Slow Travel 101 - My Monthly Comments on Cruising

(Island Princess - Courtesy of Wikipedia)

The Island Princess is a 22 year old ship in Princess Cruises' fleet, refurbished in 2018. It was the second Coral Class ship built for Princess Cruises. According to Wikipedia, it runs Alaska routes during the summer, with some Panama Canal runs to do (mostly) Caribbean routes during the winter. We caught this ship on one of its New England/Eastern Canada runs in the fall.

There are many options one has to choose from to determine which New England/Eastern Canada cruise is right for you. A prior blog post describes all the important options offered by the major cruise lines, and gives an idea of what we had to wade through to select this cruise on the Island Princess.

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My partner and I took an Uber from Central Queens, NY to reach the Brooklyn Cruise terminal. These were our original invoiced expenses:

Compared with our last cruise, there were no pre-cruise stays, nor were there any flights we had to take to get to/from our cruise port. However, the above is not what we paid for the cruise, as we accepted a "Move over" offer from Princess Cruises.

We were originally booked to take the June 24th sailing of this ship on the same route. Barely 4 days before our expected sailing, we received an offer from Princess which we could not refuse: We'd get a free cruise, with the original fare being returned to us as refundable onboard credits, minus port fees and taxes. Within 10 minutes of receiving this offer, we accepted it, and had Princess book us on this cruise, the last sailing from Brooklyn to make port in Sydney and Charlottetown.

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Ground Transit:

Getting to and from the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal is almost always a hassle, due to the roads in the vicinity of the terminal. If one is coming from Manhattan, one should use a ride service (Uber, Lyft, Cabs, etc.) to reach the terminal from the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel (a.k.a. the Hugh Carey Tunnel), as this will minimize the amount of traffic that has to be fought in reaching the terminal. However, reaching the terminal from Brooklyn, Queens, or Long Island is an exercise in suffering, as one will likely use the Brooklyn Queens "Expressway" (or other overcrowded roads) to reach the terminal If one can use this option, a person can take NYC Ferry to the Red Hook station and walk less than 1,000 feet to the Cruise Terminal

When one departs the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal, one will encounter chaos when looking for ground transit. It's hard to find the Uber/Lyft one has summoned. However, there are a multitude of cabs waiting to take people to the airport of other NYC destinations. If one is not going to an airport, one may use NYC Ferry to connect to Pier 11 in Manhattan, and summon a Uber/Lyft from there, avoiding the chaos at the terminal.

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Embarkation

This year, our Princess medallions were delivered to us 10 days before our cruise. (Sadly, Princess Plus and Princess Premier fares will no longer include free medallion shipping as of 2026.) This mads embarkation much easier, as we could proceed to check-in, have our photos taken, and proceed to the ship without waiting for someone at the pier to find our medallions.

We arrived at the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal at noon, and the lines were ridiculously short. Because we both were using our canes, we were directed to the "handicapped" line, where I breezed through the first checkpoint without problems. However, RQS had to find her Princess medallion in her handbag, something which took a couple of minutes to do. Then, we both sailed through the security checkpoint, where I got wanded due to my belt buckle. At that point, my elite status allowed us to bypass the "crowds" at the regular path to the ship (a savings of 2,000 feet of walking) and board the ship. It's hard to believe that the process of getting on the ship took us less than 10 minutes!

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Stateroom

We originally chose an Obstructed Oceanview cabin for this cruise, as we did not feel we needed to pay the extra money to see the ocean on this cruise. However, due to our acceptance of the "Move Over" offer, we were upgraded to a full Balcony cabin on the port side of the ship. This allowed my partner to get some nice photos of New York Harbor as the ship sailed away from port.

When we started unpacking, we noticed that the stateroom attendant did not clear out the refrigerator before we arrived in our cabin. My partner had to empty 3 glasses of Milk (or something with that consistency) into the sink and place those glasses into the hallway for the attendant to pick up.

