Key takeaways:
- 1st cruise ship is due to come on April 22.
- The Zaandam is prepared to make 15 stops in Charlottetown during the 2022 cruise season.
Charlottetown to welcome cruise ships:
Cruise ships will be returned in Charlottetown Harbour this spring for the only time in two years.
The first ship will come on April 22 when the Viking Octantis completes its inaugural stop to Charlottetown, according to the 2022 schedule declared Tuesday by Port Charlottetown. A total of 72 visits are anticipated by the end of the season on November 3, only 15 fewer than in 2019, the previous season before the COVID-19 pandemic.
It’s promising news for Island sellers keen to have cruise ship traffic back after two years of lost earnings, stated Mike Cochrane, CEO of Port Charlottetown.
“It’s been a challenging two years for a lot of our operators and our retail and our restaurant operators and anybody concerned in tours,” he stated.
“We have such a big hit from tip to tip in PEI that, you know, it’s visibly missed, and we are so keen regarding bringing back that level of activity and effect across our Island.”
Also read: Quarantine rules for tight contacts create challenges for Island daycares, households
This cruise season will be the first opportunity for Port Charlottetown to operate its second cruise berth, a $12 million development project completed in 2020.
Pandemic protocols
The largest ship on the schedule in terms of population is the Norwegian Joy, which has a capacity of 3,883 passengers and 1,700 staff. It has three stops in Charlottetown — September 9, September 26, and October 19.
Cochrane told multiple cruise lines to have pandemic protocols in place, including isolation measures and improved ventilation.
“At the end of the day, cruise lines have continued successfully all over the world.”
Source – cbc.ca
