Autumn-In-The-Maritimes Itinerary
The eleven-day cruise I took last fall touched on seven ports—Boston, Bar Harbor, St. John (NB), Halifax, Sydney, Gaspé and Quebec City—before disembarkation in Montreal. All the ports of call had scheduled land excursions offered to guests for a fee, and two calls had scheduled golf excursions to local courses. In ports where it would involve a long walk to the town center, a regularly scheduled shuttle- bus service was provided by Silversea. New York and Montreal had no excursions planned but many passengers had arranged for one or two-night pre- or post-cruise hotel stays in these cities at the time of their cruise bookings
This itinerary will not be repeated in the near future by Silver Whisper. Her sister ship Silver Shadow (Voyage 3711 May 22, 2007) will visit Boston and Halifax during her repositioning cruise from New York to Southampton, England.
Here is a brief description of the port calls along with respective websites for more information.
New York City
Manhattan is a fascinating place to visit, one that would satisfy most tourists. If this is your first visit, take advantage of Silversea’s pre-cruise booking of hotels to take in the sites, a Broadway play or two, a visit to Lincoln Center for opera or ballet, or a viewing of one of the many art exhibitions held at more than ten major museums in the city. Then, of course, get your Zagat New York Restaurant Guide for eating at trendy and worth-the-money eateries in the Big Apple. For lots of information and special offers, visit http://www.nycvisit.com/home/index.cfm or http://www.nyctourist.com/
Cape Cod Canal
The man-made Cape Cod Canal traverses the narrow neck of land that anchors Cape Cod to mainland Massachusetts. The Canal is about 17.4 miles long and connects Cape Cod By in the north to Buzzards Bay in the south. Three bridges span the 540-foot wide canal. Only small ships, such as the Silversea vessels, can navigate the narrow passageway, allowing passengers to learn about the rich seafaring heritage of the area.
Construction of the Canal began in 1909 with the canal was fully completed in 1916. The then privately owned canal had a maximum depth of 25 feet and was only 100 feet wide at the time, causing navigational problems and accidents. Eventually, the Canal came under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government.
In World War I, German U-boats attacked ships along the Atlantic coast of Cape Cod which made the canal an important safe shipping lane. After the war the US government opened the Canal as a free public waterway in 1940 and began widening its width to 540 feet and increasing its depth to 32 feet. The Canal, which today traverses an area where many prosperous families have built summer homes and upscale resorts have opened, is used by both commercial and recreational vessels. Seven-mile-long service roads, which parallel both sides of the Canal, are available for bicycling, jogging and walking.
During Silver Whisper’s sailing into the Canal, a local historian provided an interesting narration of the history of the waterway and its bridges, and the communities alongside the Canal. More information on the Canal can be found at http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/recreati/ccc/ccchome.htm.
Boston
The first port call on our itinerary. The ship terminal was not in walking distance of city center and shuttle buses were provided for the ship’s guests not taking an excursion tour.
The city, founded in 1630 along the Charles River, offers a wealth of historic sites and important museums to visit. It is a walking town—from the famous 170-year-old Quincy Market located behind Faneuil Hall to the shopping district to the Boston Commons to historic Beacon Hill. Dubbed the “Cradle of Liberty” for its important role in the American Revolution, the city is home to more than seven major centers of learning with Harvard and MIT topping the list, as well as to the Boston Symphony and other top-rated classical-music groups and major art museums. Website: http://www.bostonusa.com.
Bar Harbor, Maine
A favorite tourist destination in summer since the 19th century, Bar Harbor is a sleepy town on Mount Desert Island near Frenchman’s Bay. The town, within walking distance of the ship, has numerous shops, arts and crafts galleries and restaurants. A short distance outside of the town is Acadia National Park with wonderful hiking trails and vistas of the shoreline, and Cadillac Mountain North America’s highest point on the East Coast. A golf excursion was available here. Website: http://www.barharborinfo.com/
St. John, New Brunswick
Canada’s oldest incorporated city was founded by the British Loyalists in 1785. In 1604, French explorers Samuel de Champlain and Sieur de Monts landed here to trade with the natives. Almost 200 years later in 1785, 14,000 Loyalists escaping the Revolutionary War poured off a fleet of ships to settle here. Since then Saint John has merged as an industrial port. The great fire of 1877 reduced much of the city to ashes, and although foreign nations and cities raised relief funds to help rebuild, the Irish laborers who had arrived en masse only 30 years before and who continued to arrive in droves played no small role in rebuilding the destroyed Loyalist city of Saint John back up again, this time in brick and stone.
