Canada/New England Cruise 2025 - Halifax, NS (09/10/25)

 

I knew that I was going to hate waking up today, as I knew that I wouldn't get enough sleep before our scheduled shore excursion.

But first....

RQS and I had to get up at 6, so that we'd be ready for our shore excursion to Lunenburg by 7:30.  With neither of us having enough sleep the night before, I knew that we'd both be exhausted by the time we got back to the ship.  I was up early enough to get some shots of Port Halifax before we docked at Pier 20.  (All my previous cruises to this port docked at pier 21.)  

The first thing we did after showering and dressing was to go to the buffet. Being up at 7 made it so easy for us to both find a vacant table and find something to eat.  Too bad we're not early birds.  Around 7:30, we made it to one of the staging stations (a ship restaurant) to await our group number to be called.  After a short walk to an awaiting bus, we were on our way to Lunenburg.

 

 

 

Our first stop along the way was to Amos Pewter in Mahone Bay.  We saw the "Soup to Nuts" presentation on how pewter is made, and participated in using the skills needed to make a pewter ornament.  It was a nice demonstration, and made us appreciate the work the artisans do at this studio.

From Mahone Bay, it was off to nearby Lunenburg.  Old town Lunenburg was a planned colonial settlement, and a Nova Scotia treasure.  All of the buildings in this district reek of history, even if they are post colonial in style.  It was here where we decided to have lunch and enjoy our day away from the ship.  
 

After lunch, we explored the old town a little, but didn't have that much time or energy to do this place justice.  Hopefully, we may be able to find the time and money to visit this part of Canada by land and explore it as my parents once did 55 years ago, when I was a child.

All too soon, we were on our way back to the ship.  After a stop at a Maple Syrup store (a stop geared to generate money for both the store and the tour company), we were on our way back to the ship.  Sadly, we had no time to find a place selling needle and thread (I wanted to secure a button to a jacket), so this task will be put off to our next port stop.  And then, it was time for both of us to take a much needed nap before dinner.

Dinnertime came, and we went to the main dining room for dinner.  We were seated at a shared table with 5 other people, and had a nice time.  However, we noticed one thing: Service was so slow for a 7 pm seating, that we could not make it to the theater in time for the nightly entertainment.