Cruise Ship congestion

My wife and I had planned to arrive in Bar Harbor late in the afternoon of July 29 and stay until the afternoon of the 31st.

I check the Cruise Ship Schedule and saw the Grandeur of the Seas would be in port July 30th. Would it be better to not arrive until the 30th to avoid the cruise ship crowd?

Thank you for your help!

Cruise Ship congestion

It%26#39;s probably not worth changing your plans. The cruise ships tend to come into harbor around 8 a.m. and steam out about 4 p.m. You can go enjoy Acadia National Park during that time. By the time you rest up from your day%26#39;s hike and are ready to do a bit of shopping and get some dinner, the cruisers will be on their way to the next port.

Cruise Ship congestion

Yes, The American Star is due in on the 29th; the Grandeur on the 30th.

As bonniemaev said, there is no reason to change your plans. The congestion pretty much comprises more pedestrian traffic in the village center, i.e., around the shops; more bus traffic on the Loop Road of the park; and general confusion down around the town pier, where the cruise ship tenders disembark the boat people.

All of this occurs between, as bonniemaev noted, about 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The cruise ship crowds really don%26#39;t get very deep into the park; they don%26#39;t bike or walk on the carriage roads or hike the trails. Moreover, they are not on the top of Cadillac in the early morning or evening---the two best times to be there. Nor are they a factor in getting into the restaurants for dinner (although they can swell the lunchtime lobster-eating population).

Thanks bonniemaev and cwvoigt for the info.

We were in Key West for the first time in January. There were 2 cruise ships there when we arrived for the day. It was very crowed on Duvall Street. I did not want to get in that kind of a mess.

My wife has heard me talk about how great Maine is for years. This is my first chance to show her. I know that nothing is quite like you remember(my avatar is of a small island off Stonington). But from this fourm, I see Mainers have not changed. So it still must be great.

Thank you

You are right that nothing stays the same. But there is an old saying: ';people don%26#39;t change Maine. Maine changes people.'; I hope that%26#39;s true. I know I%26#39;ve changed since I moved here.

One thing that saves Bar Harbor from being a Key West is that cruise ships cannot dock here. We%26#39;re still a fairly small town with no huge dock. Thus the passengers arrive at the pier in small clumps of 30 or so as the ship%26#39;s tender boats bring them in.

Another saving grace is that not all of the passengers descend onto the sidewalks of Bar Harbor because many arrange bus tours of the Park or a lobster lunch somewhere else or a horse-drawn carriage ride. We locals don%26#39;t much like the buses lined up down at that pier on cruise ship days. But it does keep down the congestion in the village.

Thanks bonniemaev.

My wife and I are really looking foward to our stay in Bar Harbor.

Only 47 more days!!

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