I have been at an 'Anthem of the Seas' 9 Night Canada and New England Cruise from Cape Liberty, Bayonne, New Jersey from September 22 to October 1st 2016.
Itinerary: Day 1 - Cape Liberty, Bayonne. Day 2 - At sea Day 3 - Boston, Massachusetts, USA Day 4 - Portland, Maine, USA Day 5 - Bar Harbor, Maine, USA Day 6 - At Sea Day 7 - Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada Day 8 - Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada Day 9 - At Sea and back to Cape Liberty, New Jersey, USA
In Boston we did the 'Freedom Trail' and Hop-on/Hop-off on our own while we bought ship excursions for Portland to Kennebunkport, Bar Harbor, Halifax to Peggy's Cove and Whale watchand for Saint John the Reversing Falls and St. Martins tour. Below 12 posts with a review from each day of the cruise - pictures and videos including copies of the daily planners from the cruise. First day of the cruise is the last post at the blog - Click on 'Older Posts'at the bottom ofthis page in order to read the the posts from the first three days of the cruise.
I have made a video from Anthem of the Seas at an earlier cruise. Take a video tour of Anthem and cabin 11548 including cabin videos from my other Quantum Class cruises. Visit my blog: Anthem of the Seas Cruise
The last day of the Cruise. Arrived at Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne at 07 am. At 8 am we got breakfast in the Windjammer Cafe and waited so that we could go ashore. Immigration was very slow and we left the ship at 10:30 am. Then it took 30 minutes to get our suitcases and get through immigration. This is the third time we arrive by cruise to Cape Liberty, and we have not yet found out how transfer to the airport operates. At last we found the transfer bus, which drove us to Newark.
We had a little wait before check-in opened. Quickly through security and to the Scandinavian Airline (SAS) lounge where we gota late lunch. At 5:35 pm SK910wasready to leavefor Copenhagen.A flight of 7 hours 35 minutes. Once again we were fortunate to be moving forwardinthe plane to the 'Plus'. Giving a little extra width and legroom.
We arrived in saint John, in the province of New Brunswick at noon - we had to wait until it was high tide, before we could sail into the harbor. Saint John is the place in the world with the greatest difference between the low and high tide - a total of 16 meters (50 feet).
At 1 pm we went on an excursion which included the Reversing falls and St. Martins Sea Caves.We started the tour at the City Market, a covered market, built in 1870 with local goods.
Continued on to "Reversing Falls", where Saint John river flows into the Bay of Fundy. Because of the large difference in the tide runs large amounts of water into the Saint John River from the Bay of Fundy, when it is high tide. When the tide falls after 6,5 hours (low tide) the large volumes of water with great force back from the river to the bay - flow is changing so every 6,5 hours.
It's a must to visit the Reversing Falls twice in order to see the phenomenon. We were back at 6:30 pm to see the water flowing from the river back into the bay. Below is a short video highlighting when waters is flowing from the Bay of Fundy into the river gorge and back again 6 hours later.
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Below the top row pictures are where water runs from the Bay of Fundy into the Saint John River at about 01:30 pm. The bottom row of images are where the water with great force flows back again to the Bay of Fundy at 06:30 pm:
Reversing Falls at high tide
...waters is pushed..
... into the river
At low tide in Bay of Fundy
...the stream is reversing...
...an water is flowing back into the Bay
The tour then went to St. Martins, a small fishing village about 50 km (31 miles) north of Saint John. Also here there was a big difference between the tide and the fishing boats were in the harbor standing on the seabed.
We ate clamp chowder (soup of fish and shellfish) at a restaurant in St. Martins, Sea Cave - an area where the water has made big caves in the cliffs. Here we also saw the typical covered wooden bridges.
On the way back to Saint John and the ship we did stop again by "Reversing Falls" to see the water running back into the Bay of Fundy. The trip ended with a local beer at an Irish pub.
When we came back to Anthem of the Seas she lay much lower in the water
Dinner in Restaurant Silk - spring rolls for starters, roasted duck for main course and a 'green tea cake' for dessert. It fell not to our taste so we got some strawberries with chocolate.
We had to wait until 10 pm before there was enough water in the harbor that we could sail away.
Arrived in Halifax at 07 amand already 07:30 am, we were on the road on tour. Today's first excursion went to Peggy's Cove, a very charming little fishing village south of Halifax. At the sea the light house and the small port was lobster boats and lobster traps on the wharf. The houses were in different color because the color was originally the family emblem when the boats come in with their catch. We drove along the coast, where there was some little fishing villages in the protected bays.
Back
on the ship, there was just time for lunch before the day's second excursion - a 'whale watch trip "- it was considerably more watching than
whales !. We saw the heads a few gray seals. The whales had traveled south for
the winter.
For the evening we had dinner in restaurant Chic - - 'gravad lax', Chicken Masala and hazelnut cake / apple pie with ice cream - served by our
South African servant, Jo Anny.
On our way from Bar Harbor sailing south of Bay of Fundy and Nova Scotia to Halifax. After 5 days of sun, we passed through a rain area, but it was not blowing and the sea was very calm. The day went with reading. In the afternoon we saw a musical in the theater - "We will Rock You" based on the music of Freddie Mercury and Queen - great setting and good music. Late in the afternoon we were in the Fitness. Dinner at the Grande. A vol-Au-vent with shellfish for main lobster and dessert valrona-cake and ice cream. Pictures below.
We arrived in Bar Harbor on Mount Desert Island in Maine at 7 am. A splendid entrance between the many small islands and thousands of lobster traps marked with white buoys.
Bar Harbor is a tender port - we sailed into the harbor in small local tender boats (see video from tendering below). Today's excursion was to Acadia Nature Park, covering the majority of the island. We drove from Bar Harbor to the south along the rugged rocky coast and through dense forests to the top of Cadillac Mountain, where there was a nice view over the island.
Back in Bar Harbor we got a cappuccino at a cafe. Walked through the town and along a path along the water. In Bar Harbor is a huge difference between the tide and at 1 pm Bar Island was mainland with Mount Desert. We walked on a sandbank to the island - back in Bar Harbor, we took the tender boat to Anthem of the Seas. See video from the day below.
We
enjoyed a glass of wine in Vintage Wine bar before dinner in the Chic -
the menu's best choice was the lamb shank - A goat cheese for an
appetizer and New York Cheese Cake for dessert. And we had a fantastic waiter in Jo Annyfrom South Africa.
A video from our day at Mount Desert island.
Dinner at Restaurant Chic:
Some pictures from our visit to Mount Desert Island and Bar Harbor
We sailed into Portland at 7 am - a beautiful entrance between many small islands. At 8 am we went on tour - had ordered a half-day excursion to Kennebunkport, which is a historic ship yard and fishing village about 40 km (25 miles) south of Portland. We had hoped to see forests of maple trees that were beginning to be red, but unfortunately the weather had been hot lately, so most trees are still green. We started the visit to Kennebunkport at the Dock Square at the Kennebunk River. We walked around and saw the many beautiful houses (colonial style). At 11 am we drove along the water to Walker's Point, former President George W. Bush's summer home. Unfortunately we could not stop. The flag was hoisted, so Bush was in his 'home'.
Watch the video above from the Kennybunkport excursion.
Back to Portland where we went for a walk in the city - unfortunately, a large part of the original town with wooden houses burned and at rebuilding has made with wide roads. Back on the ship for a late lunch in the Windjammer Cafe and Cafe followed by a Cafe Latte in the Concierge Lounge. When we left Portland we sailed a little to the south to pass the Portland Head Light (lighthouse). More follows ...
