We had stateroom 8562, a Junior Suite, starboard side, just aft of midships. It measures 241 square feet with a 41 square foot balcony. This room is quite generous for space and especially storage; everywhere you looked, from the closet to the 4-piece bath to the main room itself, there were cupboards and drawers. It is nicely equipped with a large fridge, flat screen TV, hair dryer, large lighted makeup mirror, robes, sofa bed, two sitting chairs, coffee table and two Ottomans. The room has a nice décor, however, it is dated and the furnishings are a bit worn. The two 110-v outlets are so worn that chargers and the hair dryer plug would fall out (there are also two 220-v outlets). The balcony is rusted in many areas and the furniture is fading.

We did the Corner Brook Panoramic City Tour, CB05A. We boarded a school bus which took us to various highlights around the city, such as Captain Cook’s lookout, Marble Mountain (ski lodge and pit stop), Man in the Mountain (rock formation), an old narrow gauge train display, before returning to the ship. Our host was excellent. Highly recommended.

We did the Old Sydney Walking Tour, SX03A. We met our tour guide “old Ken” in period 18th century costume and proceeded to walk to a number of historic buildings in downtown old Sydney. At the Jost House, “Jill” was in full character explaining how life was in the 1700’s – she was hilarious – everyone just fell in love with her. We toured more houses and churches, ending up at the Sydney Historical Scoiety, located in an old Bank of Montreal building. We enjoyed coffee, tea and oatcakes, all you could eat and drink. For $1.00, you could buy a postcard with the recipe. Highly recommended.

We did the Essential Halifax Tour, HX68A. This tour is operated by Grey Line tours and initially it was a bit confusing finding just what coach to be on. Eventually we got our stickers for this tour which is hop on-hop off, using modified English double decker buses. Our first stop was the Maritime Museum which houses an enormous amount of naval and maritime artifacts, as well as exhibits and salvage from the Titanic, from Halifax’s long history of seafaring and trade in the Canadian Maritimes and eastern seaboard of the United States. Our next stop was the public park in the centre of the city. It has beautiful gardens and displays and a small cafeteria. Our third stop was the Halifax Citadel, an historical fort from centuries past. We managed to tour the large army museum and other parts of the fort, however, as I was not feeling very well by this time, we cut short the rest of the tour locations. The locations on this tour can probably be obtained from the RCI or Grey Line web sites. Highly recommended.

We did the St. John Highlights Tour, NB01A. We boarded our coach and went to the main market in the center of the city (very interesting but very crowded), Reversing Falls (tidal influences on river), and the Carleton Tower, an historic blockhouse from St. John’s past and also modified for coastal defence during WWII. It was an interesting albeit short tour. Highly recommended.

We did the Old Town Trolley Tour of Boston, tour BX19A. We boarded a modified trolley car for this trip which took us on a narrated tour of the Seaport district, North end, Beacon Hill, Boston Common, South End, culminating in a drop off at the famous Quincy Market and Faneuil Hall Marketplace. We spent about an hour touring and shopping this interesting area although we found that it was very crowded inside the Market building itself. We enjoyed a coffee in the common area and caught a return trolley from the drop off point near the Quincy Market. Note that there are no stops before Quincy Market so a restroom break will only occur at the end of the tour. Our driver/guide was great and very knowledgeable. Highly recommended.

We did the Acadia National Park Loop Road tour, BY40A. After a long tender into this port, we waited quite a while to get loaded onto buses. As it turned out, one of the operator’s buses had broken down and other competing tour companies were pressed into service to transport us. Fortunately, for my spouse and I and one other couple, we were loaded into a large SUV with a driver (Melissa) so we ended up with  a personal tour of the Park. We were treated to a fascinating history of the area, the land of rich and famous (think Dick Wolf from “Law and Order” fame, Martha Stewart, and other icons of American industry. We had three stops along the way for photo opportunities, although the weather had become almost overcast and foggy by the time we reached the summit of the Park. Interestingly, by the time we arrived back at Bar Harbor, it was sunny. We spent the rest of the time shopping and sightseeing before returning to the ship. Highly recommended.

) and there are two good restaurants for lunch and evening meals, as well as a coffee shop and patisserie on the main (street) level.I cannot say the same for the photographers who really just got annoying on and off the ship; they showed up several times at dinner when there was no real reason to do so, especially over a 12-night cruise – how many times can you take the same photo?

Vision of the Seas Review

An interesting voyage through the Canadian Maritimes and New England ports

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Junior Suite

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