We got a great deal on a “leaf peeping” cruise through Montreal and down the eastern starboard on Caribbean Princess.

Our first ports of call were Quebec and Halifax. Loved both of them! We wrote about our experiences there in this post.

We then made our way back to the United States of America.

Portland, Maine, USA

We visited Portland on our honeymoon in 2018 and we were excited to explore the city again. The ship docked right downtown. We walked around admiring the nice architecture. Our first stop was at the famed Holy Donut.

Portland is a lot like Seattle – it’s a good town! We started with donuts from Holy Donut. Incredibly soft and delicious donuts made from potato. We split chocolate sea salt, maple bacon, and an apple cider donut actually made from an apple. A must try while in town.

Our next stop was for coffee at Speckled Ax. Corey was hoping for xx but this store did not offer that. We shared a steaming cup of pour over coffee.

After a few hours of exploring by foot, we rested at Even Tide for oysters, lobster curry, and cocktails.

This was actually our second time dining at Even Tide. We really liked both of our experiences and may have unintentionally eaten at the exact same table!

After snacks we hopped on a bus to the west end. Our next adventure was at Urban Farm Fermentory. They make all types of fermented beverages: cider, beer, gruit (beer brewed with herbs instead of hops), mead, and kombuchas and jun (a kombucha relative). We had a sampler, which was a great way to try both alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages.

At night we went over to a friend’s house for dinner and a hang out. I didn’t grab a picture but we had so much fun hanging out with Jake and Meg. I met Jake when I lived in Dongtan, Korea. We last saw them back during hot vax summer of 2021. They adopted van life for several months and road-tripped around the US, and stayed at our house in Seattle. We had a great time catching up and discussing our respective travels.

Jake dropped us off at the ship five minutes before all-aboard. Although we were on time, we were the last passengers to board, and when Corey checked his phone, the ship had called to check up on us. This seemed odd to us, but if we were going to be late, I suppose it is better to receive a call from the ship than to figure out how to call the ship. (But don’t expect this treatment from most vessels: we’re often the last ones onboard and no other ships have ever reached out to us.)

Boston, Massachusetts

So much history to see in Boston. We have seen some parts of Boston before but we opted to walk the entire Freedom Trail to visit lots of new sites and revisit some we’ve seen before. One of the highlights for me was the Granary Burying Ground, a cemetery where many notable historical figures are laid to rest, including Paul Revere.

The other highlight for me is Paul Revere’s house tour. We didn’t actually do it on this trip, but it’s part of the Freedom Trail and I recommend doing the tour if you have time. Around the corner is the church in which Mr. Revere placed his lanterns to alert others about the British arrival.

The Trail is easy to follow as there is a red line (brick or painted) on the ground that directs you to the next point on the trail. The trail is around 2.5 miles.

The Black Heritage Trail is a 1.6 mile loop that also starts from Boston Common (either the beginning or end of the Freedom Trail). It covers an additional 14 historical sites, but we did not have time to add it to our day.

Here are some photo highlights from the Freedom Trail.

The USS Constitution is moored at the northern Terminus of the Freedom Trail, following a walk through the Charlestown neighborhood. With only a day in town, we decided to not tour the museum. But we did play miniature golf (for free)! Each hole taught us some historical facts about the USS Constitution and it was great afternoon fun in the sun. Corey beat me by 3 strokes but it was not a competitive match.

Since the Trail led us across the harbor to Charlestown, we opted to take the Charlestown passenger ferry back to downtown. It’s a cheap, functional harbor cruise, and there were great views on the way.

After we disembarked the ferry we grabbed some lobster and chowder at a nearby restaurant and meandered through downtown.

A visit to Boston is not complete without drinking a Sam Adams. While the main brewery is in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood, they have a relatively-new downtown brewpub with some exclusive taps. It has a lovely terrace with an outdoor bar. We basked in the sun and sipped on some beers until time to rejoin the ship.

Side note: I was disappointed that I only saw six Dunkin’ Donuts on our walk. We stopped at the fifth Dunkin’ for pumpkin munchkins and a Boston Cream. Of course! We strutted around the city and walked more than eight miles that day so the calories do not count.

Newport, Rhode Island

This was our only tender (water shuttle) port of the voyage. We had no concrete plans, so we waited until later in the morning to obtain tender tickets to go ashore. The sun was shining brightly and it was again a perfect sunny fall day, fairly warm considering it was the end of October! As we sailed south the weather just got warmer and warmer!

We walked around A LOT and put in over nine miles. That’s a lot of miles for a pretty small town. The views in Newport are incredible though!

The first chunk of the day we walked around downtown and some residential streets. Folks went all out on some of their Halloween decorations. Check out this reel too.

We eventually arrived at Easton Beach but it was not quite beach weather. Almost!

So we started the Cliff Walk. This path led us along the backside of some of the nicest mansions on the East Coast. Every once in awhile you’d catch a glimpse of the beautiful yards or a towering house, but it was all pretty private. The views in any direction were astounding.

