Sailing out of Halifax, Nova Scotia

[westcliffo]

I think it is time that Princess should take a serious look at using Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada as an embarkation / disembarkation port. This would be very attractive to many Canadians. 

Any thoughts?

[oskidunker]

I doubt Canada will say yes to cruises while the US says no. Its a world wide thing. Everything will be opened or closed, for the most part. Just my opinion. 50% say they wont sail without a vaccine. Doubt cruise lines will sale until then. 
 

i can wait. 

[westcliffo]

Thank you for your reply.

Sorry. I didn't mean now. I was referring to the future.

[susancruzs]

Halifax is an awesome port, I'm wondering if there is some behind the scenes reason they don't?  They need a 2 day deal in Quebec in order to make it work.  Flying into Quebec isn't easy and what about logistics for Halifax?  New England itinerary is a favorite (longer, repositioning one) of mine but haven't thought of Halifax as a start or end point.

[BarbinMich]

58 minutes ago, westcliffo said:

I think it is time that Princess should take a serious look at using Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada as an embarkation / disembarkation port. This would be very attractive to many Canadians. 

Any thoughts?

What itineraries from Halifax do you have in mind?  While this would certainly be attractive to folks in eastern Canada, I don't know if that's enough of a market for a cruise line.

[pcur]

We were in Halifax on a cruise in May 2019.  I can see that this would be a benefit to Canadian cruisers, just like those of us on the East and West Coasts, Gulf Coast, and Florida, are happy to have an embarkation port near us.

 

What I can say is it was so cold there the end of last May that we didn't want to get off the ship.  If the itinerary is a Caribbean cruise, it would be seriously inconvenient to have to pack cold weather clothing just for embarkation.  We took warm clothing because we did the whole "Boston and above" itinerary, but our clothes were not enough for 35-degree weather.  I'm good down to 50 degrees with a wind chill in my trusty travel jacket and gloves, but below that I don't want to be outside at all.

[westcliffo]

Transatlantic out of Halifax would be interesting. Also Eastern seaboard to Bermuda would be attractive.

[skynight]

Basically itineraries would have limited ports and a limited season. Another issue is air access. It's probably just as easy and maybe less expensive (i haven't checked the air fares) to fly from population centers in Canada to U.S. ports as it is to fly to Halifax. An overnight in Halifax might be a welcomed port stop.

[susancruzs]

Good point because people from warmer climes won't get off the ship.  I live in a cold climate, packing for warm and cold (30 day So. Amer. cruise) isn't an issue for me.  In 2018, last cruise, Quebec to FLL, it snowed, people were not prepared.  Gloves were hot sellers!

[Steelers36]

9 hours ago, BarbinMich said:

What itineraries from Halifax do you have in mind?  While this would certainly be attractive to folks in eastern Canada, I don't know if that's enough of a market for a cruise line.

 

9 hours ago, skynight said:

Basically itineraries would have limited ports and a limited season. Another issue is air access. It's probably just as easy and maybe less expensive (i haven't checked the air fares) to fly from population centers in Canada to U.S. ports as it is to fly to Halifax. An overnight in Halifax might be a welcomed port stop.

 

9 hours ago, susancruzs said:

Good point because people from warmer climes won't get off the ship.  I live in a cold climate, packing for warm and cold (30 day So. Amer. cruise) isn't an issue for me.  In 2018, last cruise, Quebec to FLL, it snowed, people were not prepared.  Gloves were hot sellers!

 

Market too small.  Season too short.  Air access limited.  Road access too far from large populations.  IOW, not economically viable for a major cruise line as an originating port.

 

[susancruzs]

Steeler sums is up very well, I love the ports but the economics of it is always #1!   OT for Steeler if you check back, how about some football? 🙂   

[westcliffo]

Hi:

I think those who live in the US may not realize that many thousands of Canadians fly to Fort Lauderdale each winter for cruises. Taking a cruise now and then out of Halifax would be wonderful.

[Kamloops50]

22 hours ago, westcliffo said:

I think it is time that Princess should take a serious look at using Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada as an embarkation / disembarkation port. This would be very attractive to many Canadians. 

Any thoughts?

The issue is the Halifax Airport. It isn’t designed to handle large number of passengers arriving or departing.  

[dns65]

22 hours ago, skynight said:

Another issue is air access. It's probably just as easy and maybe less expensive (i haven't checked the air fares) to fly from population centers in Canada to U.S. ports as it is to fly to Halifax.  

 

As all Canadian's know, it's cheaper to fly to Europe, USA or the Caribbean than it is to travel within Canada.  

