Atlantic Cruise Aboard The Cunard Lines' Queen Mary 2

Eastern Seaboard, Maritimes & Quebec: Oct 03 - 17 2025

It is an honour to be invited aboard the legendary Queen Mary 2 ocean liner for a 2 week voyage where I'll be giving a series of talks to the passengers on board.   The voyage starts and ends in New York with stops in Rhode Island, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Newfoundland. I've been aboard several other Cunard Lines ships, but this will be my first time on board the Queen Mary 2, I'm looking forward to it. Joining me on this voyage was long time friend and frequent travel partner Cindy Burgess.

Day 01 - 2025 10 03 - Depart New York City

Up early and off to the airport to catch a quick flight to New York, with a brief stop in Manhattan to have a hot dog from a street vendor. From there it was straight to Brooklyn Pier 12 to board the Queen Mary 2, the world's last great ocean liner. It was a great day to sail out of New York. The clear weather at sunset gave us great views of the Earth shadow and the moon as we passed underneath the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.

Day 02 - 2025 10 04 - Newport, Rhode Island

Despite some delays leaving New York, we arrived on time in Newport. The weather was perfect. Sunny skies and temps in the 20’s. After breakfast It took a while to get ashore because we couldn't dock. Tenders were launched, and there was a bit of a wait.   Once ashore had no plan in mind, and ended up walking over to the bus stop where a free shuttle took people around town. We rode it all the way to the end, past countless opulent mansions to the famous Cliff Walk. The walk itself was surprisingly challenging with lots of sections that were over uneven boulders.   There was plenty of bird life, including several cormorants, drying their feathers in the sun. I was surprised to see several surfers out trying to catch a wave. We stopped hiking the trail when we got to the famous mansion at “The Breakers”. Instead of taking the shuttle back, we decided to walk all the way to the harbour where we had an obligatory bowl of New England clam chowder. As we pulled away, the sunset was fantastic, lighting up numerous sailboats that were out on the water.

Day 03 - 2025 10 05 - At Sea

Sunday was a day at sea, sailing from Rhode Island to Halifax. The sea conditions were extraordinarily calm and we had warm temperatures and clear skies… Just perfect.   Today I gave my first talk, held in the Illuminations Theatre. The turnout was great, and the audience was enthusiastic. I really like that venue. The Queen Mary 2 is the only ship in the Cunard fleet that has 2 separate theatres, one for lectures, and the main theatre for the big evening theatrical and music performances. After my talk, we went for afternoon high tea in the Queen’s Lounge. It was quite a spectacle with the crew doing a white-gloved procession of the teapots into the room. Everyone was clapping in time, and a string trio played classical music. A fun experience, and a major tradition aboard these ships.   At sunset, I went out on the deck and managed to capture a slight “green flash” right as the last sliver of the sun dipped below the horizon.   This evening was also the first gala night, so it was time to get dressed up and have a fancy dinner in the main dining room.

Day 04 - 2025 10 06 - Halifax, Nova Scotia

Today brought more clear skies and even record-breaking high temperatures. With highs in the mid to upper 20’s across Atlantic Canada, Halifax hit a new October temperature record.   We walked along the waterfront boardwalk to the very end, taking in the sights, then we cut into town and walked up the hill to the Halifax Citadel, where the famous clock tower is, overlooking the entire city. Then it was over to the public gardens which is quite beautiful. I was expecting the leaves to be in full fall colours, but it's been so dry that everything has been delayed and the colours have not been good.   We continued on to downtown and across Argyle street before heading back down to the waterfront. It was time to eat, so we had to stop at Tony’s Donair. It was delicious, but it was probably the messiest food I've ever eaten!   Back aboard, a dip in the pool and hot tub were in order given the warm, sunny day. We left Halifax behind us as we set sail and are now at sea for 2 full days en route to Saguenay, Quebec.   In the evening, there was a world trivia challenge with a variety of geography questions. Our team took the victory, and we celebrated with our prize… A nice bottle of wine. Tonight was also the October harvest super-moon. It brightly lit up the surface of the sea as we sailed on into the night.

Day 05 - 2025 10 07 - At Sea

The first of 2 sea days. I had no obligations today, so I just spent time enjoying the ship's amenities. Spent some time at the pub, did a few of the trivia quizzes and took advantage of the walking track around the ship.   In the evening, the moon rise was spectacular. I managed to get some photos while it was still orange, shining through the Earth's thick atmosphere near the horizon.

Day 06 - 2025 10 08 - At Sea

I gave my second talk of the voyage today, and it went really well with a good crowd at the Illuminations theatre, even with a 12:15 start time. In the afternoon I did a Q&A session in the Q32 night club.   A change in the weather finally came. Much cooler, and some rain in the morning, but it did clear up in the afternoon.   There was a really nice sunset, and I even caught the green flash. This one was special because there were clouds, just not right at the horizon. Tonight we entered the Saguenay fjord, but since it was dark, we never got a to see it

Day 07 - 2025 10 09 - Saguenay Fjord & La Baie, Quebec

A brisk, chilly morning with single digit temps. We were awoken by the anchor dropping, we couldn't dock as the tide was too low. The town of La Baie looked very pretty, and the autumn leaves looked good, but not as good as they could have been due to prolonged drought. We had to take a tender ashore, and once there we decided to just walk around since we had no real plan. We found a spot with some steps to walk down to the rocky beach on the Baie des Ha! Ha! (yes that's the real name of the bay here).   Once we got to the end of the beach, we wandered into town, checking out some of the shops. There were artisan booths set up in a little park, which was nice. We continued walking past the docks and further north. A little bit of cold rain started to fall, but it was brief, so no real bother.   We were hoping to get some poutine here, and we lucked out. There was a little place called Cantine Boivin, and it was perfect. A little local joint. We ordered a classic, medium poutine and it came in an aluminum container. Perfect. It was delicious. As we went to board the ship, all kinds of entertainers were out. Musicians. Jugglers, women in huge dresses on stilts. They even had a station set up, making maple taffy on a stick! They were using crushed ice instead of snow, and it totally reminded me of my childhood trips to the sugar bush in Quebec.

