New Brunswick is rolling out a host of enhancements that showcase the Canadian province’s rising popularity as a cruise destination.
This year Saint John, the province’s top cruise port, will receive inaugural calls from five cruise lines: Disney Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, Blount Small Ship Adventures, Saga Shipping and Phoenix Reisen.
Starting June 13, the Disney Magic will call at Saint John nine times between June and September. The port will participate in the Disney Legacy Project, where each child taking the “Whale of a Time” shore excursion will paint a mosaic tile as part of a mural to be displayed at the new cruise ship terminal.
2012 is the first year Carnival will sail from Boston to New Brunswick. Saint John will be a port of call on all the four-, five- and seven-day Carnival cruises from Boston, and it is the only stop on the four-day itinerary. Halifax is added to the five-day cruise, and the seven-day itinerary also includes Sydney, Nova Scotia.
Saint John’s port will complete a $19.7 million expansion by September, which will add a second cruise terminal at Pugsley C and expanded berthing capacity at Long Wharf.
New Brunswick’s Bay of Fundy was a finalist in the recent “New7Wonders” of the world contest. Saint John features North America’s oldest market and Canada’s oldest museum in continuous operation. Elsewhere in the province, outdoor enthusiasts can experience the highest tides in the world on a boat ride at Reversing Falls on the Saint John River, go whale watching or visit billion-year-old rock formations at the UNESCO-designated Geopark in Stonehammer.
Also new this year, Ambassatours Gray Line is partnering with the New Brunswick Southern Railway to offer the “Bay of Fundy Scenic Railway” tour, which takes passengers on a trip along the Bay of Fundy and over the Reversing Falls Rapids.
Visit www.tourismnewbrunswick.ca
