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I am considering taking a train to a cruise. Has anyone ever cruised out of Boston or Montreal? Do you know from where in the city the cruises leave and what might be a good hotel, not too expensive, to stay in that would be convenient for catching the cruise?
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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Although I can't comment on Boston, I have boarded transatlantic ocean liners in Montreal. Almost all ships depart from the Iberville Passenger Terminal which is very close to central Montreal. I have walked it many times (but not when carrying luggage, of course) and estimate it to be about a mile and a half. There are a few "boutique" hotels in the Old Port area, but as I recall there are none that would be really close to a ship. Any hotel in central Montreal would be convenient to the pier.
If you are arriving or departing Montreal by rail, nothing is more convenient than the Queen Elizabeth Hotel. If you wish, porters from the hotel will take you to Central Station and VIA porters will take you from the train to the hotel lobby. Other hotels which are connected underground to the station are the Hilton Bonaventure and the Marriott Chateau Champlain.
Posts: 216 | From: Mississauga, Ontario, Canada | Registered: Jul 2000
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The cruise ships in Boston leave from the Black Falcon Pier which is near So. Boston. There are several hotels right there, but pricey. You don't define convenient, but Boston is pretty easy to get around. Even from the Back Bay area, it wouldn't take more than 15-20 minutes to get to the pier. That being the case, you can stay pretty much anywhere in the city and be fine. Living here, I never get to stay in any of the hotels in town, so i can't offer much of a recommendation except price point and location.
Posts: 518 | From: Maynard, MA, USA | Registered: Sep 2000
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Let me add one more thought to the above: If you get the opportunity to cruise down the St. Lawrence, why wouldn't you take it? More interesting things to see, and no chance of getting seasick!
Posts: 518 | From: Maynard, MA, USA | Registered: Sep 2000
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When in Montreal on business, my choice was always the Chateau Champlain (known locally as "the cheesegrater" -- look at it from the outside and the reason will be obvious). The CC was always the "French" hotel while the Queen E was the "English" hotel. Go for French, and ask for a room with a view of the mountain (that would be Mount Royal). It's one block from Gare Central.
Posts: 614 | From: Merchantville, NJ. USA | Registered: Aug 2000
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Good morning, Sojourner!! Where do you cruise TO from Boston or Montreal? I didn't realize those cities had cruises.......
Posts: 2428 | From: Grayling, MI | Registered: Mar 2002
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You cruise between the two, RRRich. Or sometimes just between Quebec City and Boston. Or sometimes beyond Boston: There are cruises from Montreal to NYC and even to Fort Lauderdale, with additional stops in Charleston and Savannah.
If I take the Montreal-Boston one (that is more like what I can afford), what I have to decide is whether to go out of one and back to the other, or vice versa. Hotel costs may be a factor. Although if we go home from Boston we can skip the hotel there, if we want to (not sure I want to; haven't been to Boston in years, and it is a state capital!) Anyway, I'm not sure we can afford the cruise all toether, especially since they never give the kind of deep discounts you can get on Caribbean and Alaska cruises. But we're looking into it. The cruises seem nice, with lots of stops and a lot on the St Lawrence, as TBlack says. And it's something my husband might do, unlike the cross-country-on-train trips. (We would of course take Amtrak to and from the ports, but those are day trips.)
There are also cruises that leave Boston (and probably Montreal and Quebec) for Europe. But alas, I definitely couldn't afford any of those! (and besides, then you cannot come back on Amtrak) Anyway, if I ever did save up enough for a European cruise, I'd want to do it westbound, and come into NYC. I want to sail past the Statue of Liberty!
Thanks for the hotel tips, everyone. I think the hotels mentioned in Montreal might be above our budgets but will look into them. Is the cruise port in Montreal near the Old Town, down by the Science Center someplace? I don't remember seeing any cruise ships, just local tourist boats, when I was there.
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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quote:Originally posted by RRRICH: Good morning, Sojourner!! Where do you cruise TO from Boston or Montreal? I didn't realize those cities had cruises.......
Several of the big cruise line sail between Boston and Montreal in the summer with stops in New England and the Maritimes.
There will be 90+ cruise ship calls at Halifax this season including Cunard’s Queen Mary II and Queen Elizabeth II.
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Sojourner, Just one more thought and then I'll shut up: I go to Montreal on business frequently and prefer to stay in the old town. Check out the Hotel Bonaparte, they have a web site. They also have a restaurant that is very good for lunch or dinner. Generally the hotels in the old town are smaller, more French, and probably less expensive than the high-rise variety that are in the financial district or up on Sherbrooke St.
