Black Watch Review

4.5 / 5.0
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Canada was a Good Destination but the Ship Could Have Been Better

Review for Canada & New England Cruise on Black Watch
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10+ Cruises • Age 70s

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Sail Date: May 2015
Cabin: Superior Outside Cab

We had chosen this cruise because of the ports of call, and from that point of view the cruise was extremely good. Being able to see so many different places in Canada in the one journey was really good and we had some nights in port as well so we could sample the ports by night. The ports included several areas where we could see national parks and the big cities of Montreal and Quebec as well as smaller towns.

Embarkation from Liverpool meant a mere 20 minutes taxi journey for us. We especially like Liverpool as an embarkation point as the cruise terminal is centrally. This means that once you have left your main luggage and checked in, there is no need to just sit and wait like you do in other terminals. Hence we did our usual and, once we had spoken to the staff to find out how long it would be before our embarkation, we made the most of the lovely afternoon by strolling along the river front and sat with a snack and drink from one of the vendors. There are also pubs and hotels very near the terminal. We were told our embarkation would be about 45 minutes time so, as we still had plenty of time before final embarkation, we returned about an hour later and were then able to embark immediately.

Our luggage was waiting for us when we arrived at our cabin (5052) which was a superior outside midship on deck 5. We moved to cabin 5052 a couple of days later. Please see cabin review(s) below for explanation. Both cabin stewardesses were excellent.

Cabin Review

Superior Outside Cab

Cabin B

Cabin 5053 was a decent size, and in reasonable condition, but we were disappointed that the window was not as big as that on Balmoral or Braemar. Storage space was good and cases went under the beds, though the bed had to be lifted for to slide one case under it. The beds are in an L shaped configuration and cannot be moved, but we knew this when we booked. This cabin became a problem as we discovered that there was a lot of vibration and irregular judder when the ship was running at high speed, particularly affecting the bed nearest to the corridor.

After a couple of days we moved to 5053 which was on the other side of the ship and was better regarding that problem, but not perfect. It was one cabin further forward on the other side of the ship. Cabin 5053 was the same grade and style as our first cabin, but had a bath with a shower over, (so more space to shower), and it had a much bigger bathroom cabinet. The location of this cabin was under the self service restaurant, which opened early in the mornings and it had a tiled floor with heavy metal, garden style chairs, so knew when it was open! We learned to sleep through most of this towards the end of the cruise though. This restaurant was also used for late night snacks, but the part directly above us was not usually used late at night. At least the restaurant noise was not right through the night. Both cabin windows were quite dirty and remained so for the duration of the cruise.

Port Reviews

Ponta Delgada

Ponta Delgada was very similar to Funchal in many ways, but smaller and quieter with considerably less tourist influence. The roads went uphill as you leave the seafront and became quieter still. We walked into the upper reaches of the town and went into the Palacio de Sant’Ana Garden which was lovely. It had a lake, flower beds and trees, some from the southern hemisphere. The gardens surrounded the Palacio which is now the offices of the Governor of the Azores. This impressive building is painted deep pink and white and is of an historic design. The entry fee was only about two or three Euros and they were quite happy to let us have the senior rate on showing our bus passes, which we used as photo ID for the ports during the cruise. We found a café near to the garden and had a drink before our garden visit and a light lunch afterwards, then just strolled back down to the port continuing our circular route.

Charlottetown (Prince Edward Island)

The ship had to tender here as we arrived on the same day as the first oil ship of the year that could deliver oil. Prince Edward Island had been surrounded by ice until shortly before our visit and apparently the town was running out of oil, so we were no competition for the only docking position.

We really enjoyed this port in which we just walked into the town independently. We started by just walking up into the town and visiting a couple of churches. The first was the Trinity United Church which is the oldest church in the town, dating from 1864. The roots of this church are in the Methodist movement of the 18th Century. It is a very open, yet warm building with a lot of wood in the structure and some lovely stained glass windows. The other church we saw was opposite and was a typical stone built church.

We then went back towards the ship and went onto Founders Hall and went round the exhibition of the formation of the confederation of Canada. We were given audio guides, which did not work very well at all and it was necessary to stand in a specific spot for them to work at all, so I do not see how they could be used if the exhibition was busy. My husband found the exhibition interesting, but I thought there was too much repetative politics and history and it seemed never ending as we were guided around a route within the building. It would be more interesting for Canadians I suspect and the staff at the entrance agreed it was designed more for Canadians.

We then walked through the town and to the left. There were lots of interesting buildings, and we sampled the excellent local ‘Cows Ice Cream’ as we went (I had butterscotch flavour). We eventually came to a big white house in large gardens with white gate that was open. Reading the notice, we discovered this was the governor’s house and there was a small exhibition room that was open to be seen freely and we learned that it was ok to walk around the gardens (I think that is Victoria Park). We just walked across the front of the house to view it better as it was getting late in the day and then crossed the road to go into Beaconsfield Historic House, (now a museum), which is one of the oldest houses in the town and was built for a wealthy shipbuilder. We had a very interesting and informative guide who showed us around the house.

There was a lot in the town so we had a very full day and left feeling we could easily have spent another day there.

