WATCH: Star Princess docks at Ogden Point to kick off $100-million cruise ship season. Isabelle Raghem reports.
When the 950-foot-long Star Princess docked at noon Monday, she kicked off the cruise season at Ogden Point.
A small crowd gathered at the pier to welcome the 2,500 passengers.
“This is the first time we’ve ever seen this, so it’s really exciting to see. I don’t know that we’ll be here for every [cruise] but certainly the first one is wonderful,” explains Anne who moved to Victoria in June.
Newlyweds Christine and Matthew Miguel were the first passengers to disembark and were greeted with corsages and a traditional speech.
“We weren’t expecting this at all, this is amazing. Very unexpected,” says Matthew Miguel, “”we’re going to go to Butchart Gardens and the Inner Harbour.”
The ship, that made the stop on it’s way to Vancouver from Los Angeles, leaves at midnight.
“The cruise ship business is worth an expected $100-million to the Greater Victoria economy,” Greater Victoria Harbour Authority CEO Ian Robertson, “it supports well over 650 direct and indirect jobs so it’s a significant contributor.”
The Authority says more than 240 cruise ships will dock this season and more than 550,000 passengers are expected to visit the city.
Isabelle Raghem
