Our friend Masaki definitely wins the Pulitzer Prize for Travelogues and Photography - Karen, do you think you can find the award for him??

But I thought i would share our impressions as first-time Radisson cruisers on the ship and shore excursions for the fall cruisers. We went to Montreal a day ahead, had beautiful weather, 80, and got a nice overview by taking the Hop on/Hop off bus. Lovely city, very clean and very friendly people! One caveat-make sure your cab driver speaks English! After 20 minutes or so, he called and handed us off to an English speaking driver.

Ship embarkation took maybe 5 minutes from entry to being handed glasses of champagne and directed tothe Pool Grill for lunch. Made resv for Portofino's, bridge tour, and galley tour and proceeded to Ste 819. Liquor and extra pillows as requested on online form in place and Asst Steward Ricky greeted us in about 5 seconds!
Cabin just as beautiful as in photos, quite luxurious! Dinner was lovely in Compass Rose with Vargas as our waiter.

Room service breakfast brought just 1 example of the "spoiling" you're in for! "Madame, I will open the preserves for you as I know you are weak in the morning," said with a big smile. ;) Dinner in Portofino's with Italian Steakhouse menu brought lamb chops with the most amazing sauce, probably the single best thing all week!

We had Vargas as waiter every night in Compass Rose and he was outstanding! The first night DH loved the saltsticks and inquired on the 3rd night. From then on, Vargas had them for him every night! On the next to last night, I made an offhand comment to DH that I wished they served a larger quantity of vegetables. I SWEAR Vargas was nowhere around but on the last night , he served me from a special bowl of steamed broccoli, cauliflower,etc. and said "I read your mind!" (Maybe they have hidden microphones?) On the last night, we considered Beef Stroganoff, but Vargas said we wold be much happier with filet and bearnaise sauce - we were! ;)

Jill was our charming wine stewardess, and after sampling different reds different nights, I asked for a Pinot Noir from a previous night. She always had it thereafter and even printed out the label info for me. She also served at tea and in the casino.

Had lunch in Compass Rose twice with excellent soups and fair sandwiches and another charming waiter, Rommel, "The Desert Fox!" Was unimpressed with Portofino's for lunch, but breakfast there last AM was fine.

We prebooked all excursions by fax and tickets were in cabin upon arrival, exception being for the next day. There was a note to call the Tour office who said not enough had signed up, but they callled a couple hrs later and said the tickets were being delivered. This was for the PM excursion to Montmorency Falls, St. Anne de Beaupre Basilica and Ile d' Orleans. Beautiful warm weather, a very relaxing, bucolic tour. Rode up to Falls in cable car, the church is spectacular inside and out and the ride on the island beautiful, farms and vineyards and lovely views. Excellent guide and very low-key.

Sydney was a challenge; probably the best tour is the all day one Masaki took to Bras D'Or Lakes, but we didn't want an all day, so settled for Historic Sydney & Coastal PM tour. We were greeted upon docking by a lovely young female bagpiper who played quite awhile. DH called to her from balcony and she played "Amazing Grace" upon request, just wonderful! I looked through the few shops and craft fair set up in the larger building, very nice things AND free HIGH SPEED Internet Cafe (3 computers.) The tour was a nice overview, but Sydney is rather bleak as their economy is poor; all the coal mines and steel factory are closed and the unemployment rate quite high. Two call centers, for LL Bean and Spiegal's have opened recently and have provided some jobs. We stopped at a point on the coast where huge 200-300 ship convoys would leave in total darkness carrying supplies to Europe during WWII. Also saw the ferry to Newfoundland which carries over 500 tractor trailers and 1100 cars!
Glad we took the tour as we got a feel for the area.

In Halifax, we were greeted by 2 pipers,a drummer and the town crier, complete with tricorn hat! Another beautiful day, but cold and VERY windy! Wore both sweater and jacket! Took the AM tour of Halifax and Peggy's Cove; very well done and just beautiful!


Had planned to sleep in at Bar Harbor, but everyone had to be up for US Immigration. Collected passport and showed to officer; that's it!
We signed up for the PM tour of Acadia Park which included the carriage ride, thinking if there were AM fog, PM would be better, No worries! Another gorgeous day; down at the harbor, probably 75 but was glad to have jacket in the park and up on Cadillac Mtn. Simply beautiful and the view from up top, spectacular! Reminded me a bit of Ireland.

Took the AM Boston city tour, very worthwhile overview, stops downtown, at Harvard, the State House, Old Ironsides and Old North Church. Excellent guide once again, who thanked all the taxpayers as the "Big Dig" budget is now over $14 BILLION! :rolleyes:

The tour director, Rachel, lovely girl from Tasmania, said there was an active group on board; she had to scramble to accommodate 24 for sea kayaking in Halifax, can't imagine what the wind chill was that day! :rolleyes:

Random thoughts....

Agree with Masaki about disembarkation, although it was great "people watching!" We went to Navigator Lounge as time got closer(we hoped.) A woman came down the corridor saying very loudly, twice, "Nobody's giving up their seats!" Others relaxed and read, others ate from boredom probably.

