Crystal Serenity

Crystal Serenity, a 1,000 person capacity cruise ship that called in Halifax October 9 returned again this evening but only briefly and put back out to sea in an hour. Normally such a short visit means a medical emergency evacuation.

The ship is well known for its two Northwest Passages, starting in 2016. This year's 32 day cruise from Alaska to Greenland,  when it was accompanied by the ice escort vessel Ernest Shackleton, the on to New York via Halifax, was apparently not sold out and will not be repeated.

A new ship, Crystal Endeavour , a 200 passenger polar-code megayacht is due for delivery next year, but may be working a different itinerary. The impact of huge numbers of passengers on tiny arctic communities will certainly be more manageable with a smaller ship.

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