North America
Quebec, Montreal, New York, Florida, Los Angeles, Hawaii; these are some of the most evocative place names on the face of the planet, so North America’s pedigree as a brilliant cruise destination is unquestionably world class.
And while the youth & vigour of Florida, San Francisco and Los Angeles offer an often eye-opening window into US culture; the offshore states of Hawaii and Alaska provide altogether different and almost diametrically opposed insights into distinctly American ways of life.
Cruise to North America – alluring mix of city and dramatic landscapes
Eastern Canada is a historic area, where you’re sure to appreciate the stunning rugged coastline scenery as well as some truly elegant city stopoffs.
Cities include; Montreal, Canada’s second largest city and an alluring mix of New World freshness and Euro-style cosmopolitan districts where coffee shops mingle freely with skyscrapers and horse drawn carriages still clipclop down the cobbled streets of Old Montreal.
Then there’s Quebec, much more Gallic in atmosphere, and indeed French is by far the most spoken first language here. And the capital of the province of Nova Scotia, Halifax is a compact city full of character, and a delightful upmarket port which is great for people watching.
The Eastern Seaboard of the United States includes of course one of the world’s greatest cities, New York; the perfect city break, New York hosts some major league sights including the Statue Of Liberty and the Empire State Building, not to mention some amazing department stores for all you shopaholics.
Boston is a modern city yet full of history, and the New England states provide one of the most amazing autumn spectacles you’ll ever see, with acre upon acre of red and gold foliage, making a New England Fall a must-see.
Journey further to America’s Deep South, and the Mississippi River is an evocative area, with delightful and often surprisingly lively cities such as New Orleans and Louisiana proving very hospitable.
Along the western US coastline, Los Angeles and San Francisco provide two breathtaking sightseeing options; LA is of course home to Hollywood and the major tourist attractions of the famous studios, while San Francisco has a more temperate climate, yet is every bit of a hot visitor favourite, where the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, and those instantly recognisable hills and trams.
Hawaii, is actually a group of islands centred around the port of Honolulu on the island of Oahu. This is a bustling port on a tropical island, where the wonderful fruit punches are mouthwateringly delicious and the golden sands and dramatic cliffs of the coastline are about as stunning as you’ll see anywhere.
Activities & excursions
So good they named it twice, New York City is the place to be if shopping is high on your holiday agenda. As well as designer stores and boutiques galore, some of the biggest names in department stores are all within a yellow cab ride away with Bloomingdales and Macys top of most people’s lists.
A New England fall has to be among the prettiest sights in the world. Autumn in the US states that make up New England (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and the tiny Rhode Island) brings a glorious golden reddish mix of deciduous leaf foliage that seems to carpet the rolling countryside for as far as you can see.
A contender for one of the prettiest of all American cities, Boston has a real historical pedigree. The Old State House is a beautifully preserved 18th century town hall that is dwarfed by the modern skyscrapers.
And the site of the Boston Tea Party is of course at the harbourside where, in one of the key defining moments of American history, revolutionaries in 1773 rebelled against high British taxes and began a struggle that only truly ended on 4th July 1776 with the US declaration of independence.
A real eye-opener if you’ve never been before, New Orleans is a staggeringly beautiful and historical city, particularly in the French Quarter where narrow streets are overlooked by glorious wrought-iron-balconied terraces, where echoes of jazz music reverberate from the many clubs in the area.
Attracted by the bright natural sunlight, companies producing new-fangled ‘motion pictures’ in the early 1900s began congregating in an obscure little suburb of Los Angeles called Hollywood. Within a decade, the studios that grew in this area quickly became one of the richest industries of the 20th century. Tours round Universal Studios, the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, and of course the stars’ neighbourhoods are a thoroughly enjoyable if occasionally vicarious activity.
Famed for its inmates such as Al Capone and the ‘birdman’ himself Robert Stroud, Alcatraz is the maximum security prison built on a small island about a mile off the San Francisco shoreline. Officially no one ever escaped from this prison, and a guided tour right into the heart of this long-defunct stronghold is a fascinating and often eerie adventure.
Culture
By European standards, Canada and the US are both but toddlers in terms of documented history, but of course indigenous North American peoples have a long & rich legacy that was somewhat crassly disturbed by so-called New World settlers, though Native Americans (and their history) are thankfully much appreciated and revered in these more enlightened times.
The modern democracies as we know them today were formed by pioneers, entrepreneurs and forward thinking idealists, and this has left a doctrine that prevails today...North America prides itself on a culture of openness and freedom that is an intoxicating lure for today’s cruise traveller.
Life can be fast & brash in North America, and yet also welcoming & charming; it’s a place that desperately wants to impress its visitors. And it invariably always does.
Weather
As a temperate zone, the weather is largely dependent on the time of year you wish to visit.
The north is very cold and harsh in winter (there not being a gulf stream to warm the region up as with western Europe), while the summers are hot and often muggy.
The southern US states however enjoy sunny weather for most of the year, with hot summers and warm winters and few if any actual frosts.
But the landmass is so large, that many different environments can be experienced, from the icy tundra of northern Canada to the arid deserts of Nevada and New Mexico – and pretty much everything in between.
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