Passenger Invasion

 With three passenger ships in port, Thursday August 11, downtown Halifax was awash with visitors, not to mention outlying tourist destinations as far flung as Peggy's Cove and the vineyards of the Annapolis Valley. If the three ships were loaded to capacity, the number of guests totaled more than 11,000, not to mention 3,000 crew members. 

The three  were all regulars and thus not particularly noteworthy except for their size and the conjunction of three ships in port at once.

Zaandam, built in 2000 by Fincantieri, Marhera was the smallest ship at 61,396 gt and a capacity of 1,432 passengers and 615 crew.

 (May 26, 2022 photo)

The other two ships are comparable in size and capacity, but dissimilar in appearance:

 Caribbean Princess, built in 2004 is a 289.9m long ship of 112,894 gt, built in 2004 by Fincantieri, Monfalcone, has seventeen decks (two of which are not for passengers) and has a capacity of 3,142 passengers and approximately 1,200 crew members.

 

Visualising the ship without the "push bar" lounge over the stern, I imagine it could be a handsome vessel by current standards.

Adventure of the Seas, dating from 2001 is a product of the Kvaerner Masa New yard, in Turku, Finland and claims a capacity of 3,807 passengers with 1,185 crew spread over fourteen decks. At 311 meters long, it has a gross tonnage of 138,193.

 

Although I am not a great fan of modern cruise ship design, this one is perhaps the better looking of the two large ships.

Three cruise ships can be accommodated with ease in Halifax with the current port facilities. However as the work begins to fill in the basins betwen the ocean terminals finger piers, valuable berthing space will be lost. So far no firm plan has emerged for a new cruise terminal facility. I note Quebec City has moved its cruise ship terminal to underutilized industrial port space, far from the old Lower Town, but with easier access for tour buses, fuel trucks and ship chandlers - and beyond walking distance to any tourist attractions. Perhaps a similar supplementary space is needed in Halifax when there are more than two ships in port at once.

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