Shelburne gets positive feedback from cruise ship passengers
Passengers from the cruise ship MV Seabourn Quest disembark to spend the day in Shelburne during the ship’s port of call on Oct. 30.
Shelburne’s Rod Mossman performs an original composition for passengers from the cruise ship MV Seabourn Quest during a walking tour of Dock Street during the ship’s port of call at Shelburne on Oct. 30.
Mossman said the day was “not as busy as we would have liked. Dock Street could handle the volume very easily.”
Walker said she only heard from one business directly and they said that they were not very busy with only about 10 passengers from the ship. The local drug store was a different story.
“Actually, I was in TLC that evening and they said they were run off their feet,” said Walker. “I remember a lot of
people asking last time about drug stores as well so they were pretty busy. All the people who did grab a bite to eat in town were very pleased. They said the people were very friendly and the town was beautiful and many said they would love to come back again.”
With Shelburne scheduled to have more cruise ship visits, Mossman said she feels there is room for improvements, such as better signage. “It could be done better,” she said. “There’s certainly a lot of room for improvement not to mention the timing” which is offseason for many in the tourism industry, “but it was fun and it was invigorating and I think it might have kicked started our holiday season a little.”
The 650-foot (200-metre) MV Seabourn Quest is also scheduled to stop in Shelburne on Oct 31, 2020. Shelburne is also on the itinerary for a second cruise ship, the MS Insignia on Sept. 22, 2020.
Shelburne has been identified by the Atlantic Canada Cruise Association, Tourism Nova Scotia and Develop Nova Scotia as one of eight strategic 'niche' ports in the province and is considered as a port suited to welcome smaller cruise ships with fewer passengers, as part of an Atlantic Canadian collaboration effort to attract more cruise visitors.