‘We didn’t have to fly to New York’: Maritime cruise ship passengers set sail from Halifax

For the first time travellers were able to start their cruise journey in Halifax as the city became a departure port.

Passengers boarding the MSC Meraviglia were arriving by the busload Tuesday morning.

A group from Saint John, N.B., was among the first passengers to join a cruise ship in Halifax.

“It’s fantastic. You can just take a bus or take a car and jump on the ship,” says passenger John Crozier.

They’re getting on one of the largest ships of the year to call on the port.

Sisters Katherine Corbeil, Donna-Marie Marcelais and Bev Sibbert also drove in from New Brunswick. They say the trip is possible partly because of how much they’re saving from avoiding travelling to the United States to catch the ship.

“It’s fantastic. It was so exciting to not have to fly somewhere, but this is our first cruise too,” Corbeil says.

It’s the same story for Sandra Barry and her family, who gathered from across Nova Scotia.

“It’s absolutely convenient. That’s what convinced us to go, was to be able to board in Halifax. We didn’t have to fly to New York, we didn’t have to put an extra hotel room on our tab, so this is the way to go,” says Barry.

Passengers have been able to board and disembark small vessels in Halifax, but it’s a first for large ships like the 4,500-passenger MSC Meraviglia.

“After this one, we actually have nine other opportunities for passengers to get on or off in Halifax, but they are on mostly smaller boutique vessels that are around under 300 passengers,” says the Port of Halifax’s cruise development manager, Robyn Stewart.

Point-of-origin cruise options are good news for the economy. Close to 600 people are boarding the ship in Halifax.

“For us to be able to do this means that people are either staying before or staying afterwards in Halifax and getting to have that economic benefit of the pre-and post-cruise in the city,” Stewart says.

The MSC Meraviglia heads to Portugal from Halifax, and passengers who boarded on Tuesday say they hope to do it again.

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