Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts

Adventure OTS cruise, Saint John, New Brunswick Day 7

Windy today and all outer decks are closed.  Seas and ship are smooth, just windy. Mostly Sunny with 10C (50F). Saint John arrival was around 1:30pm.  All aboard time will remain as scheduled at 6:30pm since the area is tidal and we must time our departure to avoid low tide.

 This path is part of The Great Trail, also known as the Trans Canada Trail that reaches from coast to coast and is some 24,000 km long (15,000 miles).


 The Bay of Fundy has the greatest tidal changes of anywhere in the world.

 The current in the river, still flowing the wrong way, was very strong and distinct.  Small whirlpools formed and disappeared.  It was very mesmerizing to watch.

 The Captain and crew having lunch now that we're in port.
Lunch in the windjammer before heading out to Reversing Falls

 A beer at Rocky's watching the Steelers win.
 Sunset from the diamond lounge



The entertainment tonight was the worlds only legal pickpocket, Bob Arno. It was amazing to watch him pickpocket people and take off their ties or belts and they didn't even realize he was doing it. He showed a short video from Barcelona, Spain to illustrate the tricks the thieves over there use; beware of lost tourists with maps, girls with scarves, groups of girls, and mothers with fake babies in a fake arm.


Total cruise distance so far,  1,527 Nautical Miles.

Adventure OTS cruise - Halifax, Nova Scotia Day 6

Today was a Saturday in Halifax and there was a nice sunrise at 7:27am. We were in port today from 7am to 3:30pm and it would be a mostly cloudy day with temps of 11C (52F) with winds at 17 mph. One of our better days

 
 Halifax is another old Canadian city with lots of history.  It was the birth place of Samuel Cunard whose parents immigrated here in 1783.  As a businessman he formed a steamship line that would later be known as the Cunard Line sailing from Liverpool, England.
Our plan was to ride bikes to the ferry and cross the river to Dartmouth, and then ride the trans Canada trail to Fishermans Cove. It was a long and hilly ride, with us clocking in over 15 miles for the day on our one speed folding bikes. My chain came off on the way up a hill because I hadn't tightened my back wheel enough. Good planning meant we had the tools to fix and get going right away.
 On the ferry to Dartmouth across the river from Halifax. Only $2.50 to cross round trip.

 
 
The Silver Sea arrived in port after us, another RCL ship.
 The port in Dartmouth where lots of automobiles are shipped into.
 A mural along the trans Canada trail depicting Nova Scotia sports
 Fishermans Cove was quaint and quiet, mostly shut down for the season.
 End of season sales in the shops in almost every town we stopped at.
 A fishing boat in Fishermans Cove
 Lobster cages in Fishermans Cove
 

 Biking the Trans Canada Trail
 A fellow passenger on the ferry.
 Pumpkin patch in Halifax boardwalk area.
 

 More poutine today in Halifax
 Poutine was $7.95 but after taxes closer to ten dollars. Those Canadian taxes are extreme and make everything seem expensive.
A huge mushroom growing next to the bike path.
 I think we went to the evening Singers and Dancers show, but I don't have any pictures so maybe not. We did attend the battle of the sexes game show in the Imperial lounge and our table mates Joel, Mark and Mark all played in the game. It was pretty funny.
 Pop the balloon between two bodies. The girls won.



Around 6pm the Captain announced a guest was in a critical medical condition and we would need to return to Halifax to drop them off for medical attention.  We had been sailing about 2 hours already, so it set us back and we would have a late arrival in Saint Johm, New Brunswick the next day. Unfortunate but it happens, especially with the large number of elderly guests onboard.





