Nova Star Cruises sailing season cut short by nearly 3 weeks

Nova Star Cruises Ltd. has announced it will be cutting this year's sailing season short nearly three weeks earlier than planned.

The final voyage takes off on Oct. 13 from Yarmouth and will arrive in Portland, Maine, the next day. The last sailing date was originally scheduled for Nov. 2.

Those with reservations after Oct. 13 "will be provided with a full refund and either a free reservation for the remainder of this year or a 50 per cent discount for the same booking in 2015," the company said in a statement released Monday. 

Nova Star said the decision impacts 650 passengers.

"We are sorry for any inconvenience the shortened season will have on our passengers," Mark Amundsen, the president and CEO of Nova Star Cruises, said in a statement.

"For the long-term success of the service, we have decided to end our first season earlier than planned and will focus our efforts on building business for next year."

Amundsen said there was a "natural drop off" in reservations after the Canadian Thanksgiving Day weekend and the Columbus Day weekend.

"Seeing the numbers where they are was an economic-driven decision to stop the service at the end of that weekend," he said.

31 motor coach tours booked next year

Amundsen said part of the decision to cut the season short was because October ferry service usually caters to transporting motor coach tours. He said this year, Nova Star advertisements did not make it into motor coach catalogues, which go out a year ahead of time.

Nova Star Cruises will carry 23 motor coach tours this season and already has 31 booked for 2015, according to the company's news release.

"We have been making good progress securing motor coach business for next year and we are confident that we can further increase our motor coach and other business lines by focusing our efforts in October on business development," said Amundsen.

Amundsen also said, in the future, the end date for the ferry service will likely continue to be the middle of October. 

After lower than expected numbers for much of the summer, the company said it was meeting its passenger target for August with more than 20,000 passengers using the service last month.

Since launching in the spring, the ferry has carried more than 45,000 passengers. 

"We are pleased with passenger feedback and numbers for our first season, which highlight that there is a growing market for a cruise-ferry service between Nova Scotia and Maine," said Amundsen.

"We have also learned a lot about the market for our service and will work to make adjustments to our offering and schedule for the long-term viability of the service."