The Gratts on Vacation: Oh Canada! Cruise from Quebec to Saguenay

Today Ben and I would be having high tea and then coming back to the ship in time to sail away from Québec City headed to our next Canadian destination, Saguenay.

Bonjour Québec!

Ben and I headed to Princess Live, a theater with a small coffee bar just two floors down on Deck 7. This was where Ben got his coffee every morning and he made friends with the barista, Joel, who also plays guitar.

We then headed to Deck 5 to check out the International Cafe which had coffee and pastries. The almond croissants here were pretty decent!

Next to the cafe is the Piazza, the big open area of the ship where many of the ship's activities take place.

I took my second latte back to the balcony.

Eventually we met up with Nick and Kate at the buffet for second breakfast!

When planning the cruise, I discovered that high tea was served at the Hotel Frontenac. There was a ship excursion that offered it, however, I had read that it wasn't the same experience as doing it on your own through the hotel. The only caveat was that tea was at 2:00 pm and we had to be back on board by 4:30 pm. So we had to make sure to get back in time!

Ben and I left the ship around 1:00 pm. We planned to walk to the hotel but take an Uber back. Since we had a long walk ahead of us, I didn't take many pictures.

Made it! We had a little time to kill and I had planned on taking pictures inside the hotel but it was a madhouse of people.

A little before 2:00 pm, we were shown straight to our table, bypassing the people doing the ship excursion who were seated outside the restaurant proper. We were given a lovely table by the window overlooking Dufferin Terrace.

We were served a complimentary glass of sparkling wine.

The server came to explain the process and take our tea order.

For our tea, we chose the Creamy Earl Grey. I love all Earl Grey tea but this was over-the-top delicious, one of the best teas I've ever had! You can order it from the hotel here.

https://us.fairmontstore.com/products/creamy-earl-grey-lot-35

Then an absolute tower of sandwiches and pastries was delivered! The scone with cream was enough to fill me up!

This was an absolute treat and I was so glad I had done my research! We ate and drank and relaxed for about an hour and a half before we bid adieu to the hotel to get a ride back to the ship.

Back onboard, we stopped at Bellini's, a champagne cocktail bar I was excited to try.

It wasn't all it was cracked up to be, unfortunately.

All style and no substance.

Then we all went out on deck to say Au Revoir to beautiful Québec!

The fall color was really lovely!

After sailaway, Ben and I had a drink and caught our first sunset on our balcony.

Straight up Prosecco is the move.

We chose this side of the ship specifically for sunrise and sunset and it didn't disappoint.

Tonight was our dinner at the Crown Grill steakhouse to formally toast Kate's retirement.

When we sailed Princess in 2017, our dinner at Crown Grill was great. Unfortunately, Princess has made some major cuts post-Covid and dinner at Crown Grill was our first casualty.

I still managed to enjoy my crab cake and steak.

Cheers to retirement!

The next day, we arrived at our first port of the cruise, Saguenay, a city in Québec, Canada best known for Saguenay Fjord, which leads to the St. Lawrence River.

Kate got this beautiful shot of the sunrise over the fjord!

Welcome to Saguenay!

We were able to get a good view of the dock workers tying the ship to the dock.

Out in the port area, locals were out to great us!

Ready to go!

Today, Ben and I were doing a hike in Saguenay Fjord National Park, about an hour away from the ship. We would be taking the ship's excursion to ensure there would be no leaving us behind!

Our ride to the park!

Over many vacations, I have learned that I simply cannot take pictures on a moving bus through the windows. And yet, it never stops me from trying!

Ready to get hiking!

We hiked a short distance before reaching a beautiful clearing with views of the fjord.

Our guide told us lots of interesting facts about the fjord and the river along the way.

The hike eventually got slightly more challenging, with around 450 ft of elevation gain.

Eventually we came to the highlight, an overlook of the river and surrounding valley.

We had a little extra time, so we walked down to a nearby dock for a better look at the fjord.

It was a great day in Saguenay Fjord National Park! Back in port, we had a great view of our ship.

We were back on board around 2:30 pm and starving! We boarded right at Alfredo's Pizzeria, which sounded great to us so we went straight there.

We started with salads which were tasty.

Then we had a hot honey soppressata pizza which was delicious! It really hit the spot!

While we were hiking in the park, Nick and Kate took a bus to Chicoutimi, one of the boroughs in Saguenay and the site of an old pulp mill which is a national historic site of Canada.

Founded in 1896, the Chicoutimi Pulp Mill produced wood-pulp for newsprint. Renowned for the quality of its product, it was the largest producer of mechanical wood-pulp in Canada around 1910. Although the mill closed permanently in 1930, several of the old buildings remain and Kate took beautiful pictures of the site and the surrounding area.