The first cruise ship of the 2015 season arrived this morning, officially kicking off a record-breaking cruise season at Ogden Point.
Greater Victoria Harbour Authority says, 2015 is shaping up to be a banner year with 229 ship calls carrying 513,000 passengers. Direct spending by passengers and crew is expected to top $32 million, supporting 880 direct and indirect jobs in our region.
Passengers on board the Grand Princess were greeted by City of Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps, representatives from the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, Tourism Victoria, the Town Crier and greeters from the Vic AM Association in colourful period costume.
With the scheduled increase in ship calls and passenger numbers, combined with the 17% increase in daytime calls, more passengers will spend more time and more money enjoying Victoria’s world-class network of shops, tours, restaurants and attractions.
The public is invited to come down to Ogden Point (free parking provided on site, staff to help direct traffic) at 8am to attend the launch ceremony (in front of Pier B) and participate in a walk with Mayor Helps from Ogden Point to the Steamship Terminal downtown leaving at 9am. Tours of the Unity Wall at the breakwater are also scheduled at 8:30am, 9am and 9:30am. A shuttle bus is available to take back those who walked downtown from Ogden Point and will depart the Steamship Terminal at the Belleville Street entrance at 10am. Join us as we celebrate the launch of Victoria’s 2015 cruise season with the arrival of the Grand Princess!
First ship of the season on a glorious #yyj morning. @princesscruises an important contributor to #yyj economy! pic.twitter.com/eLYwCGmfql
— Mark Mawhinney (@rhmarkmawhinney) April 22, 2015
The first cruise ship of the season just docked! Welcome @princesscruises #exploreVictoria #cruise https://t.co/n0HSPAZdHQ
— Tourism Victoria (@victoriavisitor) April 22, 2015
