Cruise: Baltimore, Metro Vancouver, San Juan

Carnival Cruise’s Refurbished Pride Returns to the Port of Baltimore 

The newly renovated Carnival Cruise Lines ship Pride returned to the Port of Baltimore on March 29. The ship left Maryland in October 2014 to undergo a multimillion dollar renovation including new dining and entertainment features as well as new emission technologies.  

The 2,124 passenger capacity Carnival Pride will sail five-, seven and 14-day itineraries to the Caribbean, the Bahamas and Florida year-round from Baltimore’s Cruise Maryland Terminal.    

"We are thrilled to be returning to Baltimore which is such a fantastic cruise departure point for people in Mid-Atlantic States, the northeast and beyond," said Carnival President Christine Duffy. "Carnival Pride has just undergone a massive enhancement program that added a variety of great new features which, when combined with a wide range of itinerary options, makes this ship an excellent vacation choice for consumers and a great selling opportunity for our valued travel agent partners." 

In 2014, nearly 200,000 passengers embarked on 89 cruises from the Port of Baltimore. Since beginning a year-round cruise schedule in 2009, nearly every cruise that has sailed from Baltimore has left at full passenger capacity. According to the Maryland Port Administration, cruise activities support approximately 500 jobs and $90 million in economic activity in Maryland.

Carnival Pride docked at the Cruise Maryland Terminal in Baltimore.
Photo/ Jeff Sauers


Port Metro Vancouver: First Cruise Ship of the 2015 Season Features a Hawaii Itinerary 

Princess Cruise’s Grand Princess departed Port Metro Vancouver the weekend of March 22 on the first of two back-to-back trips between Vancouver and Hawaii, bringing an earlier-than-usual start to the 2015 Canada Place cruise season. 

Grand Princess arrived in Hilo the following Sunday and then spent four days cruising around the Hawaiian Islands before its returning to Canada Place on Monday, April 6, for a repeat of the same itinerary.

"We are very pleased to welcome the Grand Princess to Canada Place, commencing the 2015 cruise season and expanding on our already well-known Vancouver-Alaska cruise business," said Robin Silvester, the port authority’s president and CEO. "Thanks to Vancouver’s global appeal and the port’s world-class facilities and operations, cruise lines and passengers alike recognize the tremendous advantages of sailing in and out of Vancouver."

While berthed at Canada Place, the Grand Princess plugged into the port’s shore power installation, shutting down its engines and connecting to BC Hydro’s electrical grid for power. According to the port authority, the Canada Place shore power installation has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than 11,000 metric tons since it becoming operational in 2009.

The arrival of the Grand Princess comes just days after Port Metro Vancouver was honored at the 2015 Seatrade Cruise Global Conference in Miami with awards for Best Turnaround Destination, Most Efficient Port Facilities and Most Efficient Terminal Operation.

More than 800,000 passengers are expected to pass through the Canada Place terminal during the 2015 Alaska cruise season, which officially begins April 29.

San Juan Cruise Passenger Count Sets One-Day Record 

The Puerto Rico Port Authority’s newly completed Dock 3 cruise facility expansion project has apparently solidified the cruise industry’s confidence in the Port of San Juan. That was evident on February 25 when the port welcomed six cruise vessels and their 17,848 passengers. That, says the port authority, set a one-day record for passenger movements and generated an economic impact of $2 million.

The six ships that docked in San Juan that day were Carnival Glory with 3,219 passengers, MSC Divina with 2,850, Eurodam with 2,248, Quantum of the Seas with 4,292, Disney Fantasy with 3,616, and Nieuw Amsterdam with 1,622.

Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla announced last fall (Advisory, November 25, 2014) that Puerto Rico would invest $8.3 million in the Dock 3 expansion to allow the berthing of so-called mega-cruise ships capable of carrying more than 6,000 passengers. 

The work included construction of a concrete platform and creating a berth and supporting structure with a 182-foot dock extension, a baggage screening facility and various engineering features. Royal Caribbean and its affiliates have preferential use of Dock 3, which is located in the historic downtown area of San Juan and used mainly by vessels on port of call visits.

The port hosted 436 cruise ship calls and 1,161,563 passengers during fiscal year 2013-14.