4 cruise ships pack Charlottetown Harbour as P.E.I. season peaks

It's a busy day in Charlottetown with four cruise ships in port.

"We've been preparing for this day all season," said Kelly Murphy, director of marketing and cruise development with Port Charlottetown. 

"The bussing, the shore excursions, the distribution of passengers into the city centre — we look at how many people are going through the terminal at one time and making sure that everybody has that unforgettable experience."

The boats are the Emerald Princess, the Zuiderdam, the Viking Neptune and the Silver Shadow. Together they have brought in more than 6,000 passengers and 2,500 crew, and it can be a challenge to find space for everyone to do what they want.

That's something that's great for Charlottetown and great for the economy.— Kelly Murphy

"A lot of people are looking to go on various shore excursions and sometimes those will fill up," said Murphy.

"But what we're so lucky we have [is] so many things to offer steps away from the port. That's the beauty of Charlottetown and where the port is located."

Charlottetown has about one four-ship day a season, she said.

While Tuesday is this season's only four-ship day, it is not the busiest in terms of passenger numbers. That was on Saturday, when two ships — Norwegian Joy and Sky Princess — delivered more than 7,500 passengers and 3,000 crew members.

'Shops and restaurants bustling'

Cruise ships are a big part of extending the tourist season, said Murphy.

"On a Tuesday, seeing shops and restaurants bustling is really something that's great for Charlottetown and great for the economy," she said.

The season started April 8 with the 3,000-passenger MSC Poesia. While there were plenty of visits through the spring and summer, the season really geared up Sept. 1, with boats arriving every day.

That will continue through mid-October. The fourth-biggest day of the season is still to come. On Oct. 13, three ships carrying almost 6,000 passengers will visit.

Visits will start to wind down after Oct. 15, with Pearl Mist ending the season quietly on Oct. 30, bringing just 200 passengers.

In all, there will be 98 scheduled visits.

That ship has sailed

Earlier this month, a cruise blog described an unusual incident in which two passengers did not get back to their boat in Charlottetown on time, said Murphy.

"It doesn't happen very often, especially in Port Charlottetown," she said. "[The ships] are very diligent on their timing and also very repetitive to let their passengers know what all aboard time is. On a cruise day, you will often see on all our digital signage the all-aboard time, which is usually one hour prior to departure."

Passengers on excursions organized by the cruise lines are guaranteed that the boat won't leave without them, but passengers making their own arrangements have to take responsibility for getting back on their own, said Murphy.

On a cruise day, you will often see on all our digital signage the all-aboard time, which is usually one hour prior to departure.— Kelly Murphy

Ships are on tight schedules to get to their next port of call, and captains have to keep in mind the often thousands of other passengers on board.

Missing the boat leaves a passenger with just two options: finding transportation to catch up with the boat on a later port of call, or returning home and making arrangements to have your luggage delivered, all at your own expense.

In this case, the next port of call was Corner Brook, N.L. Murphy said she didn't know what decision the stranded passengers made.