Halifax and other eastern Canadian cities have been busy upgrading their docking facilities and many of the attractions are within walking distance. Transportation is readily available to help make the day in Halifax one to remember.

Here are some tour examples:

1.  7 Days Round-Trip From New York

2. 2. 5 Days Round-Trip From New York

3. 38 Night Grand Tour from Copenhagen to New Yotk

4. 17 Day Iceland, Greenland, Nova Scotia  and Newfoundland

5.  14 Day Classic: Southampton to New York

When you think that cruise ships were almost non-existent twenty years ago having 261,216 passengers visit Halifax in 2010 is a great accomplishment. This equates to a 14.7% increase over 2009 and an abundance of revenue for Halifax businesses as well as employment.

Cornerstone of the Cruise Ship Business

Based on a collaborative marketing initiative by the Atlantic Canada Cruise Association, Destination Halifax and the Halifax Port Authority it was found that 95 -97% of the visitors coming to Halifax, and Cape Breton, were from American ports. In fact the report goes on to say that “Halifax has become the cornerstone of the Atlantic Canadian and New England cruise itinerary.

What Do Cruise Passengers Do Here?

1. Tours

Pre-booked tours are a mainstay in the cruise ship business. In this category Peggy’s Cove is atop the list as well as hop-on hop-off city bus tours where cruise passengers can decide on their own pace.  Some tours go to the Annapolis Valley and others gos as far south as Lunenburg.

2. Rides and City Tours

Horse and wagon rides are popular as well as city tours. There is even a Harbour Hopper, an amphibious vehicle that tours the city from the water.

3. Walking

Pier 21, where the cruise ships dock, is only about a mile from the major attractions and restaurants on the waterfront. For someone of average physical ability this is easily accomplished and there are tourism booths to hand maps and brochures detailing attractions.

4. Shopping

Whether you take a cab or walk shopping on the prestigious Spring Garden Road or waterfront boutiques is close by

Passengers are greeted by the skirl of bagpipes as the 78th Highlanders perform the traditional dockside greeting that won Halifax the “Best Port Welcome” award from Dreamworld Cruise Destination Magazine and “Most Receptive Port” award at the Canada-New England Cruise Symposium Marketing Awards in 2002.

CruiseHalifax.ca

The cruise season in Nova Scotia is beginning to wind down as the air gets colder and the fall foliage begins to disappear. However 2010 will go down in the books as the most successful cruise season in Nova Scotia history.

Here is a blog post from a cruiser who thought Cape Breton was the best stop over New England and Halifax.

We just got back a couple of weeks ago from doing the North bound (New York to Quebec City) on board the Grand Princess.

“This was our second New England cruise and one of our favorites. While in Sydney we also did the Bras d’or Lakes Grand Tour. It was fantastic and one of our favorites. I will have to say that the sail away from Sydney was one of the highlights of the whole cruise. It was on a Sunday and families came to see us off. Cars parked along all of the roads and I am not sure what I enjoyed the most, the waves and car horns or the band/singer on the dock playing God Bless America.
Sydney, you won my heart. Thank you.  . . Ron.”

Despite the slowdown in land and air travel to Nova Scotia the cruisers are increasing and it’s not unusual to see 4 to 5 ships at port at the same time – including the “Queen Mary II.” One on day in October 10,000 passengers disembarked to take advantage of the tours to Peggy’s Cove, wagon rides and double-decker tour buses or just strolling the waterfront.

Bedford Basin YC

Chester YC

D’Escousse CB, NS   Lennox Passage YC

Dartmouth YC (Burnside)

Digby   Royal Western NS

Halifax (North West Arm) Royal Nova Scotia

Halifax   Armdale YC

Hubbards YC

Kentville   Aylesford Lake YC

LaHave River YC

Lunenburg YC

Musquodoboit Harbour   Petpeswick YC

Pictou

Pugwash YC

Shearwater   (Canadian Forces Sailing Association)
* New:  Jul 11, 2009  Regatta for the cure for Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation + dance

Shediac Bay YC

Shelburne

St. Margaret’s Bay

St. Peter’s, CB-NS  Wallace MacAskill YC

Harbour YC

Yarmouth   Chebogue YC

Beginning June 4th the airline will fly into Halifax on Mondays and Thursdays until October 22nd.  However, on July 11th, the airline will add Saturdays to the visits until September 3rd. Robert Keddy, the airline’s sales manager in Canada, remarked that Icelandair is till going over the feasibility of flying to Halifax all year round.

Like the rest the world, Iceland is going through rough financial times due to the sub-prime lending crisis. However, because of its small population the island nation does not have the reserves to weather a lengthy recession and this is causing political turmoil. This is remarkable because up until last year Iceland was called “the Nordic Tiger.” But recently the króna, Iceland’s currency, has fallen over 22% against the Euro and the banks are in deep trouble.

This was a bad break for both Canada and Iceland because in 2007 the Canadian government finally wised up and worked out a deal giving the airlines from each other’s countries unlimited access to the other’s airports. The hugh fuel costs and deepening recession has put this proposal back but the familiar Boeing 757′s will be back on Halifax’s tarmac, at least on a part-time basis.

But what about the Cat ferry? Well, yes it does originate in Maine but the new schedules didn’t mesh with the established tourism market in southern Nova Scotia. Hotels, bed-and-breakfast establishments and other attractions suffered from the disruption of services and this financial downturn was deepened last year when oil reached record heights along with the soaring Canadian dollar.

