Port Saint John has announced a return of its cruise sector to the waterfront on May 4, after a two-year hiatus.

A total of 69 cruise ship visits operated by 13 cruise brands are planned to be made in the Port City between May and November, according to a draft schedule.

Eighty-five percent of the ships scheduled to visit after the Labour Day weekend. September and October are the traditional busy months for cruise activity in our region, Port Saint John wrote.

Ten vessels will call between early May and late August. During the fall period there are 10 days with double ships and 5 days with triple ships.

“As we emerge from the pandemic, we are seeing the careful and steady resumption of global travel and tourism, including cruise tourism. The cruise industry has developed some of the most stringent safety and operational protocols, which have been successfully demonstrated since global cruise resumption began in July 2020. For these reasons, we are encouraged and pleased to share with our community that our cruise sector is scheduled to return in 2022. For the past two years, our team at Port Saint John and our industry stakeholders have been working closely with federal and provincial authorities on how cruise will resume safely in Canadian port cities, and now it is time to put those plans into action,” said CEO of Port Saint John, Craig Bell Estabrooks.

“After two years without cruise, we’re looking forward to safely welcoming visitors back to Saint John and the Bay of Fundy region. We have appealing local and regional attractions including two new waterfront additions in 2022: Place Fort LaTour and the AREA506 Container Village. These will be great enhancements to our overall visitor experience.” said Cruise Development Manager Natalie Allaby.

According to a press release, prior to the pandemic, annual economic impact to New Brunswick from cruise activity was $68 million per year and provided 398 annualized full and part time jobs in the province.