Disney Wonder kicks off Vancouver's 2025 cruise ship season this week | Daily Hive

Disney Wonder cruise ship at Canada Place in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

For the second year in a row, Disney Wonder is giving Vancouver’s cruise ship season a very early start.

Disney Wonder will dock at the Canada Place cruise ship terminal in downtown Vancouver on the morning of Wednesday, March 5, 2025, officially kicking off the 2025 cruise ship season in the city.

Typically, the first cruise ship of the season arrives in early April. However, Disney Cruise Line is deploying Disney Wonder to Vancouver this week as the starting point for a repositioning cruise to San Diego. Beginning in May, Disney Wonder will then return to its Vancouver homeport for regular weekly cruises to Alaska throughout the summer.

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After the Disney Wonder’s early arrival, the second ship of the 2025 season will be Holland America Cruises’ Koningsdam on April 5.

The last cruise ship of the 2025 season will be Princess Cruises’ Coral Princess on October 21.

disney wonder cruise ship vancouver canada place

Disney Wonder cruise ship at Canada Place in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

As usual each year, between late April and September, cruise ships will visit Canada Place almost daily, with many days featuring multiple arrivals. Vessels deployed to other parts of the world during the winter begin repositioning for the Alaska season in March and April, with Canada Place serving as their homeport throughout the late spring and summer months.

“We are thrilled to see Vancouver’s cruise sector continue to thrive—attracting visitors from across the globe for a once-in-a-lifetime Alaska experience while injecting more than $1 billion into our local economy,” said Captain Shri Madiwal, Vice President of Operations and Supply Chain at the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, in a statement.

For the 2025 season, the port authority expects a total of 301 cruise ship visits, bringing over 1.2 million passengers — a strong figure, though lower than in previous years.

This follows consecutive all-time passenger record volumes of 1.25 million in 2023 and 1.32 million in 2024.

According to the port authority, the lower forecast for 2025 is due to a drop from the pent-up demand after the pandemic. If the figure holds, it would still be above the pre-pandemic 2019 total of 1.1 million.

The cruise ship industry is one of Vancouver’s most significant tourism and economic generators. It remains to be seen how economic headwinds, including the United States’ tariffs on Canadian goods, may impact tourism overall. However, the low Canadian dollar could incentivize more travellers from the U.S.

The 2025 cruise ship season will feature several firsts, namely eight ships that will visit Canada Place for the first time ever. These include Norwegian Jade, Silver Moon, Ocean Riviera, Seabourn Quest, Viking Venus, Anthem of the Seas, and Villa Vie Odyssey, which is a unique three-year residence cruise ship concept.

Momentum is already building for the 2026 cruise ship season, with Disney Cruise Line announcing earlier this year it will deploy Disney Magic to Vancouver from May to September 2026. It will join its sister ship, Disney Wonder, in offering Alaska cruise itineraries; this means that for the first time ever, Vancouver will be regularly served by two Disney cruise ships each season, starting in 2026.

As the first vessel of the industry-leading Disney Cruise Line, the decision to deploy Disney Magic to Vancouver for about half the year each year is a notable move for both the global cruise ship industry and Disney fans.

Disney Wonder cruise ship at Canada Place in downtown Vancouver. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Disney Cruise Line debuted its seasonal Alaska cruises from Canada Place in 2011 with Disney Wonder. Although the ship temporarily relocated to Seattle in 2012, it returned to Vancouver in 2013, drawn by Canada Place’s superior passenger ratings. Now in its 12th year calling Vancouver its homeport, Disney Wonder has become a staple of the city’s cruise scene, aside from interruptions during the first two years of the pandemic.

“We want every passenger embarking or disembarking in Vancouver to have a memorable experience while they’re in our city,” said Royce Chwin, President and CEO of Destination Vancouver.

“It’s the incredible collaboration and partnerships that set Vancouver apart when it comes to creating special experiences for visitors that build on our outstanding reputation as a cruise homeport — from Canada Place’s exceptional service to the support provided by so many local businesses and tourism providers.”

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