NCL Pearl - Day 5, Halifax, Nova Scotia

 

Today we are docked at Halifax, Nova Scotia. For today, we booked a private tour with BLT Limousine through Viator.com. Our driver was Stewart and it was $399 for the whole day.

Winston Churchill Statue

Stewart arrived promptly and waited for us as we got off the ship. Next, he drove us through Point Pleasant Park, Saint Mary’s Cathedral Basilica and a Winston Churchill Statue.

St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica

Our first stop was at the Halifax Public Gardens, it’s a free garden with pretty walking trails and flowers.

Entrance to the public garden

Halifax public garden

The public garden was lovely and it was an easy stroll. Our next stop was at the Titanic Grave Site. This is the burial site of over 100 Titanic victims. Halifax became the burial site for many Titanic victims because it’s the closest major port with rail connections. Stewart told us many stories about how they got the victims here and how they connected the victims’ families to visit the gravesites. The cemetery was very quiet. There are many other people buried here as well.

Titanic gravesite

Titanic gravesite, shaped like a ship's hull

Next, we drove by Saint Agnes Roman Catholic Parish Church and Sir Sanford Fleming Park.

Saint Agnes Roman Catholic Parish Church

Sir Sanford Fleming Tower in Sir Sanford Fleming Park

Next up is lunch. We told Stewart we want to have some local lobster roll. Stewart dropped us off at Peggy’s Cove Food Factory.

Lobster Roll at Peggy Cove Food Factory

Not only is their lobster roll amazing, they also have the best hamburger and fish n chips too. Not to mention the cold beer and ice cream! After lunch, we came to the famous Peggy’s Cove. Peggy’s Cove is named after a young girl named Margaret, who survived a shipwreck in the area and got adopted by a local family. At the time, Margaret couldn’t remember her real name so the family named her Peggy. I think it’s debatable whether the story is true or not.

Peggy's Cove lighthouse

Beautiful Peggy's Cove

A man was playing Alphorn which was really cool.

Alphorn playing

We spent a lot of time at Peggy’s Cove because it was so pretty. Next, Stewart took us to the Halifax Waterfront Board Walk. This is our final stop of the day and it’s an easy and scenic walk back to the ship. This was a nice walk and definitely something I recommend. We started our walk with a visit to the Cows Ice Cream Shop.

Cows Ice Cream Shop

Ava had literally just finished her ice cream from Peggy Cove Food Factory at this point, but what can I say, we are on vacation.

Harbourwalk Map

You can see our ship!

We had a nice leisurely walk and got back on the ship. From our balcony, you can see Georges Island, where the Georges Island National Historic Site is at.

Georges Island

Next up is dining with the officers. We’ve done this a few times now. Even though dining with the officers has always taken place in one of the main dining restaurants, the food and service has always been noticeably better than what you would usually get in the MDR. Also the drinks are free while dining with the officer, even if you don’t have a drink package. This was one of the less memorable officer experiences we’ve had because the way the seating was arranged. It was hard for us to hear the officers and I can’t tell you at this point who the officers were.

Dining w/the Officers

The main entertainment tonight was Throwback to 1969. On these smaller ships, NCL has done away with production shows, so you usually get a combination of musical acts and comedians. We didn’t make it to the show due to the dining with the officers. Today was a great day. It was so nice to travel around Nova Scotia, enjoying the lobster roll and ice cream, and having dinner with the officers.