2019 expected to bring a record-number of cruise passengers to Canada Place, Vancouver
The 2019 cruise season in Vancouver officially starts tomorrow (March 29) with the arrival of the Emerald Princess to the Canada Place cruise terminal at the Port of Vancouver.
More than one million cruise passengers on 290 ship visits are expected in Vancouver this year, which is a 21 per cent increase in passenger numbers compared to 2018 and will mark an all-time record for cruise passengers through Canada Place at the Port of Vancouver.
“We always look forward to the start of cruise season, but this year is especially exciting as we expect to welcome a record-number of passengers through the Canada Place cruise terminal at the Port of Vancouver,” said Carmen Ortega, manager, trade development of the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.
In preparation for more passengers, the port authority has invested in a number of upgrades to Canada Place to improve the passenger experience and prepare for the newer, more modern cruise ships that are coming to the Port of Vancouver.
“Our focus continues to be on providing the best passenger experience we can by optimizing our world-class cruise ship facility at Canada Place,” continued Ortega. “We’ve re-designed the ground transportation area to improve passenger flow, reconfigured the terminal to expand passenger processing areas, and made a number of upgrades to all three ship berths.”
As a top global destination, Vancouver continues to attract a wide spectrum of cruise lines and passengers from around the world. This year, 41 different ships from 24 cruise lines will be visiting Canada Place cruise terminal at the Port of Vancouver, ranging from luxury, expedition-style ships designed to carry small groups of passengers, to some of the largest ships in the Alaska cruise market.
The Vancouver cruise industry stimulates on average nearly $3 million in direct activity to the local economy for each ship that visits Canada Place, generates nearly 7,000 jobs across Canada and $300 million in wages, and contributes $840 million to national GDP.
Highlights for 2019:
• The 2019 season includes several new cruise lines coming to Vancouver including Cunard Cruise Line with the Queen Elizabeth, Viking Ocean Cruises with the Viking Orion, Azamara Cruises with the Azamara Quest, and Hurtigruten with the Roald Amundsen, which is one of two hybrid ships in the world using electrical propulsion.
• New ships to Vancouver in 2019 include the Royal Princess, Windstar Legend, Eclipse (sister ship to the Solstice), Norwegian Joy (sister ship to the Norwegian Bliss), Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas, Silversea’s Silver Muse, which will replace the Silver Shadow, and Compagnie du Ponant’s L’Austral.
• Canada Place cruise terminal at the Port of Vancouver welcomes the return of Celebrity Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven Seas, Disney Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean International, Seabourn, Silversea Cruises, and Windstar. These cruise lines all have ships that use the Port of Vancouver as a home port to begin and end each cruise.
• More than one million passengers (1,077,000) are expected on 290 ship visits in Vancouver in 2019. This represents a 21 per cent increase in passengers compared to the 2018 season.
• The first ship of the season, the Emerald Princess, will arrive at the Canada Place cruise terminal east berth at 7:00 a.m. on Friday, March 29, 2019. The last cruise ship of the season, the Star Princess, will depart Canada Place on Friday, November 1.
(Vancouver Fraser Port Authority)
