Cruise season kicks off in Montreal – Montreal

Things were hectic at the port of Montreal Saturday, as hundreds of mainly American tourists tried to navigate their way through the chaos while boarding or disembarking the Holland America Lines vessel, the Zaandam.

It’s the first cruise ship to arrive this year, the beginning of what port authorities say is the start to a robust 2023 cruise season in Montreal.

“This year we will see a 20 percent increase and we will receive 50,000 cruise passengers, 17,000 crew members,” said Mélanie Nadeau, vice president, public affairs and community relations at the Port of Montreal.

They expect that number of visitors to generate around $25 million in economic spinoff for the city.

Despite this expected increase over last year,  Port of Montreal officials note that the cruise ship industry is still in recovery from the pandemic.

The number of cruise ship visitors they expect between now and the end of October, when the season ends, is only about half the pre-pandemic numbers.

“Before the pandemic we had around 120,000 cruise passengers and cruise members visit Montreal,” Nadeau noted.

Montreal’s tourism is still suffering the effects of the pandemic, according to Aurélie Blois, Tourism Montreal spokesperson.

“In 2023, Montreal will welcome 9.5 million visitors, 1.5 million more than last year,” she wrote.  “In 2019, Montreal welcomed 11 million visitors.”

As for cruises, Nadeau believes Montreal’s cruise passenger numbers will return to pre-pandemic levels before long.

“The St. Lawrence River is a premium destination for cruise passengers, especially for cruise passengers coming from Boston, New York or also Florida,” she told Global News.

“Ane Smit, captain of the Zaandam who’s been sailing to Montreal for more than 20 years, is also optimistic and says there are specific reasons passengers come on this cruise.

“Basically what they look forward to see is the city itself after they disembark,” he pointed out, “but on the way to get here the view that they get on the river is magnificent, from Quebec all the way up here.”

Port officials say that view is one reason the peak cruise season is between September and October as people want to see the fall colours, and they hope that and the city’s charm are enough to lure passengers back.