Friday, September 24 - BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS (Overnight Hotel)
Saturday, September 25 - BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
Arrive in Boston and settle into a hotel for easy access to historic sites and waterfront dining. Spend your evening exploring cobblestone streets and enjoying classic New England cuisine at a local restaurant. The next morning, grab coffee and pastries, then spend a few hours walking the Freedom Trail, browsing the marketplace, or visiting a local museum before heading to the cruise terminal for embarkation and your 3 PM departure. Enjoy Boston’s historic charm and vibrant energy before setting sail for 7 nights along the coasts of Canada and New England.
Sunday, September 26 - EASTPORT, MAINE
Arrival 8:00 pm
Departs 2:00 pm
Visit Eastport, Maine, and immerse yourself in the quintessential charm of New England. This picturesque port, renowned for its vibrant arts scene and rich maritime heritage, extends a warm welcome to cruisers. Sample fresh local seafood, explore scenic vistas, and enjoy the laid-back atmosphere. Onguard, our ship's amenities and service ensure your Eastport experience is comfortable, memorable, and a delightful part of your cruise.
Monday, September 27 - HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA
Arrival 10:00 am
Departs 7:00 pm
Located on a rocky inlet on the Atlantic Ocean, Halifax, Nova Scotia's provincial capital, is defined by its maritime geography. It's a spirited mix of world-class history and nautical-themed museums alongside bunkers and fortresses that guarded the harbor, plus striking public art and sights, funky shopss nd excellent pubs serving up folk music (and good pints).
Explore the Halifax waterfront, where steamships once anchored to drop off arriving immigrants at Pier 21. Savor the low-key yet classy culinary scene for fresh seafood and Nova Scotia specialties. The city features street vendors and casual joints that cater to university students, as well as upscale eateries with elegant settings. Along Nova Scotia's southern shores, the city is surrounded by lush greenery and charming villages that are worth the trip from downtown proper. Snap photos of attractions in the charming fishing village, Peggy's Cove, with its picturesque lighthouse on a rocky outcropping. Or wander the streets of Lunenburg, whose colourful Old Town is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can also soak in the charms and sights of Mahone Bay, home to artists' studios and a trio of steepled churches.
Tuesday, September 28 - SYDNEY, NOVA SCOTIA
Arrival 10:00 am
Departs 6:00 pm
Sydney is the largest city on Cape Breton Island, which is linked by causeway to the rest of Nova Scotia. Sydney's attractions start at the harbor, where visitors can shop for locally made crafts and see the world's largest fiddle, which towers beside the port's cruise pavilion. Some of the city's historic houses and churches, dating back to the 1700s and 1800s, are open for tours. Restaurants often provide live music (expect fiddles and sea chanteys) along with meals of seafood fresh-caught in nearby waters. Sydney's gallery visitors have a chance to meet local artists and purchase their work.
Cape Breton's natural wonders include the spectacular scenic drive known as the Cabot Trail Hikers in Cape Breton Highlands National Park will find stunning vistas around every turn, while a boat ride on massive Bras d'Or Lake, which is ringed by wild hills, offers a different perspective on the province. Explore the region's past with a visit to the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site, and learn about the area's First Nations communities at Membertou Heritage Park. If you decide to go deep underground at the Cape Breton Miners Museum, your tour guide is likely to be a man who toiled for years in the island's coal mines and has many stories to tell. Another must-see: the Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site, where the famous inventor made his summer home.
Wednesday, September 29 - CHARLOTTETOWN, PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND
Arrival 8:00 am
Departs 5:00 pm
Charlottetown is the capital of Canada's smallest province, Prince Edward Island, as well as its largest city, though it has fewer than 35,000 residents. Despite its modest size, the city has an impressive number of Victorian houses and buildings as well as great parks waiting to be explored. For Canadians, it is perhaps most famous as the Birthplace of Confederation. It was here, mostly at Province House, that an 1864 conference led to the creation of the Dominion of Canada.
