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For those of us who love ships and ferries almost as much as trains this is good news. Yarmouth-Portland, ME ferry
I've been looking for an excuse to try the Downeaster, this might be it. There is regular shuttle service between Yarmouth and Halifax - but a car rental might be easier.
Vincent206 Member # 15447
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What kind of shuttle service is available between Halifax and Yarmouth? I did a search and couldn't find anything. A one-way trip--Portland, Halifax, Montreal might be very intriguing, but the Yarmouth to Halifax ground piece seems to be missing.
palmland Member # 4344
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Vincent - looks like a couple option. An expensive one is here.
quote:Portland city spokeswoman Jessica Grondin on Friday confirmed that the Nova Star had 2,924 riders in combined arrivals and departures in the month of May, and 6,740 such riders in June. This works out to averages of 101 riders per trip in May and 112 per trip in June, less than 10 percent of the vessel’s capacity.
Daily ridership is up to about 500 riders per trip in July (the ship's capacity is 1,250) and the owners of the ferry have already used up all of their government loan money. I hope they make it through the winter.
palmland Member # 4344
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I hope it hangs on, that would be a good trip. As mentioned in another topic, we just returned from Maine and I'm afraid the ferry ride will be one of those "I wish I had done it when I had the chance".
Had a brief ride on the Downeaster (Freeport to Portland and return). The state is doing a lot of things right: Friendly crews, the stations (at least in Freeport and Brunswick) are clean, functional and are co-located with the vistor center with very helpful staff. The Downeaster menu is a big improvement over standard AmCafe food with many 'Made in Maine' items: Amato's Deli sandwiches, Wicked Whoopie Pies (I know why they're called Whoopie), Capt'n Eli's Soda and Grandy Oats Oatmeal! But the cars were slightly seedy AmI vintage however the Business Class was that nice leather 2/1 seating.
I think, like NC, VA, and CA the states can do a better job of making the short haul services attractive and fitting the local needs than can Amtrak with their one size fits all approach.
sojourner Member # 3134
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I don't know what happened to my posts on this, but there is a shuttle service or two from Yarmouth to Halifax. It's pricey--$75/person--and if the ferry is super late won't wait for you because it also takes Yarmouthians and other down-Scotians (I am making these words up) up to the Halifax airport. The one called Cloud 9 or something like that seemed most amenable. Phone the ferry and ask them for more info.
You can also just overnight in Yarmouth if you are worried about the connection and take shuttle up next day. But I don't think the ferry is really late that often. It's not on the freight railroad tracks, after all.
The biggest problem for this trip IMO is the cost from Halifax to Montreal. OTOH, Adirondack south is reasonable and quite a nice (if long) trip.
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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First, Ms. Sojourner, here is the material regarding the Portland-Yarmouth ferry service you previously posted:
To continue, Saturday's Wall Street Journal carries an article regarding the service and is "uh, not exactly", optimistic about its economic viability. Seems as if it is surviving from one public handout to another.
Oh, and the vessel is leased; all of which means it could sail at a moment's notice, to where the landscape is "greener".
This year, service between Portland, Maine's largest city, and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, has returned, delighting some tourists and businesses. Still, there are questions about whether the business, which is off to a slow start, can sustain itself.
In May, the privately run 528-foot Nova Star began making a once-daily round trip that takes 10 hours each way. The early passenger numbers disappointed—averaging about 112 riders on each leg of the trip in June, roughly 10% of the boat's capacity. Burdened by heavy startup costs, the operators quickly tapped a 21 million Canadian dollar (US$19.3 million) loan from Nova Scotia that was intended to stretch seven years.
sojourner Member # 3134
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How come they can't have a ferry direct from Portland to Halifax? Wouldn't that get more business?
Gilbert B Norman Member # 1541
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What would be the diff other than for foot passengers whose destination is Halifax?
The service is a ferry; not a Love Tub.
Review any ferry route anywhere in the world and in virtually all cases, that route is the shortest distance between any two land points accessible by highway.
TBlack Member # 181
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Sojourner, I've often wondered about that myself. The bus from Yarmouth is a 4 hour pain in the .... I suspect the problem is the fact that Halifax is a very busy harbor while Yarmouth is not. If space were available for the ferry at Halifax it would probably be at a huge premium. Tom
ghCBNS Member # 3093
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quote:Originally posted by TBlack: I suspect the problem is the fact that Halifax is a very busy harbor while Yarmouth is not. If space were available for the ferry at Halifax it would probably be at a huge premium. Tom
There’s plenty of space in Halifax Harbour for a ferry but it makes no sense....and as GBN said:
“Review any ferry route anywhere in the world and in virtually all cases, that route is the shortest distance between any two land points accessible by highway”
It’s 200 miles from Portland to Yarmouth and another 200 miles from Yarmouth to Halifax. I’m guessing that 95% of the ferry passengers are in cars, campers or RVs....and if I was one of those passengers, I would be pretty ticked-off having reached Yarmouth after spending 10 hours on the ferry....then knowing I’m going to spend another 10 hours sailing along the coast to reach Halifax when I could drive it in 3 hours or be out there exploring the attractions along that coast route.
Portland <> Yarmouth is just the right distance for this ferry as it can make a round trip in 24 hours. Ideally it should be Boston <> Yarmouth but that distance is just beyond the 24 hour threshold.
Long gone are the days of the Dominion Atlantic “Evangeline” Dayliner through the Annapolis Valley from Yarmouth to Halifax. For the rare foot-passenger on the ferry…..they do have the option of a shuttle but most have just chosen to fly direct to YHZ on that 55 minute flight from BOS.
ghCBNS Member # 3093
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Passenger loads on the ferry continue to climb with the sunny/hot summer we are having and hopefully they will have a good fall season too.
It was known from the start it would take awhile to build ridership again after a five year cancellation. Also by the time schedules and fares had been set for this season......they had missed being included in this year's tourist publications and bus tour operator's itineraries had already been set.
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