Tour and shuttle buses, pedestrians, pedi-cabs and more left Ogden Point on Wednesday morning after the first cruise ship of the season arrived in Victoria.
The Grand Princess pulled in a little before 7 a.m., with 2,600 passengers, and left in the early afternoon.
This year, a record 229 ships visits are expected — up from 224 last year — bringing 513,000 passengers. Most ships serve the popular Alaskan cruise market.
Under sunny skies, Karen and Jerry Case of Lacey, Washington, walked along Government Street, where many shops had their doors wide open.
The Cases rode a shuttle bus to downtown to pick up maple cream cookies for a friend. “We love your exchange rate,” said Karen, who has already visited Victoria about 10 times. “It’s beautiful,” Jerry added.
Raymonde Trudeau and Alain Landry of Montreal, on their first visit to Victoria, walked to Fisherman’s Wharf.
They picked that destination because their stay was “not very long,” Trudeau said.
Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps and Greater Victoria Harbour Authority officials were part of a delegation welcoming the first ship’s passengers.
The Harbour Authority estimates that passengers and crew spent more than $32 million in the area last year.
This year, more ships are arriving earlier in the day. They’re also staying about seven hours, up from five to six hours last year, said Sonterra Ross, Harbour Authority chief operating officer.
Last year, about 393,000 passengers disembarked, the authority said. Of those, close to 40 per cent went on a tour, nearly 23 per cent walked to downtown, 21 per cent rode a shuttle bus, and the remainder used other types of transportation, it said.
While the tourism industry celebrates the start of another season, the James Bay Neighbourhood Association is not looking forward to the related noise, sulfur dioxide emissions and tour-bus traffic.
“The cruise ship industry needs to behave responsibly by cleaning up emissions, staggering berthing times, and providing or contracting clean, green, on-shore options to their passengers,” said Marg Gardiner, president of the group.
On a typical three-ship evening, 1,000 to 1,700 additional vehicles are on the road, the association said, adding that of those, 130 are large, older buses.
The association is calling on the Harbour Authority to ensure that any ships not already using low-sulfur fuel switch over to it as they enter Canadian waters.
Dave Green, who lives less than a block from Dallas Road, said the cruise sector is a “big part of the economy, but we have concerns about the emissions. … The diesel buses are the concern.”
The area is already noisy — noise from helicopters at nearby Camel Point drowns out conversations on the street.
All that waterfront-related activity appeals to Jack Thame, who lives near Ogden Point and often gives directions to ship passengers walking by.
The buses are a “bit of a nuisance” but overall, the former longshoreman and firefighter likes the cruise-ship industry, which creates work for today’s longshoremen, he said.
“You have to put up with a few disruptions to make it work.”
