The great outdoors make for great new excursions during Crystal's New England-Canada season

 Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

Crystal Cruises has unveiled more than 65 new Crystal Adventures for outdoor enthusiasts sailing on five Canada & New England cruises this fall.

Travelers who love outdoor activities, wildlife, vistas, and ecology can explore nature in a variety of ways during one seven-day and four 10-day Crystal Symphony sailings beginning September 16.

The season begins with a new, 10-day, Boston to Montreal itinerary that features two maiden calls, and wraps with a 10-day Montreal-New York voyage that visits off-the-beaten-path Québécois ports alongside East Coast “old money” hideaways like Bar Harbor, Maine and Newport, Rhode Island.  Crystal Serenity will explore the region in 2014 with five itineraries.

New excursions include:

FOR ACTIVE OUTDOORSMEN AND WOMEN:

• Kayak, bike, or boat past Cap-aux-Meules’s sandstone caves, craggy cliffs, endangered birds, and/or the charming fishing harbor. (Magdalen Islands)
• Raise the sails, take the helm, and sail along the rugged Nova Scotian coastline. (Lunenburg)
• Part Zodiac adventure, part physical challenge at Quarry Island, showcasing natural botanical gardens and habitats and impressive monoliths. (Havre-Saint-Pierre)
• Bike past crashing surf through UNESCO World Heritage Site, Lunenburg. and Blue Rocks, a fishing village-turned-artist colony. (Lunenburg)
• Kayak or hike through Saguenay National Park’s unique forest-marine ecosystem. (Saguenay)

FOR THOSE WHO PREFER VIEWING OVER DOING:

• Ride a helicopter, VIP-style, over Manhattan, from Harlem to the Statue of Liberty. (New York)
• Learn about the ice age while flying over and under a glacier—virtually—at the Garden of the Glaciers within an UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. (Baie-Comeau)
• Explore the hunting paradise of Anticosti Island by seaplane and 4x4, led by a naturalist guide. (Havre-Saint-Pierre)
• Get a bird’s eye view of fjords and Cap Trinité via seaplane or helicopter. (Saguenay)

FOR ANIMAL LOVERS:

• Volunteer with the SHAID Animal Shelter, raising money for this no-kill facility as part of Crystal’s You Care, We Care voluntourism program. (Lunenburg)
• Marvel at the murres, elders, razorbills, and puffins that occupy the Île du Corossol bird sanctuary, followed by a visit to a local mussel and scallop farm. (Sept-Ĩles)
• Commune with whale biologists-at-work at the Mingan Island Cetacean Research Center. (Havre-Saint-Pierre)

FOR ENVIRONMENTALISTS:

• Visit Innus communities to intimately learn about the First Nations’ respect for, and use of, the land. (Baie-Comeau and Havre-Saint-Pierre)
• Trek with a naturalist through Irving Nature Park’s wildlife-filled Acadian forest and uniquely complex marine ecosystem. (St. John)
• Visit an inland boreal forest seashell bed left from the Ice Age, and learn about Québec’s deforestation at the Village Forestier d’antan. (Baie-Comeau)
• Taste the native plants and berries from the unique forest-dune ecosystem in East Point National Wildlife Reserve. (Magdalen Islands)
• Hike through conservancy-protected Gaff Point Trail, featuring white sand beaches, forest, and an estuary.  (Lunenburg)
• Tour the construction site of La Romaine Hydro Dam, a hydropower complex set to supply electricity to more than a million homes by 2020. (Havre-Saint-Pierre)

Additional opportunities to explore by foot or bicycle include sites such as Newport’s Cliff Walk, Bar Harbor’s Acadia National Park, and Central Park and Chelsea in NY.

“We’ve worked to create memorable and scenic shoreside experiences that meet virtually every interest and activity level,” says John Stoll, vice president of land and port operations.

Sailing between Boston, New York and Montréal until November, the itineraries visit Bar Harbor, Maine; Newport, Rhode Island; Halifax and Lunenburg (maiden call), Nova Scotia; Saint John, New Brunswick; Baie-Comeau (maiden call), Saguenay, Havre-Saint-Pierre (maiden call), Québec City, and Sept-Ĩles, Magdalen Islands, Québec; and Saint-Pierre & Miquelon, France.

Crystal Cruises’ passion for creating unique luxury experiences both on land and at sea have helped earn the company top ratings from international travelers for two decades, including a recent World’s Best win from the readers of Travel + Leisure magazine.