September 29, 2019
We returned from our cruise on Tuesday night and it has taken me this long to get my laundry done and pictures organized! Life is going to get very busy next week so thought I would try to get my blog done before I forget everything that happened!
September 13
We had a very early start-the alarm went off at 2:30AM! We kissed our pups goodby and left at 3:45, arriving in Savannah in plenty of time for our 6:30 flight to Atlanta. Transferred for our flight to Toronto, where we spent the next 4 hours and finally arrived in Quebec City at about 5:15. We grabbed a taxi and were at the Hotel Port Royal by 6. After we checked in, we went to the hotel restaurant-the Taverne Louise-for a drink, followed by a delicious fish and chips dinner. A wonderful little restaurant with a cozy, friendly atmosphere, great service and awesome food!
September 14
We went down to the restaurant for breakfast and were so excited for our first meeting with Paul and Sharon, Joe and Rose. It was just about a year since our cruise in Portugal and Spain with them. After we ate, we checked out, stored our luggage, put on our rain coats (!!!) and headed out to meet our guide for our walking tour of Quebec City. The bad news was, it rained the whole time. The good news was, it kept the crowds down! Our hotel was in Lower Town and our tour started in Upper Town so we walked right on to the funicular to ride up the hill. The alternative to the funicular is called Breakneck Steps! We had a wonderful guide and learned so much about the city.
Quebec City is one of the oldest European settlements in North America, founded by Samuel de Champlain in 1608, although Jacques Cartier had sailed into the area in 1535. Champlain called his settlement Kebec, which means "where the river narrows". Struggles with the natives plus tensions with England and America led the settlers to build a fortress at the top of the cliffs. The French and Indian War led to Quebec falling in and out of France's hands until 1763 when it was finally ceded to Great Britain. The British may have won the battle but Quebec City is still undeniable French! More than 90% of Quebecers claim to have French ancestors.
The famous Plaza Frontenac towers over Lower Town.
There are mural walls in several parts of town, telling the story of that area.
This has been voted the prettiest street in Canada!
I made friends with this Canadian Mounty.
After our tour, we went back to the hotel, picked up our luggage and walked a couple of blocks to our ship, the Caribbean Princess. I know-Caribbean Princess in Canada! They have a new system for checking in and it went very smoothly. We got into our staterooms, which were larger than I anticipated, and then went for a walkabout to learn the ship. We had lunch and then a rest before dinner. Because there is only one cruise terminal in Quebec, our ship had to move to another berth at 10PM that night. We stayed up to watch the move and had beautiful views of Quebec.
September 15
After a good night's sleep and a HUGE breakfast, we took the shuttle back into Quebec. It was a much better day and the crowds in the streets showed it! We visited a few shops and enjoyed a drink in a very cool bar before returning to the ship for a late lunch and our mandatory safety assembly. We watched our departure from Quebec and as always, it was exciting to be underway. We had a late dinner, followed by B-52 shooters-which we came to love!! Bailey's Irish Cream, Kahlua, and Grand Marnier!!
This is the line for the funicular! The day before we walked right on!
We loved this street!
This was some temporary street art
We had an interesting experience with non-gender restrooms! First time I shared a bathroom with a guy-and hopefully the last!! Here is Sharon coming out with a guy going in! Doesn't she look sheepish?!!
The beautiful basilica in Quebec.
This is one of only 7 Holy Doors in the world!!
Our ship from Upper Town.
Watching sailaway from our balcony!
September 16
After another enormous breakfast, we met Paul and Sharon for our shore excursion in Saguenay. Saguenay is about 120 miles north of Quebec, on the Saguenay River. Saguenay was a natural trade route for the natives and in the 1600s, France established it's first fur trading post. We visited the ice-blue Saguenay Fjord. Carved by ancient glaciers, the fjord is the largest and most southherly fjord in the northern hemisphere. Over 880 feet deep in some places and 65 miles long, the fjord is home to 54 species of fish and marine mammals. We took a bus tour to begin and passed the 70 foot tall Ha!Ha! Pyramid, which was constructed to commemorate the devastating and deadly 1996 Saguenay River Flood. The town of Arvida was built by Alcoa for it's workers and is one of Canada's first pre-planned model towns. When we reached the end of our bus trip, we transferred to a boat and made our way back to the ship.
This was an overlook of the fjord we stopped at on our bus tour.
We stopped at this covered bridge. The inside is covered with local art work.
This is the boat we came back on.
This statue of Mary was donated by a man who fell through the ice and prayed to Mary to be saved. He promised that if she saved him, he would return the favor.
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After we returned to the ship, we ate a late lunch and then walked around the deck. Before dinner, we went to the Princess Theater for a show. It was a singer from Vegas and while entertaining, she wasn't all that good! We had a late dinner, followed by more B-52s!!
