Fireworks Will Welcome Saint John’s First Cruise Ship In More Than Two Years
SAINT JOHN – For Port Saint John, the return of cruise ship passengers, after Covid-19 shut down the industry for more than two years, calls for a light show.
A much-needed tourism lift for uptown Saint John businesses will come Thursday evening when the 482-passenger Regent Seven Seas Navigator arrives on an overnight call, at 9:20 p.m.
One of the first vessels to visit the region, the Seven Seas Navigator will begin its Canadian leg after leaving Boston this week. It will stop in Saint John on its way to other Maritime cruise ports in Halifax, Sydney, Charlottetown, and Corner Brook.
Its arrival kicks off a Saint John cruise season that will include 70 scheduled cruise ship visits between April 28 and November 3.
In all, thirteen cruise lines will call Saint John in 2022, with 87 percent of those visits scheduled across September and October, traditionally the busiest months of the cruise tourism season in the Atlantic.
When the Regent Seven Seas Navigator arrives Thursday night, a fireworks show will launch from Long Wharf shortly after the vessel is secured at the berth.
On Friday, a tugboat water show will take place as the cruise ship makes its scheduled departure, at 1:45 p.m.
Shortly before, the Port will host a Cruise Season Kick-Off VIP event at the Diamond Jubilee Terminal, where members of local government and the business community will gather to mark the occasion.
There to welcome them will be Andrew Dixon, Port Saint John’s chief operating officer, as Friday morning’s master of ceremonies. For Dixon and his staff, the nearly 900-day wait has been long enough.
Industry meeting this week
This week Dixon is in Miami, where he’s attending another reunion of sorts: The Seatrade Cruise Global Expo, the largest cruise-industry gathering in the world. The annual expo returned this year after a similar Covid-19 hiatus.
An opening session on Monday drew a standing-room-only crowd, with speakers stressing how action, collaboration, and empathy helped the cruise industry recover from the pandemic shutdown.
With all of the industry focus returning to this year’s expo, Dixon is cutting his trip one day short.
“We’re coming back a day early to make sure that we’re there during that call for all sorts of reasons. But number one, we’re not going to miss the first cruise ship back in Saint John after two and a half years,” he told Huddle.
He says while the Seven Seas Navigator is the first call of the season, it will be travelling light, with roughly 124 passengers aboard, about one-quarter of its passenger capacity.
Dixon, who formed a cruise committee under the Association of Canadian Port Authorities to work through the pandemic, described how the cruise industry in Canada endured a tough couple of years. He said stakeholders always supported the decisions of Transport Canada and Public Health by putting the safety and security of citizens first.
“The key was to really be genuinely collaborative with all of the different interest groups that were trying to work toward resumption, and being empathetic,” Dixon said. He added that Transport Canada and provincial public health authorities were careful to make sure whatever moves were made were both timely and necessary, so the industry could respond and be ready for changes.
With that emphasis on health and safety, Port Saint John has been busy preparing with government and regional partners to welcome the sector back.
Longest wait for businesses
David Duplisea, the CEO of The Saint John Region Chamber Of Commerce, has been hearing from the local business community and says many businesses are excited to welcome cruise visitors again.
“There is a significant impact in the economic well-being of New Brunswick, in general and for our region,” said Duplisea. He said that, in 2019, the year before the pandemic, the net benefit to New Brunswick from cruise passengers was around $49-million.
While Duplisea says businesses are more than ready to welcome cruise traffic back, some are still playing it safe and plan to follow limited safety protocols.
“There’s always a level of hesitation and varying comfort levels but we’re finding that’s not as prevalent as it was,” says Duplisea. He referenced a poll of chamber membership from earlier this year that found just under 50 percent of businesses would keep some kind of reopening protocols. Most suggested they would either ask for visitors and guests to have masks on or encourage social distancing.
While some caution will inevitably remain, Duplisea believes the city will also see plenty of local businesses putting out some extra signs and noticeable touches to welcome back cruise passengers.
“This is the first thing that really signals that we are getting back to some kind of normalcy here, in the region, for cruise ships, it’s a very welcome sight in the harbour,” he said.
Tyler Mclean is a Huddle reporter based in Fredericton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].