Southwestern Nova Scotia Expects Record Cruise Season
Silver Wind opens Yarmouth's schedule on September 24; Shelburne organized a seventeen-vendor Guild Hall market when Seabourn Ovation called.
Southwestern Nova Scotia is scheduled to receive as many as 4,000 cruise passengers and crew across seven calls in Yarmouth and Shelburne by mid-October, a record season for the region. Yarmouth accounts for five visits by four ships, while Shelburne has two calls on its calendar. The town had gone several years without a call.
Five calls scheduled for Yarmouth
Silver Wind will open Yarmouth’s season on Sept. 24, remaining in port from 1:30 to 6 p.m. Crystal Symphony will follow on Oct. 8 and Oct. 10 during sailings between Boston and Montreal.
Ponant will bring Le Bellot to Yarmouth on Oct. 11, followed by Le Lyrial on Oct. 12. Local operators will offer some tours in both English and French for the two calls by the French cruise line.
Available excursions include visits to Cape Forchu, lobster dinners, heritage walks, brewery tours and Acadian cultural programs. Staff from the Yarmouth and Acadian Shores Tourism Association, or YASTA, will coordinate with shipboard shore teams.
“Our team is stationed at the landing area to welcome guests, answer questions, and provide local recommendations,” said Neil MacKenzie, YASTA’s CEO.
Yarmouth can receive vessels at Lobster Rock Marine Terminal or Old Government Wharf and can also handle ships using anchor-and-tender operations. The port provides year-round Canada Border Services and is an authorized cruise passenger and crew disembarkation site.
Shelburne welcomes two ships
Seabourn Ovation opened Shelburne’s season on Sept. 9 with about 500 passengers. The ship remained from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., with guests tendered to the historic waterfront at Dock Street.
No shore packages had been arranged with the cruise line for that visit. The town instead organized a 17-vendor market at Guild Hall, free museum admission, walking tours and a shuttle to the Black Loyalist Heritage Centre. Town staff and the local chamber of commerce also distributed maps and provided visitor information.
Explora III is scheduled to anchor at Shelburne on Oct. 5. The port has a 169-meter berth with 9.2 meters of water at low tide, along with tender service to Dock Street Wharf approximately two kilometers away.
Regional cruise sales continue
Yarmouth and Shelburne are promoted as niche ports through the Atlantic Canada Cruise Association. MacKenzie serves as the association’s niche port representative, working with its partner ports in Charlottetown, Corner Brook, Halifax, Saint John and Sydney.
“We support one another through training, resources, advice, co-marketing, and sales opportunities, while collaborating to pitch itineraries to visiting cruise lines,” MacKenzie said.
Shelburne port manager Wayne Langthorne said the town could receive more cruise visits next year. YASTA already has 18 calls scheduled across 2026 to 2028.
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