Vancouver’s first cruise ship of the season has arrived.
The 209-metre Sapphire Princess arrived in Vancouver Wednesday (April 12), following a stop in Victoria the day before.
READ MORE: ‘Economic boom’: Sapphire Princess docks in Victoria as first ship of cruise season
The Port of Vancouver is anticipating record cruise ship visits this year, for a total of 331 scheduled at the Canada Place cruise terminal between April 12 and October 24. It’s an increase of about eight per cent compared to 2022.
A record 1.2 to 1.3 million passengers could also travel through the terminal in 2023, which would be an increase of about 10 per cent over the record set in 2019 with 1.1 million.
“Vancouver continues to be one of the world’s top cruise destinations and an award-winning homeport,” said Mandy Chan, manager of cruise services at the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority. “After a two-year pause and an incredible restart in 2022, we are now gearing up for another big season for the Vancouver cruise sector as well as the local hospitality and tourism industries it supports.”
Vancouver, according to the port authority, has been a homeport for Alaskan cruises for more than 30 years for one-way and round-trip cruises through the Inside Passage and as a homeport the Vancouver cruise industry has brought in “an average of almost $3 million into the local economy for each ship that visits Canada Place, generate nearly 7,000 jobs across Canada, $300 million in wages and contributes $840 million to national GDP.”
Cruise ship visits returned to Vancouver in April 2022 after a two-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Victoria, the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority is projecting 320 total ship calls, which is down slightly from the 329 ships last year but passenger number are expected to be up to 850,000 from 735,000 last year.
Prince Rupert’s cruise ship season doesn’t start until May 3 with the arrival of the Carnival Miracle, but 43 more ships and nearly 80,000 passengers are scheduled to visit before the season ends at that north coast port in early October.
READ MORE: Prince Rupert gets a $3.5 million boost from the return of cruise tourism
– With files from Austin Westphal
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