Scheduling changes mean inaugural call for cruise ship in Victoria now first of the season

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The Greater Victoria Harbour Authority has announced due to a scheduling change, the first cruise ship will no longer be arriving in Victoria on April 6, but instead it will be on April 9.

The Caribbean Princess from Princess Cruises was supposed to arrive in Victoria on April 6, but a repositioning call means the ship will not be coming to Victoria.

The CDC website displaying the status of COVID on board cruise ships says the Caribbean Princess has confirmed COVID cases on board, and has met the threshold for CDC investigation.

The ship has been flagged at an orange level, which means 0.3 per cent or more of passengers and crew on the ship have tested positive for COVID.

Of Princess Cruises 11 ships, six are at an orange level, one is at yellow, meaning less than 0.3 per cent of passengers or crew have tested positive, and four are a green level, meaning no one has tested positive.

On Princess Cruise’s website, it says cruises on the Princess Caribbean were cancelled between March 13 and May 7 due to a change in scheduled maintenance.

Instead, the first will be the Holland America Koningsdam, which will be the ship’s inaugural trip to Victoria.

The Koningsdam will still be the first ship to dock in Canada since cruise was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The CDC website also shows the Koningsdam is at an “orange” level for COVID cases on board.

“We’ve been awaiting the return of cruise for two years and will now have to pause for just a few days longer,” Brian Cant, manager of communications and engagement with GVHA said in a statement.

The ship will depart from San Francisco to Victoria before sailing to Vancouver.

According to Cant, scheduling changes early and late in the cruise season have always been common.

“We’ve had plenty of schedule changes in the last few months, mainly to the start and end of the season in our schedule,” Cant said.

Cant says GVHA learned of these scheduling changes late last night.

Previously, Extinction Rebellion had announced plans to protest the arrival of the first ship on April 6. No announcement has yet been made if the group plans to change the protest.

Laura BroughamLaura Brougham

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