Shelburne gets positive feedback from cruise ship passengers

SHELBURNE, N.S. — There was a bit of hustle and bustle on Shelburne’s historic Dock Street on Oct. 30 when the cruise ship MV Seabourn Quest spent the day in port.
While some of the 458 passengers chose to take bus tours to Lunenburg and Yarmouth, others remained in town, spending the day exploring.
“All the feedback from the visitors were very positive,” said Robin Walker, events coordinator for the Town. “They loved the town and loved that we had people greeting them when they arrived. A lot of them said that this was their favourite stop so far.”
Volunteer re-enactors dressed in period costume joined with Shelburne Museums by the Sea staff in welcoming the visitors to the waterfront. 
Greta Mossman, senior guide at the Nova Scotia Museum’s Ross Thompson House, was joined by her volunteer husband Rod Mossman in giving a walking tour of the Dock Street area. 
“Everybody had a wonderful time,” she said an interview. “It was a very happy, enjoyable atmosphere.”
Mossman said the day was “not as busy as we would have liked. Dock Street could handle the volume very easily.”
Walker said she only heard from one business directly and they said that they were not very busy with only about 10 passengers from the ship. The local drug store was a different story.
“Actually, I was in TLC that evening and they said they were run off their feet,” said Walker. “I remember a lot of people asking last time about drug stores as well so they were pretty busy. All the people who did grab a bite to eat in town were very pleased. They said the people were very friendly and the town was beautiful and many said they would love to come back again.”
With Shelburne scheduled to have more cruise ship visits, Mossman said she feels there is room for improvements, such as better signage.  “It could be done better,” she said. “There’s certainly a lot of room for improvement not to mention the timing” which is offseason for many in the tourism industry, “but it was fun and it was invigorating and I think it might have kicked started our holiday season a little.”
 The 650-foot (200 meter) MV Seabourn Quest is also scheduled to stop in Shelburne on Oct 31, 2020. Shelburne is also on the itinerary for a second cruise ship, the MS Insignia on Sept. 22, 2020.
Shelburne has been identified by the Atlantic Canada Cruise Association, Tourism Nova Scotia and Develop Nova Scotia as one of eight strategic 'niche' ports in the province and is considered as a port suited to welcome smaller cruise ships with fewer passengers, as part of an Atlantic Canadian collaboration effort to attract more cruise visitors.