By
Rebecca Gibson |
The Port of Québec has broken its own cruise passenger record for the third consecutive year.
During its busiest and longest international cruise season to date, the Canadian port welcomed 180,836 passengers – compared to 162,000 guests in 2013 – and 26 ships and 109 stopovers. The season opened on 10 May with the arrival of Holland America Line’s (HAL) Veendam at the Ross Gaudreault Cruise Terminal and closed on 12 November with a maiden call from Plantours’ Hamburg.
Homeporting in the Canadian city for a second consecutive year, HAL’s Veendam offered nine embarkation and disembarkations during the season, and berthed at the port for 26 days. In addition, two of the line’s other ships returned to the port this season.
Five ships made inaugural visits to Québec in 2014 including Pearl Cruises’ Pearl Mist, Seabourn Cruises’ Seabourn Quest and Plantours’ Hamburg. In addition, Crystal Cruises’ Crystal Serenity and Royal Caribbean International’s Legend of the Seas used the port for embarkations and disembarkations.
In total, 25 ships and more than 62,000 cruise ship passengers chose Québec as an embarkation and disembarkation point in 2014, compared to 51,000 in 2013. This represents CAD$329 per destination passenger and CAD$111 per stopover passenger for the Capitale-Nationale region.
After a long-term campaign by the Québec Port Authority and its partners, the summer season was popular, with 53 ships visiting the port between May and August this year. In 2013, only 38 vessels visited the city during this period.
“It has really been a strong year for the Port of Québec,” said Mario Girard, president and CEO, Québec Port Authority. “Remaining the busiest port for international cruises on the St. Lawrence, Québec is also, now more than ever, a unique and popular destination among cruise passengers. This generates economic benefits for Québec and the region.”
Québec also marked a series of other milestones this year, welcoming its one millionth passenger since the construction of the Ross Gaudreault Cruise Terminal in 2002. On 24 October, the port celebrated the tenth anniversary of Cunard’s Queen Mary 2, which also marked the tenth birthday of the ship’s maiden call to Québec in 2004.
Reaching capacity for the first time, the QPA also handled a record 15,000 passengers and 5,000 crew onboard six cruise ships on 3 October. Royal Caribbean International’s Legend of the Seas and Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Dawn both made embarkation/disembarkation calls, while Princess Cruises’ Ruby Princess, HAL’s Maasdam, Regent Seven Seas’ Seven Seas Navigator and Hapag-Lloyd Cruises’ Europa made stopovers.