Day 08 - 2025 10 10 - Quebec City

It has been years since the last time I was in Quebec City. It was nice to open the curtain this morning and look out on the old city and the Chateau Frontenac. It was cold enough that there was steam coming off the St. Lawrence River.   By the time we were ready to go ashore, it was still a bit chilly, but it warmed up quickly and turned into a great day. We had no plans, so we went ashore and started wandering. We meandered through the narrow, cobblestone streets, and decided to to ride the funicular up the hill. Once we were up high, we had great views of the ship, the St. Lawrence river and the old city. We walked along the Batterie Royale with its row of cannons, over to the iconic Chateau Frontenac.   I haven't spent any time here since I was a teenager. We had perfect weather for walking around the old city, the Citadel, the Plains of Abraham, the narrow cobblestone streets and the Notre-Dame Basilica. What a vibrant city. It's a little taste of old-world Europe, right here in Canada. Of course we had to have some poutine (with pulled-pork and mimosas) at a place called L’omelette.

Day 09 - 2025 10 11 - Quebec City

This was day 2 in Quebec City, and the weather was even nicer than yesterday. It was a Saturday, so the old city was busy, but the hustle and bustle was kind of nice. We stayed low today, exploring the areas down at the bottom of the hill. Lots of narrow, cobblestone streets with cute shops and restaurants. We were on the hunt for more poutine when we found Cochon Dingue (Crazy Pig). It was SO good. This poutine had ham & bacon-wrapped sausage. I was full, but I'd spotted a BeaverTail place and couldn't resist the Canadian classic.   Back aboard, we sat out on deck 7 in the sunshine as the ship pulled away. There was quite the crowd of people gathered on shore to wave goodbye to us.

Day 10 - 2025 10 12 - At Sea

Got a nice sunrise on the St. Lawrence River as we continued to cruise from Quebec City towards Newfoundland. It was a sea day, so I spent a bunch of time taking photos around the ship and enjoying the amenities. We were treated to a nice sunset with a very clear Earth shadow off to the east after the sun dipped below the horizon. It was also a gala night, so we got dressed up for a nice dinner i the Brittania restaurant. During dinner, the captian got on the P.A. and announced that there were northrn lights visible. Of course I took a look. They were faint, but definitely there. Not quite enough for good photography, but bright enough to get something with a long exposure on my phone camera.

Day 11 - 2025 10 13 - Corner Brook, Newfoundland

It was quite cold in the morning, with plenty of steam coming off the water in the bay as we arrived at Corner Brook. The cold didn't last long though, it turned into a gorgeous sunny and warm day. There were delays with getting tenders out. The winds had picked up and they were having trouble docking them with the ship, so we had to wait until the tide rose and the ship could dock fully. Today was Canadian Thanksgiving, so I wasn't sure what was going to be open in town. The main street was closed off with street vendors, live music, a petting zoo with baby goats, rabbits and a lamb. It was a real street party.   We walked around town, and then followed some of the Corner Brook Stream Trails. It was lovely. Great fall colours, and blue skies. We hiked down the stream and around the pond that had all kinds of ducks and swans. We then went back into town and decided to check out the Three Bears Trail, a short, steep hike that gave us a nice view of town and the paper mill. Back aboard, we were treated to a nice sunset with vivid pastel colours.

Day 12 - 2025 10 14 - Sydney, Nova Scotia

The weather has been pretty much perfect on this trip, and that trend continued today in Sydney.   We were at anchor because there were 2 other cruise ships in town. We came ashore in a tender right beside the “World’s Largest Fiddle” and looked around some of the shops, then walked along the boardwalk. We continued all the way to the end of the wooden boardwalk, then turned in to town and ended up eating lunch at the Governors Pub.

Day 13 - 2025 10 15 - At Sea

Sydney was the last stop on this voyage. Today and tomorrow are 2 days at sea, working our way back to New York City. Because it was a sea day, I gave my 3rd talk of the voyage. I've been very happy with the attendance, and how the talks have been received by the passengers. I've been getting a lot of compliments and questions. Tonight was also the last gala evening of the voyage.

Day 14 - 2025 10 16 - At Sea

My last full day aboard the Queen Mary 2. We're still steaming towards New York, and will arrive early tomorrow morning. The sea was a little rougher today than it has been, but totally manageable. There was a nor'easter that affected much of the east coast over the past couple of days, but we missed most of it by being up in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.   My fourth and final talk was this afternoon, and I must say, I really like the Illuminations theatre on the ship. It's the perfect size. On our way to dinner, we were distracted by the best sunset of the whole voyage. The clouds turned a fiery orange/red as the sun dipped below the horizon. It was a great send off.

Day 15 - 2025 10 17 - New York City to Toronto

Another voyage comes to an end. It was a great honour to be one f the on-board lecturers on such an icon ship as the Queen Mary 2. We were treated to another great sunrise as we prepared to leave the ship. The earth shadow over the Statue of Liberty was especially nice. Once off the ship, we took the ferry, subway and train to Newark Airport in New Jersey and flew back home to Toronto. The next Cunard voyage will be coming up soon. This time I'll be back aboard the Queen Elizabeth, but not in Alaska this time.

 

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