Eastern Seaboard Explorer

Embark your ship and settle into your stateroom. New York City is at once romantic and exhilarating. From the robust streets of Lower Manhattan's financial district to the intimate warrens of Greenwich Village, the city overflows with culture, cuisine and architectural beauty. New York is for everyone. Music lovers marvel at Carnegie Hall or catch a 1920s-style jazz and blues show in Harlem. Romantics board a horse-drawn carriage in Central Park. Art lovers browse the Museum of Modern Art or the Guggenheim. And theatergoers attend the greatest shows in the world on Broadway, amid the glitter of Times Square.

Of New York City's countless skyscrapers, none evoke as much romance and imagination as the ever-present Empire State Building. Originally drawn as a standard 50-story building, its plans were revised fifteen times. When completed in 1931, it surpassed the nearby Chrysler Building as the world's tallest skyscraper. Hundreds of splendid structures have since been raised around it, from 30 Rockefeller Plaza and the MetLife Building to One World Trade Center. But this art deco masterpiece was the first building in the world to exceed 100 floors.

Boston is a city of firsts brimming with historic charms and a vibrant culture. Its compact size, stately architecture and plentiful green spaces make for easy exploration. Historic buildings appear on every corner, from the Old South Meeting House where Samuel Adams started the Boston Tea Party to the Old North Church where two lit lanterns signaled the British approach. Boston's parks system also exudes a rich sense of history. The Boston Common, dating to 1634, is the country's oldest city park and the adjacent Public Garden was the first public botanical garden.

Boston harbors a lively and youthful energy despite its Puritan roots and Brahmin heritage. When Bostonians are not sipping coffee in an inviting outdoor café along the famed Newbury Street or walking the picturesque pathways of the Esplanade along the scenic Charles River, they are browsing the art and architecture that lend Boston its distinct character. The renowned Museum of Fine Arts boasts some 450,000 works, while the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum showcases the stunning collection of its namesake socialite in a recreated 15th-century Venetian palazzo.

It was 1605 when French ships first plied these waters to establish Nova Scotia's first European settlement. British and Dutch galleons followed, intent on conquest. By the time of the American Revolution, the British had won Nova Scotia, but Americans wreaked havoc along their coast, commandeering mercantile ships and ruining the economy for the redcoats and their loyalists. It all culminated in several naval battles here, the waters crowded with American and British war ships at full mast and the smog of booming cannons drifting over the sea. As you sail, explore our well-curated Library, tucked in a private alcove of the Living Room, and select from a broad range of titles. Read a book by the Main Pool, a calming oasis in any weather with its retractable roof, allowing for year-round swimming.

Halifax exudes a fine European air and lies along the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. Visitors by sea are greeted by the 1758 Sambro Island Lighthouse, the oldest surviving beacon in North America. In the harborside Historic Properties district, grand and charming stone buildings built in the 18th and 19th centuries grace the cobblestone streets. The city grew up around Citadel Hill, where Fort George protected the harbor. The fortress, along with the adjacent stately Halifax Town Clock, has been gloriously restored and preserved.

Follow in the footsteps of 10th-century Vikings and sail the vast Gulf of St. Lawrence, an outlet for the North American Great Lakes into the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence Seaway. Meet fellow guests and listen to the soothing sounds of classical music in the Living Room, an ideal setting for relaxation. Enjoy a cup of coffee or sip on a refreshing cocktail. 

Gaspé is one of North America's earliest European settlements, set amid stunning natural beauty at the tip of the Quebec's Gaspé Peninsula on the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Claimed first by the French, then by the British, Gaspé is known as the “Cradle of French Canada.” Across a small bay from the charming town lies the rugged wilderness of Forillon National Park. With hundreds of species, the Gaspé Peninsula is a spectacular area for bird-watching, and the surrounding gulf is home to wildlife including blue and humpback whales. 

A brilliant feat of engineering, the St. Lawrence Seaway comprises a series of locks, canals and channels that allow ships and goods to travel from the Atlantic Ocean up the St. Lawrence River to Lake Superior. Seven locks point the way between Montreal and Lake Ontario, detouring past rapids and several dams. The 27-mile Welland Canal lifts ships over the Niagara Escarpment to Lake Erie, sidestepping Niagara Falls. The Canadian-and American-operated waterway is known locally as “Highway H2O” for the traffic and trade it allows.

Saguenay is one of southern Quebec's most cosmopolitan cities. It consists of three boroughs: Jonquière, Chicoutimi and La Baie. Once neighboring towns, they were merged to form the present-day city in 2002. Except for some Inuit and Cree villages, there are no towns due north between Saguenay and the Arctic. Like so many Canadian cities founded amid woodland, Saguenay grew its pulp and paper trade with the late 19th century arrival of the Canadian National Railway. Since then, this resilient town has recovered from a great fire, a landslide and a flood.

Quebec City is by many accounts the most French city in New France. The Old Town's centerpiece, the magnificent Château Frontenac, seems transported from the palatial landscapes of the Loire Valley, and its French-accented streets lead past white-stone buildings that evoke old-world medieval villages. The only remaining walled city in North America outside of Mexico, Quebec City was fortified in the 17th century soon after its founding in 1608. Its strategic setting on the rocky promontory of Cape Diamond gave troops a close view of the St. Lawrence.

Montreal enjoys a picturesque island setting on the St. Lawrence River. Historic Vieux-Montréal, or Old Montreal, evokes the early days of fur trading. The heart of the city is rich with stone houses, inviting boutiques and grand public buildings. The 1829 neo-Gothic Notre-Dame Basilica on the Place d'Armes, is one of the city's most beloved structures; its colorful interior includes a deep blue ceiling sprinkled with gold stars and stained glass windows. In the Bonsecours Market, a classic Palladian-style, domed building, shops and cafés are a lively stage for daily life.

Vieux-Montréal, or Old Montreal, preserves the rich character of an old colony. Archaeological remains from the city's first settlement are preserved in the Pointe-à-Callière museum. The silver dome of the Bonsecours Market, a splendid Renaissance Revival building, sheltered Montreal's main market for over a century and briefly hosted the Parliament of United Canada in 1849. Adjacent, the Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours is one of the city's oldest churches, and the historic Château Ramezay once hosted Benjamin Franklin as he sought to recruit troops against the British. After breakfast, disembark your ship and journey home.