Rosa and Jesus More of Seattle emerged from their latest sailing with Princess Cruises on Friday — their 237th — as the nine millionth cruise-ship passengers to arrive at Victoria’s Ogden Point in the last 20 years.
Ian Robertson, chief executive of the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority, greeted the couple, who received a gift certificate to the Bay Centre, along with a pedicab ride, among other gifts.
Robertson said the 10 millionth passenger is expected in 2024.
Rosa More said she and her husband, who are in their 70s, have been to Victoria 30 or 40 times. “We love the city, it’s beautiful — people are fantastic,” she said, adding Butchart Gardens is a favourite stop.
After having their cruising curtailed for a year and a half because of the pandemic, the retirees were the “first ones on board” when it opened up again, she said.
Robertson said marking the nine-millionth passenger was a “big day” after the long, pandemic-related absence of cruise stops in Victoria. “It’s a real significant event for the community.”
The current cruise season has 331 scheduled ship dockings with about 790,000 passengers, close to the numbers in 2019.
Robertson said about 10 cruise-ship visits to Victoria have been cancelled this year because of everything from high winds to the challenges the cruise industry has faced in restarting operations, but that number is not unusual.
Passenger numbers are rising on ships coming to the terminal, he said. “At the start of the season in April-May, the ships were around 50 per cent full, but we’re starting to see the average number creep up [to] around 75, 80 per cent and we’ve seen some ships come in at 100 per cent capacity.”
The harbour authority is investing revenue from the cruise industry back into amenities like the Broughton Street pier, Robertson said. The pier, home to the Red Fish Blue Fish takeout restaurant, needs significant repairs, he said. “That’s a piece of infrastructure that supports a lot of marine tourism in the harbour.”
The budget is $1 million and work could start in the fall.
Darlene Hollstein, general manager of the Bay Centre and chairwoman of Destination Greater Victoria, said having cruise-ship passengers back in downtown has been good for businesses. “They’re very, very good to our local eateries and the local shops downtown.”
She said about one-third of the Bay Centre’s stores feature local wares, which is what many cruise visitors are looking for.
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