Prince Edward Island is linked to New Brunswick on the mainland of Canada by the 13-kilometer (eight-mile) Confederation Bridge that soars over the Northumberland Strait. A remarkable feat of engineering, the bridge opened in 1997 and is the longest in the world over icy waters.
Sites within downtown Charlottetown include the lovely Victoria Row, which becomes a pedestrian mall each summer, and other historic buildings, some of which are now museums. Nearby Prince Edward Island National Park is home to white-sand beaches and hiking and biking trails; plus, fans can glimpse the house and farm that inspired the beloved book Anne of Green Gables. During your visit, you can also learn about the daily lives, past and present, of residents on lighthouse and boat tours.
Thursday, September 30 - CRUISING GULF ST. LAWRENCE
A lighthouse on little St. Paul's Island is a stark reminder of days gone by as you sail past this infamous old shipwreck site, known as the graveyard of the gulf, on your way through the Cabot Strait and into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. So huge is the gulf that half of Canada's 10 provinces have a coastal connection to it. Perhaps that's not surprising, considering that it's the world's largest estuary and is fed all the way from the Great Lakes 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) away.
A mere 19,000 years ago, it was covered by a mile-thick sheet of ice. Every Canadian school kid knows that in 1534, Jacques Cartier was the first European known to enter the waters of the Gulf and face the Maritime Algonquian peoples. In short order, the French kept arriving, as did Portuguese and Basque, who established whaling operations and shipped unimaginable amounts of cod to the Old World. Today, visitors come to explore massive islands, colorful towns, and national parks that straddle the surrounding mainland, as well as thousands of tiny islets around which whales now thrive.
Friday, October 1 - QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC
Arrival 10:00 am
Depart 6:00 pm
Few places in North America are as steeped in history as Québec City, Canada. Older than Jamestown and founded before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock, it is the only city north of Mexico whose original fortifications remain intact. The Québec City historic district, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is still home to religious orders and hospitals that date back to the 17th century. Its Place-Royale would look familiar to the explorer Samuel de Champlain, even with its modern attractions of gift shops and cafés. On the Plains of Abraham, you can walk the battlefield where, in 1759, the French forces under General Montcalm were decisively trounced by the British, led by General Wolfe.
The British took control of all of New France within a year of that 1759 battle, but even so, French culture still lives on here in Québec City. More than 95 percent of Québec City's population speaks French as its first language, though it's easy to sightsee and navigate the city in English. As you tour the museums and historic sights of Québec City that celebrate Québecois history and dine at restaurants that deserve its distinctive cuisine, you'll discover a remarkable culture that has survived and thrived into the 21st century.
Saturday, October 2 - MONTREAL, CANADA (Disembark)
Sunday, October 3 - MONTREAL, CANADA (Fly Home)
Disembark after 7:00 am
Overnight Hotel
Montréal, Canada, is a city of contrasts, one that defies a simple description or a catchy tagline. It sits on the New World's St. Lawrence River, yet it has an undeniable Old-World French flair. It is a historic city, founded in 1642, and the streets of Old Montréal are lined with sights that range from a 17th-century seminary to grand commercial buildings erected in the 19th century. But Montréal is also home to contemporary architectural masterpieces, most notably those erected for Expo 67, including Buckminster Fuller's Biosphere.
Montréal is, at once, the cultural capital of the Québecois and a decidedly global and cosmopolitan city, attracting migrants from around the world. The walls of its galleries and museums showcase leading artists from the province and the rest of Canada, while the city hosts festivals that feature the best international films, musicians, and performers. Many of its restaurants serve traditional specialties - poutine, bagels, and smoked meats; others are helmed by some of the continent's most innovative chefs.
Montréal is a vibrant urban center, with buzzing streets and attractions, yet crowned by peaceful, leafy Mount Royal Park, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted (also responsible for New York's Central Park). Whichever of the city's many aspects appeals to you most, you are sure to be charmed by this unique city and find many things to do in Montréal.
Stay overnight and fly out the next day.