The alarm goes off at 6 AM to awaken us to get off the ship. I get out of bed and open the shades. An industrial shoreline silently rolls past the window. We must be getting close to docking in Montreal. We get ready in silence – post-cruise depression is settling in quickly. Our last room service breakfast arrives as scheduled at 6:30 AM. I’ve gone back to classics for this morning – blueberry pancakes and a minute steak for me and blueberry pancakes for Amanda with OJ and coffee for both of us. I eat quickly – I need to be downstairs at 7 AM.

We had received a notice a few days ago that people with non American or Canadian passports would need to present themselves to Canadian officials in the card room at 7 AM today. Grabbing my passport and my green card, I head downstairs at 6:55 AM. I am the first passenger there after some crew members. A male entertainer from the ship’s company is there to greet people. “We’re still waiting for the officials to get onboard. You could go to the Navigator Lounge to wait if you want.”

I had seen the crowds that were already waiting in the Lounge as I passed it on my way to the card room. I elect to wait in the card room itself. I sit around for a bit, start to get bored, and decide to run back to the room to get my latest paperback.

Amanda looks up when I come in the door, “That was quick.”

“Nope, just forgot something,” I reply while grabbing the book and heading back out the door.

I get back just as the officials make their way into the room. A Navigator crew member (could be the concierge, never met her during this past week) is talking to the officials and laying out the Navigator’s list of passengers. I get in line.

After a wait of about 3 people, I get to the head of the line. I present my passport and my green card. He pages through my paperwork and looks up at me. “Where’s your custom declaration?”

“It’s with my wife upstairs. The form didn’t mention anything about needing my custom declaration.”

“Well, I need to see it.”

I trudge out of the room back to the suite.

“Done?” asks Amanda as I come in.

“Nope, they want the custom declaration. Where is it?”

“Here, it’s next to my passport,” she points. I head downstairs again.

The line is now longer and I end up in the line behind Mark Newsome. I see Darren Williams finishing up at the head of the line. I read my paperback while moving up the line.

“OK, here’s the customs declaration,” I tell him when I get to the head of the line. A moment goes by while he studies it.

“Your wife’s American?”

A sinking feeling sets into my stomach.

“Don’t tell me you need to see her too.”

I get a pitying smile in return.

Rolling my eyes, I trudge back to the room again.

“Don’t tell me, they need to see me too,” is the instant response I get when I walk into the suite.

“How’d you know??”

“I thought about it after you left.”

“Then how come you didn’t come down?!!”

“I thought that I might be wrong.”

My eyes are getting quite the workout with all the rolling that they are doing at this point. We head back down to the room. The Canadian official shoots a quick glance at Amanda and hands back our documents, “Thank you, sir, for your cooperation.”

We go back to the room – it’s getting close to 8 AM by which we need to vacate the room. We gather up our hand luggage and go down to deck 6 again. By now, the Navigator Lounge is full. The library is still open so we pull up some chairs and sit down.

Marilyn is there, checking some last minute Email. We chat briefly before she has to go. We sit there and read for a bit before Tom and Teri walk by and join us. We compare notes from this past week. They’ve been staying in one of the penthouses with a butler and are astonished that Aniko and Christopher put out our bags for us yesterday since their butler did not do this for them. In fact, listening to them talk about their butler reinforces the LCT conventional wisdom that having a butler on RSSC is relatively worthless.

While talking, John & Christina show up as well and we end up talking with them as well. The whole post-cruise Montreal tour idea comes up again. John & Christina are also staying in the Montreal Airport Hilton before flying home tomorrow (forced overnight stay by RSSC) but they are doing the tour. Our concern, which was reinforced by a woman working at the tour desk, was that if we did the tour, we would end up at the airport and we would need to get us and our luggage to the Montreal Airport Hilton on our own. This was the major reason we elected not to do the tour and instead go directly to the hotel. John & Christina had also talked to the tour desk and they had been assured that the tour bus could drop them off at the Montreal Airport Hilton after the tour. Tom and Teri are also doing the tour and it would have been nice to have toured Montreal with all of them but unfortunately, not much choice at this point.

Eventually, our tag color (light blue stripe) is called and we head out to the waiting bus. After a brief stop at the Montreal Hilton Bonaventure, it takes us and one other couple to the airport Hilton. We walk into the hotel with our baggage and head to the front desk. There are a couple of luggage carts parked in the lobby full of luggage with Radisson tags on them and the lobby is full of people sitting.

The Hilton is able to get us a room now which is extremely fortunate. While they’re processing the credit card for “incidentals”, I look around and see a woman studying what’s obviously a Radisson shore excursion book and I suddenly realize that these must be Navigator 6/16 cruisers waiting to board the ship. I walk over and reassure them that they’re about to have a fantastic time.

