NYC We live in Philadelphia, so we took the Greyhound bus to NYC and taxi to the port. We arrived about 11am. Checked in and had to wait a bit, but were on ship about noontime. We went to Mediterranean Restaurant and had a nice lunch and walked around admiring the ship and NYC harbor. We found our room, our first CCL balcony. After lifeboat drill, we went on deck to sail out of NYC and past Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty. So thrilling. Also, going under the bridge was exciting. Dining We had 6:00 dinner in Pacific dining room, a table for two with excellent service and very good food. We chose not to do the formal nites this cruise, so we ate in the Mediterranean Restaurant which we enjoyed. We did eat in the dining room open seating one morning, had room service one morning, and ate in the Mediterranean for breakfast and lunch most mornings. Good service and food. Loved the pizza too. Ports Took the trolley excursion in Boston. Good history lesson and entertaining too. Got dropped of at Faneaul Hall and took the shuttle Carnival provided back. In Portland Maine, Jon took the train excursion to Mt Washington and loved it. Pricey, but it was a train. I however, got the $5 hop on and off bus and went shopping at LLBean outlet and had a lobster lunch on the wharf at Gilbert's. Delicious! On arrival in St John each lady is given a rose, each man a lapel pin. Very nice welcome. We took the local bus $2.25 each) to the Reversing Falls. Amazing how nature does what it does. We shopped a little in town, went to the city market and back to the ship for some r&r. Halifax greeted us by bagpipe and town cryer. It is a beautiful city. We took the tour to Peggy's Cove and absolutely loved it. It was windy and cold, but just beautiful. Entertainment We loved the shows, trivia and games around the ship. Our only complaint, as non smokers, we couldn't go in the lounges because of the smoke. We mainly sat on the Promenade as that is non smoking. We played in the slot tournament and also played bingo, but not lucky. The waiters in the dining room enjoyed entertaining us with their singing and dancing. Debarkation. We were told to go to the main lounge where they would call us. We were off the ship by 9:15, got a taxi and made the 10:00 bus to Philly. We love our Victory cruise. Cruising to Canada is a great alternative than cruising the Caribbean. We highly recommend it.