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Itinerary:

Halifax, NS

Halifax is the largest city in Nova Scotia, and its metropolitan area houses more than half of the province's population. On prior cruises, we have walked the waterfront boardwalk, toured the immigration museum, and taken shore excursions to Peggy's Cove. On this trip, we decided to visit Old Town Lunenburg,

Old town Lunenburg is one of only two North American communities to be designated UNESCO world heritage sites, It's been on our list of places to see, Although we took an hour for lunch and only had 45 more to walk around, we felt that this place is worth spending the time to visit and explore. The old buildings are picturesque, the shops are interesting, and the seafood served here is hard to beat. If one has the chance, visit the schooner, Bluenose 2, to see a reconstruction of an award winning ship built in the shipyards in this town.

Sydney, NS

Our next stop was in Sydney, It is one of the ports that most 7-day closed loop cruises from New York and Boston will not visit. We chose this 10-day cruise to see what this port (and Charlottetown) have to offer. As one can tell from the bridge cam picture above, it was raining when we arrived in port. So this limited what we were going to do at this port.

Unfortunately, with the rain outside, we could not explore the nearby parts of town and do it justice. Since it was not the type of day to do any exploration, we took pictures of the Giant Fiddle, did some shopping at the port, and went back to the ship for lunch. Hopefully, we will return to this port in the future and be able to give a more complete review of our experiences in this port.

Charlottetown, PE

Although we were scheduled to make port here, we were advised early in the morning of our scheduled arrival that we would not make port. We were in sight of the port, the weather was sunny and clear, but the winds were coming from the wrong direction and made it unsafe to dock here. As a result, this port stop was cancelled and we had another sea day in its place. Hopefully, we'll finally be able to make this port on a future cruise.

Saint John, NB

The port district of Saint John is at the bottom of a steep hill. When we arrived, it was Sunday morning, and the only thing open other than tourist trap businesses on the street adjacent to the dock was the local Anglican Church in the photo above. This was the calmest time I've ever visited the port district, and the walk up the hill was worth it for the relative solitude of this part of town. My partner remarked that she regretted not bringing her DSL camera along, as there were many places one could get interesting photos in the district.

However, most people don't explore Saint John when in this port. Instead, they often take shore excursions to visit Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park where one can walk on the sea floor of the Bay of Fundy at low tide. We chose not to take this excursion, saving it for another date.

Portland, ME

This city is rich in history, but in a quiet way. Many cruise line shore excursions take people to some of the many lighthouses near the city. Other excursions take people up the road to Freeport, where some people do some serious damage to their credit cards while shopping. And still, other excursions take people to see places such as the Bush family retreat in Kennebunkport. As for me, I like to walk around the port district and enjoy the local restaurant scene. It's hard NOT to get a good seafood platter here, as the wharves off the main street have some great places to chow down. Just don't neglect the artisans who have shops along the main street and on the wharves, as they have interesting wares on display.

Boston, MA

There are so many things one can do in Boston on shore excursions, such as: Walking the Freedom Trail and taking a Historical Bus Ride through the city. However, if a traveler has seen much of this great city before, the cruise ship terminal is not within walking distance of the heart of town. One needs to find a nearby bus (a few minutes walk away) to reach the T (Boston's Metro) to bring one to the city center. Considering how tired we were from the last few days' activities, we decided to relax on the ship, as my partner will be back in this city next month.

Being on the ship on a port day can be some of the most relaxing time one can spend on a ship. On this cruise, my partner wished she could have brought her swimsuit, as the ship's pool was empty and the hot tubs were almost unoccupied (as seen in the photo above). The venues that are open will usually be uncrowded, and service will be better than when the ship is at sea. The one drawback to this is that many of the ships venues (shops and restaurants) will often be closed while the ship is in port.

Return to Brooklyn, NYC

Like any cruise, returning to a ship's home port is almost always a sad affair. In our case, we had the pleasure of seeing the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge before sunrise, and the Statue of Liberty just after sunrise. Arriving at the cruise terminal, all we had to do was wait until our disembarkation group was called, and pick up our luggage on the pier. We did not have to go through Customs checkpoints, as we had already had our passports inspected in Portland, ME.

Once outside the terminal, we walked over to the Red Hook Ferry Terminal. Something new was going on, that didn't occur on our other trips here: they were giving out free trips to NYC Ferry's Pier 11, in order to relieve traffic congestion at the Cruise Terminal and on nearby streets. We took the ferry to Pier 11, and then transferred to another ferry going to North Williamsburg. Once back on dry land, we summoned an Uber to return to my companion's home, a trip that cost us half as much as the Uber ride to the cruise terminal. I highly recommend this option if it makes sense for travel within NYC, as it is much more relaxing than waiting in a car that is fighting to get out of this congested part of the city.

