Manuela's cruise to Canada
Carnival Victory – July 12 - 17, 2008 From New York City to Saint John, New Brunswick, and Halifax, Nova Scotia Of course we love to cruise :lol: that goes without saying, so we are always on the lookout for the next one. We don’t plan our cruises, we “find” them. When we noticed a significant price drop over the weekend for this cruise, we called and were told that there were only seven staterooms left. We booked on Monday, wrote the stalk on Tuesday - important things first :wink: packed on Friday, and sailed on Saturday. We received an e-mail message from Carnival “encouraging” us to board early. We almost didn’t take them up on it, but didn’t want to be standing in a line with 3,000 passengers, either :roll: It was a Saturday morning, no work-related rush hour worries. We had our “trip tiks” from AAA and coffee for the road. We had done this last October without any problems :D All was easy until we got close to the city. AAA didn’t mention that the George Washington Bridge had one deck closed :shock: Traffic was backed up all the way across Manhattan and North a bit :shock: We arrived just in time for regular boarding :roll: No waiting :lol: We walked right in. The room was ready. The luggage showed up within minutes. We later spoke with someone who boarded early and had to wait in the lounges. One never knows how things are going to work out :D A couple of tropical drinks :drink: and lunch and we were in the cruise mood :lol: :lol: The drill was quick and finished before sail away. Here are some pictures and video clips: In New York City, aboard Carnival Victory, waiting for Norwegian Spirit and Carnival Miracle to leave Miracle left NYC first Norwegian Spirit left next It was finally our turn to sail out of Manhattan :D Sailing past the Statue of Liberty Approaching the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge And sailing under it http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=muwza0&s=4 Explorer of the Seas sailed out last and got a water salute One of New York City’s “waterfalls” Coney Island New York City must be one of the best cities to sail into or out of :D :D The next day was a sea day. Cool but sunny. We were enjoying being “on the boat” so much that we forgot to take pictures :oops: We woke up to a very foggy Saint John :!: Victory in Saint John Very foggy Grandeur of the Seas leaving Christmas in July We took an easy walk to Market Square Bon Voyage music Leaving a foggy Saint John The next day we were in Halifax. We walked around and saw Samuel Cunard’s statue: Sampled Halifax’s local brew, “Keith’s beer” :wink: Saw Halifax’s famous tugboat, Theodore :lol: He came by tooting his whistle http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=1zyijoi&s=4 Grandeur of the Seas was with us again in Halifax The sun almost came out Sailing out of Halifax and into more fog Most of the last sea day was still foggy We heard the “fog horn” for three days http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=2610qqx&s=4 Who says you can’t take the elevator to the front of the ship :?: :clown: On the last night of the cruise, the moon came out Too soon we were back in New York City :!: All in all it was a very relaxing cruise. I had no idea that it could be so foggy that we couldn’t see the ocean, but then again, we knew we weren’t going to the Caribbean. The entertainment was very good. The dancers were great and the comedian hilarious. The food was great. Better than on most of our recent cruises. Food quality has gone down on many lines, but not on Carnival. Thanks, Donna and Liz, for meeting us. It made getting off the ship much easier :love: And the ride home was a breeze, made even nicer by a stop to say hi to Phyllis :love:

Great report Manuela and love the pictures :) The statue of Sir Samuel is great, I was in Halifax too early to see it as it was not unvailed until after I had been. :( Events at sea are reporting a small fire onboard during your trip, did you hear anything about it?

NO :shock: I suppose they didn't want to worry us :?: :shock:

From a passenger: I was just on a five-night Canada Cruise (July 12-17, 2008). On Sunday night, July 13th we were at the 8:30 show in the Caribbean Lounge. There were some "explosive" special effects throughout the show. At the end...at least I THINK it was the end...a spark ignited one of the speakers in the stage floor. It was smoking! After a few seconds a crew memeber came out from back-stage with a fire extinguisher and put it out. It continued to smoke even more. Evenutally, the lounge was cleared out. The 10:30 show was delayed and the Midnight Comedy show was re-located due to the "fire". http://www.cruisejunkie.com/events.html

WOW :shock: We were at both those shows. I remember the delay and the change of venue, but didn't know the reason. I just mentioned it to my son - he heard about it in an elevator and didn't think it important enough to tell us :roll:

Guess you were not at THAT show. Love Theodore's whistle and the foghorn :lol: :lol: :lol:

Thanks for the review, Manuela. Love the fog horn. :D Glad the fire turned out to be nothing. :shock: A Canada cruise may be in our future. Would love to introduce my brother who lives in NJ to cruising but he will not fly anywhere so we would have to leave from NYC. :)

Now THAT would be fantastic :D :D :D You MUST convince him :D

Thanks for the review, photos and videos. Seems like a really nice get-a-way, except for the fog. :D :D

You're welcome, Lena :D It was a very relaxing trip :D Sailing through the "clouds" was certainly a new experience :lol:

What a shame about the fog :!: What was on the stern of Norweigan Spirit?-1st pic in NYC. :?: Surely not a rock effect- I would think some jerk would think,' I will dive into the pool.' We have sufficients accidents on our coastlines, when young people 'high dive' into the sea. I remember an air sea rescue last year, after people on a beach in Dorset warned a young person not to let himselg off from the cliffs.. I cannot remember what they call it though( the silly diving)

Amazingly enough, that is the children's area, Jackie :shock: This photo was taken last October.

Great review and pics Manuela Loved the tugboat 8) and he pic of the lighthouse in the fog is very atmospheric. Well worth a frame!

No, Debbie, I didn't do the Titanic tour. It won't replace the Caribbean, but it was a good trip.