Posts: 518 | From: Maynard, MA, USA | Registered: Sep 2000
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For places to stay in Boston, you might want to check out tripadvisor.com. This is a great site that offers just about everything you'd ever want to know about anywhere around the world.
In addition there are forums, just like this one, where locals and tourists alike converse, give local advice, reviews on restaurants and accommodations, etc.
Just type in Boston when you're on the site and that'll get you started.
Good luck with trip. Sounds fun!
Cozyharbor
-------------------- A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Posts: 15 | From: Maine | Registered: Mar 2007
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Of my 28 cruises I have cruised Boston-Montreal several years ago on ROTTERDAM VI (10-days) in mid-May and the cruise was absolutely incredible! Boston is an easy city to walk and we did full day pre-cruise hotel stay and walked around for hours. On our cruise the Ports of Call included Bar Harbor ME, Halifax and Sydney NS, Charlottetown PEI, and down the Saguenay Fjord, then Quebec and finally Montreal. The cruise down the St Lawrence Seaway, and the final morning arrival into Montreal was just amazing. Not doubt you will have a grand time.
I love Holland-America and have cruised them to Alaska too. I prefer the NB sailing as Quebec was a superb last port of call to remember the cruise by.
There were no rail or train excursion offered that I can remember, but the ports offer loads of GREAT photo opportunities.
Bon Voyage!
Posts: 497 | From: Clarksburg, West Virginia | Registered: Oct 2003
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For what it's worth -- Last month I stayed in the Radisson in Boston's Back Bay. $170 a night (plus tax) booked through Travelocity. Not a bad price for a decent Boston hotel. Good hotel restaurant, and if your exchequer is comfortable, there's a Legal Seafoods restaurant right across the street.
Posts: 2236 | From: Evanston, Ill. and Ontonagon, Mich. | Registered: Feb 2007
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In 2002 I took Via's Metropolis from Toronto to Montreal, stayed overnight at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, connecting the next morning with a Via local to Quebec City where I boarded the QE2 for a seven day cruise to New York. I spent the day in New York, having lunch at a restaurant in Grand Central Terminal, then connecting with the Lake Shore to Buffalo and eventually back to Toronto. It was supposed to be an all rail and ship journey, and if the Lake Shore had been reasonably on-time, instead of some eight hours late, I would have made my connection with Via's General Brock in Niagara Falls back to Toronto. Instead I ended up on a bus from Niagara Falls (about a 90 minute ride). What a come down from Queen's Grill on the QE2 to a bus. Other than the bus I had a great time, and sailing down the St. Lawrence is well worth the experience.
Posts: 524 | From: Toronto Ont. Canada | Registered: Mar 2001
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Thanks so much, everyone, for your info. DMWNC1959 and royaltrain, do you recommend we take ship excursions in most of the ports of call, or do you think there is no need in some of them? Also, are there any particular excursions or sites in Halifax, Sydney, and Charlottetown that you recommend? I suppose in the latter I'm interested in Anne of Green Gables stuff, from my Ute (yout'), but should I consider anything else there? And for Halifax, I remember seeing a gorgeously set coast and lighthouse at the time of that sad plane crash; will we see that? Also, what is Sydney like? Also, unlike those 3 places, I've been to Quebec and Bar Harbor before; is there something I might have missed in either place that you most recommend I should try to see there? Finally, do you have any specific recs involving Saguenay Fjord--like, you need to see it from staboard, or be sure to hear the lecture, or, well . . . whatever . . .
Also, just to include a TRAIN question and not be booted off the board . . . oops, can't think of any more. Well, I am still taking Amtrak to and from the cruise, if we do it, so this really is train related!
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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Sojourner, I can give you an opinion on some of your questions. Charlottetown has a wonderful art museum. Green Gables is not there. It's in Cavendish but surely they have tours going there. We drove but it seems to me there were tour busses. It is very touristy but who cared? (my daughter threatened to disown me if we didn't go there) The house is just as one imagines and you expect to see Marilla and Matthew at any moment. In the summer just about all the towns have lobster dinners usually put on by the churches, Excellent! It's been a number of years since we were there so I am sure there have been changes. I suggest you write to the provencial travel bureaus of PEI and NS for the latest info. We enjoyed Halifax,took our usual bus tour,saw the Citadel and most of the town. As to Sydney my comments in my journel... "sydney is a run down town ugh" and that's the way I remember it. Cape Breton and the Cabot trail are SUPER. We loved Peggy's Cove and Grand Pre(Evangelines "country". The following year we were in Louisiana and saw St.Martinville where they ended up. I don't know how much time you have but I understand that tours left from Maine and went to NS. There you can rent a car and travel around.I loved that area.And now I shall retire from my soap box.