Saint John has taken great pride in its history and has restored many of the original buildings and homes of the early settlers. A walk down Prince William St. is like taking a walk in the past. A famous figure from the Revolutionary War who defected to the British side, Benedict Arnold, lived here from 1787 to 1791.
There is a waterfront walk named Harbour Passage that includes the waterfront development of century-old facades and the Old City Market. Another site worth visiting is the Carleton Martello Tower, which is one of 16 observation towers constructed in Canada during the early 1800s and one of the few remaining. Built during the War of 1812 as a precaution against American attack, the tower offers a fine view of the harbor. Elsewhere in the city is Trinity Church dating from 1877 and the Irving Nature Park located on Bay of Fundy with walking trails and a variety of sea and land wildlife living here. The old Loyalist House on the corner of Germain and Union Streets is a strong reminder of the city’s British loyalist heritage. The oldest building in Saint John, it has not been structurally altered since it was built, and one of the few building which survived the Great Fire of 1877.
The ship docked at Pugsley Terminal only a ten-minute walk to the town’s center. Taxis were available. Website: http://new-brunswick.net/Saint_John/enter.html
Halifax, Nova Scotia
The capital city of Nova Scotia, Halifax has a rich naval heritage and a visit to this city brings a strong appreciation of her seafaring days of the past. The area’s original inhabitants were the Micmac Indians who called the area Chebuctook meaning Great Long Harbor. The British recognized the city’s potential in protecting their colonies form their French rivals and constructed a base here to counter the French Fortress of Louisbourg. In 1749, British Governor Edward Cornwallis and 2,500 settlers arrived to found Halifax named for Lord Halifax, England’s president of the Board of Trade and Plantations.
During the two World Wars, the city was a key supply and convoy harbor. One of Canada’s most important sites is the Halifax Citadel that dominates the downtown area. There is a wonderful promenade along the waterfront. A couple of blocks off the waterfront is the superb Maritime Museum of the Atlantic that is devoted to the city’s maritime history. It definitely is worth a visit to view the seafaring days of the city including an exhibit on the Titanic and its connection with Halifax, and the story of the Halifax Explosion that decimated part of the city.
At a nearby mooring is the CSS Acadia, Canada’s first hydrographic vessel. At Sackville Landing, the convoy escort corvette HMCS Sackvill has been restored as the country’s naval memorial. Bedford Basis, the inner harbor, was the staging point for the great convoys of ships that brought relief and supplies to war-torn Europe during WWII. The dramatic story of those dangerous crossings is told in the nearby Interpretation Centre. Nearby, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia displays region and international art. This city has many more historic sites alluding to her rich maritime history.
On the opposite shore is Dartmouth, a twin city and reachable by America’s oldest saltwater ferry, offering great views of Halifax. Outside Halifax, Peggy’s Cove nestled in St. Margaret’s Bay with its famous lighthouse and surrounded by granite boulders said to be more than 400 millions old and the result of glaciers that retreated from the area 10,000 years ago. More information on Halifax at http://destinationhalifax.com.
Sydney, Nova Scotia
Dubbed the “Steel City,” Sydney is Nova Scotia’s third largest city and a major industrial center. It is located on Cape Breton Island and was founded in 1783 by British loyalists from New York and New Hampshire, and it attracted a large number of Scottish setters in the early 19th century. With the opening of the coal mines and a steel plant at end of the 1800s, a large number of Eastern European immigrants arrived giving the city its cultural diversity.
