As many as one million cruise passengers visited Vancouver on 288 ships, a 22 per cent increase in passenger volume over last year, according to Port of Vancouver.
The final cruise ship of the 2019 departed from Vancouver on Thursday, marking the end of the 33rd cruise season at Canada Place terminal at the Port of Vancouver.
Port of Vancouver estimates that each cruise ship that visits Vancouver generates about $3 million to the local economy. The 2020 cruise ship season will kick off on Thursday, April 2, 2020.
Peter Xotta, vice president of planning and operations at the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, said 2019 was a very exciting an successful cruise season, with a record number of cruise passengers with several new and returning cruise lines.
It was also the port of choice for the inaugural voyage of three cruise ships— Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Joy, Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth and Hurtigruten’s MS Roald Amundsen.
For the second year in a row, Vancouver has also been recognized by cruisers as one of the top-rated cruise destinations in the U.S. and Canada in the 2019 Cruise Critic’s Cruisers’ Choice Destination Awards.
The winners are chosen based on consumer ratings and reviews posted by cruise passengers to the Cruise Critic website.
“Canada Place at the Port of Vancouver is Canada’s largest cruise terminal and has been a leading home port for Alaska-bound cruises for more than 30 years. We are thrilled that cruisers have once again this year named Vancouver as a top cruise destination,” said Xotta.
