Adventure of the Seas - Quebec City, Quebec CA Day 4

The ship stayed in port in Quebec City overnight so we had a full day to spend on land til All aboard at 3:45 pm. Muster call would be shortly after all aboard and sail away was 5 pm. The weather was 18C (64F) and cloudy with scattered showers. Not the nicest day, but nothing you can do about it. We wanted to get the ship staff familiar with us and our bikes so we took them off the ship even though we only rode a few miles along the St Lawrence river. The bikes on the ship worked fine, we just scouted out the hall and elevator before we would roll our bikes out. We tried to avoid busy times by leaving a little later, and coming back on board before the end of port call.


A couple notes for those interested in the logistics so far. My Sprint Samsung S6 phone worked fine in Canada. I have the unlimited SERO plan and got free data, phone calls were $2.50 and texts $0.20 each. I used WhatsApp to text for free. I had also downloaded the Bixi bike app in Montreal before leaving the US. There is Wi-Fi everywhere in the bars and resto's. Scott's Samsung S4 phone didn't work at all, it was a brick. His service is Tello, a discount plan that runs off Sprint network, they do not support service outside the U.S. Our friends have Apple Iphones and they worked with a discount plan but the cost was high to call, and use data. They relied on Wi-Fi.


It was interesting to note that Uber was used in Montreal and they have a station at the airport set up for it, but it seemed to be blocked in the near vicinity. We had to get a cab. But as soon as we were driving away in the cab, I checked Uber and was able to connect to their network. Uber was not available in any other Canadian towns we visited, there were no drivers. Uber is illegal in Prince Edward Island. Nova Scotia had no drivers.


Quebec City is beautiful, and I'm told seems to be just like quaint old Europe. Most of the town looks normal and business like, its just a tourist district down by the port that has the Europe feel. The hills were extremely steep and there is a funicular to ride up to the top of the hill where the Frontenac Hotel is. There is great history about this town between the French and English battles. Lots of cannons around, and we even saw a cannon ball wedged under a tree that had grown around it.


The ship had great entertainment almost every evening. We again enjoyed the free drinks in the Diamond Lounge. It turns out we never spent a dollar on drinks our entire cruise. We usually used to spend about $100 a day on drinks, but since we're diamond status now we saved over a thousand dollars on this trip with the free drinks. There were over 1000 diamond members on this cruise, and the ship reported during one of the last diamond parties that they had served over 22,000 free drinks over the cruise, over 1600 drinks each evening.


The evening show before dinner was Chad Chesmark who performed a magic show. Later that evening after dinner, there was a comedian, Michele Balan. Tomorrow would be a day at sea, and then we arrive at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (PEI) for our next port.


 Marie & Scott, Mark & Jan
 Chad Chesmark
Joel & Chrissy, Kathy & Mark
 Quebec City







 Frontenac Hotel

 Adventure of the Seas in Quebec City, QC port







The funicular sculpture.

Adventure of the Seas - Quebec City, Quebec CA Day 3

Started our day with a yummy breakfast at Hotel Le Dauphin and then jumped in the rental car to drive the 150 miles to Quebec City to get on the ship, Adventure of the Seas. The ship was going to be in port overnight and departing the next day so there was no rush to get on. It was a beautiful drive up to Quebec City, as the leaves were turning. The landscape was on fire.
 On the way up we decided to visit Montmorency Falls, just outside of Quebec City while we still had a vehicle. It was a cold and blustery day. We didn't have a lot of time before the car rental was due so we didn't go to the top and walk across the falls, but you can. There is also a gondola you can ride to the top for a nominal fee. These falls were beautiful. They are higher than Niagra Falls at 270 feet.



 After visiting the Falls we drove back to Quebec City and returned the car, which was an adventure in itself. There was a long line of people waiting outside the Avis office for someone to return a car, so they were glad to see us! We had dropped our big bags at the ship earlier, so we just had backpacks to walk back the kilometer back to the ship. We wondered around and took some pictures of town.




 When we got on the ship we dropped our stuff and wandered around. We checked out our dinner table and of course it was not a large table, only a 4 top for us and our friends. We got that straightened out and got a 8 top where we met two sisters Kathy and Chrissy, and there husbands Mark and Joel. They hailed from California and Alabama. We all connected and enjoyed our dinners every night in the main dining room until they turned the lights on to kick us out. It was a great experience, and is exactly the reason we always request a large table in the dining room. The great connection finally happened, and it probably won't again for ten years.

