Sydney Nova Scotia – Fondest Travel Memories

Wednesday, August 12, 2026

Chuck woke up feeling great this morning so after coffee and a Lido breakfast, we decided to go for another walk in Sydney.

This time we retraced our steps from a previous visit. I wanted to see if the Gargoyle was still keeping watch in someone’s yard. He was. We walked about 2 miles round trip.

When we returned to the ship, I found our Immigration schedule for Portland, Maine and our luggage tags for disembarkation for Boston.

There are pros and cons to having to go through Customs and Immigration in a port other than the disembarkation port. Our time in port for Maine on Friday is 1:00 to 9:30. We have nothing scheduled.

However, if you have an independent tour scheduled, you might be out of luck if your time to meet with C & I is later than your tour time. Nobody gets off the ship until they meet with officials and people with HAL tours get priority times. If the officials get to the ship late, too bad for you. The ship doesn’t control C & I.

However, once we get to Boston, disembarkation should go very smoothly and no C & I will be necessary. We have already done it in Maine. Grab your luggage, grab a ride, and off to the airport.

We spent the afternoon by the pool. Before dinner, we attended a performance by the Vivace Strings – a trio (pianist, cello, violin) who perform both classical and contemporary songs. They have also performed in the main dining room during dinner. They are excellent musicians.

Tonight was the Orange Party for this cruise. The party this time was being held at the Lido pool area which I think is a better venue than the World Stage. We went to the main dining room for the Dutch dinner menu. Chuck had the Dover sole and I had the pork cordon bleu.

We attended the Hal singers and dancers performance of “Feel the Beat” – an upbeat presentation of music and dance from the different decades. It was a very good show. After the show, we stopped by the Lido pool area, and the Party was in full swing.

Cruise Director ready for the Orange Party

We finished the evening in the Casino.

Up next: Return to Halifax, Nova Scotia

Tuesday, August 4, 2026

We slept late and I ended up needing two lattes before we even made it to the Lido for breakfast.

The day started out foggy but the sun finally broke through to make it a very nice day. We decided to walk into town.

We took a new direction today from previous visits and walked to the park. On the way back to the ship, we walked the entire boardwalk. My watch recorded two miles.

I didn’t take a photo of the Big Fiddle this time but here is one from April 2023. Weather was WAY different.

We skipped lunch and spent the rest of the day poolside.

We had an excellent Canaletto dinner. Chuck had the beef short ribs and I splurged with an upcharge on two Main lobster tails (I did trade one tail for a short rib). 😊