Adventure OTS cruise, Sydney Nova Scotia Sea Day 5

When we woke up and looked out the balcony, it was rainy and windy. The temperature was 12C (54F) with 35 to 40 mph winds. We also were not at a port like we should have been. At 8am sharp the Captain made an announcement. The Pier was closed. Port officials offered anchorage which didn't make sense.  We gain a sea day and plan to keep our scheduled call into Halifax tomorrow. As the remnants of Hurricane Michael approach us we are expecting 35-40 mph winds and 12' seas but with our slower speed towards Halifax the Captain predicts very little ship movement.



Noon update from the Captain.   Not much has changed as we slowly poke along at around 10 knots. Winds are expected to reach 40-45 mph max.   Stabilizers are extended.  Seas of 12-13' expected. We were hugging the Nova Scotia coast just far enough out I'm sure to be in international water. Outer decks are closed, and barf bags have appeared on the stairwells.

I was not disappointed to miss Sydney since we didn't have a good plan. We had a rental car reserved but had canceled it due to poor weather. So we participated in some line dancing, and photo scavenger hunt. We played the photo scavenger hunt and had to find things or do things and take a picture.
 The human pyramid
 We won first place in the photo scavenger hunt, and got a RCL shopping bag for a prize.
 Barf bags in the halls today
 Relaxing day for a dip in the hot tub
 Tonight was the top tier event which we skipped since we could get drinks the in the DL. I heard it was packed. Here are the top tier numbers for our trip. The Captain said there are over 10 million Crown and Anchor members now.
 
Gold 685
Platinum 406
Emerald 225
Diamond 630
Diamond Plus 499
Pinnacle 78
Total on this trip: 1,838 Top Tier,  with 1,207 vying for Diamond Lounge access. 

 
 
 
The evening entertainment show was Karen Grainger a female impressionist and singer. She grew up in Toronto, and provided a good show.
 The storm continued to roar outside as we all partied on the ship.


Adventure OTS Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (Day 4 of Cruise)





Our Next port of call was Charlottetown, PEI for a full day from 8am to 5:30pm. The temperature was 7C (45F) with 20 mph winds, with mostly cloudy skies and rain showers. The worst weather of the trip. There was a Sudoku challenge in the Schooner bar in the morning, so we had breakfast in the windjammer and headed to the challenge. Neither of us got in top 3, some lady was done in about 2 minutes. It was ridiculous, we need to work on our speed.


We wanted to wait  a little to see if the weather would improve, and it did - a little. We took our bikes off the ship and rode along the coastline to Victoria Park, and PEI Battery Park.
  




Charlottetown is the birthplace of Canada in the sense that the founding Fathers from the original five colonies (Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec) gathered here in 1864 to write the document that would lead to formation of the British North American Act that Queen Victoria signed into law in 1867.  That is how Canada was granted it's independence from England.


Then we continued along to see the Lighthouses, and Queen Elizabeth Park. We cut back into town and parked the bikes while we walked around some. We opted to skip poutine again, and head back to the ship for a late lunch.

 PEI Battery Park
 Brighton Beach Range Front Lighthouse
 A lighthouse in someones yard in PEI.
 Cannabis would be legal a couple days after we leave Canada, shops are everywhere.
 I could never figure out what trash went where with three choices.
A memorial to the PEI Soldiers who lost their lives in the two World Wars, in Korea and Afghanistan
 Port Charlottetown was a good distance from town, good thing we had our bikes.

 Charlottetown City Hall
 We were finally in lobster country!
 A cool Halloween decoration this biker flew off his bike into a tree.
 The rainbow side walk in PEI
 Tim Hortons is the favorite coffee shop, they serve Poutine too, Kind of like the McDonalds of US.
 Fresh Lobster right off the boat
There was an Ice Skating Show tonight before dinner, "Cool Art, Hot Ice!". We left the diamond lounge early to get in line. It was a good show on a tiny 40 x 60 ft rink.

 Caribbean music on the Promenade. Most activities from the pool deck were moved to the promenade on dk5.


 After biking a day in the rain we decided to warm up in the hot tub before the diamond lounge.
 Great dinner again in the main dining room.
















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