Sydney is an important gateway to the Cape Breton Highlands for sailing on the Bras d’Or Lakes. Outside Sydney is the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site, which is North America’s largest historical reconstruction of the fortress town that served as the French administrative, military and commercial heart of North America. Sites to visit include Sydney’s oldest house, the Cossitt House, that has been restored to its original appearance with authentic furnishings and costumed guides; Jost House with its unique marine exhibits and an old apothecary shop; St. Patrick’s Museum housed in an old stone church built in 1828 and now a museum containing a collection of artifacts dating back to the city’s founding; and the Cape Breton Center for Science and Heritage for learning the history of this city.
Outside the city is the Addeck and Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site, which commemorates the life of the inventor, and the resort town of Baddeck located on an inlet of the Bras d’Or Lakes.
The ship docks at Government Wharf in Sydney—a short walk to Sydney’s historic district. Near the dock is a half-mile esplanade along the waterfront. Website: http://sydney.capebretonisland.com/sights.html or www.portofsydney.ca.
Gaspé, Quebec
The ship was to call on Chimney Corner, Newfoundland but when a treacherous weather front was heading towards the area, the port call was cancelled and instead the ship called on Gaspé, located at the eastern tip of the Gaspé Peninsula, 415 miles from Quebec City. With 100 miles of shoreline open to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Gaspé is definitely one of the most maritime cities in Quebec, which gives it a major advantage in maritime trade and transhipment. In 1534, the navigator Jacques Cartier from Saint-Malo, then on his first voyage to North America, found a safe harbor in Gaspé Bay and set up a cross there by way of taking possession of the territory in the name of France. Today, Gaspé is called the Birthplace of Canada.
The town of Gaspé is popular with fishing enthusiasts as the town is situated in Gaspé Bay, a body of water sheltered by mountains. Its three crystal-clear rivers, the York, Dartmouth and the Saint Jean offer great salmon fishing, and each year more than 1,500 fisherman descend on the area to cast their lines.
The Museum de la Gaspé presents an exhibition on Jacques Cartier and his discovery of a new world in 1534 as well as more recent history of the region. Website: www.ville.gaspe.qc.ca
Forty minutes drive outside of Gaspé is Percé notable for Percé Rock; and Bonaventure Island that is home to thousands of gannets. Website: www.perce.info
Saguenay River
The Silver Whisper sailed on part of this beautiful river up to the fjords around La Baie. Guests were treated to a three-hour-plus narration of the history of the river. The lower Saguenay is a fjord gouged by the glaciers 10,000 years earlier. As the ice receded, the sea invaded; tidewaters still surge as far as Chicoutimi, rising and falling dramatically during the equinox.
The stark beauty of the river comes across as one listens to the narrator and learns about the geology and biodiversity that exist here, and that the deep waters are the breeding grounds of the endangered Beluga and Minke whales. When the ship approached Eternity Bay, natural carvings could be seen on the imposing granite rocks and shortly after guests learned the story why a huge statue of the Virgin Mary was built in 1881 on Cap Trinity, one of the most impressive cliffs of the Saguenay. Website: http://www.quebecweb.com/tourisme/lacstjean/introang.html
Quebec City
Quebec City is very much a European city located near the border with Maine. Carved into a steep cliff, this is the only walled city left in North America. Its 17th and 18th century buildings and cobblestone streets make it a wonderful city to visit. The city is divided to an Old Town with its historic ramparts, churches, narrow lanes, and filled with art galleries and restaurants. It is a lovely city to tour and only a few blocks from the ship terminal. There is a funicular which takes visitors to the ramparts and the famous Château Frontenac hotel and the Citadel, which is the city’s largest fortification still occupied by troops in North America. Nearly three miles of stone walls surround the area, which provide impressive views for pedestrians. Website: http://www.quebecregion.com/
Montreal
The city was the disembarkation point for this 11-day cruise. The history of Montreal begins in the old section of the city where the first settlers put down roots more than 350 years ago. Today, many of the old sector’s buildings are home to museums and restaurants that line the cobblestone streets. The newer sector bustles with four- and five-star hotels, a performing-arts complex, museums, and upscale stores on Sherbrooke Street featuring the latest local- and French-designer wear.
The city is the site of many festivals including the Jazz Festival in early summer and the Winter Carnival in early February and the annual Grand Prix rally in summer. Website: http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/B2C/00/default.asp