Today, September 25, saw three cruise ships arriving in the Port of Halifax. Far from a rare event nowadays, this is only one of at least fourteen days this season when there will be three cruise ships in port at the same time.
In alphabetical order (A to Z!) it was Aurora, Crystal Serenity and Zuiderdam landing about 4500 passengers and however many crew members that could wangle shore leave. From right to left (north to south) in the photo it was Zuiderdam at Pier 20-21, Aurora at Pier 21-22, and Crystal Serenity at Pier 27.
Zuiderdam is a weekly caller and has been noted here before (see September 7) and my last photo of it was on September 21 (no need for another today). It contributed 1960 passengers to today's visitor count.
Aurora contributed 1870 passengers.
Built by Meyerwerft, Papenburg in 2000 it is a 76,152 gt vessel with a maximum passenger capacity of 1950 with 850 crew. It is one of the best looking ships afloat and so may be forgiven the stylised union flag on the bow.
Stuffed into the semi-construction zone of Pier 27 (passengers had to be bused in and out for safety), Crystal Serenity, was the smallest of today's visitors.
Built in 2002 at Chantiers de l'Atlantique in St-Nazaire, the ship is still listed at 68,870 gt despite several redesigns and refurbishments. When previous owners failed last year the ship was sold at auction to Abercrombie + Kent and sent to Trieste for a major do over. Its passenger capacity was reduced from 1040 to 740 giving the largest amount of space per passenger of any cruise ship.
That the ship had to be relegated to the construction zone adjacent to Pier 31 should be a major embarassment, and points out the need for more cruise ship space in the port. As current expansion plans to the South End Container Terminal unfold, there will be no access to Pier 27-28 and 30-31. Some ships (if they want to call in Halifax at all) will need to anchor and send passengers ashore in tenders.
A cruise terminal on the Dartmouth side of the harbour has been proposed, but that is surely a last resort, despite the shortage of waterfront space in Halifax. One of the attractive features of Halifax is that it is a walkable city, with museums, art gallery, heritage sites, casino and harbour board walk nearby the cruise terminal. Dartmouth (sorry to say) is somewhat short on the charm scale and has few amentities to offer vistors. Granted many visitors sign up for bus or taxi tours and do not actually set foot in Halifax except to line up, Dartmouth is still some distance away from most attractions.
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