Port Metro Vancouver is warning Vancouverites to brace for a busy weekend downtown because of a large number of cruise ship passengers descending on the city.
The port expects passenger volumes to peak at the Canada Place and Ballantyne cruise ship terminals between 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on Sunday with about 16,000 embarking and disembarking passengers expected. It anticipates higher than normal vehicle traffic volumes in the downtown core and heightened demand for taxis and public transportation.
The large number of passengers is due to the arrival of repositioning cruises, which occur at the beginning and end of the cruise season. The port is advising arriving passengers not to go to the terminals prior to their scheduled embarkation time to avoid aggravating the congestion of passengers leaving the ships.
Despite the flood of passengers this weekend, cruise ship visitations this season are expected to drop to about 600,000 from around 900,000 in 2009 (See “Alaska holds key to keeping Vancouver’s beleaguered cruise ship industry afloat” – issue 1069, April 20-26).