For Port Saint John, the return of cruise ship passengers after a two-year plus layoff from the Covid-19 pandemic calls for a lightshow.
A much-needed tourism lift for uptown Saint John businesses will come Thursday evening when the 482-passenger Regent Seven Seas Navigator and crew arrive on an overnight call at 9:20 pm.
One of the first vessels to visit the region, the Seven Seas Navigator will begin its Canadian leg after leaving from Boston this week, before stopping in Saint John on its way to other opening Maritime cruise ports in Halifax, Sydney, Charlottetown and Corner Brook.
The 482-passenger Regent Seven Seas Navigator will arrive in Saint John Thursday, the first cruise ship visit in over two years. (Image: Regent Seven Seas Cruises)
Its arrival kicks off a Saint John cruise season which includes 70 scheduled cruise ship visits between April 28 and November 3.
In all, thirteen cruise line brands will call Saint John in 2022, with 87 percent of those visits scheduled across September and October, traditionally the busiest portion of the cruise tourism season in the Atlantic region.
To celebrate, Port Saint John is including the public in welcoming the first ship back.
When the Regent Seven Seas Navigator arrives Thursday night, a fireworks show will launch from Long Wharf shortly after the vessel is secured at the berth.
On Friday, a tugboat water show will take place as the cruise ship makes its scheduled departure at 1:45 pm.
Shortly before, the Port will host a Cruise Season Kick-Off VIP event Friday morning at the Diamond Jubilee Terminal, where members from local government and the business community will gather to mark the occasion.
There to welcome them will be Andrew Dixon, Port Saint John’s Chief Operating Officer as Friday morning’s Master of Ceremonies.
For Dixon and his staff, the nearly 900-day wait has been long enough.
Industry meeting this week
This week sees Dixon in Miami, where’s he’s attending another reunion of sorts — The SeaTrade Cruise Global expo — the largest cruise industry gathering in the world. The annual expo returned this year after a similar Covid-19 hiatus with Resilience as its theme.
An opening session Monday drew a standing-room-only crowd, with speakers stressing how action, collaboration and empathy helped cruising recover from the pandemic shutdown.
With all of the industry focus returning to this year’s expo, Dixon is cutting his trip one day short.
“We’re coming back a day early to make sure that we’re there during that call for all sorts of reasons. But number one — we’re not going to miss the first cruise ship back in Saint John after two and a half years,” he told Huddle.
He says while the Seven Seas Navigator is the first call of the season, it will be travelling light, with roughly 124 passengers aboard, about one quarter of its passenger capacity.
Dixon, who formed a cruise committee under the Association of Canadian Port Authorities to work through the pandemic, described how the cruise industry in Canada endured through a tough couple of years, adding stakeholders always supported the decisions of Transport Canada and Public Health in putting the safety and security of citizens first.
“The key was to really be genuinely collaborative with all of the different interest groups that were trying to work toward resumption, and being empathetic,” Dixon said, sharing Transport Canada and provincial public health authorities were careful and deliberate about making sure whatever moves were made were both timely and necessary, so the industry could respond and be ready for changes.
With that emphasis on health and safety, Port Saint John has been busy preparing with all levels of government and other regional partners to welcome the sector back after a two-year stoppage.
The same holds true for all Canadian cruise ports, which adopted a consistent set of national procedures and protocols related to public health, safety, and illness prevention at cruise terminals nationwide.
Longest wait for businesses
David Duplisea, CEO with The Saint John Region Chamber Of Commerce, has been hearing from the local business community and says many businesses are excited to welcome cruise visitors again.
David Duplisea, CEO of the Saint John Region Chamber of Commerce. (Image: Submitted)
“There is a significant impact in the economic well-being of New Brunswick, in general and for our region,” said Duplisea, reminding that in 2019, the year before the pandemic, the net benefit to New Brunswick from cruise passengers was around $49 million.
While Duplisea says businesses are more than ready to welcome cruise traffic back, some are still playing it safe and plan to follow their own limited safety protocols.
“There’s always a level of hesitation and varying comfort levels, but we’re finding that’s not as prevalent as it was,” says Duplisea, who referenced a poll of chamber membership earlier this year, where just under 50 percent of businesses polled indicated they would still be having some kind of reopening protocols, with most suggesting they would include either asking for visitors and guests to have masks on or encourage social distancing.
While some caution will inevitably remain., Duplisea believes we’ll also see plenty of local businesses putting out some extra signs and noticeable touches welcoming back cruise passengers.
“This is the first thing that really signals that we are getting back to some kind of normalcy here, in the region, for cruise ships, it’s a very welcome sight in the harbour.”
Tyler Mclean is a reporter with Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
(With files from Brad Perry)
