Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park
The last port stop on our 2023 Canada & New England cruise was to Bar Harbor, Maine. Since Acadia National Park is a major tourist location here, the entire family decided to go on the same excursion and we enjoyed the views of this beautiful national park, plus some time in town on our own!
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Table of Contents
Arriving in Bar Harbor
The morning we arrived in Bar Harbor we had our normal morning routine and made it to the theater exactly on time, maybe 1 minute late but we made sure that we were actually late. As Nathan and I walked into the theater it took us a minute to realize it was basically empty which was super weird being part of the first excursions.
Making our way up to the front we asked the few staff members left where our group was. We thought we had just come to the wrong place somehow, even though our ticket was very clear with the location and time. Nope, apparently ALL of the groups had already left!
Now for those who haven’t cruised before, let me clarify something. This is a standard theater just like the movies or a play and it was empty. Not people still getting out of their chairs and lining up. Empty. Also, remember that this is a ship of old people, they don’t move fast. That means they must have called groups at least 15-30 minutes before the set time.
This has never happened to us before. You meet your group at the time on your ticket. Not 30+ minutes before. Granted showing up early is better but to have the group already gone! It was weird and we were not very happy with how NCL was handling things.
Thankfully we were able to quickly make our way over to the disembarkation doors and merged in line with minimal issues.
Later on we realized that the excursion we had chosen was a VERY popular choice and the entire theater was scheduled for this excursion all boarding multiple busses. So when they dismissed one group they were dismissing the entire theater, which probably contributed to the faster departure.
Now, Bar Harbor was the first and only tender port of this trip. We were a little concerned about using tenders because of MIL with a walker and FIL with motion sickness. We knew from experience that tendering is not the most pleasant experience. Thankfully we were not in the Caribbean with 90* and humidity while stuck on a rocking boat! 😉
As we merged our way into the disembarkation line we realized that we wouldn’t have to deal with the tender ships.
The cruise ship had rented a local ferry to take this massive group over to the city so we could all board our busses and head out to Acadia National Park.
It ended up being a much better experience for the in-laws, for which we were very grateful for.
Due to the mix-up in the theater we had gotten separated from our group. Thankfully we found them easily once we were off the ferry and we were ready to begin our excursion!
Acadia National Park
The excursion we had chosen was a bus ride to Acadia National Park, with some time at the park to explore (see here for the excursion details).
We were able to work with the tour guides to ensure our group was all on the same bus, but we were scattered throughout so unfortunately we couldn’t really talk or share in the experience as we had originally hoped.
The bus ride was about an hour from the docks to the park, and it was absolutely beautiful! I tried to get as many pictures as I could but unfortunately being in a moving vehicle and only having access to one side of the road really limited the pictures we could get.
We drove through the city seeing the quaint and beautiful buildings and architecture you would expect in a small east coast town.
Once we started to make our way out of the city and into nature. It didn’t take long to realize we needed to return so we could spend as much time as we wanted here. It was truly beautiful and we even got some sneak peeks at the colors changing, even though we were too early in the season.
We learned about the various mansions throughout the drive, including a faraway view of Martha Stewart’s home (maybe an old home, I can’t remember now) and a few other famous people.
While the views were beautiful it went by way too fast. Once we arrived at the park and got off the bus we were told we had 15 minutes to explore and visit the shops and restrooms if needed. This is one of the few times I am disappointed to be on a cruise and doing an excursion because 15 minutes is nowhere near enough time here.
So with the quick turnaround in mind, we got a few pictures hit the restrooms, and were back onboard to head back to downtown.
The drive back was a different route than heading up the mountain which was great for new stories and views but it meant that we never really got to see the ‘other side’ like we had hoped.
There were a few fun facts that stuck out throughout the drive. First, was a dam that local beavers had created, which then created this massive pond. It is always fascinating to see wildlife and their habits in your own eyes.
The other was about some local history and the old roads that were used in this area.
Obviously, vehicles now need very different support and safety standards so new roads have been created for us to use, but they left some of the old roads that you could see from our road.
Through the trees, you can see the rocks piled to create a foundation for the road.
I am positive there was more to the story but between my memory and knowing I wasn’t paying as close of attention as I probably should I don’t remember more specifics. Sorry! 😊
All in all, it was a good excursion and I am glad that we can say we have been to Acadia National Park. I want to go back for at least a weekend to explore a little more, maybe even in the summer when it is a little warmer for a hike or bike ride through the mountains.
Bar Harbor Downtown
Once our bus had returned us to town, we still had a few hours before we had to be back on board so we decided to grab some food and start exploring on our own.
Since there was a large group of us, we knew food would be a little tricky to ensure everyone had something they were ok eating as well as space for our party.
We ended up choosing Geddy’s (website here) as they had a few options for those of us who didn’t enjoy seafood. Unfortunately, the size of our party was too big, so we had to split tables across the restaurant.
I had the Blueberry Giggle Juice which was amazing, dangerously easy to drink. Nathan got the Sea Dog Blueberry Wheat Ale which was pretty good as well.
Nathan got the lobster and clam chowder meal and I had a poke salad.
The restaurant ended up being a pretty good choice. A little more touristy but that is to be expected here.
After lunch, the group split up. Some went back to the ship, and others went to explore different areas. We stayed with MIL/FIL going into all the shops and seeing if we could find any souvenirs.
As I have said for stops in this trip, quaint and cute is the theme for these cities, with a little bit of modernity pride support throughout the city which we love to see. Keeping with the cute theme, we even found a Friend’s cafe named “Acadia Perk”.
With our good chocolate experience from Charlottetown, we decided to stop in a chocolate and ice cream parlor for a treat. It was an odd place, but I got some ice cream (that was just ok) and we started our walk back to the port for tenders to the ship.
We did end up on a normal tender on the way back, which was a little more difficult but the staff did a great job helping MIL and the waters were calm and cool so it wasn’t a bad experience at all.
Bar Harbor turned out to be everything we expected, and we will absolutely be coming back to spend more time exploring the area. Anyone heading this way is in for a treat with the beautiful views and cute little town.
If you would like to read more about this trip, here are some quick links for you!
A Small Taste of Boston
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