They are crazy ! Cruise ships return to the Great Lakes

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After a two-and-a-half-year absence, cruise ships packed with tourists are expected to return to the Great Lakes in force this spring.

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“There is tremendous interest in the Great Lakes – we have a very strong recovery within reach,” said Stephen Burnett, executive director of the Great Lakes Cruising Coalition, which includes Windsor.

The global pandemic has killed the last two seasons of cruise ships in lakes and along Canada’s ocean coasts. The Port of Windsor has not seen a visiting commercial passenger ship since fall 2019.

But Burnett said 2022 will already see a big jump in numbers from last sailing season three years ago. Just under 16,000 cruise passengers crossed the Great Lakes in 2019, but based on plans disclosed so far by shipping companies and tour operators, he said that number would approach 21,000 this year. Burnett said the figure for 2023, based on expected ship visits, is estimated at 27,000 cruise passengers.

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This is very exciting, this is another signal that we are reopening

“The return of cruise ships to Canadian waters will be a welcome boost for the tourism sector and for the Canadian economy as a whole,” federal Tourism Minister Randy Boissonnault said Monday as the Minister of Transport, Omar Alghabra, announced in Halifax a new “public health plan”. to help revive the cruise industry in Canada.

Until COVID-19 hit in early 2020, “the Great Lakes were starting to become a bigger attraction,” said Windsor Port Authority Harbor Master Peter Barry. The cruise ship industry, he said, “is becoming a crucial part of tourism.”

Four cruise lines and two charter tour operators will carry thousands of passengers across the Great Lakes this year aboard eight passenger ships, said Burnett, whose organization helped federal agencies develop the new health guidelines for the cruise industry.

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With its introduction to the world’s largest freshwater body delayed due to the pandemic, global player Viking Cruises is starting to visit the Great Lakes this year with its 378-passenger expedition-class vessel, Viking Octantis, a ship high-tech luxury equipped with two submarines and inflatable exploration boats.

Burnett, based in Kingston, said his organization and its members have been lobbying Viking for 15 years to make an appearance on the Great Lakes. Octantis will not visit Windsor this year, but Tourism Windsor Essex Pelee Island CEO Gordon Orr said talks are underway for Viking to hopefully include Windsor on the itinerary when the company adds a second ship Expedition class on its 2023 Great Lakes cruise. plan.

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While not “a huge economic driver” for the region, Orr said the return of Great Lakes cruise ships to the Port of Windsor is an important marker on the road to recovery after two grueling years for the hospitality industry.

“It’s very exciting. It’s another signal that we’re reopening,” he said. More flights, busier train schedules and the return of conventions, conferences and sporting events are needed. .

The Pearl Mist will be the first local arrival, docking May 31 for an overnight stay and then returning to Windsor five more times before the end of August. The 420-passenger MS Hamburg, currently the largest cruise ship on the Great Lakes, will dock in Windsor twice in October.

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Burnett said cruise ships have a positive economic impact wherever they dock, including for bus companies and local tour operators and guides; food suppliers and service providers; and providing visitors with local attractions, art galleries, museums and businesses. The most popular are seven-day Great Lakes cruises, he said, followed by 10-day trips.

Most Great Lakes cruise ships carry around 200 passengers, many of whom are repeat customers. Barry said there were a lot of European passengers among them, and Windsor and Essex County had plenty of attractions to entice those visitors off their ships. “Every port is a different experience,” he said.

dschmidt@postmedia.com

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