Saint John, N.B.- Today, after a two-year hiatus, Port Saint John announced a return of its cruise sector to the waterfront on May 4.
A draft schedule totaling 69 cruise ship visits, with vessels owned by 13 cruise line brands, are planned to arrive in the Port City between May and November.
September and October are the traditional busy months for cruise activity in our region, and 2022 is no exception with 85% of the ships scheduled to visit after the Labour Day weekend. Ten vessels will call between early May and late August. During the Fall period there are 10 days with double ships, and 5 days with triple ships.
“As we emerge from the pandemic, we are seeing the careful and steady resumption of global travel and tourism, including cruise tourism. The cruise industry has developed some of the most stringent safety and operational protocols, which have been successfully demonstrated since global cruise resumption began in July 2020. For these reasons, we are encouraged and pleased to share with our community that our cruise sector is scheduled to return in 2022. For the past 2 years, our team at Port Saint John and our industry stakeholders have been working closely with federal and provincial authorities on how cruise will resume safely in Canadian port cities, and now it is time to put those plans into action,” said Craig Bell Estabrooks, CEO, Port Saint John.
“After 2 years without cruise, we’re looking forward to safely welcoming visitors back to Saint John and the Bay of Fundy region. We have appealing local and regional attractions including two new waterfront additions in 2022: Place Fort LaTour and the AREA506 Container Village. These will be great enhancements to our overall visitor experience.” says Natalie Allaby, Cruise Development Manager.
Prior to the pandemic, annual economic impact to New Brunswick from cruise activity was $68 million per year and provided 398 annualized full and part time jobs in the province.
For the most up-to-date cruise schedule and other information regarding the upcoming cruise season visit: https://www.sjport.com/cruise/cruise-schedule/