Vancouver welcomes first cruise ship of 2019 season
Port of Vancouver expects 21% passenger increase in 2019
Vancouver's cruise ship season has officially begun.
The city welcomed its first ship of the season, the Emerald Princess, as she docked at Canada Place at sunrise on Friday.
The Port of Vancouver said the ship's arrival kicks off what's expected to be a record-breaking season, with more than one million cruise ship passengers expected to arrive on 290 ship visits between Friday and Nov. 1 — a 21 per cent increase from 2018.
"We always look forward to the start of cruise season, but this year is especially exciting," Carmen Ortega, manager of trade development for the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, said in a statement.
In total, 41 ships from 24 cruise lines will make port calls in Vancouver. The Port of Vancouver statement said each one generates an average of nearly $3 million in direct economic activity.
Victor Dezso has been taking photos of cruise ships in Vancouver's harbour for about 14 years as a hobby. He was at the convention centre to capture the Emerald Princess on Friday morning.
"There's been some big boys and they're getting bigger, it seems," he said, adding that he's taken pictures of "hundreds and hundreds" of ships over the years.
"I photograph whatever I'm allowed to, whatever I can," he continued. "It's a wonderful — an incredible — city, in fact, and I just photograph. I used to make a living out of it and now I just do it 'cause I can."
