Cruise Reviews, Ship Reviews by The Avid Cruiser

Some of the most picturesque scenery in the world is reachable only via cruise ship, from the fjords of Norway to the fall foliage of New England, from the active Kilauea volcano to the mystical glaciers of Antarctica. And while some destinations are reachable from land, there’s no more breathtaking or unique perspective than from the sea. Continue Reading »

I had traveled the world before traveling to Quebec, and if my foot could reach my behind, I would kick myself for doing so. Of all the places I have visited, Quebec surely ranks in my top ten. The irony is that I traveled halfway around the world to visit less-inspiring places when Quebec was (and is) fewer than three hours by air from my home. The French-speaking Canadian province is practically in my own backyard, and yet it took a cruise (from Boston) and 49 years to get me there. Continue Reading »

It’s a 2.5-hour drive from Quebec City to the Saguenay region. We pointed our car toward La Baie, where we checked in to L’ Auberge des 21. Located on the shore of the Saguenay Fjord, the warm family inn also features fine regional (read: French) cuisine at a shockingly good restaurant for such a small inn. Continue Reading »

A bartender at Quebec City’s fashionable L’EChaude restaurant expresses mock indignation when a visitor asks how Quebec’s capital compares with the province’s largest city, Montreal. ‘They are not truly French,’ the bartender says, conveniently overlooking the fact that as a Canadian, neither is he. ‘In Montreal, people speak French 50, maybe 55, percent of the time.’ He steps back from the bar and folds his arms to proclaim, ‘Here, we speak French 95 percent of the time.’

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