The New England and Canada foliage cruise is the most forgiving itinerary in this series to budget for: the season is eight weeks, the ports are cheap, the flights are domestic, and the fares swing more on two calendar weeks than on anything you can negotiate. Here is how the numbers behave for the 2026 season.
The fare, by week
Sailings run late August to mid-October from Boston (and some from New York), calling at Portland, Bar Harbor, Halifax and Saint John, with the ten-night versions reaching Quebec City. Tracked fares for the season span $499 to $1,800 per person — and the single biggest variable is the week, not the ship:
- Late August–early September: the value window. Seven-night interiors from about $499–800; the trees are green and the crowds thin.
- The foliage peak — historically the last week of September and the first of October: the same cabins at $1,200–1,800. Princess's ten-night Classic Canada and New England from Boston on 13 October 2026 lists from $1,179, which shows how fast prices drop once the peak passes.
- Mid-October: back down with the leaves, some of the best value of the year — cooler, sometimes rainy, half the price of peak week.
The ten-day New England and Canada route lays out the classic sailing, and our fall foliage timing guide covers the gamble you are actually making when you pick a week.
Flights — or no flights
This is the one cruise in this series where a huge share of travellers can drive to the pier. Boston's cruise terminal sits in the city, parking runs about $25–30 a day, and that changes the budget math fundamentally. For everyone else: domestic round trips to Boston run $150–400 from most of the US. The ten-night sailings that end in Quebec City are the exception — you will need an open-jaw home from Canada, adding $200–400 per person.
Tips
The mainstream $16–18.50 per person per day — $112–130 on a seven-nighter — plus the automatic 18–20% on bar and spa.
Excursions: the real budget
New England is the anti-Alaska: the ports are walkable, the sights are free or nearly so, and nothing requires a helicopter. Current per-person prices:
- DIY days: Bar Harbor's shore path and Acadia's free shuttle from the village green; Portland's Old Port and lighthouse point; Halifax's waterfront and citadel. $0–40 per port.
- Independent tours: Acadia loop $50–75; Peggy's Cove from Halifax $60–90; lobster-boat rides $40–60.
- Ship tours: $80–150 for the same loops — a modest premium in a region where the ship-waits guarantee rarely matters, since distances are short and traffic is the only real risk.
The one splurge worth pricing is a proper Maine lobster dinner ashore — $40–70 per person in Bar Harbor — which costs exactly what a specialty-restaurant cover costs on the ship and is the real thing.
The cost nobody tells you about
The foliage gamble itself. Pick the last week of September and you are paying peak prices for a probability, not a promise — the peak slides two weeks either way with the year's weather, and the ship does not refund the trees. The honest strategy is the shoulder-week trade: early October is often past peak on the coast but still gorgeous inland from the ship, and it costs $400–600 less per cabin. Buy the week for the price, not for the brochure photo.
Second: Bar Harbor is a tender port. On days with two or more ships in, tender queues eat the morning, and anyone with limited mobility should read the ship's tender policy before booking — details in travelling with limited mobility.
The all-in picture
Per person for a seven-night sailing, transport included:
- Drive-to-port careful budget: about $900–1,400 — shoulder-week interior, parking, DIY ports, one lobster dinner.
- Fly-in comfortable: $2,000–3,000 — peak-week balcony, the flight, a tour or two.
- Ten nights to Quebec City, comfortable: $2,800–4,000 — plus the open-jaw flight home.
Foliage-season sailings appear in our fare database; the region medians for comparison are in what a cruise costs, region by region.
The short version
- Fare: seven nights from $499–800 in shoulder weeks, $1,200–1,800 in the last-September peak; ten-nighters to Quebec from about $1,179.
- Season: late August to mid-October. The peak week costs double the shoulder weeks on the same ship.
- Flights: driveable for much of the US Northeast; otherwise $150–400 domestic. Ten-nighters need an open-jaw home from Quebec.
- Tips $16–18.50 a day. Excursions mostly $0–40 DIY; ship tours $80–150.
- Bar Harbor is a tender port — mornings can queue on busy days.
- All in: $900–1,400 careful, $2,000–3,000 comfortable, per person.