Long before the quay, there's the fjord. For hours, the ship sails up a corridor of dark cliffs where conifers cling, until the Baie des Ha! Ha! finally opens before the bow. It's there, in the borough of La Baie, that Saguenay welcomes cruise passengers. And the word welcome takes on its full meaning here: music, costumed actors and volunteers often greet passengers right on the quay. This tradition of hospitality, kept up year after year, has earned the port call an enviable reputation among crews and travellers alike. Few ports of call in the world take such care with their arrivals.

The Bagotville quay and the port village

Ships dock at the Bagotville quay, which has a terminal inaugurated in 2009. Right next door, a port village brings together artisan kiosks, regional products and tourist information. The La Baie area can be reached on foot in a few minutes: quiet streets, local shops and constant views of the water. For those who prefer to stay close to the ship, the waterfront promenade already offers a fine introduction, with mountains closing off the horizon on each side.

The Musée du Fjord

A short distance from the terminal, the Musée du Fjord explains what your eyes have just seen from the deck: the glacial birth of this arm of the sea, its layered waters where salt water circulates beneath a layer of fresh water, and the surprising marine life hidden there. An aquarium and interpretive activities led by naturalists round out the exhibition. It's the ideal stop to make sense of the landscape before setting out to explore it more closely.

Fjord-du-Saguenay National Park

The most popular excursions head for the Baie-Éternité sector, about forty minutes away by road. The trails there follow rock walls that plunge into the dark water, and a statue of the Virgin Mary has watched over Cap Trinité since 1881. Some routes lead to lookouts from which the eye takes in the entire valley. The most active choose sea kayaking or the via ferrata; the others are content to walk, and no one loses out.

La Fabuleuse and the soul of Saguenay

The region became known for a large-scale show, La Fabuleuse Histoire d'un Royaume, which tells the story of Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean with dozens of actors. Depending on the dates, adapted performances are offered to cruise passengers at the Palais municipal, a few steps from the terminal. Not far away, a pyramid covered in aluminum panels recalls, with a touch of self-mockery, the 1996 flood that left its mark on regional memory. Local pride doesn't stop at the stage: you hear it in the accent, taste it in the tourtière, the regional cheeses and everything made here with wild blueberries, and read it on the faces of the volunteers who answer visitors' questions.

Landmarks for the port call

Back along the cliffs

On departure, the ship retraces its route in the opposite direction, often in the evening light. The cliffs file past a second time, already different, and it's not unusual for a beluga to cross the ship's path near the mouth of the fjord. You then understand why so many passengers rank this day among the most powerful of their St. Lawrence itinerary: the Saguenay isn't content to simply be admired, it escorts its visitors all the way to the exit, and it does so with a panache few Canadian landscapes can match.