Record-breaking cruise ship season anticipated in Halifax

The first cruise ship of the season sailed into Halifax Saturday morning.

The Norwegian Dawn, with a capacity of more than 2,300 passengers, docked just after sunrise.

“I’d love to do some sightseeing. It’s been a few years since we were here but maybe I’ll walk around,” says passenger and British Columbia resident Anne Koebel.

Others hopped on buses heading to Peggy’s Cove or the popular double decker tours of the city.

“We got on the hop-on, hop-off and rode that around and our guide was very informative and we enjoyed it very much, and then we hopped off here and went down to the museum,” says Californian Nancy Lake.

As always, another popular attraction is the Titanic cemetery.

“When I was growing up, that was big in our family,” says Tim Hager. “My grandmother had somebody that was on the ship that ended up passing away.”

In total, more than 190 ships will visit Halifax this season, carrying a record number of passengers that is expected to exceed 325,000.

“This is a season like we’ve never seen before. The advanced sales are record-breaking,” says tour operator Dennis Campbell.

There will be 24 three-ship days, and come September and October, there will be at least one ship docking every day.

That will require a lot of staff for Campbell’s business.

“It’s a very different world as it relates to staffing this year compared to last year. Last year was extremely challenging to get staff in all departments, this year we are finding that we are inundated with a tremendous supply of really good quality people,” says Campbell.

The Norwegian Dawn left port Saturday afternoon to embark on its trans-Atlantic voyage.

The next vessel on the call list will arrive Monday.

The 2023 cruise ship season will come to a close when the Silver Shadow leaves port on Nov. 8.