Photo: Disney Wonder
 

Port of Vancouver’s 2024 cruise season kicks off with the arrival of the Disney Wonder, marking what is expected to be another record season for the local industry.

This year includes 329 cruise ship visits currently scheduled for the Canada Place cruise terminal at the Port of Vancouver between March 11 and Oct. 29, 2024. This could mean a record-breaking 1.27 million passengers travelling through the cruise terminal in 2024, about 2% more than last year’s record.

Cruise ships deployed during the winter in other parts of the world return to the West Coast in March and April to prepare for the Alaska season. Today, March 11, the Disney Wonder will embark passengers heading to San Diego before coming back in May to start its weekly itinerary from Vancouver to Alaska.

Vancouver has been a homeport for Alaska cruises for more than 30 years, acting as the base for one-way and roundtrip cruises through the Inside Passage. As a homeport destination, the Vancouver cruise industry injects an average of nearly $3 million into the local economy for each ship visit.

Highlights for the 2024 cruise season include:

•  The first ship of the season, the Disney Wonder, will arrive at the Canada Place cruise terminal west berth at 7:00 a.m. on Monday, March 11, 2024. The next ship of the 2024 season will be the Norwegian Bliss arriving overnight on April 4. Full 2024 details are available in the cruise schedule.
   
•  The last cruise ship of the season, the Norwegian Jewel, will depart Canada Place on Tuesday, October 29, 2024.
   
•  The following five ships will visit Canada Place at the Port of Vancouver in 2024 for the first time : Explora I, Silver Nova, Celebrity Edge, Pacific World, Hanseatic Spirit.
   
•  The Canada Place cruise terminal at the Port of Vancouver welcomes the following cruise lines in 2024: Celebrity Cruises, Crystael Cruises, Cunard, Disney Cruise, Explora Journeys, Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, Holland America, Hurtigruten, Norwegian Cruise, NYK Cruises, Oceania Cruises, Peace Boat, Ponant, Princess, Regent Seven Seas, Royal Caribbean, Seabourn, Silversea Cruises, Victoria Cruises, Viking Ocean Cruises.
   
•  In 2023, nearly 75% of cruise calls were shore power-enabled, compared to 50% in 2019. Demand for shore power has steadily increased since 2009, when the Port of Vancouver became the first port in Canada and the third in the world to introduce shore power for cruise ships.

Source: Travelweek