North West and Canada Cruise Association

2011 - Expecting A Good Year For The Cruise Industry

Worldwide

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) says the total number of people cruising worldwide will be up 6.6% from 2010, when 15 million people took a cruise.

According to CLIA cruising is the fastest-growing segment of the travel industry. Since 1980 their average annual passenger growth rate has been more than 7.5%

In 2010, 12 new ships were released including two of the largest cruise vessels ever built: Royal Caribbean's 5,400-passenger Allure of the Seas and Norwegian Cruise Line's 4,100-passenger Norwegian Epic.

Victoria, B.C.

Victoria will welcome the first ship of the year, the Crystal Symphony, on April 16th. This is Crystal’s first regular call since 2005.  The Disney Wonder will make its inaugural call to Ogden Point on May 2nd. This is the first time that Disney has ever called Victoria.

22 ships are scheduled to call Victoria 210 times between April 16th and September 26th, representing 11 cruise lines. Victoria expects to reach the 400,000th passenger by midsummer.

Vancouver B.C.

Vancouver expects a 15 per cent increase in passengers over 2010, with a total economic impact to the city of approximately $1 billion. 200 vessel calls are scheduled compared to 177 in 2010.

The Disney Wonder arrives in Vancouver for her inaugural call on May 3rd and will be in Vancouver every Tuesday, a total of 18 calls during the 2011 season.

Also new to Vancouver is Oceana Cruises' Regatta, which carries approximately 700 passengers.  Arriving on May 23rd the ship will visit 11 times this season.

In total Vancouver will see 14 ships compared to 12 in 2010.

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