The Port of Halifax had its only five-ship day of the cruise season on Sunday, October 1, 2023, right at the peak of fall foliage cruising.
Ships from five different cruise lines were docked at the popular Canadian Maritime destination, a top port of call for autumn sailings that offers amazing history, culture, and natural beauty for guests to enjoy.
Five Ships Visit Port of Halifax
Halifax, Nova Scotia, is a top Canadian cruise port, particularly in the autumn when fall foliage sailings are on many travelers’ bucket lists. On Sunday, October 1, 2023, five cruise ships are visiting the port, bringing thousands of guests to the amazing destination.
This is the only 5-ship day in the port’s seasonal calendar this year, marking a momentous occasion at the peak of the fall cruise season. In port are ships from five different lines, representing dramatically different styles of cruising.
At 149,215-gross-tons, Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2 is the largest ship visiting Halifax on the special day, and the only true ocean liner left in the world. Norwegian Cruise Line’s 95,530-gross-ton Jewel-class Norwegian Pearl is a mainstream cruise ship enjoying the port.
Two luxury cruise ships are in Halifax, Crystal Cruises’ 68,870-gross-ton, newly revitalized oceangoing luxury vessel Crystal Serenity, as well as the smaller, more regionally-orineted Pearl Sea Cruises’ luxury ship, the 5,109-gross-ton Pearl Mist.
The final ship among the visitors is the 43,188-gross-ton The World, a privately-owned residential cruise ship that operates as a sailing condominium complex.
Together, the five vessels have brought approximately 6,400 cruise passengers to Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, in a single day.
It is not unusual for two or three ships to visit Halifax on any given day during the fall sailing season, but four ships is considered a busy day and five is truly exceptional.
Not the Busiest Passenger Day
While having five ships in port guarantees a busy day in Halifax, the vessels visiting on October 1 are not the largest ships that will visit the cruise port. On some days, individual vessels could easily bring as many or more guests to Halifax than all five of these ships combined.
For example, on Sunday, October 8, MSC Cruises’ MSC Meraviglia is scheduled to be in port, with a maximum passenger capacity of 5,642 guests on that ship alone.
Other large vessels like Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Escape (4,266 guests), Royal Caribbean International’s Liberty of the Seas (4,960 guests), and Carnival Cruise Line’s Carnival Magic (4,792 guests) are all scheduled for October 2023 visits. On most of those days, the ships are also joined by smaller luxury ships or regional cruise ships.
In 2022, the Port of Halifax saw a total of 148 ship calls with approximately 234,000 cruise guests. With busy days still to come in the 2023 season, the port may surpass those totals for an even better year.
Projections for 2023 were at 180 ship visits, though stormy weather has caused some ship visits to be cancelled at the last minute so totals will not be available until after the cruise season ends in early November, at the same time, however, other ships have diverted to Halifax to avoid storms in other sailing destinations.
Read Also: Halifax Celebrates Long History With Holland America Line
The last 2023 call scheduled is luxury line Silversea Cruises’ Silver Shadow on Wednesday, November 8, with an anticipated 380 guests.
Other cruise lines that visit Halifax include Princess Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Oceania Cruises, TUI Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, P&O Cruises, Viking Cruises, and many more.