Service was truly outstanding, a few misses on food, but overall excellent. Agree that desserts could be improved, but some hits there as well.

We were blessed with excellent weather and calm seas. One "thrill" I missed; going through the Cape Cod canal DH went up to watch and said we went under a bridge he swears with 2 foot clearance!! :app:

Kathy, wonderful review! I am usually off to other parts of the world on Radisson, that is why I enjoy the many reviews of others who are on the Navigator! She was my first and second cruise ship with Radisson, and then they added a few more! You were highly descriptive of your port stops, and I'm sure this will be of help to future cruisers. I will print it out and put it in my "want to do" file! thank you!

Kathy - great review! Thanks for the details - glad to hear that you enjoyed your Peggy's Cove tour as that was one that we were eyeing. The beef stroganoff was OK ... sounds like your filet and bearnaise was better! Vargas sounded like he was quite the waiter. How was the bridge tour? I didn't get a chance to sign up for that one.

And I agree about Alaska - I'm still tossing around the idea about going back to Alaska again ... maybe in 2006 as the cruise calender for 2005 looks pretty full already!

Masaki

Thank you for the lovely review. So glad it was a successful first trip on RSSC for you!
We are over-the-top excited as it is our turn next...to Bermuda, Navigator 7/14...will review when we return.

Glad you enjoyed your first RSSC experience!

Claudia

As it turned out, the bridge tour and galley tour were scheduled for the same day and time, after departure from Halifax. We chose the bridge tour, which was conducted by Heather Raab, who did a great job and officers were available for questions. We met by the elevators and then halfway down the hall to the bridge, we were "wanded" by a Security officer and he also opened my purse, as they did every time we returned to the ship. There were 30-35 attendees and we were there about 30 minutes. Very worthwhile!

I think I gave Halifax short shrift for fear of being too long-winded. The Peggy's Cove excursion included quite an extensive tour of the city, which is quite attractive and vibrant. It is obviously the hub of the whole region, providing specialized medical care for Nova Scotia, several universities, international airport with direct European flights, etc. The natural beauty was evident in town and on the drive to Peggy's Cove despite Hurricane Juan of Sept. '03. Gorgeous lilac bushes and rhododendrons in full bloom! :)

Kathy - thanks for the details! I'll have to see if I can get in on a bridge tour on the Mariner.

Masaki

Masaki wrote such a marvelous cruise diary that all I would like to add is some information about the Sydney excursion we took. We went on the Fortress Louisbourg excursion and recommend it highly.
The fortress is beautifully restored to the way it would have looked in 1744. The first order of business was to get past the soldier guarding the gate, who asked why we wanted to enter the fortress during a time of war. After a bit of persuasion, our group was allowed to enter. The guide showed us around some of the main buildings (from the outside)and showed us where to meet the bus for the return trip. Refreshments in a tavern were included; this was fun, but did use up a bit more of our time than we had to spare.
There was some time to walk around and visit the various buildigs, see demonstrations,talk to 1744 residents etc., but not nearly enough time to visit the entire fortress. One could easily spend a full day there.
We did visit one house and had an enlightening chat with the kitchen staff.
The setting is beautiful, the fortress is so interesting, but the tour is really too short to see it all. However, what we did see made this excursion well worthwhile.
To everyone cruising to Canada in the fall, have a great trip!

Ponypal,

Very glad to hear about the Fort excursion. Did you do any others? Obviously, all the ones we did were for "the inactive!" ;)

Ponypal - that was our backup excursion if we couldn't do Bras D'Or. Sounded like you had a great time and something we'll definitely have to do the next time we do this cruise. :)

Masaki

Hi, Kathy,
We did the same walk in Acadia and Cadillac Mtn. excursion that Masaki has already described. Our experience was quite similar to Masaki and Amanda's, even down to stopping very frequently to listen to bird calls. It was a pleasant walk, but not a brisk walk, due to all the stops. Masaki, the one difference was that none of us got any bug bites. Cadillac Mountain was great - beautiful views; I would have preferred more time on the mountain and less with the birds, but it was still a good excursion, just not as much exercise as we had hoped for.
The other excursion we did was the walking tour of Quebec, including tea at the Chateau Frontenac and a carriage ride back to the ship. This was the warmest day we had, and we neglected to brng water with us,so those of you going might want to remember to bring water along. Our guide was both informative and entertaining and I felt we learned things about the city that we would not have known if we had just walked about on our own. Tea was a welcome break after our walk, and the chateau was a lovely place to relax for a half hour, and there was a good view from the windows.. Each table received a tiered server with various scones, cakes, cookies, and we each chose from a wide variety of teas, some of which were not familiar, but were explained to us well. After tea, we got into a carriage for a ride back down the hill to the ship.
By the way, you do not walk up the hill, but take the furnicular.

Ponypal - amazing what a difference a week makes - we got eaten alive in the park itself. :)

Masaki