Tag: Newfoundland

Corner Brook, Newfoundland

Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Today was our first organized tour of this trip and it was the hottest day so far.

We started with a room service breakfast. Then we had to meet the tour on the pier.

The HAL tour: Corner Brook Highlights

About the Excursion: This part of the world has been visited by many people, beginning with the Maritime Archaic Peoples 3,500 years ago. Since then, Inuit, Beothucks and European visitors have come and gone. Some have stayed, too.

Jacques Cartier was the first European to sail along what is now the Eastern Coast of Canada in 1534 on his first voyage to the New World. Since that time, Portuguese, Basques, and Captain James Cook have frequented this area. Today, Corner Brook is a modern, progressive city with a population of approximately 19,000 and is nestled among scenic hills 30 miles from the Gulf of St Lawrence.

Head out to the city’s eastern edge to see some highlights — Marble Mountain, the Heritage Tree and the Old Man in the Mountain.

Before returning to the ship, you’ll also drive through Corner Brook to Captain Cook’s Monument .

Notes: Transportation for this excursion is via school bus; scooters, walkers or wheelchairs cannot be accommodated on the transportation.

The transportation was a very bouncy school bus with a mic that did not work well. In addition, the guide spoke a mile a minute so we only caught a few words at a time. But he did provide a lot of handouts to review.

Our first stop was the Captain Cook Monument park area at Crow Hill.

Then we stopped at another park so we could use the public restrooms. Lots of families enjoying the area.

Our third stop was the Old Man in the Mountain. A number of people couldn’t find the face. Can you?

The next stop was the Railway Society of Newfoundland Historic Train Site.

Our last stop was the Marble Mountain ski lift area and the Heritage Tree.

The tour was okay. It was only about 3.5 hours long. But, I think we would have just been better off walking around Corner Brook or taking the long tour to Gros Morne National Park.

We took the free shuttle back to Corner Brook to walk around and look at the shops. The heat started getting to me, and I started getting a headache probably from having no caffeine or being dehydrated or both.

Got back to the room and took a nap while Chuck went to the Sea View area.

After the nap, I was feeling much better which was good because we had another Pinnacle Grill dinner tonight. Chuck had the filet mignon again and I had a lobster tail. Another great dinner.

We played some slots. Then I decided to go up to the sports deck to see if I could see the Perseid Meteor shower. It was advertised in the daily planner. The wind was so fierce it almost knocked me over.

I had on my jacket, stocking cap, and gloves. So different from today when I thought I was going to melt in the heat.

I made it to the very front of the deck and was able to get into a spot that cut the wind somewhat. There were several other people trying to view the meteor shower too. I made it to 11:00 and only saw stars and some planes. No meteors.

Came back to the room and set the clocks back an hour and a half.

Tomorrow: Havre-Saint-Pierre, Quebec

Travel Trivia

The area was surveyed by Captain James Cook in 1767. The Captain James Cook Historic Site stands on Crow Hill overlooking the city.

The city is the main office for the Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nations government.

Corner Brook was designated the Forest Capital of Canada in 2002

In 1986, The Corner Brook Royals, their hockey team, won the national championship and took home the Allan Cup.

December and January get nearly 6.5 feet of snow on average.

St. Anthony’s, Newfoundland

Monday, August 11, 2025

Today was a tender port and the Cruise Director came over the intercom and said that the tender ride over was taking about 30 minutes. It wasn’t a hard decision for us to change a port day into a ship day.

The last time we were there we took a HAL excursion to L’Anse aux Meadows National Historic Site. We really enjoyed that excursion.

Today, we had coffee, breakfast in the main dining room, and then walked a mile around the ship on the promenade deck.

We went to the Sea View pool and Chuck decided that it was warm enough for a swim. I disagreed but enjoyed soaking in the sun.

The evening consisted of time in the Casino, a Lido dinner, watching Andrew Grose, the Comedian on the World Stage, and two sets of the Ocean Bar Band who were actually pretty good this evening.

It was an enjoyable, easy day.

Tomorrow: Corner Brook, Newfoundland

St. John’s, Newfoundland

Sunday, August 10, 2025

This port was another early and short day. The last time we were here it was raining hard, so we rode the Hop-On/Hop-Off bus but never hopped off. Today our plan was to walk around the harbor area and some of the downtown.

We started with a nice breakfast in the main dining room. We shared a table and enjoyable conversation with a couple from Tucson, Arizona.

We left the ship and headed toward Harbourside Park which is across the street from the Newfoundland National War Memorial Historical Site of Canada.

