Halifax cruise port on track for record-breaking season
Posted Oct 18, 2018 06:24:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Pier 23 is entering the final stretch of the cruise ship season and it's shaping up to be one of the busiest for the Port of Halifax on record.
Early season projections indicate roughly 200 cruise ships in total visiting this year, bringing about 300,000 guests.
Lane Farguson of the Halifax Port Authority says this compares to last year when 292,000 people came to Halifax on 173 cruise ships.
He says cruise ship traffic means good exposure for the city.
“A lot of times we see people come back as cruise guests,” he says. “Even better, we like to have them return on their own tour by air or by car and spend more time in Halifax.”
Although the peak of the season has now passed, five cruise ships are arriving Thursday and another three are expected Friday, bringing close to 8,000 tourists to the city.
“It looks like it will be a strong finish,” he says.
Each ship stays about nine hours before heading off to the next location, according to Farguson.
“It provides a nice sampler for all the cruise guests who are visiting,” he says. “They get to experience a bit of downtown Halifax, or Peggy's Cove or Lunenburg or wherever their tours take them.”
Generally speaking Farguson says the ships come from Boston and New York and enter into what is known as the Canada and New England cruise itinerary.
“They will stop here and at other atlantic ports like Saint John in New Brunswick, St. John's in Newfoundland, Charlottetown and sometimes they will even make their way up the Saint Lawrence River and visit Montreal and Old Quebec,” he says.
According to Farguson, Tuesday, October 9 was the busiest passenger day of the season. He says more than 11,000 tourists from five separate vessels stopped in Halifax.
The season wraps up Tuesday, November 6.