Posts: 1577 | From: virginia | Registered: Jun 2005
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quote:Originally posted by sojourner: Also, are there any particular excursions or sites in Halifax
I always took the shipboard offered tours. HAL offers a grand all day excursion to the Titanic Grave Sites and City/Citadel Tour combined with a stop at beautiful Peggys Cove!!! It also goes by the site for the airline crash, you can see it from the bus.
quote:Sydney
Fortress of Louisbourg was an AMAZING recreation. Take the tour.
quote:and Charlottetown that you recommend?
An easy town to walk or take the Green Gables and Countryside Tour.
Did you see the St. Saviour's Episcopal church in Bar Harbor with the glorious Tiffany Stained Glass windows?
Quebec's stunning Notre Dame cathedral was amazing. For the Saguenay Fjord just be topside, the views are all around. They also did a Salmon Bake on deck while in the fjord. Great eating if you like salmon. At the end of the fjord is a little surprise...
Out of all my cruises this one easily rates in the Top 3 for me. A great trip indeed.
Bostons Back Bay Amtrak station...
wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_Bay_(MBTA_station)
...to downtown is very easy. I dont know anything about Montreal back to the US via Amtrak. We flew back from there and never got to see the Amtrak/VIA rail station. I am sure an Amtrak trip back down thru Vermont/New York State would be a stunning way to end the cruise.
Posts: 497 | From: Clarksburg, West Virginia | Registered: Oct 2003
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Thanks for all the info--it is so useful. Train Lady, the cruise only makes day stops--do you think we could take the excursion to Anne of Green Gableland and still have time to walk around Charlottetown?
dmwnc, I have taken the Adirondack to and from Montreal, three round trips, and can recommend it heartily, if all is working well--along with the Cardinal, it's the most scenic ride east of the Mississippi that I've taken, and a day trip daily, without the inconvenience of the Cardinal. Though it is a slow ride compared to driving (or of course flying) it's well worth it, IMO. If you wanted to take it, you might try the Vermonter north out of DC, with a few days in Burlington (renting a car to see Shelburne restoration too, if you could take the car to Montreal and leave it there-I'm not sure if car rental places let you do that across the border but others will know; or catching a bus from Burlington area to Montreal). After a few days in Montreal, you could then take the Adirondack southbound (be absolutely sure to sit on the left/fireman's/eastern side until you get to Fort Edward, then try to switch sides before you get to Albany-Rensselaer). The train staff often put NYC passengers in one car and others in another so if you are going all the way to NYC, nose around and see if there is a better car with more seats! Though, in fact, since this southbound trip may get in too late for you to do anything else, if you can't afford staying NYC, you could overnight in Albany or perhaps Rhinebeck or even Saratoga--if you want more info, let me know. You could then catch a local Empire Service for the pretty ride south to NYC(sitting now on the other side of the train)--try to get a train that originates in Albany or in Rutland VT--the latter is called the Ethan Allen--so it won't generally be late. You could then catch a regional from NYC to DC--not sure if you'd need another stopoever then, depends where in WV you live. Avoid these trains Friday and Sunday, when prices have really skyrocketed.
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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Soujourner, I am not sure. We stayed overnight in Cavendish as we were driving. I suggest you contact a tour company or PEI tourist bureau and I am sure they can give you an answer. The Island is small so things are fairly close together. We took the ferry over from NS,drove down the Island and into New Brunswick so didn't return to Charlottetown.
Posts: 1577 | From: virginia | Registered: Jun 2005
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oops, Sojourner forgive me . I spelled your name wrong. Sometimes my mind gets gets ahead of my computer fingers
Posts: 1577 | From: virginia | Registered: Jun 2005
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That's OK, train lady--it's not really my name!
(This reminds of the time when someone asked Dolly Parton if the dumb blonde jokes bothered her, and she replied (something like), "No, 'cuz I know I'm not dumb . . . and I'm also not blonde!")
Actually, did you know you can edit your posts? Just click that icon with the pencil & paper at the top of the post, and then hit the Edit Post "button" at the bottom when you are done.
Posts: 2642 | From: upstate New York | Registered: Mar 2004
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