We unpacked our folding bicycles in the room for ride around the port the next day. We didn't get off that ship in the evening because it started to rain. We enjoyed our first night in the Diamond Lounge even though it was super crowded. There were over 1000 diamond members trying to get drinks in a small room with 60 chairs. Staff soon set up an extra bar in the Blue Moon to serve drinks and that helped. They served potstickers and chicken wings for appetizers. Yum!






Adventure of the Seas - Montreal, Quebec CA Day 2

Actually, this is day 1 pictures which I realized were missing when I wrote yesterdays post. But we were in Montreal on Saturday and Sunday. The action is on Charlotte Street in the Village. There were barricades blocking the street so everyone can walk in the road. The street is lined with overhead balls on strings that reflect the lights, and that is cool too. The night we walked around there was a Festival of Color with marching groups dancing in costume and playing music. It had a Caribbean flair to it.


We had some poutine in a resto on one of the side streets, I can't get enough of that stuff. We also road bikes on the bike paths along the river to see the unique apartments called Habitat 67.



Parade on Charlotte Street


Charlotte Street in the Village


Shop in The Village



Charlotte Street bikes




Poutine at Dirty Pizza resto


Mont Royal stairs to top of park
Bixi Bikes

Here is a link to all Montreal photos Montreal Photos

Adventure of the Seas - Montreal, Quebec, CA Day 1


We started our Canada and New England adventure in Montreal, Quebec, and for the geographically challenged that is in Canada which is really part of North America, but it felt like we were in Europe. No shit. The signs were in French, the money was Canadian, and it was in the same time zone as Florida. How cool is that! Wicked cool, I tell you.

We spent two days in Montreal before heading to Quebec City to board the beautiful Adventure of the Seas ship which would sail us through Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Maine, Massachusetts and finally back to Florida over a 13 day journey. And it was a great one. I would recommend this itinerary to anyone, and we hope to do it again the year after next.

October is autumn weather in Canada. We had weather in the 40's and 50's the entire time, never thought of wearing shorts. We wore our winter jackets many days, and just the liner jacket all the other days. This was a biking vacation for us, as we brought our folding bikes on the trip and used them in all the ports. In Montreal, we opted to use the city share bikes, called bixi bikes. It was $5 for 24 hours unlimited use, (but the exchange rate made it $3.88). You download the app and check out the bike which you can ride for 30 minutes before you return it. If you want to ride more, just check it out again. We opted to ride to different destinations, then walk around and pick up another bike at another bike stand. The bike stands were plentiful and spread out all over the city. We biked about 10 miles each day.

There is lots to see and do in Montreal. They have wonderful bike paths, lots of bikes, the gay village with live street entertainment, over 50 murals are painted on buildings, there is Mont Royal, and an amusement park in town. Too much to do for a weekend, we'll need to come back.

We stayed at a nice hotel Hotel Le Dauphin which has an urban décor which was cool, high ceilings, wood floors and a nice Apple Mac computer in each room. We used our Chase Reward points to book. We had some great poutine every day in Canada too! Probably why I gained a couple pounds on the trip.












All Montreal Photos

2018 3rd Quarter Mileage Report



Welcome back to the regularly scheduled update, our mileage report for the 3rd Quarter this year. It was a typical summer of mileage, just over 3000 miles for our travels. We did do our first checkup with the new mini van and have loved having it for concerts and bike trips.  We got out a couple times on the motorcycles, and even drove the Camry for a few hundred miles. We're getting ready to go on a biking vacation in Canada so we've been participating in a few group bike rides.


2018 Florida Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday

The 2018 Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday was passed by the Florida Legislature and signed into law by Governor Rick Scott. This sales tax holiday begins Friday, June 1, 2018 and extends through Thursday, June 7, 2018.

During this sales tax holiday period, qualifying items related to disaster preparedness are exempt from sales tax. However, the sales tax holiday does not apply to the rental or repair of any of the qualifying items. Additionally, the sales tax holiday does not apply to sales in a theme park, entertainment complex, public lodging establishment or airport.

For more information and a list of qualifying items, please see the Department of Revenue’s Taxpayer Information Publication on the 2018 Disaster Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday. For your convenience, the Department has provided digital downloads and social media posts for individuals and businesses interested in sharing information about the sales tax holiday. Promotional materials are available at floridarevenue.com/disasterprep
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