By
Rebecca Gibson |
A record nine cruise ships called at the port of Baie-Comeau in Quebec, Canada, in 2014.
Located on the St Lawrence River, Baie-Comeau hosted Pearl Sea Cruises’ Pearl Mist, Seabourn Cruises’ Seabourn Quest, Fred. Olsen Cruise Line’s Balmoral, Crystal Cruises’ Crystal Serenity and Silversea’s Silver Whisper, which all called more than once.
This year, Baie-Comeau recorded an average disembarkation rate of 90% – a 10% rise from 2013 – and handled more than 4,500 cruise passengers and 2,700 crew members, mostly from the UK and US. While in port, visitors enjoyed more than 1,300 shore excursions including tours to the Garden of the Glaciers, walks through Baie-Comeau and visits to Jean-Lesage Manic-2, one of the largest multiple arch dams in the world and its generating station.
Baie-Comeau hit another milestone on 25 September when it welcomed its 25,000th cruise passenger Magdalena De Vlieger. Along with her husband, De Vlieger was presented with Champagne and enjoyed a limousine ride, private tour of the town hall and the opportunity to sign the town’s Golden Book.
Next year, Seabourn Quest will open Baie-Comeau’s season with a call on 5 September, while six other vessels are due to visit throughout the season. Meanwhile eight ships have already been booked to call at the port in 2016.