Saint John [UPDATED]

That big girl is the Jewel of the Seas, a Royal Carribbean cruise ship docked at Saint John yesterday afternoon as I left a work commitment to return to Fredericton in time to (dispiritedly) vote. Not a great shot; but not a lot of places to actually stop and take a photo in Saint John's cramped olde-fashioned downtown. Cruise ships stopping in Saint John is a relatively new phenomenon, but there's been a lot of talk about the injection of cash these folks give the economy when they do. Yesterday for the first time I saw for myself - area around the docks was simply packed with people, on a Tuesday mid-afternoon, everyone from actors in costume offering guided hikes of the neighbourhood and architecture to food vendors to souvenir vendors, and hundreds - perhaps thousands - of cruise ship passengers wandering about. Every restaurant patio was full, every sidewalk crowded. (The crowds began further up the street I was on, near the bow, where the passengers disembarked and were greeted.) I can only imagine what the City Market, a recommended destination for the passengers, was like.

Them with a burning interest in the Port of Saint John, and whether or not it is hosting a cruise ship, can do so from anywhere in the world thanks to this webcam.

ronnie