We were dis-satisfied with the tendering process at Bar Harbor. THis ship is simply too large with too many passengers to tender. We collected tender tickets as instructed, and anticipated a 45-minute tender process as advertised by the cruise director staff on the TV program announcements. We collected our tender tickets at 9:15AM; we received tickets for tender # 46. At 9:15AM, tender # 22 was being boarded. We waited for 2 HOURS until 11:10AM to board tender #46 and did not arrive shore-side until 11:30AM. We were extremely disappointed at having to wait for 2 hours onboard the ship while waiting to visit Bar Harbor. On the way leaving Bar Harbor, we waited in a line for approx 50 minutes in a line which stretched around the corner/restaurant building twice. We will not travel on a cruise ship of this size again if the destination involves tendering.

The debarkation process in Halifax in contrast was much easier. However the Halifax shoe excursion on the "double-decker" bus was a bust. We bought tickets assuming that we would be travelling in an open-air bus- but to the contrary, the bus was a 1960s London bus, with a roof and without air-conditioning. The day was hot, traffic was horrendous per the tour guide. It took about 35 minutes to travel to stop # 3 (the Maritime Museum) which was a 15 minute walk from the ship. We jumped off the tour bus and did not attempt to re-board given the traffic and weather. We ended up walking back to the ship via the scenic seaport path.

Our Chic dining room waiter and busboy Ricardo and Agosto were very friendly and provided excellent service. Read more