We go up to the room, drop off our luggage, and sit down for a bit. We’re not quite sure what we want to do. We’d like to see some of the sights in Montreal so we’re probably going to go back to downtown. We’d also like to eat some local food for lunch since it’s been at least 4-5 hours since eating. Amanda’s looking through a Montreal free guide magazine that she’s found in the room and leans over to show me something. It’s a restaurant called Restaurant Marche Movenpick which looks really interesting and we decide that we’ll be eating there for lunch.

We go out and take a taxi to the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal which is the main thing that we wanted to see in Montreal. We thought that the Sainte-Anne basilica yesterday was impressive – this is on a different level. The stained glass is amazing and the Notre-Dame du Sacre-Coeur Chapel in the back of the basilica has the most stunning altarpiece I’ve seen anywhere. I want to take a picture but Mass is being held in here and I hold off in deference. After listening for a bit to a guided tour being held, we reluctantly leave and start exploring the area. We have no particular itinerary as long as we head towards Place Ville Marie where the restaurant is. We wander towards the Place D’Armes and then through a section which appears to be a mini-Chinatown. Past this, we hit the Rue Rene-Levesque and head to the left to head towards Place Ville Marie. This is a busy street with a lot of shopping areas. Finally, we arrive at the Place Ville Marie which appears to be an office building/shopping complex and eventually, with some difficulty, find the restaurant.

The Restaurant Marche Movenpick is a 30,000 sq feet bistro that features multiple cooking stations. You receive a food ticket when you first walk in and you present the card at each station that you wish to get food from. Your ticket is stamped and you turn in the card when you leave for your final bill. All food at each station is made fresh to order. I get a beef tartare and a rosti potato plate with 2 sausages while Amanda gets a bouillabaisse. We finish with splitting a strawberry crepe. The food is uniformly very good though I still prefer the steak tartare at Dylan Prime. Well worth a visit if you’re here in Montreal – and it’s open late (around midnight).

We take a taxi outside back to the hotel after doing some shopping for some last-minute gifts in the Underground City that’s right outside the restaurant. It costs approximately $31 Canadian/one way for the taxis. We take a short nap and watch some TV. We eventually eat a late dinner in the hotel restaurant and try to stay awake to watch “Master and Commander” on the laptop but eventually have to go to sleep.

The next day, we go to the airport and catch our flight home. And this is where the diary ends.

I thank all of you that have read to this point and I hope that I have not bored all of you to tears. I leave you with these final points from the standpoint of a first time cruiser with RSSC:

1) Radisson is truly a line that stands apart from the mainstream lines. I was very impressed by the suites, the food, and the staff. I do think that making it all inclusive for drinks and getting rid of signing chits would enhance the sense of luxury but this is not a sticking point.

2) This itinerary is something that everybody should experience once. I can only imagine how much better it could be with the leaves turning in autumn. Still, we were blessed with wonderful weather for the majority of the trip.

3) Quebec was my favorite port of all. Wonderful atmosphere in this city and a bonus is that the central area is easily walkable and the majority of the sights can be seen easily.

4) Excursions were good for the most part and not overpriced. Well worth taking for the most part though we will certainly try more taxi sightseeing in the future with our good experience.

5) Hotel packages through RSSC are no bargain. You’re likely to do better by booking hotels on your own. You can always purchase RSSC transfers if that appeals to you.

6) Computers on the Navigator were slow (but no slower than other cruise ships I’ve been on). RSSC should offer the option to hook up your own laptops to the network at some point.

7) I would like to see RSSC do something better with disembarkation. The sight of crowds of people milling around the common rooms waiting for their luggage tag colors to be called and getting antsy is very much at odds with the image that RSSC is promoting. Some other cruise lines (Celebrity, I think) allow you to stay in your cabin/suite until your luggage tag color is called – RSSC should look into a system such as this.

8) For those that have been wondering, the septic tank smell in our toilet finally disappeared after the 2nd day. The washing machine sound remained though.

Masaki

Masaki,

I have looked forward to sharing your cruise experience with you and the others here each day you have posted. Your writing is most eloquent. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us. We look forward to meeting you aboard the PG on PIP!

Masaki,

You review of the Navigator's New York to Montreal cruise may be the most incredibly detailed, interesting, comprehensive diary (review) of a short cruise I've ever read, including a few I've written myself (see Cruise Critic, for example). Just marvelous!

And you have courage, sir. Or you're . . . I think I'll just leave that right there, dangling. Personally, I would hesitate a very long time before taking my lady to Brooklyn by subway (again), then walking back to Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge, and I was born there (in Bklyn) and not so long ago retired from Brooklyn College. Things are getting better and safer in NYC, but not that safe, me-thinks! Even the Brooklyn Heights and Carroll Gardens areas can be hazardous to your well-being, unless you are quite knowledgeable and very street-smart.

