Award-winning Canada Place cruise terminal expected to see more than 1.32 million passengers and 327 ship visits in 2024—supporting businesses and jobs across the Lower Mainland and Canada.
The final cruise ship of the 2024 season, Norwegian Jewel, will depart from Canada Place tomorrow (Oct 29, 2024) marking the end of another successful year for Vancouver’s cruise industry.
The award-winning Canada Place terminal at the Port of Vancouver is expected to welcome 327 cruise ship visits and 1.32 million passengers between March 11 and October 29, 2024—breaking the previous record for passengers set last year by more than 80,000 (a 7% year-on-year increase).
“We want to thank everyone who helped 2024 be such a successful cruise season in Vancouver—to have back-to-back record years run so smoothly is a huge accomplishment and testament to the dedication of those involved,” said Shri Madiwal, Vice President of Operations and Supply Chain at the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, the federal agency that enables growing trade through the Port of Vancouver, including cruise, while protecting the environment.
“I want to thank our partners—including SSA Marine, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, the Canadian and U.S. border agencies, the City of Vancouver, and cruise lines—for helping deliver another successful cruise season. Canada Place cruise operations play a vital role in Vancouver’s thriving tourism sector—injecting over a billion dollars into the local economy every year, and supporting businesses and jobs throughout the region.”
A new Economic Impact Study released by the port authority earlier this year found passengers, crew and cruise lines spend more than $1.1 billion locally each year, including passengers spending an average of $450 each on hotels, restaurants, shopping, tours and local attractions, and more. Cruise lines meanwhile spend as much as $660 million a year on local goods and services, as Canada Place is a homeport for the Alaska market where cruise ships get re-stocked, re-fueled and maintained between trips.
“Cruise Lines International Association and our member lines thank the port authority and all our partners and suppliers for delivering another successful cruise season,” said Donna Spalding, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) Senior Advisor. “This year’s passenger counts reflect the strong demand for cruising and with more travelers choosing to sail from Vancouver, the economic benefit of cruise tourism is expanding further into the local community.”
“The Port of Vancouver has been an incredible partner for many years, and we thank them for their continued support,” said David J. Herrera, President of Norwegian Cruise Line. “Norwegian Jewel’s Alaska voyages to and from Vancouver provided our guests a wonderful opportunity to plan pre- and post-cruise stays in this beautiful city, allowing them to truly immerse themselves in the destination and plan an extended vacation. We look forward to our future sailings to and from Vancouver throughout 2025 and 2026, helping support the local businesses while also providing our guests with an unforgettable vacation experience to Alaska.”
The busy 2024 cruise season saw Canada Place have six of its top-10 busiest days ever for passengers, including its second busiest ever on April 29 when almost 20,000 passengers passed through the terminal.
“As another record-breaking cruise season wraps up for the year, the contributions of our nearly 200 Destination Vancouver volunteers stand out as an example of how the city comes together to support the cruise industry,” said Royce Chwin, President and CEO of Destination Vancouver.
“With more than 330,000 visitor interactions this season—14% more than last year and nearly double what we saw in 2022—among the largest groups of visitors we work with are cruise passengers. Our volunteers are on hand at Canada Place on every sailing day to offer local insights and encourage passengers to explore neighbourhoods, dining, and attractions, turning brief stopovers into richer experiences. This increased engagement directly benefits the local economy, making tourism an even stronger driver of positive growth for our city.”
The port authority continues to collaborate with destination, government and cruise line partners to invest in the Canada Place terminal to enhance capacity, sustainability and passenger experience at the Port of Vancouver. This year, that included partnering with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to launch Canada’s first ever facial biometric scanning for cruise.
The new facial scanning technology has reduced the time it takes to pass through U.S. border control by up to 94%, with average transaction times dropping from 2-3 minutes with the passport kiosks previously used to about 10 seconds with the biometrics—significantly improving the terminal’s ability to seamlessly handle high numbers of cruise passengers and enhancing overall passenger experience.
“We are thrilled to continue our valuable work with industry and government enhancing capacity and passenger experience at the Canada Place cruise terminal, while further embedding sustainability into Vancouver’s booming cruise sector,” said Madiwal.
Environmental updates for Vancouver’s cruise sector in 2024 include:
Strong participation in ECHO’s voluntary slowdowns to protect at-risk whales in the Salish Sea, with a more than 90% participation rate by cruise lines
More than 80% of cruise calls to the port being shore power enabled (compared to 50% in 2019). Shore power technology has helped reduce port-related greenhouse gas emissions by more than 45,000 tonnes since 2009—the equivalent of taking about 10,700 gasoline-powered cars off the road for one year.
Progress exploring the feasibility of creating a zero-emission green corridor for cruise between Washington, B.C. and Alaska—which is now focused on evaluating providing green methanol as a marine fuel in Vancouver and Seattle
Five cruise lines receiving port authority Blue Circle Awards recognizing their efforts advancing sustainability and environmental protections
In 2024 the award-winning Canada Place cruise terminal was nominated for the following awards: Seatrade Cruise’s ‘Port of the Year’, and the World Travel Awards’ ‘North America’s Leading Cruise Port’ and ‘World’s Leading Cruise Port’.
2024 cruise season background
The last cruise ship of the season, the Norwegian Jewel, is scheduled to depart Canada Place on October 29, 2024. It is scheduled to arrive at the west berth at 7 a.m. and depart at 5 p.m.
The first cruise ship to call at the Port of Vancouver for the 2024 season was the Disney Wonder on March 11
Vancouver has been a homeport for Alaska cruises for more than 30 years, acting as the base for one-way and round-trip cruises and offering unparallel access to the pristine Inside Passage
As a homeport destination, each cruise ship visit to the Canada Place terminal injects an average $3 million into the local economy
Five vessels made their inaugural call to the Port of Vancouver in 2024: MSC’s Explora I; Silversea’s Silver Nova; Celebrity’s Celebrity Edge; Peace Boat’s Pacific World; and Hapag Lloyd Cruise’s Hanseatic Spirit
The Canada Place cruise terminal welcomed the following cruise lines in 2024: Celebrity Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Cunard, Disney Cruise, Explora Journeys, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, Holland America, Hurtigruten Expeditions (HX), Norwegian Cruise, NYK Cruises, Oceania Cruises, Peace Boat, Ponant, Princess, Regent Seven Seas, Royal Caribbean, Seabourn, Silversea Cruises, Victoria Cruises, Viking Ocean Cruises
Shore power enables ships to shut down their diesel-powered auxiliary engines and plug into land-based electrical power, with demand steadily increasing since 2009, when the Port of Vancouver became the first port in Canada and the third in the world to introduce the technology for cruise.
(Record 2024 cruise season wraps at Port of Vancouver – Port of Vancouver)
Tags: Vancouver
Appeared first on: Latecruisenews.com
