SEATTLE —
Ships set sail for the 2023 cruise season on Saturday.
It's a return to normalcy for the cruise industry: Port of Seattle estimates 700,000 people will travel through the area starting this weekend until the end of the cruise season in October.
"It's like every year, it sort of builds a little and a little more after the pandemic," Erik Elvejord with Holland America Line, said. "This year, we're starting from the beginning here in April."
Elvejord says the cruise industry brings a lot of money to the region.
"Every time we turn a cruise ship in Seattle, we're spending about $400,000 plus. That's for things like tuning pianos, flowers, all the food and beverages, fuel, the shopping that goes on, the taxes that happen," Elvejord said.
Total economic impact for this year's cruise season is estimated to be nearly $900 million according to the Port of Seattle. More than 5,000 will be employed. There will be 289 sailings with local businesses expected to benefit greatly. Café Opla is one of them.
"For most people, we're their first meal they have in Seattle," Ivy Pham said. She works at Café Opla, her family's business which is across the street from Pier 66. "We're their first cup of coffee in Seattle or we're their first meal, and we want it to be really good."
Pham, who's been working at Café Opla for five years, saw the impacts of the pandemic first-hand. Their regulars were no longer coming to town because the cruise industry stopped sailing. Restaurants were closed as well. With no restrictions in place, however, Pham says they're preparing for their best cruise season since 2019.
"Last year, cruise season was already crazy. We had hundreds of orders a day during cruise season. That was people still getting comfortable around COVID and going on vacation. So, we're predicting this year will be really busy," Pham said.
Café Opla has renovations in the works to accommodate the anticipated increase in customers.