It looked to be another day of chilly exploration as Crystal Serenity made her way into Harve Saint Pierre, a tiny Canadian port known mainly for being the world’s largest source of Ilmenite, the primary ore of Titanium.  Located on the north shore of the St Lawrence river, Harve Saint Pierre at first glance is another fishing village with tiny boats in port, a few shops around here and there and that’s about it.  Still, on our fall foliage-oriented Autumn‘s Palette sailing with Crystal Cruises, it was quite obvious why the place was a scheduled stop: The Canadian Woods.

Had we visited a week or so later, fall colors would have been apparent.  Today, just a hint of color had made it to the scene so leaf peeping was not going to be on today’s activity list.  Still, we were on luxuriously appointed Crystal Serenity where one does not even have to leave their stateroom to have a nice day.  Nonetheless, we went ashore, captured a few more images of a few more tiny boats and got our first chance to see our ship with an unobstructed view.

Beginning in Boston then on through the itinerary, we had docked in close quarters, with much of Crystal Serenity hidden behind security fences, other ships or just in places were it was impossible to get all of the 820-foot ship in the viewfinder of a camera.  Today was different and afforded full views with the Canadian wilderness as a backdrop.

But the best moment of the day came late in the afternoon, when Crystal Serenity was preparing to cast off for our next port of call.  Gathering at the pier must have been everyone in the entire town, in cars, on bikes, on foot; there to send us off in style.  It was a scene we have seen many times before when sailing out of Florida ports on a variety of cruise lines.  Still, this sendoff was totally unexpected which made it all the better.

Earlier in the day, I had the chance to walk around Crystal Serenity, admiring some of the artwork placed here and there on the ship.  It’s a nice collection really, take a look:

 

See more via Instagram, Facebook and Twitter as we explored Crystal Cruises for the first time and made our way from Boston to Quebec City on a 10-day Autumn’s Palette itinerary.  See all our blog posts on Crystal Cruises too. 

Catch up here  with these posts:

At ChrisCruises.com, in itinerary order:

1. Riot Of Color Or Subtle Change, Crystal Fall Foliage Cruise Will Be Epic
2. Crystal Cruises First Impressions: Absolutely Blown Away
3. Crystal Cruises Adventures, On And Off The Ship
4. Themed Moderation On Crystal Cruises
5. Crystal Cruises, Saint John, Built On A Rock Solid Foundation
6. An Outstanding Day In Halifax with Crystal Cruises
7. Your Crystal Cruises Questions (sort of) Answered
8. The Magdalen Islands With Crystal Cruises
9. Luxuriously Appointed Ship Visits Surprisingly Friendly Canada Port

Facebook Photo Albums:

• Our First Day On Crystal Cruises
• My Crystal Story
• Crystal Cruises Room Service
• Bar Harbor, Maine with Crystal Cruises
• Crystal Cruises Visits Saint John, New Brunswick
• Halifax, Nova Scotia with Crystal Cruises

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