A Magical voyage across the pond LIVE UPDATE 9/30 - Page 4 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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How great that Mari and Raleigh will join you for part of the cruise! I will say that I found Saint John and the Reversing Falls underwhelming.
Good to know.
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I hope you're doing an excursion to Hopewell Rocks or something interesting along the Bay of Fundy. I wrote an (unfinished) TR about my travels in that area a few years ago, but unfortunately the pictures are probably gone now due to darn Photobucket.
Now you mention it, I think I remember that trip report. It's so annoying about Photobucket, isn't it?
Bob and I have done two Disney cruises from NYC. We've been to Halifax NS twice, St. John NB, PEI, and Sydney/Cape Breton Island NS (Bob's favorite). We enjoyed Hopewell Rocks at St. John, Peggy's Cove at Halifax, City tour of Halifax with a tour of the area when Titanic victims are buried, Anne of Green Gables area outside Charlottetown PEI, the Highland Village and Alexander Graham Bell Historic Site on Cape Breton's Island. All were fabulous. Looking forward to "traveling" with you after the fact and seeing all of your adventures.
Bob and I have done two Disney cruises from NYC. We've been to Halifax NS twice, St. John NB, PEI, and Sydney/Cape Breton Island NS (Bob's favorite). We enjoyed Hopewell Rocks at St. John, Peggy's Cove at Halifax, City tour of Halifax with a tour of the area when Titanic victims are buried, Anne of Green Gables area outside Charlottetown PEI, the Highland Village and Alexander Graham Bell Historic Site on Cape Breton's Island. All were fabulous. Looking forward to "traveling" with you after the fact and seeing all of your adventures.
Oh wow, it all sounds wonderful. I know we'll be seeing some of the Titanic sights and we're planning on our own tour of Halifax.
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I have used Google to chase some of the references to sight seeing spots you have mentioned so far. This looks to be a most interesting adventure. It was good to read the HP spot references especially the Jacobite train.
I have used Google to chase some of the references to sight seeing spots you have mentioned so far. This looks to be a most interesting adventure. It was good to read the HP spot references especially the Jacobite train.
This will be quite a trip with two cruises covering nearly three weeks! Seems like you have it figured out with the weather and just to deal with it as the North Atlantic can be quite turbulent with the storms coming from the Eastern USA into the maritimes and to Europe. Glad it will be only four days crossing the Atlantic.
One thing to mention is when you get into Cork ( as you said you've never been here, but I was) is a sight you'd never expect to see in Ireland and I was shocked to see it and has something to with the jet stream! Something you expect to see in warmer climates like Florida and California but not Ireland. I will let you know if you want or leave it a surprise if you'd rather have it this way!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Registered Message Board Members save 30% off PassPorter guidebooks! When you register you'll have access to a discount coupon good for 30% off the list price of PassPorter books in our online store.
This will be quite a trip with two cruises covering nearly three weeks!
It should be!
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Seems like you have it figured out with the weather and just to deal with it as the North Atlantic can be quite turbulent with the storms coming from the Eastern USA into the maritimes and to Europe. Glad it will be only four days crossing the Atlantic.
Me too... and don't remember me about the possibility of storms... I'm trying to think positive!
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One thing to mention is when you get into Cork ( as you said you've never been here, but I was) is a sight you'd never expect to see in Ireland and I was shocked to see it and has something to with the jet stream! Something you expect to see in warmer climates like Florida and California but not Ireland. I will let you know if you want or leave it a surprise if you'd rather have it this way!
Oh come on, you've piqued my curiosity now - I have to hear more!
Pre-trip report – part four: potential shore excursions..
Now we knew we’d have travelling companions on one of our two cruises, but we were still over a year out before we’d be setting sail. What to do in the meantime, because of course, I couldn’t just sit still and do no planning… well, could you?
