Independence of the Seas - Canada & New England from Cape Liberty

The four ports here are the same four that fill every seven-night Canada and New England sailing in the catalog, so the extra two nights on Independence are sea days: one between Portland and Halifax, then two on the run home from Saint John. That makes this the slowest itinerary on the route, with a rhythm of sea day, two ports, sea day, two ports, two sea days, and the late-night Saint John stay is the one call where the ship lingers. Halifax before Saint John is the geographic oddity: the ship passes the mouth of the Bay of Fundy to reach Halifax, then doubles back around Nova Scotia's southern tip to go up the bay, which is why the distances need a sea day before Halifax and leave the return leg with time to spare. October also puts the sailing in the tail of hurricane season. A September 2023 thread from a Royal Caribbean ship on this coast reported the Saint John call cancelled for Hurricane Lee and an early return to Bayonne, and a 2025 poster who did the four-night Halifax version in June had fog the entire way and still called the views leaving and entering New York harbor worth the sailaway.

Against the rivals, the honest reading is that the ports are not what the fare buys. Norwegian Breakaway, Norwegian Escape and Majestic Princess from New York cover Boston, Portland, Halifax and Saint John in seven nights at roughly half this price, and Breakaway and Holland America's Zuiderdam do the same from Boston. Virgin's Brilliant Lady runs eight nights at a similar tier but skips Saint John and is adults-only; Oceania's Vista carries on to Montreal at a luxury price. What Independence buys is a Royal Caribbean activity ship for a family that will spend four of nine days at sea, and a departure the New York area can drive to; its other listings are a five-night Bermuda run and a seven-night western Caribbean loop at far lower fares, so this is the ship's premium week. A 2023 thread on the route's Boston-versus-New York question is worth reading first: replies preferred the Canadian ports to Portland, and a 2025 poster on a similar Royal sailing called Halifax fine with or without an excursion, with the bus up to the Citadel convenient but not needed. It suits New York and New Jersey families who want foliage without a flight and do not mind sea days; port-collectors and anyone counting dollars per port should book Breakaway or Escape instead.