Spring is here, cruise ships not far behind

Cape Breton Post
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Page: A5
Section: Business
Byline: Matthew Daye

The ice is almost gone and the weather is starting to improve, which means cruise ships will soon be arriving in Sydney harbour.

Marketing manager Bernadette MacNeil, of Sydney Ports Corp., said Cape Breton is in for another good year for cruise ship visits.

"It's very comparable to 2006 and we're happy with that."

Last year, more than 46,000 cruise ship passengers stopped in Sydney harbour. This year, almost 49,000 passengers will be making the trip.

"A second vessel from Holland America (is coming) which indicates that they're filling their ships to allow for that second vessel to come in," noted MacNeil.

Norwegian Cruise Lines is also returning with Norwegian Dawn.

"We have the Grand Princess, which carries 2,600 passengers, coming in several times to Sydney and we're very pleased about that."

MacNeil said Cape Breton offers something special to cruise ship passengers.

"We have such tremendous choices in the way of excursions with the Fortress of Louisbourg and the Bell museum and the miners' museum."

MacNeil asked that people who want to see the cruise ships when they arrive in port follow safety rules.

"Park your car somewhere else and walk down. The code that's imposed upon us is that we can't allow unauthorized vehicles on our dockside," she said. "But we do try to encourage our public to come down here. We want them to interact with our passengers."