Planning a quick trip to the
Canadian maritimes, we wanted to visit
Quebec City and
Newfoundland
again, but making that drive in ten days would leave little time to see
the land again. So, we cruised-- in the rain. Only Quebec City could be this beautiful in gray.
To be sure, I'm not a cruise-type. I want to explore forests, look for wild creatures, and wear jeans. But, look at cruising like
having dinner. If you want an appetizer or a little taste of everything
on the menu, that's a cruise. Bus excursions don't stop when you see a
wonderful photograph, and often have entirely different sites on their
menu that don't interest you. But you get a look at new lands, which is
infinitely better than staying at home watching TV, painting the house
or cutting grass.
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| Leaving New York under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. |
If you want the entire buffet,
three plates of steak or pieces of Boston creme pie, take the car. You
stop when and as often as you want. It's not a vacation chosen by
someone else and you can fish for a week if you find the Perfect Spot,
hike to the mountain peak on the horizon or jam to music on the car radio and
drive your own tour.
Now, I'm almost a rookie at
cruising but enjoy listening to other people who notch their suitcase
handles with the number of cruises they've taken and the differences between the cruise lines. My bucket list can be stashed in a soup can now, and trips to Farawayville and Palm Tree City I can hear about and be satisfied. Kind of.
This
year's cruise on
Norwegian Cruise Line was just a quick hop to Canada and places we've been
before. But gasoline there is $5.50 a gallon, so just the drive would quickly
jack up the cost. The ferry trip to Newfoundland for two passengers and
the van is about $360. Add food, occasional hotels (sleep in the van as
much as possible), and the cost quickly becomes more than the cruise.
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| Corner Brook, Newfoundland, and our ship, the Norwegian Gem. |
Traveling by car, you can enjoy these small towns as they really are, and not how they are when the ships dump off thousands of tourists.
Corner Brook, Newfoundland, is a town about the size of Hanover, and its makeup changes dramatically when a ship, with its 2,400 passengers, anchors at the dock. Some shops and attractions are open only when ships come to town. That's not how the city is, but instead is performing for its tourists.
There
is plenty to like about cruises, despite the skimpy scenic highlights.
On the cruises I've taken, we hit the free onboard restaurants, where
unlimited steak, lamb, frog legs, sweet potato rice cakes and lobster is
available. If you don't like it, take it back and they'll bring something else. You can pay more for specialty restaurants, but why?
 |
| Another cruise ship backing into Halifax, Nova Scotia. Four ships in dock. |
We
enjoy meeting new friends, and share tables whenever possible. We get caught up in their energy and still feel their smiles today. It's
interesting that some other passengers disliked that arrangement
so much they'll never do 'freestyle' cruising again. They want to dine
at the same restaurant, table, waiter, time, and the same people every
night. And am I dressing up? Not a chance.
Nightly
entertainment (comedians, dancers, magicians, singers) is excellent and when at sea, there's always plenty to
do, even if it's the constant trivia games,
Sudoku, climbing walls or
just sitting in the lounge and reading something you've picked up at the
library. For a real challenge, try ping pong on a windy ship deck or
shuffleboard on a wet deck. Hot tubs, pools and slides make you forget that it's raining.
On our trips, the vast
majority of passengers are senior citizens, although different cruise
lines cater to different age groups. Our group was old. Retired.
There were more walkers, canes and wheelchairs on board than in the
local senior citizen high-rise. It's doubtful I could have handled
another heading-stuffing whiff of old ladies' perfume.
Then I looked in mirror and saw an old guy staring back at me. It's one of those 'slap my face' realities. I'm one of 'Them'. Still, there's something comforting about 1,000
old people -- like me-- clapping in time and singing the lyrics to
"
Margaritaville", "
Piano Man" and "
American Pie".
 |
| Spent an hour in Peggy's Cove. Could have spent a week. |
Better yet, the
frail older ladies who leave their walkers behind to dance rather
vigorously to "
YMCA"-- even as the boat rocks. Even us old guys get up and try to dance, thoroughly embarrassing ourselves, since
we'll probably never again see anyone on the ship again. Still, a guy is a guy, and 95 percent of
us still look like a frog in a blender. Awful. Or comical.
On future visits
to the maritimes, we'll probably drive. Many trips are graded by
the photos brought home, and while these pictures will remind me of my
love of Canada, they were nothing special. It rained nearly every day in
port and most at sea. In a car, you can drive out of the rain or make alternate plans.
During a cruise, if it rains, there's not much to do about it. Well...
Excuse me, waiter, please bring me another steak!
Just prior to Mitzi Eaton releasing a rehabilitated bald eagle Saturday, York Daily Record photographer Jason Plotkin and I were joking about asking Mitzi to have the bird fly straight out of the cage and right up, and onto a bare evergreen branch a 30 yards away. We'd get the entire event, catching, releasing and flying away, we said.
