Cruise tourism: the Port of Vancouver set for a historic summer

July 2026 promises a spectacular tourism season, with the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority forecasting a historic summer driven by unprecedented traveler enthusiasm for cruise routes to Alaska, Hawaii, Asia, and the South Pacific.

The iconic Canada Place terminal is gearing up for its busiest months ever, set to welcome a record-breaking 290,000 passengers in July alone—an extraordinary figure expected to be matched in August.

Overall projections for 2026 anticipate approximately 1.4 million passenger movements and 360 cruise ship calls, marking a massive 30% increase in traffic compared to 2019 benchmarks.

This remarkable success—hailed by the Port Authority’s Chance McKee as a key driver of Canada’s tourism economy—is built on a sustainability strategy and strong local synergy that transform cruise passengers into active shore-based explorers; According to data published by the Pacific Rim Cruise Association, more than 75% of travelers now choose to stay in Vancouver before or after embarking, up from 70% three years earlier.

This record-breaking appeal is prompting cruise giants to massively boost their operational capacity out of the Canadian city; examples include Holland America Line, Seabourn—which is positioning its exceptional vessel *Seabourn Encore* there for the first time—and Princess Cruises, which is deploying its largest-ever fleet in Alaska, with seven ships linked to Vancouver, including the flagship of its latest-generation fleet, the *Star Princess*.