Garden Cruise of USA & Canada with Melissa King

ITINERARY

Day 1, Sunday October 4, 2015 New York, USA
We depart Australia today on our flight to New York City. We arrive the same day as our departure since we cross the International Date Line. We will be met at the airport by our private coach and transferred to our hotel.

Day 2, Monday October 5, 2015 New York
This morning we will have a sightseeing tour of exciting New York. We will see the famous Statue of Liberty, Times Square, the Empire State Building, the Ground Zero area and the United Nations building. We will have a short walk around Central Park, the “lungs of the city”. This afternoon we travel to Long Island to visit Old Westbury Gardens. Home of the Phipps family, the garden was designed by George Crawley and completed in 1906. The 81 hectares of gardens include formal gardens, lakes, wooded trails, all set around a magnificent Charles II-style mansion. We will enjoy a welcome dinner this evening. Melissa King will welcome the group and outline the wonderful experiences we will have during the tour.

Day 3 Tuesday October 6, 2015 New York
This morning, we travel to New York Botanical Garden, comprising over one square kilometre and fifty speciality gardens and plant collections. Features include the Bronx River and cascading waterfall, over 20 hectares of historic forest, one of the largest Victorian glasshouses in America, and more. We continue to Highline Park on Manhattan Island. This 2.33 kilometre section of the former elevated rail spur called the West Side Line has been redesigned and planted as an aerial park. It starts with a thicket of shrubs and small trees that leads to an open lawn and an elevated walkway through sumac and magnolia trees.

Day 4, Wednesday October 7, 2015 New York
We will enjoy free time for independent sightseeing before we are transferred to Cape Liberty, New Jersey, to board the Serenade of the Seas for the start of our Fall Colours Garden Cruise. Make sure that you’re up on deck as the Serenade of the Seas slips her moorings and makes her way out of the Hudson, with a view over one of the most iconic cityscapes in the world, New York City.

Day 5, Thursday October 8, 2015 At sea
A day at sea to enjoy the facilities of the ship. In the afternoon, Melissa will lead a Gardening Trivial Pursuit competition. We will divide the group into teams with prizes for the winning team.

Day 6, Friday October 9, 2015 Boston, Massachusetts
This morning we arrive in Boston, known as the cradle of American Independence and now New England’s centre for finance and technology. The home of Harvard University, the area is among the most varied and interesting in America. We will have a city tour with a local guide. During the tour we will see The Paul Revere House and King’s Chapel, home to the largest and sweetest-sounding bell. We will also see Faneuil Hall, and the Old State House, which was the seat of colonial government from 1713. In the afternoon, we visit Long Hill. This Federal-style home was the summer retreat of Mabel Sedgwick. This garden is full of interest, it is a garden for living, with integrated outdoor rooms. The garden is flanked by over 40 hectares of woodland.

Day 7, Saturday October 10, 2015 Portland, Maine
Today we visit Portland. We enjoy a sightseeing tour of this historic town, which began life as a trading post in 1658. We will see the Old Port, which is made up of Victorian warehouses converted to art galleries, craft shops and restaurants. We visit the Wadsworth-Longfellow House and Garden. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a famous American poet, memorialised in Poet’s Corner, Westminster Abbey, London. The house was the first brick building in Portland, built in 1786. Virtually all the artefacts belonged to the original inhabitants. We visit the Colonial Revival garden, an oasis of green at the back of the house, maintained by the Longfellow Garden Club.

Day 8, Sunday October 11, 2015 Bar Harbor, Maine
We travel to Mount Desert Island, Maine, after arriving in Bar Harbor, to visit two gardens kept open by the Land and Garden Preserve. We will visit Thuya Garden and Lodge a wonderful blend of semi-formal English border beds and indigenous eastern Maine woodlands. Thuya Lodge was constructed in 1912 and used as a summer house. From 1956 to 1961 Charles Savage created the garden we see today. The herbaceous borders are a pleasing mix of colourful annuals and perennials defining the sides of an expanse of lawn, which leads to a shallow reflecting pool. We will also visit Asticou Azalea Garden and enjoy the quiet and contemplative space. We will travel along spectacular Park Loop Road, located in Acadia National Park, where we have glorious views over the Atlantic Ocean. Acadia National Park is a haven for one thousand one hundred plant species.

Day 9, Monday October 12, 2015 Rockland, Maine
We are in for a treat today as we anchor near Rockland. We will visit the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, listed in the top three Maine attractions. It is a natural wonder with over one square kilometre of shorefront. There are spectacular ornamental gardens. Our group will be delighted with the beautiful plantings, impressive stonework, waterfalls, fountains and scenic views.

Day 10, Tuesday October 13, 2015 At sea
A day at sea to enjoy the facilities of the ship.

Day 11, Wednesday October 14, 2015 Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
This morning we arrive in Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia and the largest urban area in Atlantic Canada. We will enjoy a guided tour of the town and see some of the historic sites and landmarks such as the Spring Garden Road area, the Province House, Old Town Clock, St Paul’s Church, City Hall, Grand Parade, Government House and Point Pleasant Park. We visit the 19th-century Halifax Citadel National Historic Site, where we will have a spectacular view of the downtown area. We will travel to Harbourside Market with time to browse and buy produce for lunch. We will see the wonderful display of seasonal vegetables. In the afternoon we will visit the Victorian-era Halifax Public Gardens, open since 1875, with three ponds and fountains and two stone bridges. The beautiful trees will be in glorious autumn colours.

