Overview
We had never spent much time in the Maritime Provinces of Canada. We did a fall cruise one year from NYC to Quebec City and back that stopped at Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia but had not seen Newfoundland or Labrador.
So we chose a trip that started in Montreal and sailed up the St. Lawrence river to Trois Rivieres and then Quebec City. After a few more stops we crossed to Ireland and then stopped in Wales before finishing in England. We like the solitude provided by a crossing and so we signed up for this trip.
Montreal
We planned to spend the night before the cruise in Montreal because we had not been there in awhile. We stayed at the Sheraton Centre downtown and had a very nice view of the city. We had dinner at a nice restaurant called Le Local and were joined by Matt Kearney and his friend Sarah.
We learned a day before we left that because the river was too high, our ship, the Marina, could not get to Montreal and the cruise would start from Trois Rivieres, the second port which is about a two hour drive from Montreal.
So after a quick bus tour of the city, we left for Trois Rivieres and boarded the ship around 3 PM. We got settled and we stayed in that port for one more day.
Trois Rivieres (Three Rivers)
This town is bigger than it sounds although the downtown area is fairly small. As we drove in however we saw a Walmart and the kinds of malls that you associate with rural America. The weather was sunny and fairly warm so we strolled around the town for awhile. My french is very rusty but it was fun to try and resurrect what had long lain dormant. We sailed for Quebec City at midnight.
Quebec City
We have always loved this city. My first trip was in the late 70’s and we have been back many times. This time the weather was sunny and warm and everyone was out on the street.
Quebec City always feels a little like France to me. We did a little walking tour of the usual haunts including climbing up from the lower city to the upper which most people do on the Funicular.
We left the city around 8 PM and had one of the loudest and roughest nights on a ship that I have ever had. The deck chairs on some balconies blew off the ship and you could hear all kinds of things moving around. It was a very noisy night.
Saguenay
Saguenay is on a river that joins the St. Lawrence and it is a small town. Someone decided to build a wharf that could accommodate cruise ships and so here we are.
This started the sequence of weather that was cold and gray and windy. The temperature never went above 45 and it was very windy. In spite of that, a group of clowns came out to the wharf as we docked and cavorted around for three hours as people walked into town. It actually snowed at one point so we never left the ship.
Corner Brook, Newfound Land
We spent yesterday sailing the St. Lawrence River and then into the area around Newfound Land. Today we docked in Corner Brook which felt like Alaska on the way in because it is surrounded by snow covered mountains with low hanging clouds. It snowed off and on early and we left on a highlights tour at 9 AM.
We got a good look at the area with a local guide who is a history teacher. We learned a lot about Captain Cook and other things but were glad to get back to the ship and get warm.
St. Pierre, France
Who knew that there is a piece of France in the Maritimes? There are two islands, St. Pierre and Miquelon, that are just south of Newfoundland that belong to France. The currency is the Euro and the language is French. St. Pierre is a nice small town with a fishing village feel.
St. John’s Newfoundland
The people of St. John’s believe they are the easternmost part of North America and they are probably right. This is a fairly large town with a sheltered harbor. You can visit a Cape Spear out on tip of NF that gives you the feel of being on the easternmost point of land in North America.
Cobh, Ireland
Cobh is pronounced “Cove.” The gaelic language from which it is taken lacks several of the letters found in English; “V” being one of them. This
city has many references to the Titanic because this is the last port that ship left before the sinking. St. Colman’s Cathedral dominates the skyline in this small city.
There is a Heritage Center dockside where you can learn about the history of the city and especially the connections to the Titanic.
Dublin, Ireland
Dublin was getting ready to vote on the controversial constitutional amendment to legalize abortion. The city was full of campaign signs for both the Yes and No camps.
While everyone thought the vote would be close, the Yes votes outnumbered the No votes two to one.
One of the treasures of Trinity College is the Book of Kells. It is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. Today, there are long lines of people waiting to get in to see the book.
Holyhead, Wales
Almost directly across the Irish Sea from Dublin is Holyhead, Wales; a place many tours to the various castles in Wales originate. It is a small town with some very old buildings and a few small shops.
The town centre is built around St. Cybi‘s Church, which is built inside one of Europe‘s few three-walled Roman forts (the fourth boundary being the sea, which used to come up to the fort).
Portland, England
This is the last port before Southampton and it is in the very south of the country. All the excursions from here either go where we have been (Stonehenge) or places that don’t sound too interesting.
We opted to go into town which turned out to be Weymouth which was a beach resort town. They have a large statue of King George III along the beach alongside the T-shirt shops.