September 17
Today was an "At Sea" day so we slept late and then enjoyed a ---you guessed it--huge breakfast. The buffet is enormous and it has every kind of food you could imagine. We tried to sample as much as we could but we got stuffed! After breakfast, Oliver and I decided to try to walk our 3 miles around the deck. One of the interesting things we saw was the "rest area" for the service dog that was on board. We saw this sweet yellow lab several times during the trip. But the biggest thing was--we saw a pod of whales!!! The ship had to slow down for the rest of our trip to Charlottetown. After lunch, Oliver and I had a drink in the Explorer's Lounge and played a fun game-we didn't win but we had a good time! We toured the spa, which was huge and had every kind of treatment you could imagine. We met P&S and J&R for the show in the Princess Theater before dinner. It was absolutely amazing! The singers and dancers were awesome and the set design was absolutely incredible. It was as good as anything we've seen in Vegas!! After the show, we went to the Crown Grill for dinner. It is a wonderful steak house. The decor is wonderful and the food was fabulous. The steaks were the best we've ever had and we enjoyed a 3 hour dinner! It was formal night so we were all looking our best! Unfortunately-----we took no pictures!!
Here are the whales.
September 18
We docked in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and we enjoyed breakfast before going ashore. Charlottetown was inhabited by the Mi'kmaq people as far back as 10,000 years ago but Jacques Cartier did not arrive until 1534. This is the largest city and the provincial capital of Prince Edward Island. Green Gables, a 19th century farm located in Cavendish, was the setting and inspiration for the Anne of Green Gables novels. The Confederation Bridge is the world's longest bridge over ice-covered waters and links PEI to New Brunswick. The well preserved downtown area is quite pretty. After returning to the ship, we went to the theater for another outstanding show by the Princess Singers and Dancers. Another great dinner followed by B-52s and off to bed!
We stopped for a drink at the harbor
We were lucky that we were at the dock, although it was quite short and they had to pick up a mooring ball for the stern. The Celebrity Summit had to anchor out a couple of times while were docked!
September 19
Our ship arrived in Sydney, Nova Scotia at 7AM. We watched the arrival from our balcony and then had our usual ridiculously large breakfast. Because we were docked right in town, we took our time leaving the ship. Cape Breton features a very rugged shoreline and was named the #1 best island to visit by Travel&Leisure magazine. Sydney was founded by Col. J.F.W. DesBarres of the British Royal Navy in 1785 and after that, 50,000 Scottish immigrants arrived. Cape Breton is the only place in North America where Gaelic is still spoken. More Gaelic is spoken in Nova Scotia than in Scotland!!! We found Sydney to be just a bit boring! Back at the ship we had lunch, a walkabout and then went to the theater to see Lou Gazzara. He was an American Idol finalist and is absolutely amazing! He can sing pop, contemporary or even opera. We totally enjoyed the evening and followed it up with an excellent dinner. And possibly more B52s.
Sydney is the home of the largest violin in the world. And a really big chair!
Oliver and the CP
This monument was dedicated to the sailors who were on ships during WWII. When ships were sunk, it was very difficult to rescue the survivors.
Llamas at the pier
The rocky coast leaving Sydney
September 20
We arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia this morning and had an early breakfast before we set out on our tour to Peggy's Cove. What a beautiful little town and a lovely drive there and back. Thousands of artists and photographers have been inspired by this 19th century coastal village. The rocks look like sand dunes and the lighthouse dates back to 1914 and is the most famous lighthouse in Canada. There is a charming little lobster village and we enjoyed our time there. Swissair flight 111 crashed 8 miles off the shore of Peggy's Cove on September 2, 1998 and many of the residents got into boats and tried to look for survivors. Sadly, all 229 aboard were lost. The locals worked very hard to protect the privacy of the relatives, who came to Peggy's Cove to view the site.
We returned to Halifax, passing by Fairview Lawn Cemetery which is the site of the largest number of Titanic graves, except for the ocean itself. We walked around the harbor area and did a bit of shopping and visited the Maritime Museum. They had a Titanic exhibit which included many interesting artifacts, including tickets for the ship. The 3rd class passengers paid around $75, the 2nd class passengers paid around $200 and first class passengers paid a whopping $1200!!! The downstairs exhibit was as interesting. On December 6, 1917 a Norwegian ship collided with a French cargo ship that was filled with high explosives, in the Narrows, a strait connecting Halifax Harbor to Bedford Basin. The cargo ship exploded, killing almost 2000 people and injuring about 9000 others. Nearly every building in a one square mile area was destroyed. A tsunami created by the blast wiped out the community of the Mi'kmaq First Nation who had lived there for generations. It took years for the area to be rebuilt.
After we returned to the ship, we attended another fantastic production show by the CP singers and dancers before another delicious dinner and we might or might not have enjoyed more B52s!!