The U.S. Transportation Department has given permission Quebec’s Starlink Airlines to run an 18-seat turboprop between Portland, Maine and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia on a twice-daily basis. Not only will the service extend to the main hub of Halifax, the other Starlink route, it will also be in position for Maritimers and Americans alike to connect with major airlines that fly into Portland like Continental, Northwest U.S. Airways, United Airlines, JetBlue and Air Tran.

What this means to Nova Scotia travelers is that they have an alternative to Newark, New York and Toronto as connecting cities  for U.S. destinations like Florida. In return Americans from new England have a choice between a ferry ride and flying to Halifax via Yarmouth.

One-way fares are not cheap: $149 from Yarmouth to Portland and $249 from Halifax to Portland. However, the convenience, in many cases, is worth it. For an American it’s only $200 versus a bus ride from Halifax to Yarmouth and then a long ferry ride.

Now who would bring in an airline into a market that has seen two other airlines pull out, and during an economic downturn. Well, the answer comes right out of left field.  Starlink, a Quebec-based regional airline, is specialized in serving small markets and is bringing in 15 -seat aircraft to accomplish this. In addition the service will extend to Portland, Maine, to grab those who do not want to take the Cat Ferry.

Glen Lynch is the CEO of Starlink and he has made his airline in such areas where the big guys have fallen on their faces. His company has studied the area well and, with commitments from the Nova Scotia government, is very excited about the new route.

The service is twice-daily, one in the early morning and the other in the late afternoon. The cost will be $159 + taxes, or about 2 1/2 times as mushc as the bus. This little airline could possibly expand into other areas of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick vacated by Air Canada’s regionals.

How about backup to get it started? Yes the province is helping there. Richard Hurlburt, MLA for Yarmouth announced that the province would commit $2 million to the service for the next five years. This is a draw against bad times and the airline would dip into it. However, it is just a draw and subject to repayment.

They even have their ticketing site up. Click on Starlink.

However, this was not true of those who benefit from the cruise ship industry. In fact Nova Scotia enjoyed a record year in this capacity as more than 125 cruise ships including the Queen Mary 2 docked in Halifax and another 50 in Sydney – and that’s a lot of people taking in the sights on tours and buying merchandise. The total came to over 228,000 visitors in Halifax and almost 77,000 in the Cape Breton port.

The tourism authorities announced that the total was over $25 million not including what the crew spent with another $8 million going to Sydney. Three other ports – Louisbourg, Baddeck and North Sydney – also had a total of 5 ships.

The season starts in mid-April and goes until the leaves are gone in the fall. The starting points are usually new York and Boston and the ships will visit Quebec City, Montreal and St. John’s, Newfoundland as well as Charlottetown, PEI

For 2009 the prospect is rosy as well. Predictions are that this year will top last year in terms of ships site explorations and dollars spent.

A great thing about Twitter is that the posts are in real time. You can read about what people are actually thinking as it happens. In this blog I have included some of these posts – without the names of course.

“We felt like hostages’: Passengers on delayed Vancouver-Toronto flight : Passengers on Air Canada Flight 156.”

“You’ll be amazed to find that like Santa, your mail actually travels by air. Yes, (Name), I may get it sooner than April. Yay!

“I’m in a really narky mood. It would help if the guy next door STOPPED SHOUTING for five **** seconds. Seriously? He doesn’t stop for air.”

“12 hour delay sitting on Air Canada plane = $500 voucher’

“. . . .is heading out to pick up sis Sarah who got stuck in STL last night. Poor girl needs some good travel luck! Woot Xmas!”

“. . . .arrived safe and sound in western minnesota. no travel problems or delays. crh was up at 6 am to play in the snow, about 60 cm on the ground”

“The travel gods have smiled. Aisle seat in an exit row.”

“O the joys of air travel.”

“Enjoying my dad’s curiously strong coffee while devouring a travel blog that’s new to me. Not a bad way to start the day!”

“Wow, feeling sorry for people trying to travel today. The entire airline system is wedged, sounds like. But the storm was days ago.”

“Someone needs to build a travel site with ratings for airlines built in. Unfortunately air travel is not quite commoditized.”

So, there you have an up-to-date Twitter report from those who are still stranded and those who are finding out other things about Christmas travel.

Cheers and Merry Christmas,

Kim

Federal Aviation Administration: This is a great map with all the major airports. Just click on the green spots and you will get an airport update. Regional maps are also available through this site. In this way you can see smaller airport like Bangor, Maine.

Flight Stats: This gives similar information to the FAA but you can see the weather maps at a glance.

Weather.com: What I like about this site is that it gives you the complete forecast for your whole trip. Just fill in the blanks with all the legs of your journey and you have an up-to-date forecast.

Flight Arrivals.com: This site is a comprehensive information center for both the U.S. and Canada, not only for getting weather but for all year service. Any schedule changes will show up here.

AvoidDelays.com: For you pessimists out there here is a site that actually rates the airports. It will give you live, up to the minute details of delays and also will tll you how many flights were delayed on a certain day at a certain airport. In addition, on a month-by-month basis it will list:

• Top 10 Most Delayed Departure Airports
• Top 10 Most Delayed Arrival Airports
• Top 10 Worst Times to Fly into Most Delayed Airports
• Advice From Air Traffic Controllers
• Report Your Complaint
• Tips and Tricks for Avoiding Delays

There you have it. Now you never have to sleep in an airport again.