Wednesday marked the first day of cruise ship season in Vancouver, but one travel agency is warning of cancellations already.
Amra Durakovic head of communications at Flight Centre Travel Group Canada said, she’s heard from those in the industry, that Canadians are cancelling cruises to Alaska.
“I’m really not sure what’s going to happen,” she said.
“This is such a fluid situation. We’ve never seen anything like this.”
Durakovic said she’s not sure if the wave is directly in response to U.S. tariffs being imposed Tuesday or if it’s due to a weakening Canadian dollar.
“That means that Canadians are losing a lot of money because there are no refunds on cruises,” she said.
“I think that just goes to show the sentiment of the emotion that Canadians are feeling right now.”
‘Right thing to do’
The first cruise ship of the season, the Disney Wonder, docked at Canada Place cruise terminal Wednesday.
CTV News spoke with an Ontario couple waiting at the terminal, who cancelled an 11-day May cruise to Alaska, due to President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
“It was significant money, but we thought it was the right thing to do as a Canadian,” they said.
Economic impact
Chance McKee, the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority’s cruise account representative, said the organization hasn’t seen dramatic changes amidst the trade war.
“The feedback that we’re receiving from our cruise line partners, as well as just industry in general, is that there has been no significant impact – positive or negative – on cruise bookings for 2025, as most of these bookings were made last year,” he said.
McKee added that while external factors are at play, the Port of Vancouver is significant when it comes to supporting Canada’s national economy.
“It’s about $3.3 billion and sustains around 17,000 jobs across Canada,” he said.
The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority hopes to welcome more than 1.2 million passengers this year.
There are 301 cruise ship calls scheduled between March 5 and Oct. 21.
