Arrive To: Participants are responsible for their independent arrivals to the Grande Caribe, which will be docked at Chelsea Piers (W. 23rd St.) on the west side (Hudson River) of New York City. Embarkation begins at noon. Complete transportation details will be given to participants after enrollment because there are so many options. No overnight parking is allowed at Chelsea Piers. Guests must arrive via public transportation (taxi, bus, subway) or private car (drop off only).

Afternoon: All passengers are required to attend a U.S. Coast Guard safety orientation presented by the ship's captain and crew. Following the presentation, your Road Scholar staff on board will give an orientation to the voyage ahead. After the orientation, if you are so inclined, you're free to explore the Chelsea Piers complex (if you're a golfer, you might enjoy renting a bucket of balls at the enormous, netted driving range next to the ship and practice your swing while overlooking the Hudson River!). Practically adjacent to the complex is the enormously popular Hi-Line, the elevated walkway that parallels the Hudson -- it's a terrific place to take a stroll or a power walk this afternoon.

Dinner: Welcome Aboard! To celebrate your arrival on board and the start of this voyage, the captain and crew prepare a fabulous cocktail reception (full, complimentary bar) complete with delicious hors d'oeuvres. The mood is festive but the dress is casual. Following the party, a special "Welcome Aboard" dinner is yours to enjoy. Bon Appetit!

Evening: After dinner, gather in the ship's lounge for the first of several lectures that your on-board historian will present. Sam knows New York City, the Hudson River, and Erie Canal intimately. He is a superb historian and gifted public speaker.

Lodging: Grande Caribe

Meals Included: Dinner

Breakfast: A self-service breakfast buffet, featuring hot and cold cereals, fresh fruit and juices is offered each morning, as well as a family-style full breakfast featuring a hot entrée and homemade breads and muffins.

Morning: Early risers will want to grab a cup of coffee or tea before breakfast and rendezvous with Sam on the Sun Deck to see the Manhattan skyline as it wakes up. (The ship departs at 5:00 am today.) As your ship makes it way to the Statue of Liberty for an "up close and personal" viewing, Sam will give on-board commentary about all that you are seeing -- everything from Lady Liberty herself to the tugboats and ferries, Ground Zero, the Lower West Side and beyond. This is a rare opportunity to see Manhattan from a rare perspective.

Lunch: The conversation will be lively at lunch as you steam northward on the historic and beautiful Hudson River. Happily, the dining room has enormous windows so you can see the scenery and you enjoy your meal. Lunches typically include homemade soup, salad and/or sandwich, as well as a homemade dessert.

Afternoon: No time for napping this afternoon -- everyone will want to enjoy Sam's on-deck commentary as you travel up the Hudson River, past West Point and Albany before you "turn left" into the Erie Canal. First stop on the Canal is Troy, New York, where the ship's crew will lower the pilot house and Sun Deck (a unique feature of the Grande Caribe) so you can scoot under the low-lying bridges.

Dinner: Enjoy dinner tonight while docked in Troy, New York.

Evening: A local musician whose lively jazz band will get your toes tapping and hands clapping, presents an hour or so of entertainment after dinner.

Lodging: Grande Caribe

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Coffee, tea and juices are available in the ship's lounge every morning beginning at 6 am. Breakfast is usually served beginning at 8, but that changes based on the day's schedule and the whims and vagaries of traveling by ship.

Morning: This is the first of two full days on the fascinating Erie Canal -- and you couldn't be in better hands. With Sam as your teacher, you'll begin learning today about the politics involved in getting "Clinton's Ditch" from a dream to a reality. When Sam isn't presenting a "formal" lecture in the lounge, he will be giving on-deck commentary about the sites you're seeing along the way.

Lunch: You'll be very comfortably settled into shipboard routine by now. Enjoy a relaxing lunch while taking a relaxing voyage on the Erie Canal.

Afternoon: You'll likely enjoy another of Sam's talks this afternoon about how the Erie Canal came into being, and how fortunate you are to travel on it. Then, it might be time to enjoy working on a jigsaw puzzle in the lounge, or a card game in the dining room, or perhaps a snooze in your cabin. You're traveling at a leisurely pace while on the canal, so it's important to take some leisure time.

Dinner: Dinner tonight will be served near a lock at Little Falls, New York, where your ship will be tied up for the night.

Lodging: Grande Caribe

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: You know the breakfast routine by now. Enjoy!

Morning: You'll now be very comfortable with shipboard routine, which includes literally hours of on-board commentary from your historian and captain while underway. Sam's lecture, "Life on the Canal" is an appropriate one for this morning since that's exactly where your life is right now. Learn how the canal changed everything by opening the Midwest to development, assuring the United States' control of the West, and beginning the fast-paced lifestyle of the modern world.

Lunch: Relax over a leisurely lunch while watching the scenic Erie Canal float by the dining room windows.

Afternoon: This is a long, relaxing day on the Erie Canal. The afternoon will afford you plenty of free time to reflect on all that you've seen and learned so far. Sam will almost certainly give a formal talk this afternoon. And by the of today, you'll know more about locks and lock-tending than you ever thought possible!

Dinner: Enjoy dinner with your friends tonight as you approach your overnight location -- a funky summer camp community where the geese often outnumber the people ashore!

Evening: After getting a chance to take an after-dinner walk ashore if you'd like, return to the ship for a showing of "Drums Along the Mohawk" starring Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert. Fonda delivers one of his most memorable performances ever as a young frontier leader protecting his family in the backwoods of New York State. Colbert co-stars as his spirited wife. One of John Ford's most exciting historical dramas.

Lodging: Grande Caribe

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast will be served while en route to Oswego, New York, where the Grande Caribe will put in for the night.