 

Edited July 16, 2020 by dns65

[geoherb]

I checked on flights from my hometown to Halifax. It required two stops and 10 hours to get there for the dates I checked. We can fly to Quebec in less than half the time with just one stop for half the price. We had a great time on the HAL cruise we took from Quebec to Boston a few springs ago. We spent one night in a hotel and the ship had an overnight in Quebec before departing.

[BarbinMich]

On 7/15/2020 at 12:48 PM, westcliffo said:

Transatlantic out of Halifax would be interesting. Also Eastern seaboard to Bermuda would be attractive.

How many sea days would it take to reach Bermuda and then return?  The only time we were in Bermuda was a few years ago near the beginning of an EB TA.  There are frequent cruises on the Celebrity Summit btwn NYC and Bermuda during the summer; I'm sure there are other cruiselines as well. 

 

We've been to Halifax several times, first by car (from Mich.) and then by ship on a Can/NE cruise.  Love the place but think the best ways to visit it are by car or a Can/NE cruise.

Edited July 16, 2020 by BarbinMich

[Steelers36]

7 hours ago, susancruzs said:

Steeler sums is up very well, I love the ports but the economics of it is always #1!   OT for Steeler if you check back, how about some football? 🙂   

That will be nice, but season is in question.  It will be interesting to see what they might do.  

[skynight]

5 hours ago, BarbinMich said:

How many sea days would it take to reach Bermuda and then return? 

Distance around 750 nautical miles. Average speed of 20 knots means you would arrive in the morning of day 3. At a more reasonable 18 knots you would arrive day 3 around noon.

I don't believe cruise lines will be sailing from Halifax.

[indygirl99]

Maybe it is just my sisters luck but two years in a row the cruise she was on missed the  Halifax port stop because of weather.

 

[westcliffo]

Hi:

Here is my idea of an itinerary fro out of Halifax:

Day 1 Depart Halifax

Day2 At sea

Day 3 New York

Day 4 New York

Day 5 At sea

Day 6 At Sea

Day 7 Bermuda

Day 8 Bermuda

Day 9 At sea

Day 10 At sea

Day 11 Boston

Day 12 Boston

Day 13 At sea

Day 14 Halifax

 

Princess would use one of their smaller ships. Operate out of Halifax May and June.

 

Sounds good to me!

[BarbinMich]

westcliffo, l like your proposed itinerary, but I don't live in Halifax (or Canada) and have been to all those ports.  But I do like sea days!  Which of Princess's smaller ships did you have in mind?

[westcoaster]

On 7/15/2020 at 7:29 PM, Steelers36 said:

 

 

 

Market too small.  Season too short.  Air access limited.  Road access too far from large populations.  IOW, not economically viable for a major cruise line as an originating port.

 

I agree with this.  The Harbor Authority here in Victoria has tried to push the idea of Victoria as a home port for cruises.  For similar reasons, this proposal hasn't gone anywhere.  The lack of good air access is an especially big impediment.  

 

Cunard was marketing some of its 10-day Alaska cruises out of Vancouver as round-trip Victoria - that is they were going to block off a certain number of cabins and allow people to book these as Victoria to Victoria 10-day Alaska cruises.  It didn't happen this year, thanks to Covid.  Perhaps cruise lines could do something similar out of Halifax, although the logistical issues involved may make this not worthwhile for most cruise lines.

[Coral]

This is one of those posts where the OP wants cruises out of their back yard. I think we all want that. It just doesn't make sense in many situations. I agree - Quebec City was not easy to get to flight wise. I can't even imagine Halifax.

 

Nova Scotia is an absolutely beautiful area. I would love to do a land trip there. I have loved my 2 stops in Halifax in the past. I consider myself lucky as I hired a private driver on one of the trips that took me all over the area. Definitely a place I want to return to.

Edited July 18, 2020 by Coral

[hokiefans]

We would love to do this, also out of Quebec City.  Would be happy if the Bahamas was added.  We have also considered doing the B2B out of Quebec City, down to US ports, and then the return.

[susancruzs]

It might sound good, but big picture, dollar and cents, probably not practical.  I've done Quebec to FLL at least 4 times and there has never been one where everything went according to plan.  Logistics for NE itineraries, always tricky.  Twice people trying to get to Quebec had issues, and the ship left later than planned 2nd day.

 

In 2018, on the Royal, Princess made the decision to skip Bar Harbor, passenger were angry because another ship was tendering passengers.  Princess did the right thing, because 150 were stranded ashore, couldn't get back to their ship.