Cruise ships return kicks off summer tourist season

The arrival of Holland America's 1,200 passenger Koningsdam last Saturday was a welcome sight for Greater Victoria's business community. It was the first time in more than 900 days that a cruise ship had sailed into Ogden Point.

Chamber CEO Bruce Williams was on hand to emcee a welcoming celebration, hosted by the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority.

“Normal isn’t quite a word we can use yet,” Williams said to Global News. “But by seeing things recovering in the sense that we can now gather like we are, and see things coming back like this ship, means we are indeed on the way to recovery, and getting ourselves back to the way were were before, so it’s a great feeling of pride."

The 2022 cruise ship season will see 364 ship calls from now until early November with an anticipated 780,000 passengers.

Kevin Light photos courtesy of Greater Victoria Harbour Authority