Cruise ship season officially opens in Saint John
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The city’s cruise ship season kicked off Wednesday with a visit from the MSC Meraviglia.
The 4,500-passenger capacity ship docked at the Diamond Jubilee Cruise Terminal on Water Street at 10:30 a.m., with passengers from everywhere filing off to spend the day in and around the city.
It took awhile but once the passengers cleared customs, they created a steady stream of crowds heading down Water Street. For the most part, everyone looked happy.
“It’s looks beautiful here so far,” said Axel Caraballo, of Puerto Rico. “Sailing in here looked beautiful. I hear everyone is friendly around here so we’re looking forward to taking it all in.”
New Jersey resident Denise Riley said she’s been in other parts of Canada but this is her first time on the East Coast.
“We’ve been meaning to come out here, and we’re so happy to be here now, we’ve been looking forward to it,” she said. “We’ve been in Toronto and Montreal, but it was so beautiful on the water coming up to the city here, it’s wonderful.”
Businesses like Port City Pirates and Rock Coast Gifts, as well as several independents, set up little popup stores selling clothing, jewelry, artwork and other local creations.
For Sue Ellis, a retired teacher who makes jewelry, it’s not just about money. She says talking to people of all walks of life is one of her favourite things.
“I love meeting the people who come here, and I actually have regulars,” she said. “I had one lady come in one year and ask for a specific piece, which I didn’t have; she said she’d come back, and sure enough, she was back the next year.”
Don Murray, a retired restaurateur who sells his own framed photographs, agreed with Ellis, and added that he likes having something different to do in his retirement that is so rewarding.
“It’s an excuse to get out of the house,” he laughed. “I love meeting everyone, all the different people, and it’s so good that we’re getting back to normal.”
According to numbers released last year by the Port of Saint John, cruise ship visits bring in more than $68 million annually.
The schedule for the 2024 cruise ship season shows 76 visits.
Envision Saint John VP of Marketing and Communications Jillian MacKinnon would agree, saying that although the tourism sector is still in recovery mode from the COVID-19 pandemic, cruise arrivals and hotel room bookings are trending closer to 2019 numbers.
“That’s really encouraging,” she told Brunswick News. “There’s a lot of optimism in the tourism sector right now and cruise ship season is such a vital part of the tourism economy here in Saint John, being the only city on the Bay of Fundy and a draw for some of the cruise lines.”
Mackinnon said they consider cruises to be validation for the area and other markets because cruise lines choose destinations for their ships where they know visitors and passengers will have great experiences.
She said visitor numbers are going up, and everyone who works in tourism is hoping for better weather this year. That was the big factor in the 2023 season, when rainy, cloudy days put a damper on visitation in the area. But if the weather holds, she said, there are many facility improvements and additions in the area, such as new entertainment spaces, patios and music festivals.
The MSC Meraviglia returns to Saint John on May 16.
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