Poetry in Motion?

1. MSC Poesia has rounded George's Island and is lining up to berth at pier 20.

2. Halifax harbour greeter and mascot Theodore Too accompanied the ship inbound and is now turing back to her dock - mission accomplished.

MSC Poesia made her inaugural call in Halifax today. This is the ship's fist season on the New England/ Eastern Canada cruise circuit, and she is providing a number of cruises out of New York and Quebec City between now and the end of October.

She will make two more calls in Halifax before heading to the Caribbean for the winter. She will also visit Boston, Newport, Bar Harbor, Charlottetown, Corner Brook and Sydney this fall.

The ship was built in 2008 at the Aker yard in St-Nazaire, France, and measures 93,330 gross tons. She can accommodate up to 3,605 passengers, and is one of four ships of her class in the MSC Cruises fleet. MSC now has eleven ships and is one of the fastest growing cruise lines. The parent company Mediterranean Shipping Co (MSC) is also a large container ship operator.

MSC Poesia arrived from Quebec City, where she also made an inaugural call. In order to give her passengers a more comfortable ride, she did some slow steaming, arriving off Halifax around 1 pm for her pilot. She will sail at 11 pm tonight.