Due to the ship's late afternoon arrival (1500 hrs ADT, October 3), passengers on the Spirit of Discovery missed out on a perfect summer-like day in Halifax. With the temperature reaching 25 degrees C (77degrees F) it felt like mid-August. The ship will be sailing again at midnight, which does not allow much time for shore excursions.
The Spirit of Discovery arrived from Portsmouth, England on a twenty-eight day "Colours of New England" round trip. (Two transatlantic crossings in one voyage must be uncommon.) Early reports indicate that it will not be a great year for fall colours due to early dry and late wet weather. Many leaves have turned brown and hurricanes have brought many leaves down already.
Built in 2019 by Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Spirit of Discovery's gross tonnage has been quoted as 58,119 gt up to 58,250 gt with a passenger capacity of 999 and 523 crew. The ship's appearance is very striking with an intense blue hull and bright yellow funnel. (The white stripe below the skeletal black "cap" is barely visible on this ship.)
There was suprisingly little heat distortion for photography. (Water temperature was also quite high at 16 degreees C, 60 degrees F - and that is recorded offshore. It was even warmer closer to land.)
Pleasure craft were getting in a few more hours of sailing before the traditional season end on Thanksgiving Weekend (this coming weekend) when summer boat insurance coverage used to run out.
For the record, two other cruise ships, Vision of the Seas and Viking Star were also in port. The latter drew the short straw and berthed at Pier 27.
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