The Gratts on Vacation: Oh Canada! Charlottetown and Sydney

The following photo pretty much sums up our sea day.

No one took hardly any pictures. Kate did laundry. I sat on the balcony. We relaxed, we drank mimosas, at some point we all had pizza at the bar in the casino where we camped out all day by the window. We were all pooped and needed a relaxing day to recover. So that's what we did!

Ben and I don't normally spend much time in the casino on a cruise. But this ship had a great non-smoking bar in the casino that was right by the video poker machines. And since we all had a lot of onboard credit, we played in the casino much more than we normally would have. So it was a great spot to spend the day.

Late in the afternoon, we all went back to our cabins to get ready for our first formal night dinner in the main dining room. Ben and I caught a beautiful sunset right before leaving for dinner.

My favorite picture of the cruise.

We had dinner together in the dining room and then went to the casino. It was a nice relaxing day before four port days in a row! The next day started with a beautiful sunrise.

Ben and I went down to the International Cafe for what had become our usual breakfast.

Breakfast of champions.

Before long, we were pulling into Charlottetown, the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island.

The plan today was to walk around the town and see what there was to see near the port. The city is somewhat spread out so we would be walking quite a bit today.

The ship photographers took our picture.

We were greeted with local music.

Off we go!

Our walk began at Confederation Landing, a riverside park that played a role in the founding of Canada.

On September 1, 1864, several delegates arrived aboard the SS Queen Victoria to attend the Charlottetown Conference. By the end of the week, the Maritime Colonies plus the Province of Canada had laid the foundation for uniting in 1867 under the name of Canada.

Pictures as we made our way through the city.

The Gainsford House, c.1833, Charlottetown's oldest brick building

City Hall built in 1888

Haviland Club, a historic home built in 1869

The original St. Dunstan's Cathedral was built in 1897. The present stone building was built in 1919 after a fire in 1913 destroyed the original cathedral. It was a beautiful church with amazing Gothic Revival architecture.

The red chair is reserved for the Bishop.

Eventually we stopped for a drink and a snack.

Charlottetown is famous for oysters.

Kate got baked oysters and let us all try them. They were pretty good!

St. Peter's Cathedral built in 1869

Eventually, we made our way back to port to have lunch at Water Prince Corner Shop, which was recommended by a local.

I got the fish and chips, yummy.

Ben got a lobster roll.

We had a fun day seeing the city of Charlottetown. Back on the ship, we all went to our cabins to get ready for dinner. Ben and I saw the sunset again.

This would be Kate's official retirement dinner, complete with a bottle of Dom Perignon Champagne!

This was our one really good meal on the ship. Everything was delicious!

And of course, champagne makes everything taste better!

Ship photographers strike again!

Happy Retirement Kate!

Down in the Piazza, the Silent Disco was going on. This is where guests all have headphones but each one can be playing different music. It was pretty funny to watch!

Disco inferno.

Our next port of call was Sydney, a city on the east coast of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada founded by the British in 1785.

I was excited to see the Beavertails truck at the port. I knew I was going to get one of the famous pastries!

The morning started with my latte on the balcony.

#cruiselife

There is a big fiddle at the port that plays music nonstop.

This fiddle drove me crazy.

Once again, we had no plans for this port. We just planned to walk around and go to a pub.

Our first stop was St. Patrick's church built in 1828 but since it was Saturday, the museum wasn't open.

Our next stop was the Cossit House Museum built in 1787 and one of the oldest surviving houses in Sydney. Named for its original owner, Reverend Ranna Cossit, the house depicts 18th-century life and serves as the cornerstone of the city’s Heritage Conservation District.

From 1787 to 1815, Cossit House was the family home of Reverend Cossit, his wife Thankful and ten of their thirteen children.

Thankful had four of her children in this tiny room!

The home had some lovely artifacts.

More of our walk around Sydney.

St. George's Anglican church built in 1785.

Ben and I walked over to the Merchant Mariner Monument by the harbor which depicts four men at sea, with one rescuing a fellow sailor and two calling out along their lifeboat. The statute stands as a tribute to the thousands of Canadian Merchant seamen who gave their lives in WWII.