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Entertainment

Ship Theater:

The first time we went to the ship's theater, we saw Kyle Martin, a Billy Joel "tribute" performer. Like a good tribute performer, Martin's performance almost made one forget that they were not listening to Billy Joel himself. Thankfully, his show was short enough to keep him from playing some of Billy Joel's lesser hits, and forced him to focus on his best tunes, such as "New York State of Mind" and "Piano Man".

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The second time we went to the theater, we saw Rechel Sears perform. She chose a grab bag of songs from different genres, and it felt that she did not have a good grasp of how to select songs that would fit together well for a 30-45 minute show. (Note: we didn't catch her first performance earlier in the cruise, so this might be an unfair judgement.) Her performances were adequate for a cruise ship, but not one that I'd pay to see on the Vegas Strip.

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The third visit to the theater was to watch Stephanie Hodgdon perform rock tunes. This show disappointed us, as she seemed to be a mere imitation of the singers who made her songs famous. The only time she broke out of the mold and came close to owning a song was in her performance of "The Rose". Although she was channeling Bette Midler, I would recommend that she sing soft songs and leave the hard rockers to people who can do Joan Jett music and Pat Benetar music justice.

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The next show in the ship's theater was a musical revue called "On the Bayou". For a musical revue, this was good, as several singers made their songs "their own". In one case, the singer did one song better than Stephanie Hodgdon did the night before. With this being said, there were a few flaws: several songs didn't fit the New Orleans/Louisiana Bayou theme of the production, and the male lead (if you could call him that) sang a version of "Bad Moon Rising" which was better forgotten in pre-production.

Lounges:

We went to see Carlos Oscar perform his comedy routine in the Explorers Lounge at the back of the ship. Carlos was one of the few comedians who got a laugh out of me. Although I'd consider his performance an adult act, it was not a vulgar act. I won't say too much about his act, save that he brings his experiences and universal observations from his life into his act for which a younger audience would not appreciate.

Food Venues and Availability

Buffet:

What can I say about a buffet that makes it unique? In this case, the venue had a light and airy feel about it, as it was filled with natural light during the day, and never felt crowded when trying to find tasty food. Once one found a seat, roving wait staff would deliver beverages such as OJ, Milk, Coffee and Tea to the table. This way, one would not need to get up again to bring beverages back to the table, unless one wanted to bring back a soda or an adult beverage from the bar.

Not all of the offerings were up to the quality of food offered in the main dining room. The seafood pot pie was mediocre, the hamburgers were bland, and other lunch offerings didn't excite me. Breakfasts were much better, as they had a good variety of dishes that people wanted to have for breakfast.

Main Dining Room (Bordeaux):

Breakfast:

The first time we went for breakfast in the dining room, it was totally forgettable. Nothing stood out, good or bad. The food was enjoyable, but not notable for anything, save to sate one's hunger. However, the next time we ate here, service seemed to be a bit sloppy. Water service didn't come quickly. When asking for artificial sweetener, the person who took our order didn't know to reach into the wait station next to our table and pick out a tray filled with sweeteners. And finally, when our orders came, the person delivering my order was ready to deliver the wrong dish, and not the Eggs Benedict that I ordered.

The next time we ate breakfast in the main dining room, service was even more sloppy. It took forever for anyone to serve us coffee and juice, and the persons who normally deliver pastries to the table never came nearby. Although we were delivered our breakfast orders, it was split into two sections: the blueberry pancakes first, and then the sausage links and bacon strips. This wouldn't have been a problem, save that the waiter served the adjacent table their breakfasts between the presentations of the pancakes and of the breakfast meats. And to top it off, the waiter assumed that I had ordered something I did not - fried eggs with a side of bacon. When this was delivered to our table, I knew that this person couldn't keep things straight, and I would hope that he'd never serve us again.

Lunch:

The times we had lunch in the main dining room, the food was satisfactory. There is not too much one can say about eating a hamburger, so I won't praise or condemn a place that does an adequate job of sating one's hunger.

