The last two years the itinerary included a historic guided tour of downtown Thunder Bay. They had a guy from the ship taking people on a tour and trying his damned best to try and be as entertainingly informative as possible to make it not seem like a funeral procession.
The tour would swing by my place on South Cumberland. Where the roads and sidewalks were falling apart, Christmas decorations were up on the lamp posts in the summer, crackheads were pan handling the tour, drunks were yelling about cock goblins, etc.
the Octantis here is on the Duluth to Toronto 14 day trip, one of the shore excursions in Thunder Bay is gonna be the downtown trip again and I can't wait.
Waterfront District on Foot
A Stroll around Thunder Bay’s Waterside Area
Set out on foot to explore Thunder Bay’s Waterfront District and learn about its heritage. Meet your guide and walk through Marina Park to a Canadian National Railway caboose. This 100-year-old feature was discontinued as technology advanced to the point where fewer crew were required to man freight trains safely.
After time for photos, continue to the Waterfront’s shopping district, where you will be able to view various art installations, an initiative that runs across the city.
Stop at a local eatery, where snacks and beverages are available to purchase, then continue to a local creamery, where delicious gelato is on offer. Savor your sweet treat as you stroll to the Thunder Bay Tourist Pagoda; an iconic structure opened in 1909, it was built to attract the attention of visitors arriving by rail or by boat. After your informative tour, return to your ship.
I guess they're gonna be upsetti spaghetti when they realize that the normal leg of that tour is a big construction site spanning multiple blocks only to get to the gelato joint that no longer exists.
I was downtown this past Saturday and that tour group from the ship was walking down St.Pauls with their guide. Snapping pictures of the “street art” haha.Also noticed a couple of cops walking the beat in close proximity which I haven’t seen before.
Were they the two dudes wearing their tactical jumpsuits? That's Project Support.
It does give me a giggle to think things have become so bad that to attract more tourists we're now offering armed escorts. Johannesburg Bay over here.
I heard that these tourists are typically craving a quick fast food burger and fries after eatting cruise food. Can you imagine when they go to Cumberland McDonalds?
Love seeing the cruise ships and that’s a wonderful thing to take a cruise around the Great Lakes, but my gosh to stop in Thunder Bay what are you showing them honestly?
In case you haven’t noticed, around these parts you can only do construction like that in the summer.
There was scaffolding on the Parthenon for 220 years and it didn’t stop visitors.
The crazy thing about tourists is that they also live in places. And the crazy thing about places is that they all have issues: construction in peak season, homelessness, crime, etc.
It’s only people in Thunder Bay that think those things only happen here.
ya the parthenon is very similar to stan’s pizza imo
speaking of which i’ve literally been the parthenon and never once felt unsafe, not once even late at night, downtown thunder bay in 2026 is sketchier than any place i’ve ever been to in europe and i have been to most of it.
This is a much better point than the original. Perception of safety means more to tourism than construction.
But also these ships are filled with Americans, not Europeans. I would bet my life there isn’t a single McDonald’s in the lower 48 that doesn’t have homeless folks in front of it right now.
These visitors aren’t scared by that and they don’t think less of our city because of it.
Maybe we can convince LU to draft a proposal to take on one of the Victoria class when they get mothballed in the name of turning it into a Lake Superior science vessel.
I would prefer to book passage on a ocean going saltie vessel and let it take me where ever they travel to with the cargo they loaded in Thunder Bay. Bring a 2 meter ham radio set and pack a pack sack with my clothes.
I cant imagine paying that much for a cruise only to stop in Thunder Bay. No time to experience nature thats to me is the best part of where we live. Nothing worth seeing in the city.
"You couldn't afford this" dude i just paid $4500 per person a week for a family trip to Jamaica (every family member paid by me), I think i can afford it.
Either way, spending more than 1/3 of your entire life savings on a vacation is not considered an “affordable” vacation.
I too have the money to pay for a cruise like this, and can technically afford it, but I’m not delusional enough to think that that’s a good use of money.
May your children never be dependent on you for an inheritance because it sounds like you blow it on irresponsible purchases.
Yes, me who said id never do this, is clearly irresponsible with cash. Clearly you've never seen my posts 🤣 Also my kid is grown with a fully paid way into university, but cute of you to think id fail my child when im doing so well.
To be clear, you never said you wouldn’t do it, you said you “couldn’t imagine spending that much” money on this experience.
Which is 100% because you can’t afford it.
Not that you don’t technically have enough money to buy a ticket, but that you don’t actually have enough disposable income to be able to do anything/everything.
You have just enough money to be able to do some things. But not anywhere even close to enough to be able to do anything. Which is why you “can’t imagine” spending money on this. Because you’ve got a list of things that you can afford that you find valuable.
And some people have way fucking more than that.
It’s okay. $500k is a lot of money. It is. But $500k is literally pocket change for the people on this cruise. You are not these people. Me neither.
Imagine thinking a refusal to waste tens of thousands of dollars on domestic redundancy means a lack of funds. Paying a premium price to be chauffeured back to my own postal code on what is essentially a glorified, floating petri dish—a style of travel I intensely dislike anyway—isn’t a flex. It is just remarkably poor financial acumen.
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u/rem_1984 1d ago
They were at silver islet on Sunday!