"Tall Ship" Silva - Halifax - NOT an adventure tour.

I just got back from a cruise on the Carnival Glory to Canada and I wanted to post about the excursion I took on here, so that others considering it will know what to expect.

I don't know how other cruise lines market this excursion, but on Carnival's website and in the "Fun Ashore" booklet onboard, the Canadian Tall Ships Sailing Experience onboard the Silva is listed under the "Adventure Tours" section. The description says that you will be on a sailing ship, and can help the crew sail the ship. Now my fiancé and I are actually both licensed helmsmen for smaller sailboats, so we were pretty excited about this. We thought we'd be helping to tack the sails etc.

In reality, the ship is metal, not wood. The masts are welded on after the fact and the sails are purely for decoration. The boat does not even have a tiller. At the beginning of the excursion, the crew does raise the mainsail, although it remains parallel to the body of the ship and basically doesn't do anything for the entire excursion. A couple of people can help them pull the ropes to raise the sail, but that is honestly the end of the adventure. The boat uses a motor only to run.

Now, what the tour really does involve is a nice little cruise (at about 5 knots, seriously) around the harbor. There is a local historian who talks for the duration of the trip about the Halifax explosion and many of the coastal buildings as you cruise past.

The tour, overall, was enjoyable, but if you are looking for an adventure tour, do not book this excursion. It was a pleasant historical cruise, and had it been marketed as such, I don't think I would have been disappointed at all.

I don't think, however, that they should continue to wear T-shirts proclaiming "Tall Ship Sailing Experience", because the vessel is not a real sailboat, and there's not much of an experience. I saw someone on here refer to this excursion as "Harbor Sail" and they really should go back to calling it that, and Carnival should list it under "History Tours".

What excursion did you do on your cruise?

Just the "Canadian Tall Ships Sailing Experience" through Carnival. We just walked through St. John.

This is very useful information. Thanks for posting this.

From what I have read from time to time about other ship's excursions in various ports, it is always a good idea to do a bit of research.

I just got back from a cruise on the Carnival Glory to Canada and I wanted to post about the excursion I took on here, so that others considering it will know what to expect.

 

I don't know how other cruise lines market this excursion, but on Carnival's website and in the "Fun Ashore" booklet onboard, the Canadian Tall Ships Sailing Experience onboard the Silva is listed under the "Adventure Tours" section. The description says that you will be on a sailing ship, and can help the crew sail the ship. Now my fiancé and I are actually both licensed helmsmen for smaller sailboats, so we were pretty excited about this. We thought we'd be helping to tack the sails etc.

 

In reality, the ship is metal, not wood. The masts are welded on after the fact and the sails are purely for decoration. The boat does not even have a tiller. At the beginning of the excursion, the crew does raise the mainsail, although it remains parallel to the body of the ship and basically doesn't do anything for the entire excursion. A couple of people can help them pull the ropes to raise the sail, but that is honestly the end of the adventure. The boat uses a motor only to run.

 

Now, what the tour really does involve is a nice little cruise (at about 5 knots, seriously) around the harbor. There is a local historian who talks for the duration of the trip about the Halifax explosion and many of the coastal buildings as you cruise past.

 

The tour, overall, was enjoyable, but if you are looking for an adventure tour, do not book this excursion. It was a pleasant historical cruise, and had it been marketed as such, I don't think I would have been disappointed at all.

 

I don't think, however, that they should continue to wear T-shirts proclaiming "Tall Ship Sailing Experience", because the vessel is not a real sailboat, and there's not much of an experience. I saw someone on here refer to this excursion as "Harbor Sail" and they really should go back to calling it that, and Carnival should list it under "History Tours".

I agree. I used to live in Halifax and went the the "tall ship" once. It was really just a party boat...nothing exciting at all.

I love Halifax Harbour and took a trip out on the Silva just to get out on the water and got what I paid for (walk up ticket).

I would never call it an 'adventure' at all.

The last time I saw the Silva there were wooden masts on the dock waiting to be used. What happened?

We've seen her coming into her dock and tied up several times during our annual visits and somehow it has never interested us to buy a ticket and sail her. She never fascinated us in any way.