Vancouver Braces for Season of Near-Daily Cruise Arrivals
Vancouver’s Canada Place cruise terminal may have welcomed its first ship of 2025 on March 5, but the port is bracing itself for a surge of passengers that will begin disembarking from major cruise ships between May and September.
As the Alaska cruise season begins, the Port of Vancouver anticipates more than 1.2 million passengers will arrive via more than 300 ships.
In fact, cruise ships are scheduled to call nearly every day now through the end of September, often with multiple vessels docked on weekends.
Port officials say that as many as 50,000 passengers will pass through the terminal between Friday and Monday on peak weeks.
“We’re thrilled to be embarking on another successful season for Vancouver’s thriving cruise sector, with more than a million passengers expected to pass through Canada Place in coming months,” said Chance McKee, cruise account representative at the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority.
The port estimates that each ship visit contributes more than $3 million in direct spending in the local economy, with Holland America Line guests specifically expected to spend nearly $18 million at the city’s restaurants, shops, and attractions.
The cruise line has 74 cruises operating from Vancouver this year with four ships based in the city the first week of May 2025.
“Vancouver is one of the premier hubs from which our ships explore Alaska,” said Bill Fletcher, Holland America Line’s senior director of sales enablement.
Added Budd Darr, president and CEO of Cruise Lines International Association, “Vancouver is one of the premier gateways to the breathtaking beauty of Alaska and the start of the 2025 cruise season is an exciting milestone.”
To manage the impact of passenger arrivals, the City of Vancouver is testing a new one-way vehicle flow along Canada Place outside the terminal to ease congestion.
The port is also adding more staff to help with guest questions and logistics.
Busy 2025 Season Underway
Although the surge in traffic will be great, Vancouver’s Canada Place’s passenger count will be slightly less than last year.
In 2024, the cruise terminal experienced a record-breaking season, welcoming 1.32 million passengers and hosting 327 cruise ship calls between March 11 and October 29.
That season hit a new high for the port, with 80,000 more guests compared to the previous year.
This year, the port’s season started on March 5, 2025, when the 1,750-passenger Disney Wonder, operated by Disney Cruise Line, arrived at its West Berth.
It took another month before other cruise lines followed suit, with Holland America Line’s 2,650-guest Koningsdam arriving on April 5. The ship returned two more times in April and now is on a series of voyages to Alaska through October 4, 2025.
Read Also: 10 Must-Know Things About the Vancouver Cruise Terminal
The port will have 42 days where its East, North, and West Berths will all be filled, and Vancouver will welcome Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Jade, Silversea Cruises’ Silver Moon, Oceania Cruises’ Ocean Riviera, Seabourn’s Seabourn Quest, Viking Cruises’ Viking Venus, and Royal Caribbean’s Anthem of the Seas for the first time.
The residential cruise, Villa Vie Odyssey, will also make a maiden call in the port.
Additional cruise lines that will visit the port include Explora Journeys, Celebrity Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Regent Seven Seas, and several expedition lines.
Although the peak season will end in September, Canada Place is scheduled to see ships into October, with Princess Cruises’ 2,000-guest Coral Princess the last passenger ship departure of 2025.