3471 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

The Jones Act has no effect on passenger ferries. That’s a different one.

[Blair M.]

Yes, I know - but the Passenger Vessel Services Act is permanently attached to the Jones Act (albeit technically a separate Act), and complete details of Trumps 60 day suspension are currently slim to non-existent. 
 

I guess we’ll see. 

Edited by Blair M., 20 March 2026 - 01:09 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Yes, I know - but the Passenger Vessel Services Act is permanently attached to the Jones Act (albeit technically a separate Act), and complete details of Trumps 60 day suspension are currently slim to non-existent. 
 

I guess we’ll see. 

 

If the Americans are only coming here because they have to, we are doing a crappy job.

 

As we always have been doing.

[Mike K.]

We mustn’t forget that Eby threatened to tariff US trucks destined to and from Alaska, to which the Alaskans responded by saying they will be pursuing a waiver of the PVSA.

Who knows where that is in the process, but I imagine it’s a very serious pursuit and if any administration will grant it, it’ll be this one.

[Victoria Watcher]

Dutch vessel to kickstart Victoria’s cruise ship season

 

Read more at: https://vicnews.com/...se-ship-season/

 

The first cruise ship of the season is set to pull into Victoria soon.  At 10 a.m. on April 10, Holland America’s Nieuw Amsterdam will dock at the James Bay terminal, marking the start of one of the most profitable seasons for downtown businesses.  “We look forward to seeing the ship again,” the Victoria Harbour Authority said on social media, alongside a photo of the vessel’s first call into Victoria in 2016. “It promises to be an exciting season. We anticipate 331 calls in total.”

 

 

 

 

A ship built in Italy and owned and operated by an American company.  But I guess you can call it a Dutch vessel if you want to.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 April 2026 - 05:18 AM.

[LJ]

We call ships built in Poland BC ferries don't we?

[Victoria Watcher]

The new cruise season will see two new cruise lines — Virgin Voyages and MSC Cruises — make first visits to Victoria starting in May.

 

https://www.timescol...-point-12104800

[Victoria Watcher]

Late arrivals reduce cruise ship impact

 

The Times Colonist article about this year’s cruise ship season doesn’t mention one of the big challenges facing the local industry.

Victoria functions as a technical stop for many Seattle-based cruise ships, with a brief stop here used to satisfy the requirements of the Passenger Vessel Services Act to include a foreign port call.

This was bad enough when the majority of these ships didn’t arrive in Victoria until 5 or 6 p.m. The last few years, these stops have gotten later and later.

For this season, it means that 70% of passengers arrive at 5 .p.m or later — and nearly half arrive at 8 p.m. or later. This really limits what passengers can do in Victoria.

In fact, given that the stop here is typically the last night of the cruise before disembarking in Seattle early the next morning, many passengers do not even bother to get off the ship in Victoria.

This is something the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority doesn’t like to talk about, but it really limits the economic impact of the cruise industry in Victoria, and it’s one reason why cruise ship passengers account for such a tiny fraction of visitor spending.

 

Steven Murray
Victoria

 

https://www.timescol...ng-22m-12143517

[aastra]

In the year 2026 we're still debating whether cruise ship visits are or are not a financial boon. File this in the thread "the more Victoria changes, the more it stays the same". Seriously though, EVERY port of call everywhere is still debating this topic even after all these decades. How could it be possible that the situation still hasn't clarified itself?

[Victoria Watcher]

How could it be possible that the situation still hasn't clarified itself?

 

Competing interests.

 

Previous reports even tried to sell us on how much the crews spent in town (since crew/passenger ratio can be 1 to 2 or 1 to 3.).   They negected to tell us most of those crews earn less than $500 per month.

[aastra]

On the one hand there's a hellish maelstrom of noisy & dangerous vehicle traffic servicing the hordes of cruise ship passengers as they go back and forth from Ogden Point, but on the other hand most of the passengers aren't even getting off the ships. It's the same template as the empty condos controversy (RIP, along with every other forgotten controversy). Unoccupied condo units were providing zero benefit to local businesses & neighbourhood vitality, but unoccupied condo units were also causing traffic snarls and parking crises.

Edited by aastra, 15 April 2026 - 12:17 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Exactly.

In fairness, we NEVER are given the statistics on how many passengers get off and how much they spend.

Or at least we haven’t been given that data for a long time.