CRUISE NORTH AMERICA'S INLAND SEAS THIS SUMMER

03-20-2009

Join a Luxury Cruise Ship As It Explores the Great Lakes, With Exciting Shore Excursions and All-Inclusive Hospitality

 

TORONTO, ONTARIO – Ready for a cruise where you'll enjoy vast open skies with glorious sunrises and sunsets—as well as primitive wilderness, bustling cities and historic forts? That luxury cruise may be closer than you think— when you cruise the vast inland seas that are the Great Lakes.

 

You'll journey on four of the five Great Lakes—those shared by the United States and Canada—traveling in luxury aboard the 100-passenger, all-suite Clelia II. Along the way, you'll find plenty of options for interesting shore excursions as you sail the heartland of North America, from Toronto, Ontario to Duluth, Minnesota.

 

This eight day/seven night odyssey is offered by The Great Canadian Travel Company, North America's foremost experts in travel to some of the world's least-traveled regions. In this case, you'll discover unique vacation experiences that are unexpectedly close to home.

 

Aboard ship, you'll enjoy welcome and farewell receptions, all meals, including house wine, beer and soft drinks with lunch and dinner and an open bar throughout the cruise. Tours and excursions also are included, as are educational programs and guest lecturers. Cost of the cruise is from

US$5,595 per person that also includes transfers between pier and airport, port and embarkation taxes and gratuities to porters, guides and drivers. 

There are 12 departures in 2009 between June 27 and September 12.

 

Fly to Toronto where you will transfer from the airport to the harbor and join the vessel, setting sail that evening. You'll travel on Lake Ontario and negotiate the dramatic passage between it and Lake Erie as you bypass Niagara Falls—but allowing time for an excursion to the storied natural wonder.

 

There's a day "at sea" as you cruise past Detroit and onto Lake Huron. Then comes a visit to Manitoulin Island, the world's largest freshwater island, where the Wikwemikong Reserve is a thriving community that has never ceded authority to Canada. Here, you will witness a traditional Pow Wow and visit the Ojibwe Cultural Centre and learn the history of these First Nation people.

 

Next, in complete contrast to sleepy Manitoulin, is a stop at Mackinac Island, full of Victorian homes and sprinkled with dramatic limestone formations. The island is a magnet for tourists (day-trippers are named fudgies, after the island's much-sought signature confection).  You'll have an opportunity to visit the island's famous fort, held by the British during the War of 1812.  As you depart the island, you'll see magnificent views of the soaring spans of Mackinac Bridge. Later, you'll pass through the famed Soo Locks at Sault Ste.

Marie, through which more than 12,000 ships pass each year.

 

The cruise continues with a journey through the Portage Waterway to call at Houghton, site of the country's first mineral rush when copper was discovered in 1840. The legacy stands today, both in the abandoned mines and the opulent buildings in the region's towns.

 

On the final day in Canada, the ship calls at Thunder Bay, a settlement founded in 1679 and once one of the major centers of Canada's fur trade.

Included is a tour of the impeccably restored Northwest Company's trading post (with time to wander the community).

 

Morning arrival in Duluth allows time, following disembarkation, to explore a vibrant downtown of this contemporary city. You'll quickly discover that Duluth is a port city (it is 2,342 freshwater miles from the Atlantic Ocean). As the top volume port on the Great Lakes, it welcomes more than 1,000 ocean- going vessels and Great Lakes freighters.

 

Reservations, copies of a full-color "Canada" catalog and additional information available from The Great Canadian Travel Company Ltd., 333 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60601, 800-661-3830, www.greatcanadiantravel.com.

 

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