Seven Days and Counting to Cruise Ship Season 2016

Prince Rupert Port Authority workers
are busy preparing the Northland
Cruise Terminal for the season debut
on May18th

This time next week Prince Rupert will be preparing for the start of the annual invasion of cruise ship passengers and Day One could very well provide the greatest test of the year, with the Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas making its way into Prince Rupert Harbour.

The 7 AM arrival on may 18th at the Northland Terminal will launch the prospect of close to 2,110 guests taking in what the city has to offer and provides a glimpse of what once was a common sight in the harbour and may one day be the norm again when it comes to building up the Cruise ship industry on the North Coast.

The Royal Caribbean vessel makes Prince Rupert it's first stop out of Vancouver as it heads towards Ketchikan and points north in Alaska.

The Radiance of the Seas is the first of two May port calls on the schedule of twelve port visits this year, the Seven Seas Mariner will pull into town on May 29th, with 700 passengers aboard.

There are two visits in June with the MS Regatta  and her 684 passengers arriving June 14th, and Le Soleal one day later will bring 264 guests to the city.

July makes for the busiest of the summer months with three port visits on the schedule, the MS Regatta returns on the 13th,  the Crystal Serenity and its 1070 passengers make a Sunday visit on the 24th and one week later the Silver Discover brings 120 visitors to the city on a Sunday.

The City's new Cow Bay Marina will
get its first large scale test on May 18
as over 2100 visitors arrive at the nearby
Northland Cruise Terminal

Two port calls mark August's calendar both from the MS Regatta and its 684 passengers, they arrive on August 9th and again on August 19th.

The season winds down to its conclusion in September with the Le Soleal making a return visit on September 1st, while two pocket cruise ships bring the cruise season to an end on September 10th and 11th when the Sea Bird and Sea Lion both with 70 passengers each will anchor in Prince Rupert harbour.

The boost in volume of passengers from the Radiance of the Seas will deliver a significant increase between this cruise season and last, with the twelve port visits on the season offering the potential of 7,264 passengers coming ashore in the city.

Last year the schedule was rather limited with only seven port calls made from May to September delivering just over 3300 visitors to the city.

The arrival of the Radiance of the Seas will bring close to two thirds of last years number to the city in just one day, with this years final tally looking to be more than double the visitors from 2015.

The Radiance of the Seas launches Prince Rupert's 2016 Cruise Season
the cruise ship and its 2100 passengers arrive on Wednesday, May 18th
(photo from Royal Caribbean website)

The full schedule for 2016 can be found below:

Click to enlarge

The Prince Rupert Port Authority has a section of its website dedicated towards the Cruise opportunities in Prince Rupert featuring a look at what the region has to offer and a map and some background on some of the items of interest in the immediate area of the Northland Cruise Terminal.

Prince Rupert is also featured on the Cruisebc website, that portal provides an overview of the industry in the region and some of the things that visitors might want to explore during their time on the North Coast.

More background on the 2016 Cruise season can be found on our archive page, where we track items of interest from not only Prince Rupert, but with a review of the industry in Ketchikan, Vancouver and Victoria.