In the afternoon we stopped to tour The Breakers, a mansion built by the Vanderbilts, and said to be the highlight of the Gilded Age mansions of Newport. The tour felt like a scene out of the Great Gatsby. We shuffled through at a moderate pace then continued down the Cliff Walk.

As the Cliff Walk moves south, it turns from a paved path into a trail, and a section is just flat boulders to traipse across. From there it turns more hilly and less-maintained. We turned onto a street and caught the free trolley back into town (certain Rhode Island bus routes operate as free “trolleys” during tourist season).

We made it to Rob’s Almost Famous Roast Beef Sandwiches just before they closed for the day.

The almost famous beef sandwich was delicious and paired excellently with homemade battered onion rings.

After lunch we strolled down the quaint streets of Newport admiring the buildings and window shopping. We had a little bit of time left so when we spotted $1 oysters happy hour we could not resist!

It was a tasty stop before walking to the nearby pier to board a tender with a few minutes to spare. We had perfect timing as we were the only guests returning at that time who were not on a tour.

Sometimes, especially in the busy afternoons, cruise ships will enlist private cruising vessels to assist with the tender operations. This allows for a faster boarding, and allows for the crew to start retracting the lifeboats so the ship can leave sooner. And since it is a ship designed for pleasure cruising, it is much more comfortable than the lifeboat tenders.

The shore personnel sent us to one of these private ships, and sent everyone else returning from shore excursions to a lifeboat. After a few minutes to see if anyone else was returning, the ship sailed away from the pier and gave us a private sunset cruise back to the ship!

New York, New York

New York City smells like a toilet. But it is still a compelling city to explore through all of your senses, minus smell.

Beyond the stench of urine, it’s a vibrant city. How do you spend only one day here?? Well, start by visiting friends! However, that wasn’t until later in the day. Let’s start from the beginning.

The ship pulled into the Brooklyn cruise terminal at Red Hook, providing us with the reflection of the sunrise over Manhattan. We had a light breakfast on the ship and as soon as the clearance announcement was made, we took a short walk to the relatively-new NYC Ferry. Not only does the South Brooklyn Route stop at Red Hook, but they add extra boats when cruise ships are in town. $4 USD per ticket provides two hours of access to all routes, which is plenty of time to make your own cruise on the East River.

We were on a mission to devour a decent bagel. We were successful! The NYC Ferry stops at Wall Street (Pier 11), and we walked across downtown to Leo’s Bagels, where we each had a toasted sesame bagel with a plain schmear.

Instead of taking the subway from here, we went back to the NYC Ferry dock and went uptown on the East River. The Soundview Route has four stops on the east side of Manhattan. Loved seeing New York’s architecture from this point of view! The boat goes under multiple bridges (including the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges), and offers views of the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings, and close-up views of Roosevelt Island.

We exited at East 90th Street, the final Manhattan stop, and walked over to Central Park. As you can see below, it was a good way to see some fall foliage, even if it was slated to be 78 degrees that day.

After hitting the Upper West Side, we took the A train far uptown to meet Candi and Ben at the Cloisters. The Cloisters is a unique museum with the building comprised of medieval European religious buildings, with a collection of medieval European art inside. It is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and although Candi and Ben are members, they had never been to the Cloisters. Corey went more than 20 years ago when he lived in NYC. Having now been to Europe and visited cathedrals and monasteries, it was an opportunity for him to see how the NYC version compares to the real thing.

The fall color views from there were outstanding! Plus it was not busy and I loved looking over the Hudson River at the New Jersey Palisades.

The Cloisters were interesting. My favorite part was the outside garden. Corey thought it was as good as he remembered: like a secluded castle while still being in Manhattan with a similar feel to European castles and churches.

By this time we were all ready for a cold glass of something boozy and a snack.

Candi and Ben led us to the nearby Dominican neighborhood. We had fun catching up on all their wedding stories since we were not able to attend.

The rest of the afternoon and evening we spent catching up at their Hells Kitchen apartment, and frequenting restaurants and bars in Greenwich Village, watching people in their Halloween costumes.

It is such a treat to spend time with friends on our global sabbatical and I’m so glad we got to visit Candi and Ben. Congrats on your nuptials!

Since we were well into the night, the NYC Ferry was no longer an option. Instead we returned to the subway, this time continuing downtown and back to Brooklyn. A transfer to a bus and a short walk through some dark industrial streets and we were back to the ship.

After five straight days of heavy walking, we were ready for the three sea days that followed.

We arrived on Halloween at Port Everglades, the Fort Lauderdale cruise port that is the busiest in the world. In the last 19 months, we have taken 15 cruises and spent about a third of our time at sea.

Our next stop was the flamboyant village of Wilton Manors, Florida. We are catsitting before we head to South America, and a late surprise: a cruise to Antarctica!