Route: 14 day voyage: Newark - Boston – Sydney, NS – Quebec City – Halifax, NS – Portland, ME – Bar Harbor, ME - Newark

1. General Comments: We are regular cruisers, and the focus of this cruise was – hopefully – the fall colors. Unfortunately, we were about 10 days too early for any massive display. There were, though, plenty of patches of color in the forests. We were disappointed with Celebrity dropping of the scheduled stop at Saguenay. However, this was caused by a last minute (August) Canadian Government decision requiring cruise ships to slow their speeds when traversing the Gulf of St Lawrence. This was to protect the Right Whales migrating through the gulf at this time. (My wife and I believe we each saw one whale.) The reduced speed necessitated dropping one stop so that the rest of the itinerary could be maintained.

Due to the number of cruise ships in the area, two of our dockings (Quebec City and Halifax) were in cargo port areas. Free shuttles were provided between the ship and the passenger terminal area. We were eight cruise ships docked in Quebec City (a record for the city); the prime dock at the passenger terminal was taken by the Queen Mary 2. Read more