Dinner:

The dinners we had in the main dining room were enjoyable. The appetizers were interesting, especially the seafood appetizer we had on the night after we left Saint John. While I'm mentioning seafood, the Bahamian Seafood we had on the first night of the cruise was wonderful. Desserts were decent, and I tended to gravitate to offerings such as the Creme Brulee, which I knew would sate my craving for a sweet after dinner.

Crab Shack (A Pop-Up Specialty Restaurant - Extra Charge):

(A cloth apron/bib to prevent clothing stains)

My word of advice: If you order the seafood bucket for 2, go to this restaurant Hungry! Princess usually opens up the Crab Shack pop-up for at least one sea day per cruise. On our last cruise, we went on the second day this venue was offered. Our goal was to get a reservation early on this cruise, and we were lucky to get a seating in the middle of the cruise. Therefore, if one is interested in eating at Crab Shack, get reservations in advance, or as soon as one gets on the ship.

Unlike other ships in the line, the Island Princess opens up Crab Shack for dinner service - even on port days. We didn't know this, and found this out when booking the pop-up when onboard. On this ship, they block off a section of the buffet area for Crab Shack, and cover the buffet tables with paper emblazoned with the Crab Shack logo (which I filled in with colors in the photo above). It makes for a nice, informal feel when one enters the restaurant. Unfortunately, this pop-up specialty restaurant is not included in the Princess Premier fare. So, be sure to allocate a few extra dollars for this restaurant.

Service was satisfactory at Crab Shack. Our drink orders were promptly taken, our water glasses were kept filled, and we didn't have any special needs for our meal. The couple across from us did want a substitution in their meal, and this was handled quickly and to their complete satisfaction.

Both of us ordered the clam chowder, the seafood pot, and the strawberry shortcake. The clam chowder was tasty, but not at the top of my list of chowders that I'd seek out for their own merit. (It was good, and I'd recommend it for those who want to enjoy a good chowder.) However, the seafood pot was well worth seeking out for its own merit. The crab legs/claws were tasty, the crawfish, shrimp, clams and mussels complemented the crab well, a special treat for an evening on this ship. And the strawberry shortcake was a great way to finish the meal - the best dessert we've had on this ship so far.

Sabbatini's (Specialty Restaurant - Extra Charge)

A typical meal at Sabbatini's

Sabbatini's is the Italian specialty restaurant found on almost all of Princess's ships. One will choose from among five courses as part of the Prix-Fixe dinner.

On this cruise, for my first meal, I chose the following:

Rubolita (Soup)
Salumi e Formaggi Misti (Salamis and Cheeses)
Pappardelle alla Bolognese (Wide Pasta with Meat Sauce)
Scallopine di Vitello al Marsala (Veal Scallopine Marsala)
Torta Caprese (Flourless Almond Cake with Rich Cream, etc.)

All of these choices were very good. The Rubolita soup is a more elegant version of Pasta e Fagiole, but equally as tasty. The Salami and Cheese plate was well worth having, as tastes and textures complimented each other very well. The Pappardelle was a little too rich for my taste that evening, but I would order it again in another setting. And the veal scallopine was done to perfection - it was the high point of the meal. However, I would likely choose a different dessert next time, as I could have gone for something light on my tongue such as a sorbet.

For my second meal, I chose the following:

Insalata Mista
Guazzeto di Cozze e Gamberi (Italian Seafood Stew)
Seafood Linguine
Filetto di Branzino
Rocher (Chocolate, Hazelnut, & Pralines)

I didn't care much for the salad greens, as they were both missing something and hard to pick up with a fork. However, I loved the other dishes, and would order them again in a heartbeat. (The Branzino reminded me of some trout dishes I've eaten, and was a perfect way to be introduced to a fish I've never eaten before.)

On my third and last meal at Sabbatini's, I chose the following:

Rubolita
Burrata e Prosciutto
Tortello di Ricotta
Scallopine di Pollo
Vanilla Ice Cream

This time, I went back to the soup, as it was the only choice other than the salad for a first course, and the salad wasn't appetizing to me. For the second course, I had burrata for the first time, and I enjoyed it with the prosciutto. I expected the tortello so be something like stuffed manicotti. Instead, the pasta dish is best described as Chinese chow fun noodles mixed with ricotta and a tomato based sauce. This course was very filling, and I couldn't finish it. The scallopine was exactly what I wanted - "stick to your ribs" cooking. To finish things off, my partner and I asked for something not on the menu. Sadly, the only dessert we could get that we would enjoy was ice cream.

