Oct. 5, 2014 Arrived at Cape Liberty NJ

Oct. 4 yesterday was a sea day. Busy packing so we could put our bags out to go to baggage pickup after we debark.
The sail under the Verrazano bridge in early morning was spectacular- we could see the Statue of Liberty in the distance.

After collecting our bags we got the hotel transportation to take us back to the Hyatt in Jersey City.

Since we got back to the hotel so early and our room was not ready, we decided to take the nearby ferry to lower Manhattan to walk around the World Trade Center and Wall Street.

 Since it was Sunday there were a lot of tourist groups at the memorial and the wall street bull.
Most stores were closed and only a few restaurants open. We had lunch and then walked back to the 911 memorial and slowly back to catch the ferry to Jersey City.

 View from the ferry boat.

Night view from our hotel room

Our hotel had a great location and wonderful views of NYC. Access to the ferry was a plus.
The subway was nearby but the stop closed because it was Sunday and the ferry turned out to be a great alternative to go to New York.
There was a Starbucks nearby and a  great Greek diner too.

The ride to the airport next day was quick and easy. I recommend staying in Jersey City if you have a cruise out of Cape Liberty.

Overall we enjoyed the cruise and hotel stay- best part was the overnight in Quebec.

Oct. 3, 2014 Visit to Portland Maine

Today is another sunny cool and windy day. The ship docked at10AM in a pier near downtown.

We signed up for a city tour including a visit to the oldest lighthouse and then a visit to Kennebunkport.
My review of the cruise excursion in a poor one. Too long till lunch hour - 1:30; one comfort stop- porta potty at light house.
Beautiful scenery since there was fall color and Kennebunkport was a quaint town. Allison's restaurant had the best lobster rolls and home made blueberry pie alamode.
If I ever come back here I would just go visit Kennebunkport or walk around downtown.

 Great food here

Since we got back late and the bus took directly back to the ship we boarded it. No time to go and walk around the downtown. Tomorrow we have a sea day and then land at Cape Liberty.

Oct. 1, 2014 Corner Brook, Newfoundland visit

Today we arrived in Corner Brook at 9:00am and a day for us to explore on our own.
The weather was cool sunny and windy.
 At first I wondered why do cruise ships stop here and then discovered the answer when we walked off the pier.

The people are so friendly and they gathered to greet the ship and had boutiques set up with handmade goods for sale. They even had a booth where we made luggage tags.

We hopped on the shuttle bus that took us to the city center and got off by City Hall to walk around. There was a nice park in front of City Hall at the end of the main street. We walked down one side of the main street and then the other side. We did make a stop at Tim Horton's for coffee and a donut. Tim Horton's served everything from breakfast to donuts to sandwiches and provided free wifi.
Since Wifi is so expensive and SLOW on the ship we took the opportunity to check emails and send photos  home to family.

One of the things to do is a hike a nature trail but we saw enough fall color on our walk through town.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corner_Brook

At the entrance of the port we stopped at the boutique to shop and buy some handmade goods.

Then we headed back to board the ship. Even though it was windy the crew set up the canopy and chairs and I had my photo taken. When possible I like to take a photo at every port when the tent is set up.

We got on board and the ship sailed at 6PM heading to our last port before we arrive in NJ.

Sept. 30 2014 at sea on the way to Corner Brook, Newfoundland

Today is a sea day and a chance to rest from our Quebec visit. We went to the port talk and chilled out.
Weather is fair and sunny.

Sept. 28-29, 2014 We visit Quebec city and have an overnight stay

We will have an overnight stay in Quebec which is very nice. Gives us a chance to spend 2 full days to explore the city.
We arrived at 8:00AM and are docked a short distance from the City. The ship has provided a shuttle to take us to the foot of the City and back on a schedule. Weather was cool and rain predicted. What a change from the last few days.

We signed up to take an excursion to Montmorency Falls which is a drive through the countryside and a stop at the falls. We will then go to a sugar shack to see how maple syrup is made.
When we left the city of Quebec we finally saw fall color. The multicolored trees are just beautiful.
The guide said they had cold weather the last few nights forcing the trees to turn color.

We stopped for 15 mins. to take photos of the countryside.

The weather was rainy and cool so the sky was a bit grey.

We then continued onto our visit to the Falls. We stopped at an Inn for tea and cookies before we went out to view the falls. From our viewpoint we could see a suspension bridge as well as two drops in the falls before the water hit the bottom pool. It was really cool.

Here is a site to get more info on the falls.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montmorency_Falls


The coach then drove us to a visitor center where we could view the falls from the bottom and see the area surrounding the falls.

After our short visit we then boarded the coach to go to a sugar shack. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_house

This may or not be  maple tree grove where the sap is collected and then processed or a facility to convert the sap into maple syrup and maple candy.  There was a demonstration on how the sap is distilled into syrup and how syrup is made into lollipops. We got to each make a lollipop to eat.

There was also a small museum that had exhibits of equipment used in making maple syrup and some historical photos.

After the tour we headed back for the ship and got on board.

Monday morning we awoke to a beautiful sunny day. Today we planned to visit the historic center of Quebec on our own. Yesterday we asked Guest Services to make reservations at the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac for 3pm tea. The tea was going to be a high point in our visit as we thought it would be as grand as the one in the Fairmont Empress.

After breakfast we debarked the ship and headed for the shuttle bus which took us to a stop by the Petit Champlain district. Here we walked around and saw the quaint shops and large outdoor art exhibits. After this we went to the main square to find a place to have lunch. We found a nice cafe with tables outdoors and had lunch and coffee.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Quebec

We then located the funicular which took up to the upper town where the Fairmont Hotel was located. When we got off the funicular we found ourselves on a large boardwalk/promenade which led to a large park. We walked the promenade and enjoyed the scenic view of lower Quebec and the river. Since we had some time before our tea time we walked to the other side of the park square to see the shops and cafes.
Close to 3pm we entered the Fairmont Frontenac to find the restaurant where we would have tea.
It turns out the restaurant had a terrace overlooking the river and we were shown a table here.
Tea turned out to be less formal than the Empress. Most guests were casually dressed and the presentation of the tea sandwiches and desserts was not very good.
However they did taste delicious and the setting was very nice. Overall we enjoyed this as well as being able to walk in the lobby of this grand hotel.

 We then retraced our steps taking the funicular down to the lower part of the city and walked back through the petit champlain district to the main street where the shuttle bus stop was.

We really enjoyed the visit to Quebec and would enjoy coming back to see more of the city and countryside.