However, congratulations on your dering-do, which allowed you to see and do much more than most visitors could dream of accomplishing, I'm sure. You set a high standard for getting the most out of a vacation, sir. No joke; I envy you that. The amount you squeezed into a week's cruise, and the detail with which you reported it, is truly exceptional, IMHO. Very well written, too. Your sophistication can't help but bring to mind early James Bond movies; I was waiting for you to order your Grey Goose cosmo stirred, not shaken. Bravo! But in your gastronomic foray through New England and Canada, you seemed somehow to have missed Durgan Park, even though you were right there (at Quincy Market)! For shame on that one; you missed a Boston legend!

We will be doing the cruise in reverse this fall, starting October 17th in Montreal, and then continuing on to Puerto Rico and eventually to Tampa, so the detailed and ever so interesting description of the ports, particularly Quebec and Bar Harbor, are of considerable interest to us. We're meeting friends in Sydney and Halifax, and relatives in Boston, so we'll be in good hands in those places, and plan to stay several days in Montreal prior to boarding the Navigator to get re-acquainted with that delightful city.

If anyone reading this has any comment on the Hilton Bonaventure, please advise. We grew up near Albany, NY. In the 60ies and 70ies we often traveled to Montreal on weekends. When we were flush, we stayed at the Bonaventure several times, and really loved it. But it’s located just as you enter the city (by car), at the end of the downtown spur of an autoroute (Interstate to US), not so convenient to the old city nor to the main shopping street, the name of which escapes me (ste. Catherine's?) The hotel is (was?) on top of a fabulous inter-connected underground shopping and entertainment complex. That same complex also boasts La Reine Elizabeth, another first class hotel, which is above the main train station part of the complex.

Thanks again for a heads-up and description of a great ship and a delightful cruise. We can't wait!

Masaki, I have just spent a pleasant morning reading all of your diaries. All I can say is "WOW"! I think you should be appointed the resident scribe for MINT as well! I only wish I would take the time to recreate all the details of my cruises to a log. It would bring back so many wonderful memories.

Bravo! Thank you very much for your diary. I relished every word!

We also had the constantly "gurgling" sound in the wall behind the toilet in 819; it seemed to become more intermittent on the last 2 days. Never had any odors anywhere.

Masaki,

Your fantastic reports have been so welcome and appreciated.

Thanks for making us feel a part of your wonderful trip through your marvelous detail and commentary!

Masaki,
Your diary was full of delightful detail...loved all the "foodie" commentary and your willingness to help the rest of us out.
I am cruising for the first time on RSSC next month and hope to do even half as well remembering details and sorting out what is pertinent information to pass along.

Masaki,

Ahhh...the end of a cruise...I bet you are bit melancholic now, eh?

BTW...I realized that in my cruise review I did not mention the debarkation process...ours was very different than yours. They got us up at the crack o'dawn (everybody in the Constellation Theatre at 6 am!). We promptly heeded the time and 20 minutes later, we were through. We had breakfast at La Verandah, by 6:45 we were done so we went back to our cabin (I managed to get a couple of more zz's) and we left at 8:30. Other than the early morning rise, we couldn't have asked for a more pleasant debarkation process. It sounds like it is a port-to-port thing, I would have complained/griped/groused if we had something similar as you and Amanda.

Anyway, thanks again for sharing your wonderful cruise with us.

Thanks all for the comments. I've had a lot of fun writing the diary and it'll be a great way for me to relive the cruise as time passes. count - I'm flattered since I've read your posts on CC in the past (though I had to go back to the old msg board on CC to read your review of the Voyager shakedown cruise). A friend had done the subway trip to Brooklyn and had not mentioned problems so I felt safe in doing it. Also, a friend who grew up in Brooklyn also didn't see any problems with us taking the subway to the High St. station so that reassured us as well. :)

There are many places in Boston that I would have wanted to eat at: Union Oyster, Legal Seafood, Blue Ginger, and Durgin Park as you mentioned. We'll just need to go back to the East Coast again! We're still hoping to do a fall foliage cruise at some point.

Ana Luisa - I like your disembarkation version better than ours. :(

I hope to meet all of you on a future cruise at some point (and a lot of you I will be for sure on MINT or PIP) :)

Masaki

As I and others have been saying, most excellent review. Thanks for sharing!

R

Masaki,

I loved reading your diaries. Your writing is so easy to read and keeps me on edge, as if I am reading a thriller. I can't stop!

Jim and I planned a 2 week road vacation in Nova Scotia last fall that we had to cancel at the last minute. So we are really wanting to get up there to see Halifax, etc. Jim is nuts about forts so he can't wait to see the Citadel. Glad you and Amanda enjoyed your cruise and ports cities. We may be going to Quebec next June. I hope it works out.

Ginny

R and Ginny - :) Ginny, Nova Scotia seems to be littered with forts. Jim should have a great time.

Masaki

Wonderfully done, Masaki!

Claudia

Delightful reading Masaki!