It’s officially cruise ship season and one of the biggest ships to port in Halifax, arrived alongside the waterfront Friday morning.

The MSC Meraviglia holds nearly 4,500 passengers.

According to the Port of Halifax, it came around 7 a.m. is scheduled to leave by 7:00 p.m. Friday evening and will come back in one week.

In a news release, President and CEO of Discover Halifax, Ross Jefferson says, “We recognize the important role our tourism industry plays in fueling our local economy and local businesses, and the part the cruise sector fulfills in bringing visitors to our shores.”

Roughly 200 cruise ships and hundreds of thousands of passengers are scheduled to visit the harbour this season, that kicked off in April and will last until November.

The peak of the season is in June, July and August.

The Port of Halifax says over 300,000 passengers arrived here in 2023.