[HALIFAX, NS] — Hurricane Sandy has forced three cruise ships to make emergency dockings in Halifax. That means the city will see an influx of 3,000 cruise ship passengers today.
One of the vessels, the World, has been docked in the city since Sunday. The Norwegian Dawn arrived Monday, and The Regatta is scheduled to arrive Tuesday. All of the vessels were bound for the hurricane-battered U.S. eastern coast, and each is scheduled to depart on Tuesday.
Michele Peveril, a spokeswoman with the Halifax Port Authority, said the unexpected visitors would bring a welcome boost to the city’s tourism sector, which is currently winding down.
One of those businesses is Murphy’s on the Water, which offers everything from guided boat tours to lobster dinners. Angela Malec, director of marketing, said the potential of catering to thousands more customers came as a welcome surprise.
“We love them; they add another demographic to our business,” said Malec. “The season certainly starts to slow down this time of year so it’s great having them around.”
The end of the cruise ship season has been pushed to Thursday, from Wednesday.
Peveril said the number of ship arrivals has been on par with last year. By Thursday an expected 240,000 cruise ship passengers will have docked in Halifax in 2012.
