Sunday, May 5, 2013

Cruise Season - race to the start line

The 2013 Cruise Season kicks of Monday May 6 with two ships. Which one will actually tie up first remains to be seen, as both are due at the pilot station at 0730, and to tie up for 0900.

In alphabetical order, Holland America's Veendam starts her season with a cruise from Boston to Quebec City, with waypoints such as Halifax. The Statendam class ship has been a frequent visitor. Its September 20, 2012 visit was under a bit of a cloud with twenty passengers exhibiting the notorious "flu-like symptoms".
Built in 1996 by Fincantieri-Venezia, it was modified in 2009 with additional upper deck cabins and other improvements.It will make about 18 more calls in Halifax before the end of the season.Passenger capacity is listed as 1266 on the Port of Halifax web site, although company information shows a capacity of 1350.

Next is Silver Whisper:
A much smaller, but more luxurious ship, it was built in 2001, also in Italy. The hull was built by the Visenti Shipyard near Trieste, and then fitted out by the T. Mariotti yard in Genoa. Catering to 382 passengers, it will tie up at pier 23. It made a visit to Halifax on its first cruise in July 2001, and has been a regular ever since. On this trip it is sailing from New York en route to Southampton, UK and a summer's cruising in Denmark and Sweden. It will return again in October for a couple more visits.

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