SEATTLE — Seattle’s cruise season officially kicks off Saturday with the Norwegian Bliss leaving Pier 66 for a cruise to Alaska.
The 2024 season, which is the Port of Seattle’s 25th year of homeport cruising, is expected to generate nearly $900 million in economic impact for the Seattle region.
Port officials said 275 ships will be cruising from Seattle this season, which is about 15 fewer than last year’s record-breaking season. However, the number of passengers is expected to be similar to last year, according to Linda Springmann, Port of Seattle director of cruise operations and maritime marketing. Last year the port recorded 1,778,193 revenue passengers.
The cruising season is expected to bring a boost for local businesses that rely on tourists for additional revenue.
“They really see the volume impact and they love interacting with the cruise guests,” Springmann said.
Cruising brings in money to three different areas: Tourism, with dollars going to restaurants, hotels and shops; jobs, with employees in longshore labor, security and guest services; and provisioning the ships.
“All of these ships are going on a seven-day cruise up to Alaska, and we're basically their local grocery store,” Springmann said. “They are doing the bulk of their provisioning from here, so a lot of businesses who supply to grocery stores are provisioning ships as well.”
Ships are traveling to Seattle from winter destinations all over the globe. Springmann said many ships spend the winter in the Caribbean but others come from Australia, Asia and South America before spending the summer in Alaska.
Cruise season runs until Oct. 28 and Tammy Canavan, president of Visit Seattle, said she's excited for the impact of an extended season.
"It used to be the cruise season started in mid to late May and it might end somewhere around Labor Day," Canavan said. "So having that longer season is really important as we make sure that we are a year-round destination and not just in the summer."
Springmann said many ships return year after year but there is a new ship coming to Seattle this year. The 3,000-passenger Celebrity Edge will be deployed to Alaska for the first time, replacing the Celebrity Solstice. It's known for its wall-to-ceiling windows and Magic Carpet lounge that sits on a cantilevered platform to go up and down the height of the ship.
This year, the port is working to ease some of the environmental impacts of this industry by installing new shore power plug-in stations at Pier 66. That means the ships will be able to use greener electric power while at port, instead of depending on their engines to keep the lights on.
The port started the project before the pandemic and restarted efforts afterward. Springmann said the port hopes to have it operational by midsummer.
“The infrastructure is not insignificant but the environmental benefits are really important,” Springmann said.