Record 15,800 cruise ship passengers at Canada Place this Saturday

The area in and around Canada Place will be significantly busier than usual on Saturday, May 20 due to the traffic from the arrival and departure of three large cruise ships. In fact, it will be a record breaker for Vancouver’s cruise ship terminal.

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According to the Port of Vancouver, 15,800 passengers are expected to pass through the terminal on this single day between 7 am and 5 pm to disembark and board the Emerald Princess, Star Princess, and Nieuw Amsterdam vessels.

And there will be steady activity for the rest of the long weekend, with the Celebrity Millennium, Regatta, and Noordam arriving on Sunday, and the Disney Wonder docking on Monday.

Additional port and VPD Traffic Authority staff will be deployed to Canada Place Way to ensure traffic and crowds flow through the area smoothly and safely.

“Departing cruise passengers are asked not to arrive at Canada Place cruise terminal prior to their scheduled embarkation time so as to avoid further congestion while disembarking passengers are leaving their ships,” reads a release.

“Given the significant number of passengers, the port authority is advising those going to the terminal to make transportation arrangements in advance.”

Taxis are particularly in high demand whenever cruise ships dock in Vancouver, and this weekend’s cruise ship arrivals coinciding with the long weekend could make it even more difficult to hail a cab.

The 2017 cruise ship season is projected to be one of the biggest years for the port in recent memory. It is expected that 840,000 cruise ship passengers will travel on 237 sailings on 33 vessels, representing a 2% uptick in passenger volume over the previous season.

As well, this year’s season will be much longer as the final cruise ship sailing is scheduled on December 16, which will be made by the Star Princess. Normally, the season each year ends in October.

Each cruise ship visit at Canada Place adds $3 million to the local economy.