All Aboard............

On Sunday morning we boarded the Disney Magic from New York.  We were off to Halifax and St. John in Canada.

Minnie Mouse was there to greet us before boarding the ship.  This was the first year that Payton would take her picture with the characters all by herself.  In fact, she would run up to them and hug on them.

All the other cruises we have taken have been out of Florida and gone through the Caribbean.  This cruise was through the Atlantic Ocean and the water was rough.  It was also really cold at night.  I could totally see how the people on the Titanic froze to death.

Our first day we were at sea. I got a wonderful spa treatment and the kids went to the Ocean club and played.  The next day we arrived in Halifax.  It was freezing.  We went to the gift shop on board and loaded up on sweats because we only brought some light cardigans for us to wear.  We took a bus tour to Peggy's Cove.  Apparently, Peggy's Cove is famous for this lighthouse.

Also, Swissair Flight 111 crashed less than eight miles from Peggy's Cove in 1998.  There was a small memorial that we drove past.

It was a really pretty small town.  I think the population is about 400 people.  On the bus tour out to Peggy's Cove we learned a lot about the city of Halifax.  Here's a little blurb from the internet regarding Halifax's connection to the Titanic:

On April 17, the Halifax-based Cable Steamer Mackay-Bennett set sail with a minister, an undertaker and a cargo of ice, coffins and canvas bags. She arrived at the site on April 20 and spent five days carrying out her grim task.  Her crew was able to recover 306 bodies, 116 of which had to be buried at sea. On April 26, the Mackay-Bennett left for Halifax with 190 bodies.  She was relieved by the Minia, also a Halifax-based cable ship.   Only 59 of the bodies placed in the morgue were shipped out by train to their families.  The remaining victims of the Titanic were buried in three Halifax cemeteries between May 3 and June 12.

On the return from Peggy's Cove we walked around Halifax and had a lovely lunch at one of the places right on the pier.  I have never been to Canada before, but I loved it.  It was so clean, friendly, and beautiful.  

The next day, we arrived in St. John.  In St. John we actually docked at the Bay of Fundy.  Here's another web blurb about the bay.

Each day 100 billion tonnes of seawater flows in and out of the Bay of Fundy during one tide cycle more than the combined flow of the world’s freshwater rivers.



We signed up for the port adventure of Tea with Alice.

It was at a lovely garden in St. John.  Payton was a little disappointed that the Mad Hatter was not there.  The next day was another day at sea and another spa treatment.  Now, I will give you picture overload from the trip.

Next up on the blog will be all about the extended vacation.