Morning: En route to Oswego, learn about the little-known role that the city played in World War II as a "safe haven" for Jewish refugees. Watch a short documentary about this little-known but very moving part of U.S. history.

Lunch: The Grande Caribe should be tying up in downtown Oswego just around lunchtime.

Afternoon: Oswego is a great town for a free afternoon ashore. You can visit the Safe Haven museum if you'd like (admission is included in your program cost), browse at a terrific independently owned bookstore, do some laundry or replenish your beverage supply.

Dinner: Shortly after dinner, the Grande Caribe will depart Oswego and head out to Lake Ontario for tomorrow morning's destination, Ogdensburg.

Evening: Tomorrow, you'll visit the Frederic Remington Museum. Tonight, enjoy an hour-long documentary about his life, produced by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Lodging: Grande Caribe

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Breakfast will be served this morning just after your ship docks in Ogdensburg, New York.

Morning: The Grande Caribe will dock this morning adjacent to the Frederick Remington Museum. A museum staff member will likely greet you on board before you take the short walk to the museum. Remington (1861 0 1909) was one of the most famous artists of his time, bringing images of the Old West to the public on the pages of magazines and later in bronze. The museum's collection also shares Remington's look at Northern New York with oils and sketches depicting his beloved northern wilderness. Remington's paintings and sculptures are owned by museums and private collectors throughout the world; the largest collection is located here at the museum on the shores of the St. Lawrence.

Lunch: After a stimulating morning, return to the ship for lunch and departure. You're bound for Kingston, Ontario, this afternoon.

Afternoon: The beautiful, enchanting 1,000 Islands are your cruising grounds this afternoon. Enjoy seeing teeny tiny summer cottages perched on a solitary rock and grandiose mansions set amid fir trees. Have your cameras handy -- you are in for a treat.

Dinner: Dinner will be served this evening shortly after docking in Kingston, Ontario.

Evening: After dinner, learn about the St. Lawrence Seaway that you've just experienced. From the time of the arrival of Canada's first European explorers, in the 16th century, until the construction of the Seaway in 1959, the St. Lawrence has played a pivotal role in the economic and political development of Canada.

Lodging: Grande Caribe

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Enjoy a hearty breakfast before heading out to explore Kingston.

Morning: Relax on a narrated trolley tour of Kingston, a city nestled where the St. Lawrence River meets Lake Ontario; enjoy seeing examples of its 19th-century limestone architecture; and learn about Fort Henry, a 19th-century British military fortress.

Lunch: After a full morning of seeing the city, return to the ship for lunch as the captain and crew prepare to set "sail" for an overnight voyage.

Afternoon: The afternoon will likely include a formal talk by Sam, some on-board commentary, and free time to relax, read or just quietly watch the waters of Lake Ontario slip beneath the Grande Caribe.

Dinner: Dinner will served on board while you and your fellow travelers are en route (overnight) to Port Weller, Ontario.

Lodging: Grande Caribe

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Note: Wear very good rubber-soled shoes today for boarding the Maid of the Mist and seeing the Falls "up close and personal." You'll be getting on and off vans or coaches several times today, and almost assuredly getting sprayed with some water from the Falls.

Breakfast: Breakfast will likely be served earlier than usual today because it's such a full day.

Morning: Prepare to get wet and have fun while doing so. The Maid of the Mist has been delighting visitors to Niagara Falls since 1846 (that's not a typo!), including the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII), Teddy Roosevelt, Marilyn Monroe and Diana, Princes off Wales and her sons, William and Harry. You're in good company!

Lunch: Lunch will be at a Niagara-area restaurant.

Afternoon: Your private, narrated excursion in and around the Falls continues this afternoon. You'll have plenty of opportunities to take photos. The itinerary includes some free time in Niagara-on-the-Lake, often called the loveliest town in Ontario. NOTL has a long and distinguished history. It was settled at the close of the American Revolution by Loyalists coming to Upper Canada. The appearance of the town, with the exception of the powder magazine at Fort George was virtually erased by the burning of the town by the Americans during the war of 1812. Today, NOTL is famous for its theaters, historic sites and beautiful old homes. Finally, cap off your day with a glass of wine while visiting a local winery where you'll learn a bit about the New York State wine industry.

Dinner: Return to the Grande Caribe tired but very happy with all you've seen, done and learned today. Enjoy relaxing over dinner with your fellow travelers and comparing notes about what you enjoyed most today.

Lodging: Grande Caribe

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Breakfast: By the time you finish breakfast this morning, the Grande Caribe will have delivered you safely to your final port of call, Toronto.

Morning: Toronto is a city of amazing discoveries for locals and visitors alike -- from professional sports teams to internationally acclaimed museums and cultural activities, to miles of greenery and parks, and dozens of charming ethnic neighborhoods. This morning, enjoy a private, narrated coach excursion of the city which, if you're like most first-time visitors, will have you planning a return visit before long.

Lunch: Lunch will likely be a bit later than usual today to accommodate this morning's field trip.

Afternoon: Your last afternoon on board the Grande Caribe. Time to begin packing, exchanging addresses with new friends, or enjoying some free time on your own in Toronto. Whatever you do, make sure you're back on the ship around 5-ish for the Captain's Farewell Cocktail Party!

Dinner: Tonight's dinner will be special, festive, and filled with farewells.

Lodging: Grande Caribe

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Depart From: One coach departure to the Toronto airport will take place immediately after breakfast this morning. If you have an especially early flight, you might have to take a taxi or airport shuttle at your own expense. Complete departure details will be sent to participants after they enroll.

Breakfast: Immediately after breakfast, all participants must disembark.

Meals Included: Breakfast