By
Rebecca Gibson |
Holland America Line’s Veendam opened the 2014 cruise season at the Historic Charlottetown Seaport in Canada on 8 May.
This season, which is scheduled to close on 6 November with a call from Royal Caribbean International, Charlottetown expects to handle 68 ships and more than 93,000 passengers and 42,000 crew.
“We’ve seen the cruise industry continue to grow here on Prince Edward Island over the past number of years, and this is a wonderful opportunity to expand operations for the local tour operators, and retailers,” said Stan MacPherson, chair of the board at Charlottetown Harbour Authority.
Four ships will make inaugural visits including Princess Cruises’ Ruby Princess, Hapag-Lloyd’s Europa, Royal Caribbean’s Legend of the Seas and Pearl Sea Cruises’ Pearl Mist.
Pearl Mist will also overnight in Charlottetown on 2 October and again on 24 October.
“Cruise ships has become a very important part of the tourism industry on Prince Edward Island,” said Robert Henderson, the island’s minister of tourism and culture. “Not only do the passengers on these ships help support local businesses when they arrive, but they are also exposed to everything the island offers a vacation destination, which helps plant the seeds for future visitation.”