September 21
The next morning we arrived in Bar Harbor and our luck ran out-we had to anchor out and use a tender to get into town! There is no cruise wharf in Bar Harbor---or Ba Ha Ba, as the locals say! After breakfast we took the tender into the dock to board a lobster fishing boat for a really fun excursion! We got to watch the captain pull up lobster pots, take the catch out and re-bait the pot before he put it back in. Because it is a tour boat, all of the lobsters are thrown back in but we did get to see how they are measured-they can't keep them if they are too little, nor if they are too big. They also can't keep females with eggs. We learned a lot about lobster fishing before we returned to the dock and adjourned to a local restaurant for a scrumptious lobster lunch, including blueberry pie. Maine is famous for it's blueberries!
Joe and Rose enjoyed their lunch! Especially the corn!
A tender getting ready to leave our ship
Lots of people on the streets of Bar Harbor
We did some shopping in Bar Harbor. We each found jackets on sale. It's good to be traveling at the end of the tourist season!
A bit about Bar Harbor. It sits on the island of Mount Desert which was formed by retreating glaciers 18,000 years ago (global warming?!) and was discovered by Samuel de Champlain when he literally bumped into the island in 1604 when his ship ran aground! The first permanent settlement was established by the British in 1796. By 1868 Bar Harbor became the playground of the rich and powerful-the Astors, Vanderbilts, Rockefellers and Carnegies all built big mansions. The Great Depression and WWII marked the end of this age though and the Great Fire of 1947 destroyed 67 palatial summer houses, 5 historic hotels and over 10,000 acres of Acadia National Park. Maine is the lobster capital of the world, although before 1850 only poor people ate it! We sure enjoyed it!
The entertainment was a wonderful pianist named Tom Franek. Classically trained, he played beautiful pieces but he also did some very funny things, like standing on his head, throwing his legs over the piano and playing backwards! He was awesome and we were so glad to hear we would get another chance to see him before we got off the ship. After the show, we enjoyed our dinner.
September 22
We arrived in Boston very early in the morning and docked stern to very close to a Royal Caribbean ship. Because we had all been to Boston, we decided to forego any shore excursions and slept a little later and had a leisurely breakfast before we boarded a shuttle to go into town. We walked all around Quincy Market and did a bit of shopping. Then we made a wonderful discovery-a carousel!! All the animals were sea creatures so Sharon, Rose and I all climbed aboard for a ride!
A beautiful sunrise entering Boston Harbor
Nothing beats riding a giant turtle!!! We walked around the harbor a bit-such a beautiful area. Here are the boys looking at some boat or other.
It was quite hot in Boston. Oliver and I tried to find some shade!
After our walking, we found a nice little restaurant where we sat for a drink before returning to the ship. Entertainment that night was the final production show and it was the best yet. The special effects were incredible. We had another good dinner before turning in.
September 23
Today was a sea day so we started a bit later. There was lots to do today and we started with an interesting-and hilarious-demonstration by the Executive Chef and the Maitre d', followed by a quick tour of one of the galleys.
After lunch, Oliver and I went to the finals of the Voice of the Ocean. This was a talent show, like The Voice on TV, There were 6 singers and 3 judges. 3 of the singers were good, 2 were really good and 1 was outstanding. After the judges narrowed it to 3, the audience voted and the outstanding guy won. Then we decided to go to a trivia contest in the Explorer's Lounge and have a drink. We teamed up with a couple from Scotland and got 14 out of 21 right but of course didn't win. I spent a bit of time packing before we met at the theater for the night's entertainment. It was a comedian who was hilarious. He managed to make ZERO jokes about politics and we had a great time! Paul wasn't feeling at all well so he went to his room right after the show but the rest of us went to Sabatini's, the specialty Italian restaurant and had a wonderful dinner. The desserts were outstanding! After dinner, Oliver and I went to the Explorer's Lounge to see Tom Franek again.
So there was an interesting thing on the ship, although it is hard to explain. We each had a small medallion that we wore and it opened our stateroom door and allowed us to buy things with just a touch but one of the more fun things it did was allow us to pick a "tagalong". At every elevator there was a large screen that showed a layout of the ship, or you could play games or you could pick your tagalong. Whenever we approached an elevator, our pictures would pop up or if we picked a tagalong, it would show up. My first one was a seahorse but it was too small, so I changed to a big pink turtle. We had a ball just standing in front of the screen waiting to see ourselves! Here I am!
Here is a map of where our cruise went.
September 24
We went past Lady Liberty at about 4:30 this morning.
Shortly thereafter the sun started to come up and we docked. Debarkation went swiftly and easily and by 9:30 we were at LaGuardia. Unfortunately our flight wasn't until 3:50 so we had a long day at the airport but finally arrived home at about 7. The pups were happy to see us and we were happy to be home. We had a wonderful trip and we're looking forward to our next adventure! Thanks for traveling with us!
