Poor weather conditions kept nearly 3,500 cruise ship passengers from disembarking in Victoria on Thursday evening.

The 777 foot Zaandam and the 965 foot Celebrity Infinity, en-route from Ketchikan, Alaska and Skagway, Alaska, respectively, stopped within arms reach of Victoria’s Ogden Point cruise ship facility to determine a course of action as 35-knot winds swept over James Bay.  The Master of the Ship of each vessel, with the advice of a local pilot, ultimately decided that a call to port would be too risky and the sailings continued on to Seattle.

Holland America's Zaandam, a 777 foot vessel with nearly 1,500 passengers, was one of two cruise ships unable to dock at Ogden Point on Thursday due to poor weather. Photo © by Holland America.

The decision to abort the scheduled visit impacted not only the local tourism industry in Victoria, but also the port facility that had many staff on stand-by anticipating the arrival of the ships and the thousands of cruise ship passengers looking forward to visiting the capital.

“Victoria as a whole really loses out when a cruise ship is unable to dock due to poor weather conditions,” said Greater Victoria Harbour Authority acting CEO Sonterra Ross.

Ross estimates that the direct financial loss to local businesses due to the canceled calls was close to $200,000.  According to numbers from 2009, each cruise ship passenger spends an average of $56 in Victoria while visiting attractions such as Butchart Gardens, catching taxis to and from the terminal facility, and grabbing a bite to eat or picking up souvenirs.

And yet the total cost of a missed visit to Victoria is not only one of dollars and cents, says Ross, as it impacts the passengers who are anticipating a stop-over in Victoria prior to ending their trip.

“Cruise ship passenger feedback shows that many would-be visitors are disappointed with a missed call to port as for many individuals an opportunity to visit Victoria is one of the highlights of an Alaskan cruise from Seattle,” Ross said.

Of the 180 scheduled cruise ship visits through Thursday, August 26, eight, including the two calls from Thursday, have missed their call to port due to bad weather.  Although eight out of 180 is not a high number, it is nearing Ogden Point’s record of 10 missed calls.  And that record was enough to cancel provision stops in Victoria.

“Due to the weather uncertainty in Victoria cruise ship supply deliveries through Ogden Point were canceled in 2010 and that has had a real impact on local suppliers. Cruise ships can not risk going without provisions and if there is a chance a vessel may not be able to dock, provisions will be supplied in a facility that can guarantee delivery,” Ross said.

The Greater Victoria Harbour Authority believes that for the time-being there is not much that can be done when the weather is uncooperative.  However, future plans may lead towards building a secondary breakwater off McCauley Point on the Esquimalt side of the harbour.  The additional breakwater would not be a complete safeguard from wild weather, Ross says, although it would certainly help.

Between August 27 and October 03 nearly 50 cruise ship visits are anticipated at Ogden Point.  Weather permitting, of course.

To discuss the cruise ship industry and the Ogden Point terminal facility on the VibrantVictoria discussion forum, click here.

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