St. John's - Almost

---

August 30, 2019 – St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador – Weather: 63°F/17°C am, partly cloudy, sun tried to peek out in pm, wind 19.5 mph, humidity 93°



Today we were expected to enter the harbour of St. John’s at 8:00 am and be tied up alongside the pier by 10:00. That didn’t happen! As we approached the harbour and not long after picking up the local Pilot the ship began to veer away from the harbour entrance. Shortly thereafter the Captain came on the PA system to announce that due to present weather conditions and those expected to exist when we are scheduled to leave this evening that our stop in St. John’s was cancelled.

The Pilot and the HAL’s Fleet Operations office concurred with the Captain’s decision. A tropical depression, Aaron, was approaching from the south-west with sustained winds of 25-30 knots and sea swells of 2 to 3 meters. St. John’s harbour entrance is a mere 82 meters wide making transit of the space tricky even in the best of times – facing a strong wind and rising seas is something else. So, we turned away from the port and headed back out to sea on a heading to Halifax. Needless to say, shore excursions for St. John’s were cancelled and refunds were credited to our shipboard accounts. As compensation for missing St. John’s the ship will be docked for an overnight stay in Halifax.

The Cruise Director and his staff scrambled to arrange a series of alternative activities for the unexpected day at sea to keep us entertained. We chose to just relax and read, except for B.’s attending an afternoon concert.

Tonight was another Gala Night – read dress up for dinner – with a special dinner menu. Later in the evening the pastry chef and his staff put on a “Chocolate Surprise” with decadent finger food desserts.

---