‘Balmoral’ dropping anchor

“It’s great for the community because it’s bringing money into the community,” said Joy O’Neil, an economic development officer with the Annapolis Digby Economic Development Agency.

If 1,000 people come off the cruise ship and spend $100 each, the town could see up to $100,000 in revenue, she said.

The cruise ship is scheduled to arrive next Thursday at 10 a.m. and depart at 6 p.m.

O’Neil said the cruise ship’s visit is an opportunity to sell the region. She encourages local residents and businesses to ensure visitors have a good time so they want to come back and vacation here later on.

Shore excursions have been laid on for the ship’s passengers, including a fully booked visit to the Bear River First Nations’ heritage centre, with a ceremony in the centre and a medicine trail outside. Another bus will take some passengers to Annapolis Royal.

The ship will anchor just off shore and passengers will be brought to the marina by the ship’s own tenders. Digby’s marina will be closed to the public during the cruise ship’s visit for security reasons.

O’Neil said the best place to view the ship is from the provincial tourist bureau on Shore Road

Cruisefundy, a committee of various town representatives including the Town of Digby, Digby Harbour Port Authority and Marina, RCMP and a few others, started to prepare for the cruise ship’s arrival over a year ago. “This is hopefully just the beginning for Digby as a cruise ship destination,” O’Neil said. “We have been in touch with a number of other cruise lines, which have expressed some interest in looking at Digby as a destination port/. “There will probably another ship or two coming in next year and 2011-12 is when we really hope to see more of an impact.”

The Balmoral will visit also visit Lunenburg, Sydney and Shelburne on its Nova Scotia leg, and sails to Saint John, N.B., after leaving here.

Thursday at 11 a.m., the ship’s officers and crewmembers will take part in an exchange of plaques. “It’s a tradition when a ship comes to a port for the first time, as a courtesy there’s a change of plaques,” said O’Neil.

The 218-metre ship can carry up to 1,350 passengers and 510 crewmembers. The ship was built in 1988 and UK-based Fred Olsen took ownership in 2006 from Royal Cruise Line.