Uptown streets come alive with visitors in September and October

With a start date of April 27^th and an end date of November 1, this year is one of the longest cruise seasons on record at Port Saint John.   Over the past 29 years, the fall period is always the busiest part of the cruise season here and this year is no exception.Earlier this year Port Saint John released newly updated economic impact figures for cruise in New Brunswick which show total annual impact from the cruise industry has risen from $41.5 million per year to $49.9 million per year, an increase of 20%.The total impact included direct spending by cruise lines, passengers, and crew in New Brunswick of $21.5 million, 298 direct jobs in the Province, and $12.5 million in personal income.September and October are crucial months for this industry and its associated economic impact.  Eighty-five per cent of volume of ships, cruise guests and crew for 2017 will visit between September 5^th and November 1^st. In total, our Port and our surrounding city will experience 12 double cruise ship days and 4 triple cruise ship days out of the 54 ship visits in these months.Many of the ships calling in 2017 are returning to our Port from prior visits, the newcomer this year is Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL) ship, Vision of the Seas, which will have her inaugural call on September 14^th.Anthem of the Seas, also from RCCL and the largest cruise ship to visit Saint John to-date is returning 4 times (September 5, September 19, October 5, and October 19). Disney Cruise Line returns again with Disney Magic on September 30 and October 4, bringing the whimsical chimes of ‘When You Wish Upon A Star’ to the harbour during her sail away on each visit.Another musical ship returning to visit this year is Princess Cruises’ Regal Princess which chimes the theme from the retro television hit ‘Love Boat’.  (You may recall it was a Princess Cruises ship that was used in the series).Not only will the harbour be busy with these and many other ships, the streets of Uptown will be filled with 175,000 guests and crew members who will be visiting.  Our September weather is typically beautiful and as the days shorten we lead into the picturesque fall foliage season, which we are so well known in this region.We’re ready to roll out the red carpet and we encourage everyone to share the warm, hospitality associated with the Maritimes with the tens of thousands of visitors we’re expecting call on cruise ships in #SaintAwesome this fall.For the most up to date cruise schedule this season visit www.sjport.com on a regular basis.