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Cruise ship season has arrived in Nanaimo, B.C., with the harbour city welcoming its first ship of the summer on Friday afternoon.
The Holland Noordam, an Alaskan Cruise with the capacity for up to 1,900 passengers, docked at 12:30 p.m. PT as it made its return from the Great Bear Rainforest, making its final port of call in the harbour city.
It’s the first of eight expected cruise ship stops in Nanaimo, and the first of four from the Noordam alone this summer.
The Nanaimo Port Authority says it’s been working hard to increase the number of ships coming to the city. It believes the city can grow to become a desirable cruise destination.
“We are so thrilled, we feel like Nanaimo has a lot of offer,” said Kimberly Kelly with the Nanaimo Port Authority.
Being a one berth dock offers a more unique and intimate experience for guests, she says, in comparison to other cruise destinations like Vancouver or Victoria.
“We’re able to really offer a white glove service, servicing just one ship at a time.”
If you build it they will come
The dock and terminal were originally built in 2011, with a lofty goal of seeing 25 to 30 ships each year.
It took some time for the port to establish Nanaimo as a worthwhile destination, and just as momentum was growing, COVID-19 the pandemic stopped ships from coming to Canada for four years. This is just the third summer since ships have been able to return to Nanaimo.
Since then, the numbers have doubled each year, from two stops in 2024 to four last summer, and now eight — the busiest year since the seven planned stops that never happened in 2020.
Prince Rupert, a city of about 12,000 people on B.C.’s North Coast, has just jumped in population thanks to the arrival of 1,900 visitors on the first cruise ship of the season. CBC’s Carolina de Ryk was there to witness the excitement among locals and tourists.
According to 4VI, a tourism operator on Vancouver Island, cruise ships help with local tourism by giving people a taste of the Island. According to their research, 85 per cent of surveyed passengers say that they would be willing to return to the Island for a more fulsome trip after a one day port of call.
Brian Cant, the vice president of business impact and engagement with 4VI, believes that the Nanaimo dock has a lot of potential to grow into its goal of 30 ships a year.
“Over time, it will come,” he said.
“When Victoria started welcoming ships, it was a very small number, and it has grown to over 300 now. So whether Nanaimo ever gets there, I’m not sure, but I think that they’ll meet their goal in time.”
Kiera Maher is the owner and manager of Newfoundland to Nanaimo, a gift shop along the Nanaimo harbour. She says tourists give an extra little boost to business and the return of cruises in the last two years has been welcome coming out of the pandemic.
“We’ll see a nice buzz down here on the harbor,” she said.
“When they first came back, there were smaller cruise ships and not very many, and now we’re getting a few more of them, and they’re larger in size. It makes a bigger difference for our businesses down here.”
Hullo Ferries
Despite the fact that the dock has not hit that 30-ship goal, it hasn’t been sitting empty.
Hullo Ferries moved into the terminal and has been using the dock since it launched its foot passenger ferry service between Nanaimo and Vancouver in 2023. It has a lease agreement with the port to offer their daily sailings.
But when cruise ships come to town, that takes precedence — and Hullo has to move to the downtown harbour.
Hullo Ferries says it’s in talks with the Port Authority on what a long term solution looks like for the shared dock.
“For summer ‘26 we’re anticipating nine or 10 cruise ships, so we can manage with that, any more than that does start to impact our guests,” said Ryan Dermody, CEO of Hullo Ferries.