Day 12, Thursday October 15, 2015 At sea
A day at sea to enjoy the facilities of the ship. This afternoon you are invited to join Melissa King for an informal chat and find out what drives her passion for gardening.

Day 13, Friday October 16, 2015 Charlottetown, Canada
We dock in Charlottetown, the gracious capital of Prince Edward Island, its streets lined with colourful planters. The island is renowned for its food producers. We will visit Island Meadow Farms, where cut flowers and perennials are grown. We continue our journey to La Serena Farm, which displays wonderful seasonal vegetables. Prince Edward Island is the location for the novels Anne of Green Gables and the home of the author. We visit Anne of Green Gables Museum at Silver Bush. This is the spacious house where the author Lucy Maud Montgomery visited relatives and where she was married in 1911.

Day 14, Saturday October 17, 2015 At sea
A day at sea to enjoy the facilities of the ship. A chance for last-minute shopping.

Day 15, Sunday October 18, 2015 Quebec, Canada
We arrive in Quebec at noon. We will enjoy a tour of the main sights of this attractive city. The lower town has streets lined with shops and art galleries that reflect their 18th-century heritage. We see the Royal Battery, which has been reconstructed and where replicas of 18th-century canons are on display. We travel to Place Royale in the upper town, which was the hub of the city’s economic activity until the mid-19th century.

Day 16, Monday October 19, 2015 Quebec
We disembark in Quebec this morning. We travel to the Ile d’Orleans, located in the St Lawrence River, and see splendid views of Quebec and the shoreline. We visit Manoir Mauvide-Genest, built in 1734 in Louise-XV French style by a surgeon-cum-landholder. It features a stunning collection of artefacts from the 17th to 19th centuries. Early afternoon we check into our hotel. We will have free time to explore Quebec.

Day 17, Tuesday October 20, 2015 Montreal, Canada
This morning we travel to Montreal. On arrival we enjoy a guided tour of Old Montreal. We see bustling Place Jacques-Cartier and Basilique Notre Dame, facing Place d’Armes. We see the Old Seminary built by Sulpician missionaries in 1685, it is the oldest building in Montreal. The downtown area of Montreal has a North American look, with wide thoroughfares winding through a forest of skyscrapers. We check in to our hotel late afternoon.

Day 18, Wednesday October 21, 2015 Montreal
We visit Chateau Ramezay, built in 1705, as the residence of Montreal Governor Claude de Ramezay. It is now a museum of early Quebec history and the enclosed garden next door has been re-created to look like a vegetable garden of the 17th and 18th centuries. This afternoon will be free for individual exploration. We enjoy a farewell dinner this evening to say goodbye to group members.

Day 19, Thursday October 22, 2015 Departure
We visit the Montreal Botanical Garden late morning. It comprises seventyfive hectares made up of twenty themed gardens and ten exhibition glasshouses. We will see trees with gorgeous fall colours. Late afternoon we travel to the airport to depart for our return to Australia.

Day 20, Friday October 23, 2015 In flight

Day 21, Saturday October 24, 2015 Arrival Australia
The tour group arrives in Australia and the tour concludes.

• Travelrite Garden Cruise to USA and Canada 2015 Download

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PRICING ex Australia

Interior cabin: Twin fare $8795, Single supplement $2060
Oceanview cabin: Twin fare $9095, Single supplement $2450
Balcony cabin: Twin fare $9595, Single supplement $2895

Included port & handling charge: $496
Included gratuities: $127
Air taxes to be added to the cabin cost per person as at 20 October 2014: $1040

Included in the tour price:

- Economy-class air travel from Melbourne/Sydney/Brisbane/Adelaide/ Perth to New York City and from Montreal back to Australia
- Travel on Serenade of the Seas in the selected cabin category
- All meals, entertainment and service charges on Serenade of the Seas
- Private Serenade of the Seas activities on board
- 3 nights’ accommodation in New York City, 1 nights accommodation in Quebec and 2 nights’ accommodation in Montreal, including breakfasts
- Welcome dinner in New York and farewell dinner in Montreal
- Sightseeing tours of New York City, Boston, Portland, Bar Harbor, Rockland, USA; Halifax, Charlottetown, Quebec and Montreal, Canada
- Tour leadership by Melissa King
- Fully escorted by a professional Travelrite International tour manager meeting the group in New York
- Port and handling charges on Serenade of the Seas
- Cruise taxes

Not included in the price are:
- Travel insurance
- Additional travel arrangements not detailed in the itinerary will be quoted for separately
- Passport and visa fees – a visa waiver for those not holding a current visa must be obtained for entry to the USA • On-board gratuities
- Drinks on board
- Lunches when not on the ship

Availability
All cabins are subject to availability. Please call for fares and information on other cabin categories. A limited number of cabins are available for single occupancy. Please call for details on 1800 630 343.

Gratuities:
Cruise Gratuities have been included in your fare.