Princess Cruise from New York to Canada on the Enchanted Princess

Leaving from New York provides the a wonderful opportunity to explore the city for a day or two prior to the cruise. Broadway shows, fabulous museums and some of the best restaurants in the world are all available. And, if you live on the east coast, getting to the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal is tremendously easy by rail with Penn Station only a 30-minute cab ride from the terminal.

One other great feature of the Brooklyn Cruise terminal is that it is easily accessible by water taxi from lower Manhattan. Only 15 minutes from the Wall Street Pier on a New York City Ferry takes you to a water taxi stop that is a couple hundred yard walk from the terminal. A unique and fun way to reach the port!

This cruise marked the first time that Princess has visited Eastport, Maine, a small town that has seen only small cruise ships in the past. The town was excited to see the first large cruise ship and we were greeted warmly throughout the day. If you are a fan of mustard, Raye's Mustard has a factory and shop in town that makes some delightful varieties. And I can recommend the WaCo diner for an outstanding lobster roll.

Boston is a city I have visited many times, but pulling into the harbor and watching the planes land at Logan airport is a thrill. Plus, the harbor front area of Boston has gentrified into a marvelous complex of shops and residences that is very welcoming.

St. John and Halifax are both pleasant ports, with nice waterfront areas to wander. The Museum of Canadian Immigration right at the cruise pier in Halifax is well worth a visit for an interesting account of how Canada has handled immigration over the years as well as moving stories about the immigrant experience.

The Enchanted Princess is a large ship, with over 3,000 passengers. The ship's design is very modern and sedate. The staterooms, especially the deluxe balcony rooms, are reasonably spacious and well laid out. And, notably, extremely quiet - we never heard footsteps from above or sounds from neighboring rooms - which made for very restful sleeping.

Also of note on a ship of this size, there are plenty of places to tuck away where you will find few other passengers if you want some peaceful moments. The outdoor spaces on deck seven aft were often nearly empty and, in the early evenings, the bar on deck 16 aft was also a peaceful place to lounge.

The food at the buffet was outstanding, exceeding expectations time and again. The specialty restaurants were also excellent. Service was uniformly superb with engaging and helpful staff the norm.

This is a great cruise for first-time (or experienced) cruisers as it has a mix of sea days, large cities, and very small towns so you get to experience many things within a seven-day cruise. Princess offers a sedate experience with relatively limited features for children (no water slides!) so the guests tend to be a bit older, especially when traveling outside of summer vacation season. The Princess Plus and Premiere packages can offer great values, but it may be a bit hard to puzzle out the features. So do ask your travel advisor about whether those packages can be worthwhile for you.

This trip report is part of our ongoing series on cruise travel. In need of further inspiration? Check out Laurie Harris's guide, Family Road Trip to the Canadian Rockies.