History
NamePearl Mist
OperatorPearl Sea Cruises
Port of registryMarshall Islands
BuilderHalifax Shipyards
Yard number6092
Laid down23 July 2007
Launched14 March 2008
CompletedJune 2014
Identification
Statusin active service
General characteristics
TypeCruise ship
Tonnage
Length
  • 99.1 m (325 ft 2 in) oa.
  • 86.9 m (285 ft 1 in) pp.
Beam16.8 m (55 ft)
Installed powerThree Caterpillar C18 main generators
PropulsionTwo Caterpillar 3516C
Capacity210 passengers
Crew70

Pearl Mist is a small cruise ship, built in Halifax, Nova Scotia.[1] After her completion, years of legal dispute delayed her being put into operation, and she did not leave on her inaugural voyage until June 2014. She is currently operated by Pearl Seas Cruises.[2]

Design and description

Pearl Mist is a cruise ship with a gross tonnage of 5,109. The ship is 99.1 metres (325 ft 2 in) long overall and 86.9 metres (285 ft 1 in) between perpendiculars. The vessel has a beam of 16.8 m (55 ft).[3] She can carry 210 passengers with a crew of 70.[2] Pearl Mist was fully renovated in 2023 with a brand new interior design throughout the small ship. The ship's small size is described as a virtue, allowing the vessel to visit small ports that have to be skipped by larger vessels.[1] The Pearl Mist sails the Great Lakes each summer season, as well as the Canadian and New England coastlines, including the St. Lawrence Seaway, in spring and fall. The ship is the only fully stabilized 100% private balcony cruise ship sailing the Great Lakes.

The vessel is described as being outfitted as "luxury", with 105 double rooms, all equipped with an outside balcony.[4] The vessel is equipped with WiFi.

Service history

The Baltimore Sun, reported the vessel was ordered from Irving Shipyards by Pearl Seas Cruises in 2006 for $43.5 million as the first ship built for the cruise line.[1] The keel for Pearl Mist was laid down on 23 July 2007 and that Pearl Seas and Irving began their dispute in 2007, just five months after construction of the vessel began.[3][5] The vessel was launched on 14 March 2008.[3] The ship was completed in June 2010.[1][3] However, due to the dispute, Pearl Seas Cruises refused to accept the ship and Pearl Mist was laid up at Shelburne, Nova Scotia to await the outcome of the legal process.[1]

Years of legal battles ended after a United States Federal Appeals court made a ruling in 2013 and a settlement was reached. Pearl Mist was accepted by Pearl Seas Cruises and towed to Baltimore, Maryland in April 2013. The vessel was later taken in hand by Chesapeake Shipbuilding, based in Salisbury, Maryland for fitting out. Pearl Mist made her maiden voyage in June 2014.[1]

In the summers her passengers visited Great Lakes ports.[4] In the winters her passengers visit the Caribbean.[6] In 2016 Pearl Mist started offering excursions that departed from Port Everglades, Florida, on an 11-day circuit of Cuba, visiting Cienfuegos, Trinidad, El Cobre, Santiago de Cuba and Havana.[7]

In January 2018, Pearl Seas Cruises announced a new itinerary for Maine and Bay of Fundy.[8][9] The Maine and Bay of Fundy circuit is transited in the early spring and late fall.

In 2024, Pearl Seas Cruises introduced several new Great Lakes itnineraries, including a Great Lakes Explorer cruise during which the Pearl Mist sails all 5 of the Great Lakes.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Rector, Kevin (23 June 2014). "Cruise ship Pearl Mist to embark on maiden voyage". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 23 July 2015. A lengthy legal dispute between the ship's buyer and its builder delayed its cruise schedule for years.
  2. ^ a b "Windsor benefits from tourists on American cruise ship: Pearl Mist makes five stops in the city carrying 210 passangers [sic]". CBC News. Windsor, Ontario. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 23 July 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d "Pearl Mist (9412701)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  4. ^ a b Fox, Jim (26 July 2016). "Cruise Ontario's Great Lakes, Georgian Bay this summer". Niagara Falls Review. Retrieved 23 July 2015. There's a new luxury cruise ship plying the cool waters of the Great Lakes and Georgian Bay this summer. Cruises on the Pearl Mist set sail from Toronto and Chicago and go where the bigger cruise ships can't reach.
  5. ^ Thompson, Candy (14 June 2014). "After years of dispute, cruise ship Pearl Mist gets closer to launch". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 23 July 2015. After a four-year buffeting in the legal system, the Pearl Mist has finally found haven in Maryland. The owner of the 335-foot cruise ship and the Canadian shipyard that built it have parted ways in a nasty divorce that involved two federal courts and an arbitration panel that itself was reduced to internal squabbling.
  6. ^ "Pearl Seas boosts agent pay to 20% for fall Cuba cruises". Seatrade Cruise. 2018-03-30. Retrieved 2018-08-04. The 11-night 'Cuba Cultural Voyage' is one of the few itineraries to circumnavigate the island. The 210-passenger Pearl Mist sails round-trip from Port Everglades. Destinations include Havana (two days), Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Casilda, El Cobre and Santiago de Cuba.
  7. ^ "Pearl Seas Cruises: Demand for Cuba remains strong". Seatrade Cruise. 2017-11-20. Retrieved 2018-08-04. The 11-night 'Cuba Cultural Voyage' is one of the few itineraries to circumnavigate the island. The 210-passenger Pearl Mist sails round-trip from Port Everglades. Destinations include Havana (two days), Cienfuegos, Trinidad, Casilda, El Cobre and Santiago de Cuba.
  8. ^ "New Pearl Mist itinerary combines Maine with Bay of Fundy". Seatrade Cruise. 2018-01-08. Retrieved 2018-08-04. Three departures are offered in 2018: May 12, Oct. 16 and Oct. 23.
  9. ^ Staff, CIN (2018-01-08). "Pearl Seas Announces New Itinerary for Maine and Bay of Fundy". Retrieved 2018-01-12.
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