I decided to take an early sneak peek at what excursions might be available, as there were details for some of our ports of call on the Disney Cruise Line website, and I figured I might as well copy them into a document, so I could reference them. After all, by the time Disney had completed their ports of call for 2017, shore excursions for these ports of call would just disappear from the website, as there would be no point in having them on there, and would only re-appear just before booking opened next year. I’d rather have more of a chance to think about what we might want to do.
We’ll board at Dover, and we won’t be doing anything there before we board with Disney. Dover is literally on our doorstep. We’re about 40 minutes’ drive away, so I think I can safely say that we’ve pretty much been there, done that when it comes to excursions in the local area, and if we haven’t, we can do it later at a much cheaper rate.
Our next port of call is Portland on the southern coast of England. It’s located right on the English Channel, but the main reason for stopping there is because it’s within reach of Stonehenge. You notice I didn’t say “easy reach”, because it’s not… it’s quite some way away. We’ve been to Stonehenge more times than I can remember, so that’s not something we’ll be doing. Instead, we’re thinking of going our own way, and perhaps renting a car and going over to the Donkey Sanctuary, which we love. It’s only an hour and 20 minutes’ drive away, so it’s do-able, as we’ve got six hours there.
We’ve been to the Donkey Sanctuary many times, and one of the reasons I used to adore it there was to see my darling adopted donkey Gareth, but sadly he died in October 2017. Whether we still end up going back remains to be seen. It will depend on how I feel about going back there after his death, which as I write this, we haven’t done yet, so we’ll see how we do. If not, there are plenty of other places we can explore locally.
One thing I have already read about is that we should be on deck an hour before the ship arrives here, as apparently they have a brass band and gun salute for ships coming in, which should be something worth seeing.
The next day we visit Cork, and this is one port of call where there were no details of shore excursions on the website, so at this stage, I’m none the wiser. You may be amazed to hear this, but we really haven’t explored Ireland at all. We’ve literally spent the day in Dublin, and that’s it. It is on our list of places to visit, so we will get there one day….
I started out with my trusty Dorling Kindersley guidebook to Ireland, and I saw Blarney Castle is near Cork. I can imagine that’s going to be on all the excursions, and sure enough when I did a search of Cork shore excursions, that option came up quite a lot. I’m sorry, but I have no desire to visit the castle, and certainly no desire whatsoever to “kiss the blarney stone”. I think I already have the gift of the gab.
It looks as if there’s a fair bit to do in Cork itself, and nearby Cobh – at first I thought they were one and the same thing, but apparently not… Kinsale is somewhere else my guidebook recommended, and I saw some tours that incorporated two of the three. Some tours seemed to take in Cork and a distillery, which is another option, but to be honest, there was nothing that immediately jumped out at me, so it’ll be interesting to see what Disney offerings there are in due course…
I did manage to find out where the Cork cruise terminal is, and it looks as if it’s right in the middle of Cork, so exploring the city on foot may be an option…
The next four days will be spent at sea, so no shore excursions for us, but hopefully the weather will allow us to enjoy some on-board experiences… fingers crossed!
Our first stop when we get Stateside is in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Now I’m going to confess here and now that frankly a lot of our ports of call are completely and utterly new to me. I know nothing about them, so finding out will be fun! After all, isn’t that what exploring the world is all about – making new discoveries?
I tend to enjoy sightseeing trips when we cruise, so when we go to destinations like the Caribbean, we can easily reduce our options, as the “sit on a beach” or “go snorkelling” excursions aren’t something we tend to be interested in.
I learnt quickly that Sydney is obviously somewhere associated with Alexander Graham Bell, given one of the options is that you can visit the Alexander Graham Bell Museum. Other options allow you to explore the Cabot trail, one of North America’s most scenic drives, visit Fortress Louisbourg, a restored 18th-century French settlement recognized as a Canadian National Historic Site, or see the Highland Village, a 50-acre living-history museum overlooking the Bras d’Or Lakes. Then again, we could go on the lobster 101 excursion, where you sit down to a fresh meal of lobster, ½ pound of mussels, potato salad and coleslaw or you can take a puffin tour by boat. Of course, you can always just explore Sydney as well… or take an underground coal mine experience. Decisions, decisions…
The next day, we head for Halifax in Nova Scotia, and thankfully we get two bites of the cherry here, as we also make a stop here when we head out of New York City and over to Quebec City, and frankly, it’s probably just as well, judging by how many excursions take my fancy. There are nearly 20 on the “long list” (what I start with before making a short list ).