In the park, we talked to a family from Prince Edward Island who were visiting St. John’s because their daughters were competing in softball in the Canadian Games (their version of the Junior Olympics). They told us that St. John’s was going to be very crowded over the next four days. It didn’t feel crowded today.

We walked a couple of blocks uphill and explored some of the shops as we made our way back toward the ship. Once we got to the Court House we took the steps down to the port area.

As we passed by the side of the courthouse, we noticed a police car pull up and out came a guy with his hands cuffed behind his back. Then I saw that the bottom of the courthouse was the jail. First time seeing that happen when taking a walk.

Courthouse with the jail on the bottom floor

At sailaway, since the weather was so nice, the Captain opened the bow and let passengers go out and take photos.

We had dinner tonight at the Canaletto. I had the pasta with shrimp and clams. Chuck had the osso bucco. Both were very good.

We went to see the HAL singers and dancers perform “Feel the Beat.” They were very good.

The Ocean Bar Band had the night off. The Piano Bar singer was performing in the Ocean Bar tonight. We stayed for a few songs and then called it a night.

Tomorrow: St. Anthony’s, Newfoundland

VOV: St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada

Tuesday, August 9, 2022

When I was putting up the laundry, Chuck realized that his gray t-shirt was not in the basket. I either forgot to list it on the form and the laundry people didn’t know where it belonged, or it may have gotten stuck in the washer or dryer and overlooked.

On some past cruises, we have gotten laundry items that weren’t ours and our items have been missing. What to do? A quick trip to Guest Services and a form to complete. If the shirt went to someone else’s room, I hope they return it to Guest Services.

We went to the Lido for dinner. I had the swordfish and some vegetables. It was so good, I forgot to take a photo.

We were going to see the pian bar player but found out she came down with COVID. We decided to go see Kenny Martin. He specializes in the clarinet but played other instruments as well. He was excellent.

We played some slots and then called it a night. When we got back to the room, we were happy to see that the gray t-shirt was on a hanger and hanging on a hook in the room. I sent an electronic thank you to Guest Services and the Laundry in the app.

I know some people find the Navigator app frustrating, but I really like the feature where you can send comments/praise/concerns in it. They do read them and pass the feedback on to whatever department is responsible. I know this because we sent a compliment about our room stewards a couple of different times and they thanked us for doing so.

Woke up at 5:00 but easily drifted back to sleep and finally got up at 7:30.

Our plan was to do a walking tour around the city using the provided map. However, it was raining so we decided to get on the HOP-ON/HOP-OFF (HOHO) bus. I had read some reviews and what caught my eye was that the buses were small and if you hopped off, it might be quite a while before you could hop back on as they stayed full.

Since we didn’t want to be caught out in the cold and rain, we just opted for the two-hour ride. Turns out, so did all the other riders. The reviews were correct. As we pulled up to the stops, there were several upset people who had been waiting quite a while for the next available HOHO bus. I think they needed to call a cab or start walking. A ride didn’t look promising.

The guide provided some very interesting narration at each of the stops. It was hard to get some photos because of the rainy/foggy windows. The time passed quickly and soon we were back at Stop 1. We looked around at some of the shops and then made our way back to the ship.

War Memorial
War Memorial
Signal Hill – Cabot Tower
Jelly Bean house
Cape Spear

Since we were having another Canaletto dinner tonight, we just had a snack when we got back to the ship. The rain had eased up, so we spent a relaxing time on the balcony doing some people watching until it was time to get ready for dinner.

FLOWERS OF ST. JOHN’S

Travel Trivia

St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada

Existing on maps as early as 1519, it is one of the oldest cities in North America.

Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless signal in St. John’s.

St. John’s is home to North America’s oldest annual sporting event, the Royal St. John’s Regatta, which dates back to at least 1816. The event is important enough in the life of the city that the day of the Regatta (the first Wednesday in August, weather permitting) is a civic holiday – one of the few weather-dependent holidays in the world.

The St. John’s area is subject to freezing rain events (called “silver thaws”), the worst of which paralyzed the city in April 1984 and April 2017.

Often compared to San Francisco due to the hilly terrain and steep maze of residential streets, housing in St. John’s is typically painted in bright colors, earning its downtown the nickname Jelly Bean Row.

VOV: St. Anthony, Newfoundland, Canada

Monday, August 8, 2022

Dinner was in the main dining room tonight. We each had the pork chops. They were good but just too big.

Tonight’s show as another performance by Colleen Williamson who was going to sing more show tunes backed up by the Ocean Bar band. Since Chuck didn’t care for her and I was ambivalent, we just spent some time in the Casino before calling it a night.

