New England & Canada: smooth-sailing vacations showcase Atlantic ports of call - Cruising

Travel America, May-June, 2002 by Randy Mink, Karen Mink

Setting sail from Pier 92 on the Hudson River, we stood by the rail of our jumbo Carnival Cruise Lines "Fun Ship," taking in the New York skyline before heading into the harbor for a glimpse of its guardian, the State of Liberty. Our family of four, along with 2,700 other passengers, was off on a five-day Atlantic adventure to Eastern Canada's Maritime Provinces, a rather offbeat destination in the overall scheme of cruise vacations.

Though people tend to associate cruising with palmy, balmy islands to the south of our borders, more and more discerning travelers are thinking cool-clime cruises to historic cities in New England and Canada. Instead of embarking from Miami or Fort Lauderdale, they're taking off in summer and fall from New York or Boston on the same glamorous mega-ships that carry sun-seekers to the Bahamas and Caribbean in winter.

North American cruising has become an attractive alternative since the September 11 attacks caused people to reevaluate their travel plans to faraway places, and cruise lines this year are providing more domestic options than ever. New England/Canada voyages are especially enticing for those who live within driving distance of the Eastern Seaboard.

Our July cruise on the Carnival Victory combined two full days at sea with visits to Saint John, New Brunswick, and Halifax, Nova Scotia. Her sister ship, the Carnival Triumph, this year is offering the same summer itinerary from Manhattan, plus four, one-week fall foliage cruises in September. These longer trips feature Boston; Portland, Maine; and Halifax and Sydney, Nova Scotia. Four-day summer weekend cruises calling at just Halifax are also available.

After a day of getting acclimated to life at sea and sampling the facilities on our floating resort, the Carnival Victory delivered us to the heart of Saint John, within walking distance of downtown shops, restaurants, and museums. Located on the Bay of Fundy, an arm of the Atlantic boasting the highest tides in the world, Saint John is only 70 miles from the Maine-New Brunswick border.

Greeting passengers were costumed "Loyalists" in three-corner hats and frilly dresses; ladies received a rose. (Loyalists, or American supporters of the British crown, settled Saint John in 1783.) In the shed at the pier, vendors sold T-shirts and crafts.

Besides two enclosed vertical malls connected to other buildings by skywalks and underground passageways, shoppers head to the stalls of Old City Market, a cavernous, block-long hall with festive banners, mounted moose heads, and white-painted rafters reminiscent of a ship's hull. It's a good place to take pictures and absorb some local color while perusing the produce and souvenirs of Canada's oldest continuous farmer's market, built in 1876. Appealing to sweets lovers like us were the ice cream treats, homemade chocolates, and New Brunswick maple syrup and candy. We tried a salty snack called dulse, a dried purple seaweed that locals eat like potato chips, but decided it must be an acquired taste.

For a taste of times past, we prowled through some of the antique stores and art galleries in the Victorian brick buildings on William and Germain streets. In Market Square mall, we enjoyed exhibits on whaling, logging, and shipbuilding at the New Brunswick Museum.

Saint John's chief claim to tourist fame is Reversing Falls, a natural phenomenon in which rapids and whirlpools caused by high tides force back--twice each day for several hours--the mighty St. John River, which normally would flow into the Bay of Fundy. One of Carnival's popular shore excursions includes a thrilling 20-minute jetboat ride through the rapids. Yellow rain slickers are provided because everyone gets wet. Waves tower as high as 10 feet.

Another fun excursion involves kayaking on calm stretches of the river. A lobster bake on the beach follows two hours of paddling.

One Saint John tour features a visit to Moosehead Brewery for a look at how Canada's world-famous premium beer is brewed, bottled, and shipped for export. Free samples are offered, and there's time to buy Moosehead logo souvenirs in the gift shop.

Other Carnival excursions give passengers a chance to view their ship from Fort Howe lookout or Carleton Martello Tower, a circular stone fort built for the War of 1812.

A tidy town with flower baskets festooning the street lamps, Saint John (pop. 125,000) is a comfortable port of call for Americans, a place where people speak English and seem genuinely glad to meet their neighbors from the south.

Halifax, with its high-rises, has a more big-city feel than Saint John but exudes the same easy-going ambience for cruise passengers, who don't have to walk far along the new boardwalk to find waterfront shops and restaurants. Shoppers make a beeline to the Historic Properties, a complex of wood-and-stone wharf buildings where merchants deal in Scottish tartans, maritime art, and nautical paraphernalia, among other wares.

The saga of the ill-fated Titanic comes alive at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, which spotlights Halifax's role as the base for search and recovery operations after the oceanliner sank 750 miles off its coast in 1912. Artifacts include the only surviving deck chair from the ship. A 3-D movie focuses on the 1992 expedition to its rusting ruins. Carnival's "Titanic Treasures" tour not only visits the museum but also victims' gravesites and a church where memorial services were held.