The charming seaside vistas of the Canadian Maritimes and New England in the fall is a unique cruise experience.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
Easiest embarkation ever, no crowds because of the number of passengers doing B2B from Boston.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
5 out of 5
This sailing was before the Dawn’s massive refit, so things did look a little faded, but the ship has always been clean and well kept. The Main Dining Rooms serve an excellent selection of flawlessly prepared dishes. I believe the Blue Lagoon was the “pub” type restaurant prior to the refit and O’Sheehan’s, and we would often grab a burger or sandwich here.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
Nightly Karaoke in Pearly Kings was our favorite fun time. We made friends with other performers and would cheer each other’s efforts on. I remember singing “White Rabbit” and the Everly Brother’s “All I Want to Do is Dream” with friends we met in Aqua. It was a wonderful cruise!
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Patti and Jose were on board, so we had a great time! They would take over the Atrium almost nightly with their brand of classic rock, oldies, country and Neil Diamond. We tried to catch every show! Band on the Run and Elements were among the Broadway-esque shows on board, and there was an SCTV comedy troupe that was just ok and an illusionist that was pretty good. One of the combos that played here and there was very good with a female singer who sounded like Roberta Flack. They were awesome, very tight on every song. They did “live band Karaoke” one night and I sang a Fleetwood Mac song withbthem.
Children's Programs
No kids!
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Everyone on the Dawn is friendly, hard-working and performs their job flawlessly. Our steward kept our room spotless and turned down our bed every night with a delightful towel animal and chocolate for each of us.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
Everything was great, as I said, this was before the 2016 Edge refit, so maybe a little faded.
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
The cabin was comfortable and clean, not noisy. We liked it!
Ship tip
Think about getting the Spa Pass for the week. It is a little expense but the thalaossotherapy pool, thermal loungers, sauna and hot tubs will leave you relaxed and recharged. Bring a few Korean face masks on board to really pamper yourself and come home 2 years younger.
We rented a car in Boston to drive up through Vermont. It was slightly before peak foliage but the Green Mountains were still breathtaking. We spent two days pre-cruise in Montreal where we took in the art museum, then drove to visit the Montmorency Falls (breathtaking!) and The Cathedral of St. Anne de Beaupre. Very inspiring. We drove to Quebec City and the Port which took a bit more time than we thought, and dropped our luggage off, embarked and then as it was an overnight in Quebec City went off to return the car at the airport. We took a wrong turn and ended up at another beautiful waterfall. By the time we got to the airport we were charged for an extra day with the car but we said “c’est la vie” as we were in a French speaking part of Canada. We took a cab back to the ship. The next day we explored the old part of Quebec City and it was beautiful! Like Europe. We took the Funicular up to the top, and it is good that they were selling over-priced hats and gloves in the gift shop because it was flipping COLD! Bring your own hats and gloves even early in the season! There was a little art market on an alley that was super charming, and I got some cool clothes at a department store. We enjoyed this port very much and look forward to visiting again.
This is actually the incorrect port for this itinerary, it was Sydney. We did a stunning Cape Breton tour that was like a trip to Scotland on the Cabor Trail. It included lunch at a local cafe and a visit to a cool, old-timey hotel like in Dirty Dancing.
The city of Halifax is a special friend to the city of Boston. Each year they give us a big Christmas tree as a token of friendship for the aid that Boston provided to them in their hour of need following the great explosion in 1917. In a tour that was organized by one of our ship-mates from the roll call, we visited a few of the sites associated with this tragedy and saw historic houses, monuments and a smashed ship’s propeller that was miles from the harbor. We visited the Titanic graveyard where many victims of that disaster were interred. From there we went off to tour a maple syrup factory and shop filled with sweets, got lunch at Ryer’s Lobster Pound where we met a rainbow of different (living) lobsters, red, orange, yellow, blue and green. I loved that! Peggy’s Cove was gorgeous and I took a bunch of great photos for many, many paintings.
We did the Bay of Fundy Tour with Freedom Tours where we took a tour of the Fundy shore with the famous high tides, quaint villages and many seaside vistas.
Oli’s Trolley took us on a wonderful excursion through Bar Harbor and Acadia State Park with stops at Cadillac Mountain, Thunder Hole and Jordan Pond. We had time to do some shopping and grab lunch at The Thirsty Whale, which was very good.
This is our home port, so we did a tour of our own house with a stop at the laundry room before enjoying a ride on our sofa and we got to pat a real live cat.
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