Halifax’s busiest cruise ship week yet of 2023 is here
When the 2,390-passenger Norwegian Pearl departs Halifax Harbour on Sunday, Sept. 3—along with its 27 dining rooms, restaurants, cafes and bars and its onboard casino, theatre and rooftop basketball court—it will mark the end of the most crowded schedule of cruise ship arrivals in Halifax in 2023. At least, that is, until next week. Eleven cruise ships will berth at the Halifax Seaport between Aug. 28 and Sept. 3, bringing an estimated 21,600 visitors into the HRM. No other week this summer has come even close.
So begins the busiest time of year for the tour bus operators, market vendors and seaside restaurants that count on the ships’ annual arrival for their business: From September until early November, when the cruise season ends, more than 135 cruise stops are planned for Halifax. That’s more than double the number of visits between April (when the season begins) and the end of August.
And it only gets busier: Next week, 12 cruise ships are set to arrive in Halifax. Then 15 the following week—including the 4,260-passenger Norwegian Escape. That’s good news for the industries that rely on the annual tourist boon (about $136 million per year, according to the Halifax Port Authority), but a worry to those concerned about ocean pollution. Or norovirus outbreaks.
Here’s what else is coming in and out of port in Halifax this week:
Monday, Aug. 28
The 2,100-passenger Celebrity Summit cruise ship kicked off the week’s arrivals. It came into port from St John’s, NL, just after 6am and left Monday evening for Boston. Not far behind it in port was the 1,960-passenger Zuiderdam, inbound from Boston and headed onward to Cape Breton. The Port of Halifax deemed the occasion worthy of celebration, given the latter ship’s parent company, Holland America Line, has been visiting Halifax for 30 years. The Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre held a drum ceremony, and the 78th Highlanders pipe band played the ship off as it departed.
Port of Halifax
Mi’kmaw drummers greet the arrival of Holland America’s Zuiderdam cruise ship on Aug. 28, 2023.
The sun’s rise is getting later by the day, but it still beat the Atlantic Sun’s arrival. The 296-metre-long container ship arrived at the Fairview Cove Terminal just after 7:30am, inbound from Liverpool, UK. It left Halifax late Monday evening for New York.
Finally, the Vivienne Sheri D container ship came into port just after 8am from Reykjavik, Iceland, three weeks after its last Halifax visit. It left Monday afternoon for Portland, Maine.
Tuesday, Aug. 29
Tuesday marks the busiest day of a busy week, with eight ships scheduled for arrival. The Norwegian Escape and Norwegian Pearl cruise ships were among the first ships of the day into port, berthing at the Halifax Seaport at 6:18am and 7:30am, respectively, from New York and Sydney.
The MSC Beijing container ship wrapped a two-day voyage from Baltimore, Maryland; it’s docked at the South End Container Terminal and will carry onward to Suez, Egypt.
Piet Sinke (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
The MSC Beijing container ship, seen in 2019, arrived in Halifax on Aug. 29, 2023.
Over at the Fairview Cove Terminal, the Contship Art container ship came into port from New York around 6:11am. The 148-metre-long ship is nearly seven days behind its schedule; it carries onward to Kingston, Jamaica.
Four more ships round out the day’s arrivals: The East Coast and Midnight Glory oil tankers, along with the Oceanex Sanderling ro-ro/cargo ship and ONE Blue Jay container ship, have all either arrived in Halifax or are still expected to arrive before Tuesday’s end. Of those four, the Blue Jay is the biggest of the bunch: At 364 metres long, the ship has a carrying capacity of 139,335 tonnes—or about the equivalent of 1,233 blue whales. (Which, coincidentally, is about the same size as a large poutine at Willy’s.)
Wednesday, Aug. 30
The MSC Sariska V container ship is projected to be the first vessel to arrive on Wednesday. The ship is due right around (or after) midnight. It’s currently en route from Montreal and will sail onward to Valencia, Spain.
Tony Webster (CC BY-SA 2.0)
The Glenda Melissa tanker, seen in Halifax Harbour in 2015, returns on Aug. 30, 2023.
Later, the Glenda Melissa oil tanker is expected to arrive at the Irving Oil Terminal around 6pm. It left Amsterdam, Netherlands, on Aug. 21.
Finally, the Atlantic Sea container ship is due around 8pm from New York. It will dock at the Fairview Cove Terminal and set sail afterward for Liverpool, UK.
Thursday, Aug. 31
The 3,635-passenger Liberty of the Seas cruise ship comes into port around 8am on Thursday. It left Bermuda on Aug. 21 and so far has made stops in New York, Boston and Saint John, NB. Can you guess the odd one out?
Joining it are the NYK Nebula container ship and Nolhan Ava ro-ro/cargo carrier. The former is en route from Cartagena, Colombia, while the latter is making its weekly rounds between Halifax, Argentia and St. Pierre and Miquelon.
Friday, Sept. 1
Three cruise ships headline a busy Friday: The Seabourn Quest, Viking Saturn and Celebrity Summit are all due into port on the first day of September. Of those, the Seabourn Quest is the most frequent Halifax visitor of the year, with nine total visits planned before the cruise season ends.
The NYK Meteor container ship is expected to arrive at the Fairview Cove Terminal sometime between 5 and 8am. It wraps an eight-day Atlantic crossing from Antwerp, Belgium.
Finally, the Siem Confucius vehicle carrier is slated to reach Eastern Passage’s Autoport around 10pm. It’s en route from Emden, Germany.
Saturday, Sept. 2
The Melina container ship is scheduled to arrive in Halifax around 5:30am on Saturday. The 260-metre-long ship is inbound from Valencia, Spain, and is headed next to New York.
The 930-passenger Viking Star cruise ship is set to berth around 8am. It’s inbound from Sydney after stops in Iceland and will carry onward to New York.
Piet Sinke (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
The CMA CGM Corte Real container ship, seen in 2022, arrives in Halifax on Sept. 2, 2023.
Two more container ships round out the day: The CMA CGM Corte Real is due at the South End Container Terminal, and the MSC Sarah V is expected at the Fairview Cove Terminal. The former is currently en route from Suez, Egypt, while the latter is six days behind schedule from Valencia.
Sunday, Sept. 3
The Tupi people who lived in the Amazon rainforest and coastal lands of Brazil long before its colonization had a word, paranaguá, to describe the bay about 280 kilometres southwest of modern-day São Paulo. The word translated roughly to “great round sea,” which seems a fitting moniker for the CMA CGM Paranagua that’s bound for Halifax on Sunday. The ship is currently in Montreal after earlier stops in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany.
The ONE Hawk container ship is five days behind schedule from Norfolk, Virginia. It’s due at the South End Container Terminal around 7am.
Finally, the Norwegian Pearl cruise ship is due for its second visit of the week around 9am. It leaves Boston on Sept. 1 en route to Quebec City and stops in Maine, Nova Scotia and PEI along the way.