In one of our three visits, the lady who seated us mentioned that this would be a five course dinner, and we would not be rushed. At a 7:00 pm seating, I joked that we had an appointment at 10:00 pm, and she responded that she hoped to be off duty by then. Service was a smidgen slow, but attentive. On our last dinner at Sabbatini's, service was the most relaxed of all, given that most cruisers had already enjoyed their dinners here earlier in the cruise.

Alfredo's (Casual Dining Restaurant - Extra Charge)

On this ship, Sabbatini's does double duty as Alfredo's pizza parlor for lunch service. (It is usually a separate restaurant on other Princess' ships.) Although the pizza is very good here, I won't try to compare it to Alfredo's on other ships, as it is not open at all normal dining times.

Unlike Alfredo's on other ships, the menu is limited to a salad of mixed greens, a pizza with your choice of toppings, and tiramisu. The pizzas served here are better than that served on the Lido deck, as they are prepared to order. However, the limited menu here leave much to be desired.

Crown Grill (Specialty Restaurant - Extra Charge)

A typical meal at the Crown Grill

I've been to the Crown Grill on other ships, and was never disappointed. This time, I ordered the following on our first visit to this restaurant:

Colossal Lump Crab Cake
Blue Iceberg Salad
Shellfish Bisque
Lobster Tail
Salted Caramel Creme Brulee Cheesecake

Normally, I would order the Jumbo Shrimp (Cocktail) as an appetizer. However, I wanted to see how the lump crab cake was, and I wasn't disappointed. There's not much one can say about any salad made with iceberg lettuce, as the dressing and the toppings are what gives the salad flavor. Both of us ordered the shellfish bisque, and that was one of the high points of the meal. Next was the main course. My partner had the strip steak, while I had the lobster tail. Both of us enjoyed this course, and would order these dishes again. And finally came dessert, which was for both of us the creme brulee cheesecake. It was a nice way to finish off this meal, but I would have preferred something with a lighter, more citrusy flavor to end the meal.

Our second (and last) visit to this restaurant was better than the first, save one thing: My blazer kept falling off the back of the chair. Ignoring that, I ordered a hearty meal consisting of:

Chilled Jumbo Shrimp
Caesar Salad (w. Anchovies)
Veal Chop
Triple Chocolate Treasure

The shrimp were exactly as expected - tasty, and worth ordering. It was nice that the waiter asked me if I wanted anchovies on my salad - which I did. The veal chop was enormous, and I couldn't finish the whole thing. Finally, the Triple Chocolate Treasure was very good - although I had forgotten I had this same dessert on my Alaska cruise several weeks before.

Although it can take time to get seated at Crown Grill, service is reasonably swift once seated. However, in one of my two visits, I ordered two Heineken Zeros, with the idea that I wouldn't have to wait for wait staff to come by and take my order for a second bottle. Unfortunately, the waitress thought she'd be back in time for me to place my second order and only delivered one bottle. I had to ask another person on the wait staff for my second (and third) bottle, as she wasn't as attentive as we would have liked. With this being said, service was satisfactory, and we found our meals to be enjoyable experiences.

Salty Dog Gastropub (Casual Dining Restaurant - Extra Charge)

On this ship, the Crown Grill does double duty as the Salty Dog/O'Malley's gastropub for lunch service. (It is usually a separate restaurant on other Princess ships.) Although the food is very good here, I won't try to compare it to O'Malley's on other ships, as it is not open at all normal dining times.

From what I can tell, the menu here was the same as that at the Salty Dog Gastropub on other Princess ships. The burgers here were very good, and I would go back to this place again. However, be prepared to get on line by 11:30 am, as this place takes no reservations. When we first tried to eat here, we gave up and went to Sabbatini's, as we would have had to wait for an hour to be seated.