Today was a tender port. Our HAL tour today was not going to meet in the main stage area today. We were supposed to meet on the pier at 12:15 for our tour that started at 12:30. We decided that if we got on a tender around 11:00, we would have plenty of time to look around the pier area before the tour started.

The Captain came on the loudspeaker around 9:00 and said the wind and waves had picked up so the tender process was slowing down. We should give ourselves extra time to get ashore.

Since we had priority tendering, we went to the meeting area at 10:30 to wait for our tender number to be called. Even with priority tendering, our tender number was not called until 11:30. It took 30 minutes to load the tender and get us to the pier. We ended up having only enough time to use the restroom at the Visitor Center and then find our tour guide. Not a great start.

Our HAL tour today was called “L’Anse aux Meadows: A Viking Experience.” The tour description:

Travel back in time 1,000 years to the first European settlement in the New World located at L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland. This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is also a National Historic Site operated by Parks Canada.

Here you will visit the park’s interpretative center and see firsthand how this site was discovered. View 3-D displays depicting how the Vikings lived. Travel through the site and see the small smithy, where nails and rivets were made from bog ore. A large sod hut will show you how these tough people lived, ate and rested when not at sea.

Next you will visit Norsted, a real Viking port of trade located about a mile from L’Anse aux Meadows. Your guide will take you to the Chieftain’s Hall as you journey through this rough and ready site in the footsteps of fierce Viking warriors of the past.

Notes: Walking is over sloped boardwalks and packed gravel walkways. Transportation is by school bus.

Because the transportation for this tour was a school bus, the guide did not have a sound system. She had to stand about in the middle of the bus and talk very loudly for everyone to hear. I know it must have put a strain on her voice.

It also didn’t help that there was a fellow cruiser who couldn’t stop talking to his seatmate while the tour guide was speaking. So rude. Finally, one exasperated person in the back yelled at the talker to stop talking. He did for a while.

Our first stop was the Viking archeological site – L’Anse aux Meadows – the only authenticated Viking site in North America and the earliest evidence of Europeans in North America.

In the interpretive center, we watched a movie about how the site may have been started and then how it was discovered. Afterwards, we were able to walk the path through the site. There were park officials at each major stop to describe what we were seeing and to answer questions. We had an hour to wander through this site.

Largest hall – built for someone of high social status
Large Hall with small hut probably for servants
Reconstructed sod home

Our next stop was a Norse trading post/village. We went in and out of the different buildings. Had a lot of interesting artifacts and the reenactors were very skillful in interacting with all the visitors. Chuck got to be a Norse Chieftain. We had an hour and a half at this site.

Peat logs
Black Smith- very smokey in here
Descendent of Erik the Red? – “Chuck the Gray”

During the bus drive back, the tour guide ended up in the back of the bus as someone took her middle seat. I guess she was too polite to ask the person to move. She did not give very much information on the way back because she kept having to answer questions from a couple of people in the back. Made the trip back to the pier somewhat boring. However, I guess the talker was happy because he was able to keep up a steady stream of commentary to his seatmate without being scolded.

We got back to the pier at 4:15 and got on the second to the last tender back to the ship. The wind and waves had died down so it was a faster process of loading and getting to the ship.

There was another tour group behind us going to the same stops. For some reason, they got a later start and had their times at each site cut short. I heard more than one person in that group say they were making a trip to the Shore Excursions desk to complain and ask for a partial refund. They were on the very last tender to the ship.

I liked the excursion despite the tender ride and the boring bus ride back. But it had been a long day and I was ready for some dinner.

FLOWERS OF ST. ANTHONY

Baked Apple berry – Said to be edible (didn’t try it)

Travel Trivia

St. Anthony, Newfoundland, Canada

Named in 1534 by French explorer Jacques Cartier it held a strategic location to rich fishing grounds and a haven to fishing fleets.

In 1892 a British doctor named Wilfred Grenfell arrived in St. Anthony and built a medical system that has grown to serve the entire region of Northern Newfoundland and Labrador.

The area of St. Anthony hosts the highest concentration of moose in the world.

St. Anthony appears as a playable area in the 2014 videogame Assassin’s Creed Rogue.

The earliest recorded name for L’Anse aux Meadows appears on an 1862 French chart as Anse a la Medee (Medee’s Cove). The name is probably from Medea, the heroine of Greek tragedy, after whom many 17th and 18th Century ships were named. Settlements and shore stations were often named after ships. After the English settled in the area the name was anglicized to its present form. The bay in front of the village is still called Medee Bay.

*Trivia provided by Wikipedia and Holland America documents