Options here seem to revolve around Peggys Cove (no apostrophe apparently ) with one option also taking you to the Fairview Lawn Cemetery, the final resting place for 121 passengers of the Titanic. I’m not sure I’d feel about that. Actually, I do. As I write this, I’m getting chills down my spine, so I guess I’d be a bit creeped out… The lobster lunch and maple sounds good as well. You get to sample lobster (if we plan these excursions right, we could end up with a daily dose of lobster ) and then see the processing of Acadian maple syrup. That sounds interesting…
There’s obviously a fair amount to see in Halifax itself, with various options including a hop on, hop off bus tour, a duck tour (that’s going to be a winner with Mark, I can tell you now… ), a pub tour and even a top 10 tour.
Another option is Lunenberg, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, that is apparently one of the prettiest coastal towns in Canada. You can also go out on a tall ship sailing, although that might be a bit too much work for me As I say, there’s certainly lots to see here, and we’ll be back on the next cruise to see a bit more.
It’s interesting to see there is one option to visit the Bay of Fundy and that includes tastings at “various vineyards” may just make the short list. However, I also notice there are more Bay of Fundy options the next day, so we may be better just waiting…
Next: what might be the options for Disney’s new ports of call?
You certainly have a lot of options for excursions! I think Kinsale has a number of castles, estates and old fortifications that may be worth doing especially from someone like you and Mark who have the lifetime membership for the Trusts in England! I think it's a good idea to stay on the ship in Dover to just enjoy the amenities on the ship such as the spa and perhaps some good meals as well!
I won't leave you in complete suspense regarding my comment but won't give it completely away but you should get it with a fairly big hint. One word....Coconuts!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
I love the Cabot trail, its one of the prettiest drives in Canada, I have visited Fort Louisbourg twice and really enjoyed it. You are right there is so much to do in Halifax, wonderful museums, the duck tour is quite well done. I personally liked Lunenberg much more than Peggy’s cove. What ever you choose I am sure you will enjoy it, and the people in that area are so friendly and warm.
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I know we'll be seeing some of the Titanic sights and we're planning on our own tour of Halifax. 
Seems like you have it figured out with the weather and just to deal with it as the North Atlantic can be quite turbulent with the storms coming from the Eastern USA into the maritimes and to Europe. 
Glad it will be only four days crossing the Atlantic.
Something you expect to see in warmer climates like Florida and California but not Ireland. I will let you know if you want or leave it a surprise if you'd rather have it this way! 
Whether we still end up going back remains to be seen. It will depend on how I feel about going back there after his death, which as I write this, we haven’t done yet, so we’ll see how we do. If not, there are plenty of other places we can explore locally. 
Kinsale is somewhere else my guidebook recommended, and I saw some tours that incorporated two of the three. Some tours seemed to take in Cork and a distillery, which is another option, but to be honest, there was nothing that immediately jumped out at me, so it’ll be interesting to see what Disney offerings there are in due course… 
or you can take a puffin tour by boat. Of course, you can always just explore Sydney as well… or take an underground coal mine experience. Decisions, decisions… 
) with one option also taking you to the Fairview Lawn Cemetery, the final resting place for 121 passengers of the Titanic. I’m not sure I’d feel about that. Actually, I do. As I write this, I’m getting chills down my spine, so I guess I’d be a bit creeped out… 
), a pub tour and even a top 10 tour. 
However, I also notice there are more Bay of Fundy options the next day, so we may be better just waiting… 
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