Disney to kick off Vancouver's 2024 cruise ship season early

Disney Wonder at Canada Place in Vancouver (Macklin Holloway/Shutterstock) and Mickey and Minnie Mouse (Disney Cruise Line).

The 2024 cruise ship season in Vancouver will officially start about a month earlier than usual, thanks to an early departure date by Disney Cruise Line.

The Port of Vancouver has released its preliminary cruise ship schedule for the 2024 season, which will begin on March 11 when the Disney Wonder ship visits the Canada Place terminal in downtown Vancouver.

This mid-March start to Vancouver’s cruise ship season is about a month earlier than usual for Vancouver, which typically sees its first cruise ship in mid-April.

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Based on records, this is also the first time the popular Disney Cruise Line will kick off Vancouver’s cruise ship season.

Disney Cruise Line first launched its seasonal Alaska cruises via Canada Place in 2011, and it is now entering its 11th year of Vancouver serving as the homeport. There were interruptions in 2012 when the Disney Wonder switched to Seattle for one season, but then promptly returned to Vancouver starting in 2013 due to Canada Place’s higher passenger ratings. Cruises were also interrupted during the first two years of the pandemic.

Disney Wonder is scheduled to make another early season sailing in 2025, as it is scheduled to arrive in Vancouver on March 5, 2025.

Both inaugural Disney Wonder sailings for the 2024 and 2025 seasons are repositioning sailings, with the ship travelling to San Diego before returning in May for consecutive sailings from Vancouver until the early fall.

Disney Wonder is scheduled to make a total of 21 sailings from Vancouver in 2024.

Although the Disney Wonder is starting Vancouver’s cruise ship season early, the next cruise ship arrival is not scheduled until a few weeks later — on April 4, when the Norwegian Bliss arrives in the evening for a 22-hour overnight stay at Canada Place.

disney wonder canada place vancouver cruise ship

Disney Wonder at Canada Place in Vancouver, September 2023. (Port of Vancouver)

vancouver cruise ship canada place disney wonder

Disney Wonder at the Canada Place cruise ship terminal in downtown Vancouver. (Macklin Holloway/Shutterstock)

One of the notable cruise ship visits in Vancouver this season will be made by the brand new Explora I of MSC Cruises’ new luxury brand Explora Cruises. Explora I will be making her maiden Vancouver visit on April 18, and returning on May 6 for her second visit this year.

The 2024 cruise ship season’s activity will begin to really take off on April 26, when the Radiance of the Seas arrives and begins a period when Vancouver will see at least one cruise ship per day for almost every single day through to the end of October.

The last cruise ship of the season is scheduled to be the Norwegian Jewel on October 29.

All of this follows the exceptionally strong 2023 cruise ship season in Vancouver when a new all-time record of 1.25 million passengers was recorded at Canada Place.

There were 332 cruise ship visits over the 2023 season, representing a 9% increase compared to 2022. Holland America Line was the single largest operator at Canada Place, accounting for 25% of the passenger volumes this year.

2023 also saw 15 of Canada Place’s 20 busiest days ever for cruise ship passenger volumes.

“We expect another strong cruise season for the Canada Place cruise terminal in 2024, as we cement Vancouver as a premier homeport servicing the popular Alaska market,” Mandy Chan, the cruise services manager for the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, told Daily Hive Urbanized.

She said a total of 330 cruise ships are currently scheduled for the Canada Place cruise ship terminal in 2024.

“We look forward to continuing to work with our cruise industry partners to advance important sustainability initiatives this year, such as shore power which enables ships to shut down their diesel-powered auxiliary engines and plug into land-based electrical power. At the Port of Vancouver, shore power has helped reduce port-related greenhouse gas emissions by more than 38,000 tonnes since 2009,” continued Chan.

On March 23, Holland America Line will be holding an all-day Alaska Cruise and Travel Show at the Vancouver Convention Centre, which will be a free-to-attend, day-long expo that invites local residents to consider exploring Alaska via their cruise line. This includes “pan for gold” activities as well as live presentations and demonstrations.

“We’re excited to share how Holland America Line offers our guests more ways to experience glaciers, wildlife, and wilderness than any other cruise line,” said Bill Fletcher, senior director of destination marketing with Holland America Line.

“Many of our Alaska cruises are roundtrip. This event allows us to engage with locals in Vancouver who are thinking about an Alaska cruise but want to learn more from our team and our partners.”

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