Ahoy there! (The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic)

Member Name: machar

Product:	The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic
Date:	14/02/01 (46 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Titanic exhibition

Disadvantages: far too many models of ships!

The Halifax Maritime museum is situated near the harbour in the centre of Halifax. It is a large museum with a very large number of exhibits - a must for any sailors out there.

They have all sorts of exhibits ranging from painted figureheads from shipwrecks and full-scale boats, many of which are from the local region. The full-scale boats are housed in a large hall and it is possible to climb on board some of them. There is a balcony round part of the hall so you can look down on the boats and its also a good vantage point for photographs!

There are literally hundreds of model ships that can get a bit monotonous after a while so you may want to skip some of these. They also have full scale mock ups of ship cabins including one that actually rocks as though you were on a moving ship. As someone who gets seasick I can guarantee that this was very realistic!

The Titanic exhibition is probably the most interesting part of the museum for the non-sailors which means that it is always very busy but well worth lingering in. There is a large selection of artefacts from the wreck including menu cards, tickets, fixtures from the ship and, what the museum claims to be, the only intact Titanic deckchair in the world. The menu cards are very interesting - they really show the difference between the first class and third class passengers! It is a very eerie feeling looking at all the artefacts and thinking what happened to the ship. It certainly makes you think.

Outside the museum is the CSS Acadia, which is a retired survey vessel from Britain that you can have a nose around. There is also the HMCS Sackville, which is the last of 122 warships of its kind. They are trying to restore it so donations are very welcome!

We spent a long time in the museum looking at all the exhibits. There was an admission charge of 4 Canadian dollars which was pretty good value for money. Children would love the full-scale ships that you clim
b upon and the mock-ups of the ship cabins. However, I feel the endless display cabinets of model ships and exhibits could be a bit boring for some children and they may not appreciate the Titanic exhibition. It is probably a place best suited to older children and adults. Good value for money and a great place to be if the weather is bad!

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