Tuesday October 20, 2015 Quebec City, Quebec, Canada

Our tour was set to meet at 8:15.  We got up early enough to have our coffee and breakfast before going to the Princess Theater and ashore.  We went out the bus area to start our tour.  We were docked in Quebec but it was quite a jaunt to the bus parking area, but still better than taking the tenders ashore.

Beautiful painting on side of building

It was cloudy and cold.  Our first stop was in a restored section of lower Quebec.  Quebec was founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain and is the only remaining walled city north of Mexico.  It is also one of the oldest cities in North America. The lower city has many cobble stone streets.

Weird art 

Chateau Frontenac

British General Wolf

Of course the city has expanded outside  the walls.  We toured the Battleground Park.  This park is part of the Plains of Abraham, on Sept 23, 1759 the decisive battle for possession of Canada was fought here during the French and Indian War.  In Europe this was known as the 7 years War between the English and French.  Some of the roots of the American Revolution come from the believers by Briton's that the American colonies should pay part of the expense of the war, thus the taxation without representation.

Battleground Park

A chapel on the way to St. Anne

The tour then went out to the countryside where we were shown examples of the homes that were typical in what was then known as New France.  We had lunch at an inn called Auberge Baker.  The leaves were in full color near the inn.

One of several Root Cellars

Another style Root Cellar

Neva at the Inn

A road up a hill

Inside the main church

We then traveled to a basilica dedicated to seamen.  Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre.  This was a huge ornate Catholic Church, the current building completed in 1934.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupr%C3%A9

The chuch in the basement

One of a few exact copies of Michelangelo's Pieta

Montmorency Falls

After visiting St. Anne's we made a stop at Montmorency Falls.  The guide said these falls are taller than Niagara Falls.  They may be taller but they are not nearly as impressive.  http://www.sepaq.com/ct/pcm/index.dot?language_id=1

Gerri and me at Montmorency Falls

After a stop at near the top of the falls we continued on to a drive around the Ile d'Orleans. http://tourisme.iledorleans.com/en/ Before we returned to the ship.  The Island is mostly agriculture with a few villages.

Quebec City from across the St. Lawrence River

The day had been cold and windy with very little sunshine.  I discovered that I had made a mistake when downloading caches in the Quebec City area.  I missed finding a cache in Quebec Provence.  I hope to get some caches in the area next year when we do the RV caravan to the Maritimes.

Back on the ship. Neva went to her doctor appointment.  Gerri started packing.  Our meeting time is 5:30 AM tomorrow for our transportation to the airport.

Tonight for dinner we sat with the people at the next table, part of their party didn't come to dinner.  We took their place.

Back at the cabin we were ready for bed shortly after getting the rest of our luggage ready to be loaded for the trip to the airport.

Monday October 19, 2015 At Sea on the St. Lawrence Seaway

Entrance to the St. Lawrence Seaway

This was our scheduled day at sea and we had entered the St. Lawrence Seaway.  We slept in and then ordered our coffee and breakfast.  It was cold out so we stayed in the cabin except a few times we went on the balcony for pictures.  Most of the day we were in sight of shore, sometimes very close.

Entering the Saguenay Fjord

There is supposed to be the face of an Indian there somewhere

Our view of the statue

At the start of the cruise I had put in a shout out for a meeting of geocachers.  The time was set for today at 4:15.  From the logs of caches that I had found, I knew there were at least two other cachers on board.  As the time for the meeting approached we were reaching a point in the fjord. There was a statue on the hillside, Notre Dame du Saguenay.

A view of the statue from the Internet

At 4:15 we met with the other cachers in the Wheelhouse Bar.  There were two other couples that were cachers and a third couple that had heard about caching and wanted to learn more. We met for about an hour exchanging stories and experiences.  The other cachers were Jim Powell, from Ontario, JRP43 and Roger Perss, from Illinois, FeastBeast2.

Neva went to the doctor.  He removed 4 more stitches.  The doctor again advised taking it easy with as little walking as possible.

We also went to the Internet Café and caught up on computer chores.  Internet service in the cabin is still poor.

Baked Alaska and our junior waiter

We had dinner at our usual time and place.  Tonight they had the parade of the Baked Alaska, but will be serving it tomorrow.  We planned to go to the Crooners Lounge for the piano player but he quit early because of the balloon drop celebrating the 50 year anniversary for Princess Cruise Lines.  We didn’t stay for that.  

Our singing Maitre D'hotel, Hector

We were ready for bed at midnight but had to adjust our alarm because tonight the clock goes back an hour and the iPad hasn’t reset.  The reason for the alarm was that our tour in Quebec meets at 8:25.

