The Port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, is a frequent port name for ships working spring and summer season cruises, however the visits ramp up in August, as fall foliage sailings to New England and Atlantic Canada get into full swing and proceed via the autumn season.
In Halifax, the cruise season begins in late April and continues into early November, and port officers say 2022 was a powerful rebuilding 12 months for the business. A great 12 months for the port is also a boon to native companies that rely on cruise friends coming ashore to buy and sightsee.
Halifax Cruise Port Welcomed 234,000 passengers in 2022
The port this 12 months had 148 ship calls and welcomed 234,000 cruise friends. Seventeen of the vessels have been making inaugural visits to Halifax, together with the Royal Caribbean’s mega-ship Oasis of the Seas, when it referred to as on the port on June 8 throughout a 5-night cruise from New York. The oasis-class cruise ship carries 5,600 friends.
In an announcement issued on Nov. 14, port officers famous that, apart from revenues for the port, the cruise business’s financial profit contains passenger spending at native eating places, galleries, museums and historic websites, and on cruise excursions to in style sights like Peggy’s Cove, the picturesque fishing village identified for its historic lighthouses.
“We wish to acknowledge the efforts of our companions, stakeholders, and their workers who’ve labored exhausting to rebuild the cruise business right here in Atlantic Canada,” Captain Allan Grey, President and CEO of the Halifax Port Authority, mentioned within the statement.
“Navigating the return of tourism to the area wouldn’t have been attainable with out the dedication of tourism businesses, restaurant workers and house owners, shopkeepers, and vacation spot suppliers,” he mentioned.
Wanting Forward to a Double-Digit Enhance
In line with the port assertion, Halifax expects a 23 p.c improve in ship visits in 2023, elevating the variety of vessel calls to 180. That may put 2023 on par with 2020, when 179 ships visited over the past season earlier than the emergence of Covid introduced the business to a halt. In 2020, cruise friends arriving in Halifax numbered 323,709, as proven within the port’s stakeholder report for that 12 months.
Notable cruise ships scheduled to name at Halifax subsequent 12 months embrace Norwegian Cruise Line’s new Norwegian Prima, which can convey its 3,950 passengers to the Nova Scotia port on Might 16, and the Norwegian Escape, the 5,218-guest ship that may go to Aug. 29.
Learn Additionally: Canadian Cruise Port Ends with 50,000 Passengers This Season
Different ships with Halifax port calls subsequent 12 months embrace Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas, Holland America Line’s Zaandam, Celeb Cruises’ Celeb Summit, Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Magic, Oceania’s Insignia and Cunard’s Queen Mary 2.
