Cruise Season Kicks Off May 9th with Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines’ Balmoral
SAINT JOHN (NB) – On Monday, May 9 British-based Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines ship Balmoral will kick start the 28th cruise season in Saint John.Monday’s ship is scheduled to arrive at 10:30 am and depart at 11:00 pm and will be docked at the Diamond Jubilee Cruise Terminal. Balmoral is carrying approximately 900 guests on board. A Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines ship last visited Port Saint John in 2009.Port Saint John has been advised that the Public Health Agency of Canada is monitoring the presence of elevated gastrointestinal illness rates aboard Balmoral and is working in collaboration with the cruise ship operator to investigate the nature of the illness reported and mitigate the risk to other passengers or crew by ensuring that the vessel has implemented their outbreak prevention procedures. Gastrointestinal illnesses on cruise ships are a routine occurrence and there is low public health risk. Among the general public, Norovirus is second only to the common cold in rates of prevalence.“While it is unfortunate that the passengers and crew are experiencing this illness, health officials are monitoring the situation on aboard Balmoral and will ensure appropriate protocols are in place to mitigate risk on board the vessel and on shore,” said Andrew Dixon, Senior Vice President of Trade & Business Development for Port Saint John.“We at Port Saint John are excited about the start of the 2016 cruise season on Monday. The entire team at the Port from our operations group to our Meet & Greet volunteers and business development and marketing staff have been working in concert to ensure the guest and ship experience at Port Saint John exceeds expectations,” noted Dixon. “We know that our industry and community partners are also gearing up to welcome the tens of thousands of guests and crew we are expecting this year.The 2016 season includes 63 scheduled cruise ship visits, more than 143,000 guest guests and a number of notable visits and dates including:
- 6 inaugural calls (June 23, August 26, August 30, September 24, October 1, and October 22)
- 5 double cruise ship days (September 6, September 13, September 20, October 12, and October 26)
- 4 triple cruise ship days (September 21, October 4, October 5, and October 19)
- 1 quadruple cruise ship day (September 28)
- The return of Disney Cruise Line (October 4); and
- Anthem of the Seas, the largest cruise ship to call Port Saint John to date, will call 4 times (August 30, September 13, September 29, and October 13)
Port Saint John is Eastern Canada’s largest port by tonnage and has a diverse cargo base, including dry and liquid bulk, break bulk, containers, and cruise.
– 30 –
Media contact:Paula CopelandManager of Corporate Communications and GovernancePort Saint JohnCell: (506) 650-5288Email: pcopeland@109.199.110.97#portcity