Montreal

We only had one day in this city, so decided not to venture as far as Mount Royal. The tourist information staff at the port suggested a walking route and we more or less followed that. It did involve some uphill walking and possible public transport had been suggested, but we did not need it. We went up towards the Mc Gill University Campus, taking time to see some of the massive underground city on the way. We walked around the university campus which had very open grounds with grassed areas, plants and trees as well as the many historic buildings.

We then dropped down to Rue St Catherine and turned left, passing Place Des Arts and then walked downhill through China town, (which is a little run down), towards the old town. I went into the Basilica de Notre Dame, which was stunning, as was the chapel at the rear. Both had a lot of carved wood and coloured lighting was used to best effect, which gave a very warm feel. This contrasted favourably with the stone church buildings seen so often. Unfortunately, it started raining heavily at this stage, so we went into Chateau Ramezay, (it has a website), which was the house of the first governor and dates from 1705. It is now a museum and has displays and audio points which tell the story of the house through the years.

We then returned to the ship and met relatives who live in Montreal for an early evening meal at a pizza restaurant near the port, just before we sailed.

Quebec City

We had two full days here so decided we would go to Montmorency Falls the first day. We looked at trips, but decided against them as they seemed to spend very little time at the falls. We knew we could get a public bus there and got some good advice from a tourist information advisor at the port. She suggested walking along the riverfront to the bus stop for the number 800 bus in the direction of Beauport. The bus stop was near the train station and luckily she had marked it on a map. We went into the farmers market on the way to the station. The train station itself was an old, very ornate building which was worth seeing in itself. We decided it would be easier to get a two day pass for the local buses, (approx. $13 each), and we were able to buy them in a convenience store in the train station. The store was not easy to find, but a local person helped us.

We enjoyed the 20 minute or so bus ride to the falls, which are very near to the bus terminus. There was a footbridge over the top of the falls giving good views. We crossed the bridge and followed the path a short way along to a large flight of stairs down the cliff. We went down the stairs to the bottom and were then able to walk towards the tourist building at the bottom of the cable car. We bought a drink and a snack here before getting the cable car back up to the top of the cliff, near to the Chateau, (which is a short walk from the top of the falls). I think the cable car was about $10 single and $11 for a return. We could have got the return from near to the chateau and skipped the long flight of stairs, but are glad we did use the stairs as it gave more views of the falls and the walk was enjoyable. The chateau had a small display area and pleasant gardens. People who went on organised trips to the falls were very disappointed as they had very little time by the falls and could only see them from above.

On our return to Quebec we found that we could use our bus passes to get the bus back to the port, (it is bus number 1 and does a circular route around Quebec city). From the port you need to get the bus going to the right to go into the city. We used the bus that evening to go up to Grande Allee where there are a lot of bars and restaurants which are popular with the locals. We enjoyed walking through the city down to the port that night. The next day we went into the city a couple of times using our bus passes on the number 1 bus for some journeys. Without the passes the bus costs $2 per journey.

We had a soup and a beer in Chateuau Frontenac. The main hallway of the building was worth seeing, but the bar could have been anywhere in the world, so nothing special. The area down by the port was the best area from our point of view as it was quieter. We made the mistake of walking up the wooden stairs from near Chateau Frontenac thinking we could get up to the Fort. We walked, and walked……… and ended up to the far side of the Fort and unable to access it from there! We gave up.

The centre of Quebec was nice, but was rather touristy compared to the quiet, unspoiled ports we had seen previously. Montmorency Falls were more impressive from our point of view. I think we felt that way because the city was very European in style, but impressive water falls like that are not something that we see in Europe.

Corner Brook

We had decided not to take a trip from this port as we had read that it was possible to walk the stream trails which sounded good. In practice we were told by a person in the port that the longer trails would take about four hours to walk so they suggested we just walk around the lake near the town. We found this trail to be uninspiring and we could hear traffic noise the whole way round. There was not a lot in the town, but we went into a church and there was a museum, which we did not to go into, as we wanted to stay outdoors because weather was good. We were told we could go up to the roof garden in City Hall if we asked at the reception desk. We did this and were asked to sign in before going up in the lift. There was no charge and there were good views from the top, but not many plants in the garden as the snow had not long cleared.

We regretted not walking further or getting some sort of transport out of town as there was not much in the town. We did stay on deck for the sail out of port though and that was very picturesque. It took about an hour to sail out of the fjord.

St. John's (Newfoundland)

We were on deck for both the sail in and out of St John's and were very glad we were as ‘The Narrows’ really were narrow with good views to both sides. My brother and his wife live here so we had a tailor made day which was interesting as it was our first visit.

We were taken to Cape Spear first which is the most westerly point of North America. Unfortunately the old lighthouse was not open, but we could see inside though the windows. We then went on a drive around the area and a stroll through an old fishing village. We were able to return to their house for lunch and later went up Signal Hill, unfortunately there were no views as the mist had drawn in. We went into the visitor centre on the way down, which had a video showing and a museum area. There was not much time left for the town, but it was a mix of old and new with a number of older wooden buildings in the historic area. We were told we must return to experience the nightlife area.

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