Legendary Maritime Tugboat Will Be Stationed at Port Saint John This Summer
SAINT JOHN – New Brunswick millennials will have a chance to meet one of their childhood heroes next month in Saint John when Theodore Tugboat, Maritime treasure, sails into the city’s port.
On Thursday Ambassatours Gray Line and its New Brunswick partners announced that Theodore Too (that’s his “professional name” we guess) will be travelling to Saint John to deliver tours throughout the 2018 season.
In case you’re not from around here, Theodore Tugboat is the star the popular children’s television show of the same name, which aired on CBC in Canada, and PBS in the USA from 1993 until 2001. The show was set in Halifax.
“It’s been awhile since Theodore has ventured out of Halifax but we know he has a huge fan base in every province across the country”, said Dennis Campbell, CEO, Ambassatours Gray Line, in a news release. “When the opportunity came up to have him go to Saint John to meet new friends and ‘work’ in their busy harbour this season, we wanted to make that happen for him.”
Previously Theodore spent time in several Canadian and U.S. destinations as a tourist attraction and water safety promoter, including Montreal and Quebec City. He has also undertaken a 50-city tour along the eastern seaboard to Tampa Bay and back through the Great Lakes to Chicago and Toronto.
For most fans in New Brunswick, you had to visit Halifax to meet him. Some have gone to see him as children on family vacations. Others perhaps stumbled to the Halifax harbour “just to say hi” to him after one too many beers in the throes of young adulthood while visiting friends in university. But now, generations young and old in and around New Brunswick will have the chance to meet this Maritime legend without driving four hours!
“We are excited to welcome Theodore Tugboat to the Saint John waterfront this Summer and Fall. Visitors and residents will have the opportunity to experience new water-based tour product this year,” said Jim Quinn, president and CEO of Port Saint John.
“The Bay of Fundy Cruise Partnership, which includes Discover Saint John, is at the core of making this possible and we thank our partners and Ambassatours for working with us on this project.”
While in Saint John, Theodore will host Gray Line-quality daily family and public harbour tours, as well as cruise excursions, from early June through to the end of cruise season in October. Theodore will also be available for groups, for private charter, and on several occasions will go to the mouth of the harbour to welcome cruise ships on their inaugural visits. When he’s not doing that, he’ll be moored at Pugsley Slip on Water Street.
If you want tickets (and why wouldn’t you?), they are now available online through Ambassatours and will be sold on-site from a custom-built kiosk adjacent to the Coast Guard Station on Water Street once he arrives in early June.
Tickets will also be available at Barbour’s Store in Uptown Saint John. Ambassatours Gray Line is developing custom tours for Theodore, and will be hiring local captains and guides to deliver the experiences.