I'd appreciate general advice from anyone who has been on a New England cruise. Did you get to see very much of New England (or Canada)? What are the best "ports of call"? Do you recommend a particular cruise line? Any chances of whale sightings from cruise ships or taking a separate whale watching trip on a day off the cruise boat? Our party would consist of Mom and Dad, Grandma (myself) and a four-year-old.
step_saver

I don't have any experience on a New England cruise, but I would like to strongly suggest that you visit the site cruisecritic.com and pose your question there. You'll find all kinds of cruisers, and some may even be on your very same ship/same sailing.

Unless you are a cruise aficionado, the better way to visit "New England" would be with a car.

Or if you don't want to do the driving, there are plenty of tour companies that have bus trips through New England and Canada complete with tour guides.

While not a recommendation of either cruise CL has a variety of Canada/New England cruises leaving from various cities - NYC, Phil, Boston. I would check out their itinerary on their website.

I can understand why one would prefer not to drive or take a bus trip with this group. In general, cruise itineraries include ports where one stops for 8-12 hours and in order to see much one must either rent a car, buy a ship-sponsored excursion, or make individual arrangements for transportation/guide in each place. Be sure to figure in this cost when you consider a cruise.

I appreciate all your comments. simpsonc510's recommendation for cruisecritic.com and Gail's info about extra costs are especially practical for our situation.
Thanks so much.

correction to my post that is NCL - Norwegian Cruise Line

Thanks for clearing that up, Gail. I thought perhaps you meant the Carnival Line. I'll now look into the Norwegian Cruise Line.