Cruise Ship Countdown - CORRECTED

October 31 is the last day of the cruise ship season. We were expecting one last ship today, but as it turned out there were four ships in port, thanks to some very rough weather outside.

The remnants of tropical storm Philippe passing out to sea brought very high winds to Halifax and as a result
there were many delays in sailings and arrivals since late last week.  The Silver Whisper was one of two ships that arrived on Sunday October 29 and opted to remain in port.

Although not exactly red, the Sunday morning sky certainly gave sailors a warning of what was to come. 90 kph plus winds and lashing rain were the order of the day from Sunday evening to late Monday afternoon, when the rain let up but not the wind. High seas delayed pilots from getting to ships and there were numerous cancellations or postponements.
For more photos of the ship, scroll down to September 23 and October 7.

T minus 4

Silver Whisper sailed early this morning.

T minus 3

Crown Princess arrived on Monday October 30 and opted to remain in port over night. The 113,651 grt ship, built in 2006 by Fincantieri Italiani, Monfalcone, with a capacity of 3,080 passengers is one of the larger ships to call this year,.

It sailed late this afternoon, still in a brisk breeze, but at least the seas had subsided.

T minus 2

Scheduled to be the last cruise ship of the season, Sevens Seas Mariner arrived on schedule this morning, and sailed this afternoon.

At 48,075 grt, it is one of the mid-size ships, carrying only 700 passengers. Built in 2001 by Chantier de l'atlantique, St-Nazaire, it was the world's first "all-suite / all-balcony" cruise ship.

Seven Seas Mariner was the last scheduled cruise ship of the season, however....

T minus 1

The honour for last ship however will go to the inland seas vessel Victory 1. Returning from its cruise season on the Great Lakes, it arrived in Halifax Sunday, remained in port and is planning to sail late this evening.

Tucked in at pier 24 it was only possible to get a broadside shot of it.
For more, see  Shipfax 2016-10-12 and 2015-06-04 .

The End ...

of the cruise ship season for this year anyway.
By my count there were 180 cruise ship calls this season. There were also two brief med-evacs that did not tie up (not included in that number). The number does include two unscheduled diversions to Halifax due to weather. There was also only one cancellation that I am aware of. Artania AIDAmar was on the schedule for October 27 but may have by-passed Halifax due to weather The pilot boat was off station at her scheduled arrival time and I believe she kept on for her next port in rough weather.

P.S. Thanks to readers for the correction to a double error. Artania arrived on the 25th and sailed on the 26th. I may still be in error, but I am fairly certain that AIDAmar did by-pass Halifax - I await further information. 

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