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Ocean Now Service:

We decided to try this service on the last day of our cruise while waiting to be seated at the Salty Dog Gastropub. We placed our drink order at 11:15 am, and it was never delivered to us by the time we entered the gastropub. Although I might try to use this feature again on another Princess cruise, I would not count on it working if seated near a dining area before it opens for lunch or dinner.

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Disembarkation:

This process was relatively straight forward. Both "self-assist" and porter service was available. If one chooses porter service, one would use the luggage tags provided by the cabin attendant and place their suitcases in the hallway the night before disembarkation. On the night before disembarkation, one is expected to have their porter service bags in the hallway between 5 & 10 pm.

Miscellaneous

Those people who choose the Princess Premier fare have a nice perk - they can download all of their Princess photos for free, and get up to 3 8"X10" prints for free. Word of warning for those choosing this option: Princess uses facial recognition to associate a photo with a cruiser. If one doesn't see their photos available for download, one must go to the photo store to get one's face rescanned, so that they can associate one's pictures with one's account.

As of the time I wrote this post, the Princess Premier fare was an extra $100 per day, except for Princess's 2 newest ships, if purchased ahead of the cruise. It now includes unlimited casual and specialty restaurant meals, as well as unlimited beverages. Instead of getting unlimited specialty desserts and exercise classes, one gets cruise credit to use on shore excursions sold by the cruise line. It is still a good value. It's just a different value proposition from the package I booked in 2024.

At mid cruise, we received offers from Princess Promotions, offering us a deal for future cruise credit, a 5 day premium hotel stay, and a 2 day pre/post cruise hotel stay. Given our past experience with this operation (which is separate from Princess Cruises), we ignored this offer as it didn't provide good value to us.

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Conclusions:

This vacation was good value for the money - even if we didn't have the Moveover offer. Each of us would have spent around $2,500 for this vacation, inclusive of shore excursions and incidentals.

We chose the Princess Premier fare to avoid feeling nickel-dimed while on the cruise. This package provides "unlimited" adult beverages, unlimited soft drinks, unlimited meals at the ship's specialty restaurants, and 3 photo prints. When we bought the package, it also included unlimited specialty desserts and free medallion shipping. Hopefully, they will bring back the latter, so that more people can be "Green Laned" onto the ship.

Shore excursions offered by the line were reasonably priced in comparison to independent vendors. Our excursion to Lunenburg, NS was a good value for the price charged, and we would recommend it to others who want to see the town.

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Postscript:

The Island Princess is a charming small ship in Princess Cruises' fleet. It is one of two ships in the fleet capable of sailing through the Panama Canal via the Old Locks. If one wants an exciting ship for a cruise, this is not the ship. If one wants a calm, sedate, and relaxing ship for a cruise, this is the ship.

The people sailing on this ship were among the oldest I've sailed with. It seemed as there was an over abundance of people needing scooters and walkers on this cruise. Often, they were in their own world, blocking foot traffic and simply in the way of able bodied pedestrians on the ship. For the most part, this wasn't an issue for us. But it did help us get off the ship earlier, due to our occasional use of canes for walking. (I have a childhood back injury that makes it hard to stand in one place for long.)

We were lucky to have chosen seats to kill time near where the handicapped people were being wheeled off the ship. Once we found that our luggage was off the ship, we were able to disembark early, find our bags without crowds in the area, and be by the ferry terminal at 9:20 - more than enough time to wait for a 10:00 ferry.

By the time this cruise ended, I still had $2,023.00 in refundable onboard credits in my account. Although I was told to expect a check for this account in 4-6 weeks, I received my check in a little bit more than 1 week. Although this may be a once in a lifetime stroke of good luck, I am glad that I'll be able to put this money to good use on future cruises.

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Port Guides for for this trip:

Halifax

Sydney

Charlottetown

Saint John

Portland

Boston

Dinner Menus:

On this cruise, we had dinner at Sabbatini's 3 times, Crown Grill 2 times, and the Crab Shack just once. For all other dinners, we dined in the Bordeaux Main Dining Room. Please note that there was no way I could get printed menus for each day's offerings in the main dining room, nor could I get printed menus for the offerings in the specialty restaurants. However, I was able to photograph the dinner menus, so that readers can have an idea of what was available to eat in the ship's restaurants when we ate there.

9/08