In today's cruise industry boom there are cruises tailored to every taste. Consequently there are cruise ships built to suit all those preferences. The ships range from very small to very large, and this year in Halifax we are seeing samples of most of those sizes.
The French company Ponant has found a niche for expedition type cruises to remote parts of the globe, using small ships so as to go places the big ships can't. Today's (October 5) arrival is Le Lyrial a member of the Boréal-class, measuring a mere 10,700 gt. Built in 2015 by Fincantieri Ancona (a yacht building yard) its nine decks contain 122 cabins and suites for a maximum capacity of 264 passengers. A crew of 139 are squeezed in somewhere. Unfortunately the ship tied up stern in at Pier 23, not its best angle of view, but it still made a striking contrast with another of today's arrivals, the Majestic Princess at Pier 22.
The Majestic Princess has 19 decks and accommodates 3,560 passengers maximum. A very different passenger to crew ratio provides 1346 crew.
Scattering sail boats and gulls in its path the pilot boat accompanied the ship outbound.
The Majestic Princess was also built by Fincantieri, but at their much larger Monfalcone yard, and in 2017 and comes in at 144, 216 gross tons.
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