Source : the age
Autumn foliage might be the chief attraction for some, but in any season a cruise through this region of North America is a delight.
If you’re looking for a two-for-one cruise, then you’ll get it in New England and eastern Canada: two countries, two languages and two types of cruising, since the St Lawrence Seaway penetrates deep inland and often resembles a river.
You can satisfy two interests as well, because this region has oodles of history and culture, yet wild landscapes too. Cruise ships visit both big cities and small port towns enfolded in charming countryside.
Itineraries typically run between New York or Boston and Quebec City or Montreal, passing through four Canadian provinces and five New England states.
The season runs from April to October, with its peak in late September and October for leaf peeping, as Canadians call it. The season is being extended as demand increases, however. In 2025 a Ponant ship arrived in early March, and an AIDA ship lingered into mid-November.
Many cruise lines operate New England and Canada cruises either occasionally or seasonally, among them APT, Azamara, Cunard, Celebrity, Holland America, Norwegian Cruise Line, Ponant, Royal Caribbean, Scenic and Seabourn.
Oceania Cruises celebrates America’s 250th anniversary this year with New England voyages that highlight the nation’s history in places such as Boston, birthplace of the American Revolution, and Newport, one of the holiday centres of the Gilded Age.
Boston is becoming a significant cruise hub as annual passenger numbers surge to half a million, of which 64 per cent are taking New England and Canada cruises. The rest are sailing to the Caribbean, Central America, or Iceland and Greenland.
A $US100 ($144) million investment in Boston’s Flynn Cruiseport was announced in 2024. And in 2023 the port of Montreal invested $C335 ($353) million in sustainable infrastructure development with the goal of becoming a net-zero carbon facility by 2050.
As cruising surges worldwide, New England and Canada cruising is surging too. Canadian Atlantic ports recorded 845,000 passenger visits from 610 ships in the 2025 season. Sydney in Nova Scotia broke the 200,000 passenger and 100 ship mark for the second consecutive year.
Other Canadian Atlantic ports had a record-breaking 2025 season as well. By July 4 Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island had already broken its passenger-visit record. Saint John in New Brunswick had a record week that saw 32,000 passengers disembark off 15 ships in late October 2025.
If you’re contemplating a cruise here, then you have a wide choice. Last season also saw a record number of maiden visits from ships owned by lines as diverse as Celebrity, Oceania, Ponant, Princess, Regent Seven Seas, Silversea and Virgin Voyages.
You might also see a bigger choice of small ships soon as petite ports look to grab some of the cruise action. The port authority at Portsmouth in New Hampshire, for example, says it is in talks with small-ship operators to make it a regular port of call. Local player American Cruise Lines more than doubled calls into Portsmouth in 2025.
Brian Johnston seemed destined to become a travel writer: he is an Irishman born in Nigeria and raised in Switzerland, who has lived in Britain and China and now calls Australia home.
