Halifax, Nova Scotia

Ship Following us In

We got up at 7:00, showered and got ready for breakfast. Looking out on our deck, we were just approaching Halifax. The sky was pretty dark with clouds, but we could see the sun shining on the hills by the shore. When we went up for breakfast, and got ourselves seated to eat, we could see out the back of the ship. There was another cruise ship right behind us.

Ship Already Here

We got to the harbour about 8:30. As we neared our pier, there was another cruise ship already docked in another pier. We pulled past it, and into our spot. All this was taking place on our room side, so we could see all the action. It was quite interesting to watch how they brough this big ship into the dock.

We had to meet for our tour, on the dock, at 9:50, so about 9:30, we went down to get off the ship. It was a very nice arrangement, and the disembarkation was quite organized. We had to walk through the building, which was where a market was located, so we knew what we had to do when we returned from our tour around Halifax.

It wasn't quite so organized outside. There were people and buses all over the place. There was an order to things, but we took a bit to figure it out. Once we found our tour, we waited with the group for our bus to come up to where we were. We boarded the bus, along with 48 other passengers, and set off on our tour around Halifax.

We went by some interesting places. We saw the area where the great explosion took place in the harbour during WWI, and were amazed about the numbers and types of casualties from this accidental collision between two boats. We were told about the black families who were displaced by the building of the bridge to connect Halifax and Dartmouth.

She had 4 Children

Stone With Name

Our first stop was at the cemetary where a number of bodies from the Titanic were buried. We walked into the cemetary and looked at the headstones that were laid out in the shape of a ship's bow. Some had names (th

Stone With No Name

ese were ones they were able to identify), some just had the date (not identified), and a few had more information (the families had paid to have more detailed information carved into the headstones). One was the headstone of a baby that they had found and thought was the child of a mother with 4 children. Later, DNA evidence showed that it wasn't her baby, and they were finally able to identify this baby's body. It was a somber place, and I felt myself getting choked up at times.

From there, we went to a park that was an English garden. Many flowers were still blooming, although they were starting to take out beds of flowers. It was a nice park, and we were supposed to be there for a short time. However, a couple didn't listen to the instructions when getting off the bus. We met the bus at a different location that we were let off. They went back to where we were let off. Our guide went looking for them, but of course, he didn't know what they looked like. When he came back, a friend of their's went looking. He found them, and they had to walk to where we were waiting. Altogether, we stayed half an hour longer than we were supposed to.

We were supposed to be back to the ship at 12:00, but the Citadel was one of the stops we were scheduled to stop, so we drove up to it. When we got to the top, we weren't allowed drive on by because there was a noon cannon shot, and it was happening very soon. We had to wait, and at noon, they told us to plug our ears. The cannon was set off, and the bus shook, there was lots of noise and smoke, and it was very interesting. It is simlar to the Stanley Park cannon, except much bigger and louder.

Citadel

Then we had to hustle back to the ship because there was another tour that was going out soon. We noticed that the ship that had followed us into the harbour was docked in front of ours.

Once back on the ship, Dawn noticed another ship docked on the other side of the first one that was there, so in total, there were four ships in port. We were told that it was their busiest day this year.

We went up for a light lunch. Even though it was supposed to be a light lunch, it didn't turn out to be one. When we were finished, Dawn went to watch a movie that was playing in the Princess Theatre. I walked around a bit, then went back to our cabin and read. I took a bit of time to phone home, but had to make sure it was a reasonable time. I called about 3:40 pm, which was 11:40 am in Kamloops. Everything was good there.

After dawn got back, we read some more, and then had to go down to dinner. We went earlier than last night because we wanted to eat early so we could finish in time to get a seat in the theatre for the early show - a comedian.

We were there in plenty of time, and there were lots of seats. Last night we rolled in about 7:10, and were lucky to find some seats. Tonight, we rolled in at 6:50, but by 7:10, the theatre was almost full again, so that is the plan - go early.

After the show, there was a performer playing Neil Diamond in one of the lounges. We tried to go there, but it was full. So, back to our cabin, to write this entry and to watch TV. The ball game is supposed to be on, but it is almost 9:00, and it's not on yet. We hope it comes on at 9 or 9:30, but who knows.

Tomorrow we arrive in Sydney, Nova Scotia.