19 nights, New York City to New York City

The itinerary, port by port

12 calls over 19 nights, round-trip from New York City. Open any port for my full day-ashore guide, what to see, when to go, and how the day actually runs.

Getting there: Flights to New York City (JFK) open around October 2027, about 11 months before you sail. I track that window for booked clients and flag it the moment it is worth booking. When to book your flights →

1. Embark
   New York City

   New York needs no introduction, but the cruise day is shaped entirely by which terminal you draw. Port guide →

2. 2
   Portland

   Portland, Maine is one of the most walkable cruise stops in New England, with the ship tying up a few minutes from the cobblestone Old Port. Port guide →

3. 3
   Saint John (Bay of Fundy)

   Saint John is a 19th-century shipbuilding and port city on the Bay of Fundy, home to the highest tides in the world, and its cruise berths sit at the edge of a compact, walkable uptown. Port guide →

4. 4
   Charlottetown (Prince Edward Island)

   Charlottetown is the small, walkable capital of Prince Edward Island and the room where Canada was negotiated into being at the 1864 Confederation conference. Port guide →

5. 5
   Magdalen Islands

   The Magdalen Islands, or Iles de la Madeleine, are a thin French-speaking archipelago in the Gulf of St. Port guide →

6. 6
   Gaspé

   Gaspé sits at the tip of Quebec's Gaspe Peninsula where Jacques Cartier landed in 1534 and claimed the territory for France, which is why locals call it the Birthplace of Canada. Port guide →

7. 7
   Quebec City

   Quebec City is the walled heart of French North America, and the only fortified city north of Mexico, set on a bluff above the St. Port guide →

8. 8
   La Baie (Saguenay)

   La Baie is the cruise gateway to Saguenay, reached by sailing 50-plus nautical miles up the Saguenay Fjord, the only fjord in North America navigable by large cruise ships. Port guide →

9. 9
   Sept-Iles

   Sept-Iles is an industrial and fishing town on Quebec's remote Cote-Nord, set on a near-circular bay sheltered by the seven-island archipelago it is named for. Port guide →

10. 10
    Sydney

    Sydney is the harbor town of Cape Breton Island, a former coal and steel city that is now the gateway to Cape Breton's Scottish, Acadian, and Mi'kmaq heritage. Port guide →

11. 11
    Halifax

    Halifax is an Atlantic port city built around one of the world's great natural harbors, with a star-shaped hilltop fort, a long working waterfront, and a sober line in maritime history from the Titanic… Port guide →

12. Disembark
    Boston

    Boston is where you walk the actual ground of the American Revolution, not a recreation of it. Port guide →