vancouver's cruise ship season sees slight dip from record-breaking previous year
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the cruise ship celebrity eclipse departs canada place in vancouver in 2022.
arlen redekop
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b.c.’s cruise ship industry saw growth taper off in 2025 after shattering records the previous three years, but industry executives say they aren’t fretting.
passenger numbers fell to 1.2 million from a record of more than 1.3 million last year. the canada place terminal welcomed 301 ships, the lowest number since the covid pandemic halted cruise traffic, but that was still higher than the pre-pandemic peak of 288 ships.
shri madiwal, vancouver fraser port authority’s vice-president of operations and supply chain, told postmedia that this year’s numbers were more in line with trajectories before the onset of the pandemic in 2020.
he said recent record-breaking years were “absolutely” a result of pent-up demand after pandemic lockdowns were lifted.
“that’s what you’re seeing around the globe,” he said.
madiwal said each cruise ship generates an average of $3 million for local businesses and services per year, and adds about $1 billion to b.c.’s economy annually.
passengers spend an average of $450 each on hotels, restaurants, shopping and other services, according to the port authority.
for jordan trustham, regional manager at canadian craft tours, the decline in cruise ship passengers this season wasn’t immediately noticeable.
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“we didn’t notice a huge drop,” he said.
while trustham hasn’t yet had a chance to run the numbers for the season, he said he hadn’t seen a significant decline from american tourists.
“what i’ve been hearing from all of our guys is that americans have no problem coming up here,” he said.
andy crimp, general manager of cardero’s restaurant in coal harbour, said sales were up this summer, and cruise tourists had a lot to do with that.
“cardero’s is, like, cruise central because we’re so close to all of the major hotels where a lot of these people stay as they come off the boat and as they’re going on the boat.
“it’s a big part of our business from may to september, and it was great this year.”
he said political tension between the u.s. and canada doesn’t seem to be on most tourists’ minds, but the value for money they get because of the lower canadian dollar certainly is.
“the american population that has an expendable amount of cash are travelling to canada more and loving it here,” said crimp. “that’s been my experience in talking to a lot of them.”
he said canadians might be wary of u.s. travel, but the reverse doesn’t appear to be true.
“my experience is that americans aren’t mad at canadians. we might be mad at americans or the american administration, but i talked to thousands of americans this summer … and people are just happy to be up here. i mean, we have a beautiful city, right?”
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madiwal was bullish on future prospects for b.c.’s cruise industry, saying the port authority was looking at ways to provide more capacity for the cruise industry.
“if you’re looking at the big, major cruise lines who want to focus on alaska, the demand is there, and they continue to use vancouver as a premium destination,” madiwal said.
according to madiwal, the port authority forecasts about 355 cruise ships and about 1.4 million passengers in b.c. next year, an 18 per cent increase.
“next year, we’re going to see almost 66 days with three ships in the port,” he said, noting that about 15,000 people pass through canada place on an average three-cruise-ship day.
“the cruise lines are excited,” he said.
the steady increase in cruise ship traffic poses significant environmental concerns, though. every additional ship increases underwater noise pollution, adds to greenhouse gas emissions, and increases the risk of whale strikes and other ecological damage.
cruise ships, along with tankers and container ships, run largely on a notoriously dirty type of diesel fuel. the shipping industry overall is responsible for three per cent of annual global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a united nations report.
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underwater noise from large ships, such as tankers and cruise ships, can disrupt hunting and communication for whales and other marine animals.
madiwal pointed to several programs the port authority has implemented, including voluntary speed reductions, requiring shore power for docked cruise ships to reduce the use of diesel generators, and operational efficiencies to minimize the movement of ships through second narrows and other ports in the province.
“this is something that is a very important issue,” madiwal said. “how do we balance the trade and the environmental impact of trade on the community?”
the last cruise ship of the season, coral princess, is scheduled to arrive at canada place on tuesday at 7 a.m. and depart at 4 p.m.
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