walking is a problem, bus excursions can be utilized at all of the ports of call.

Most of the days on the cruise were sunny or cloudy. It rained only in Quebec City - a cold rain with snow and winds intermixed. Did not encounter any rough seas thus there were no unusual ship motions at all. As posted by others, however, weather conditions and nature's color offerings are unpredictable - especially around mid-October.

(Note: If you should have questions about the cruise that we were on or are in need of more info, please drop an e-note.)

Halifax is lovely...if you live near the sea miss Peggys Cove as the fog rolls in and it's a long ride..A taxi driver took us to the graves of the Titantic victims and I must tell you it was so touching..In St, John there is a Market and we walked down the hill twice to the ship and before the ship is a little great lobster shack..If your interested in Boston and you said you've been here before do the Duck Tour that even I as a Bostonian loved. The Portland Old Portwill give you lots of chance to walk around.. and take a taxi to the Portlant Public Market...I wanted to buy everything in sight...any other info please write [email protected]. and yes.. Halifax and St. John are special places I want to and will go back...the peple of those two cities did an extraordinary act of kindness within the last year for victims of a bus accident and there is no way we in the Boston area can ever support them enough..

AlFayNV and ParrotMom: Thanks for the info but you didn't say what ships you were on. We like smaller ships with less glitz but interesting shore excursions. Any in-put will be appreciated.

The Royal Caribbean ship, Grandeur of the Seas, does a round trip out of Boston to Bar Harbor, Halifax, Sydney, Quebec, St. John's, and Portland. We're seniors. And while RCL ships in general tend to be more active, I wouldn't call them glitzy. Food and service is good to excellent but not in the same class as Celebrity cruises (also owned by Royal Caribbean).

Why Grandeur of the Seas?

One of the very few ships that stop in Sydney, NS. I'd spend the day in Halifax. Peggy's Cove, Chester, and Lunenberg are quaint seafaring towns on the Lighthouse trail southwest out of Halifax. But there is too much to see in Halifax...Titanic displays, 300 - 400 years of history.

There's not much to see in Sydney. But the Cabot Trail out of Sydney is one of the most scenic drives on the East Coast. If it would suit your husband's walking requirements, I'd rent a car. There are lots of places to stop and stretch your legs.

Sounds like AlFayNV was on a Holland America cruise...NY to Montreal. That's a great line, especially for seniors. But with all due respect, I don't think AlFayNV did justice to the train trip from Montreal to NY. We used to spend summers on Lake Champlain (upstae NY) and made that trip many times. The Travel Channel has featured that trip as one of the top ten train trips in the country.

Food for thought. We like Celebrity much more than Royal Caribbean but the RCL itinerary is one of the best. Never sailed on Holland America but that train trip is well worth it.

Thanks JimM. We've sailed on Holland America and Celebrity but not RCL.Just this past week I received an e-mail from the QEII about a 12 day trip to NE/Can.in Oct. It sounded good but they don't seem to stay in port very long. Most itineries I've read about make short stops in port and cruise a lot.We've traveled on the QEII before and, while OK on some cruises, we feel it might be a bit too formal for this one. I think I'll just have to keep researching and consider the RCL cruise you mentioned.We did want to leave from NY for the RT but will go to Boston if necessary. Thanks.

Wags...not happy about RCI...you will be disappointed, sailed on Brilliance found food and entertainment mediocre and service indifferent..but the Radiance and their Boston itinerary sounds great. NCL has the Dream has a 10 day trip from Boston to Quebec.Corner Brook, Sydney, Halifax and Bar Harbor back to Boston..Friends took this ship last year and loved it...
[email protected]

Read the post DREAMS A DREAM"....AND and it does the foliage trip from Boston....have to think about it next year myself... RCI was such a disappointment to us...

ParrotMom: Thanks for responding. We've been on many ships and on the Dream twice. It is the only ship we ever were sick on. Both times we had to go to the ship's hospital. It was probably a coincidence but I don't intend to find out. We took their trip to the Holyland and Turkey and it was Great! Took there trip to South America and it was Awful! We feel about the Dream as you do about RCL. We'll continue to look at other ships for this trip.

We were on the ill-fated SeaBreeze which was more like an oversized tug boat, but with a crew who had a heart of gold. I tend to get very seasick, but I take ginger tablets and Sturgeron (availabe in Bermuda).Checkout what Serenade of the Seas is going to be doing..if they are coming into Boston and then doing the Canadian itinerary. (new ship). For my trip to Bermuda again on this Sea this time the TA didn't know in January that there is bus service to NYC from Providence direct to the dock. Then again, Wags..if your from N.E. as we are....I just open the front curtains or back door and the foliage, apple trees, etc. are all here.. I have in front of me (no, I am not a TA)thecruise ship schedule for 2003..as of December 2002 and the only two ships listed to go to Canada fromBoston is the Dream and the Grandeur..there possibly maybe another one that has been added.. The earliest sailing of the Grandeur is 9/14

ParrotMom; We're from the NY area and hope to find a ship leaving from here.

(Pardon this tardy follow-up; I'm not on the boards on a daily basis.)

It was on the NCL Sea that we cruised said itinerary last Oct. However, a recent check of the NCL website showed that they have changed the length of cruise, ports of call and ships for that region. Both NCL's Crown and Dream will be sailing longer and slightly different, yet interesting, roundtrip itineraries out of either Boston (Dream) or Baltimore (Crown) this fall. The Dream, by the way, is a "nice and comfortable" albeit large ship; we sailed on it just last month and everything that we value (food, cabin accommodations, cleanliness, service and main lounge shows) was good-to-excellent from our standpoint. One of the pluses - but a minus for some - is the freestyle cruising concept on almost all of the NCL ships. And if informality and less time constraints imposed by scheduled seatings appeal to you, then you might look at NCL cruises. See NCL.com for detailed info on itineraries, ships, etc. (Some other lines have also been introducing freestyle dining.)

On a separate but related note, was perplexed by JimB's comment re: "I don't think AlFayNV did justice to the train trip from Montreal to NY. We used to spend summers on Lake Champlain (upstae NY) and made that trip many times. The Travel Channel has featured that trip as one of the top ten train trips in the country."

Your critique begs a more convincing description of the train route but the combination of your collective comments including your concluding opinion ".. but the train trip is well worth it" hardly approaches an enthusiastic endorsement, especially considering your claim to familiarity with the area cited. The reader is offered nothing more. If you implied the desirability of a more elaborate and positive assessment than my recommendations of that train route, then it is certainly nowhere evident in your response. Is that your idea of doing "justice to the train trip from Montreal to NY"?

(Note: Our pre-cruise research led us to "National Geographic" (a Travel Channel's source) and "Money Magazine" articles that both recommended the Adirondack train ride. We thus coordinated it with the cruise - same train and same route that were mentioned.)

Just a note to you..the NCL Sea was refrubished completely in January and is sailing from NYC to al three docks in Bermuda this summer and on a few later voyages will be departing from Philly and Baltimore and then onto I gather Florida from Philly with a quite interesting itineary..111 days.....but the NCL Dawn will sail year round from NYC

I aologize, AlFayNV. Just as my mouth tends to run off in the wrong direction at times, so do my fingers. You're right, of course. I didn't mean to offend you. And, indeed, I ended up doing less justice to that trip than you did.