Thousands of cruise ship passengers are making their way through Vancouver this weekend during the busiest weekend of the industry’s season.
Two ships arrived at Canada Place on Saturday, including Princess Cruises’ Sapphire Princess and Holland America Line’s Koningsdam.
They are some of the 11 ships the Port of Vancouver is welcoming over the last four days of June, with a projected 47,000 visitors on board.
The cruise ship terminal was bustling with tourists Saturday, disembarking the vessels and boarding tour buses.
Avery Mahony at Mahony’s Tavern says her workplace was anticipating a rush from the cruise ship crowd, as it has seen on previous weekends.
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“Especially since we’re in the peak season that we just get so many customers especially internationally, and it’s really good for business,” she said.
Chance McKee with the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority calls the economic impact provided by cruise lines and their passengers ‘truly phenomenal.”
“Cruise lines themselves spend around $660 million every cruise season on things like reprovisioning their ships, conducting any sort of maintenance of repairs while in port,” said McKee.
“Passengers spend on average around $450 each on things like local shopping, attractions, restaurants and tours.”
Even after this weekend’s peak, the Port of Vancouver anticipates 35,000 to 40,000 passengers to pass through Canada Place every weekend through the end of the season.
More than 300 ship calls are scheduled at the port during this cruise season, with 1.2 million passengers projected to visit the city.
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