Yesterday we went on a tour of the newest boat added to the Marine Atlantic’s fleet for their trips between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. The new ship is being leased from a European company, it was last used to transport people between Helsinki and Estonia. Here’s a link to some more details on it:
http://www.marine-atlantic.ca/en/NewVessel/newvessel.shtml
The kids were so excited, they are fascinated with the boats that come in and out of the harbor, and during the summer months when the cruise ships come in, it’s always a big deal to see one. We are lucky enough to be able to see a large part of the harbor, and the harbor mouth from our front door.
My mother’s best friend works on the boats, so when they announced an open house, she made sure that we were on the list to tour it. It’s a beautiful boat, but not really functional for what Marine Atlantic needs it for, IMO. During the European trips, if the crossing is over 10 hours long, you are required to buy a cabin. Not so here, so there is one main public bathroom, with 4 stalls. Yep, just 4. They are hoping to have almost 900 people per crossing, and you are not required to buy a cabin-the cabins have private bathrooms in them. I’ll give you a minute to digest that info. Also, there are long chairs everywhere. Long, couch-style chairs. The stewards are going to have a bitch of a time keeping people from sleeping on the chairs. Reminder to myself-if I ever take the Vision to Nfld, I’m buying a cabin!
Here are some pictures from the sightseeing trip!
The first picture is the view from one of the restaurants, the red and white boat you see is a coast-guard boat, I’m pretty sure it’s one of the icebreakers.
The second one is a picture from one of the restaurants on the ship. There will be a buffett-style restaurant, a snack place for fast food, and a sit-down restaurant that will only operate on the evening crossings.
Then we are 7 stories up from the water line. The ship is 10 stories tall, 3 of those stories are for cars and trucks.
The next picture is of the dance floor and the lounge area. See the long chairs? They are hoping to have entertainment on board during the busy summer months.
Lastly is a head of garlic that I saw on the bridge. One of the officers there told me that the Greek crew who once worked on the ship put it there, and it hasn’t left the bridge. It’s supposed to be good luck, and he told me that there are actually heads of garlic all over the ship!