Sunday October 18, 2015 At Sea In Route Quebec City

A ghostship or break in the cloud front

We were awaken at 7:30 by a ship wide announcement that we would not be making port in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.  The Captain didn’t belief that it was safe to maneuver to a dock in the small harbor due to gale force winds (30 knots.)

We saw a lot of changing clouds

We went back to sleep for a while before ordering our coffee and breakfast.  It was a pretty lazy day.  Actually a good thing, Neva was able to stay off her foot most of the day.  She only ventured out for her doctor visit and to dinner.

While Neva visited the doctor, Gerri and I went to the Internet Café and caught up on computer chores.  On Neva’s visit to the doctor, he removed one stitch so the wound could heal better from the inside out.  More advice to stay off the foot as much as possible.

Dressed for dinner

Gerri and I went to the Skywalker for hors d’oeuvres.  Tonight was the shrimp fountain.  We met Neva back in the cabin and dressed for dinner.  This was our last formal night.  After dinner Gerri and Neva went to the Crooner’s lounge and listened to the piano player for a while.

The sea has been a little rougher today, but not much.  The Captain did a good job of skirting the storm front.

Saturday October 17, 2015 At Sea between Sydney, Nova Scotia and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

Panoramic view off our balcony

We started our day as usual with coffee and breakfast in our cabin.  We hadn’t booked any tours for today so we didn’t have to hurry for anything.  On the shore opposite where we were docked there were houses and open spaces  There were a few taller buildings.

They have an affinity for fiddle music

A statue in the park near a geocache I found

The Carpet Bowling course

Around 1PM Gerri and I went to Deck 5 in the Piazza which is near the Internet Café and considered a Public area.  We can get on the internet somewhat faster in these areas.  We collected our emails and posted yesterday’s blog on Facebook. 

At 2:15 Gerri and I went to the Wheel House Lounge, where we played carpet bowling.  Carpet Bowling is a modified version of Bocce Ball.  There were six players and we played three rounds. I was amazed with the results, I won.  The prize was one of the highly sought after Princess lanyards.

The winning form

After the bowling I went ashore and found a geocache.  This find was my first in Sydney and my second in the province of Nova Scotia and my 5033^rd find overall.

I met Gerri in the Skywalker on Deck 18 for hors d’oeuvres while Neva kept her appointment with the ship’s doctor.  Neva joined us later.  From this high point of the ship we could see much of the harbor.  There were a few small boats moving around but the harbor wasn’t very busy.  It may be the time of the year.  We watched a couple of wedding parties come and go taking pictures in a small park and marinas near the stern of the ship.

The end off the Cruise show

We saw the sunset and then went to our cabin at rest before dinner.  I had partaken of too many of the hors d’oeuvres and was uncomfortably full before finishing dinner,  After dinner we went to the Princess Theater and watched the International Cruise Show.  It feature 6 of the talented members of the crew and the ship’s orchestra.

 

We were late getting back to the cabin and went to bed shortly after wards.

Friday October 16, 2015 At Sea Between Halifax, Nova Scotia and Sydney, Nova Scotia

Our tour today isn’t until after noon.  So we went to the Horizon Court for a late breakfast.  We were on the side of the ship opposite the dock and had a good view of much of the town of Halifax.

The Lighthouse at Peggy's Cove

Our tour for the day was a drive to Peggy’s Cove.  The drive to Peggy’s Cove was about an hour.  We spent an hour an there and then drove back, making a large circle.  Halifax is the capital of Nova Scotia and the largest city in the maritime provinces.  

Welcome to Halifax

Some color change

Peggy’s cove is a scenic area formed by glacial action.  Besides the wild and rocky shoreline Peggy’s Cove features a lighthouse.  Peggy’s cove is a small fishing village with a permanent population of 38.  It is the most popular tour in Halifax.  With 4 cruise ships in port today the population is almost doubled by the arrival of each tour bus.

The village of Peggy's Cove through
he bus windshield

Wild coast line

A seafarer memorial in Peggy's cove.

More wild coastline

Before the tour started I had gone out before Gerri and Neva and found a nearby cache.  This was my first cache in Nova Scotia.  I have now done caches in 6 of Canada’s 10 provinces and 1 of its 3 territories.

Back at the ship, I took the computer to the Internet café to complete our computer chores.  Gerri went with me and Neva went to appointment with the ship’s doctor.  The doctor extended the antibiotics for her and is to continue daily visits to cleanse and evaluate her wound since she is very slow to heal. 

At 7:15 Gerri and I went to see a comedian, Tom Briscoe, appearing in the Princess Theater.  After the show we met Neva in the Palm dining room.

After diner we went back to our cabin and we were in for the night.