“Over the next two years, we will have three new brands sailing out of Seattle: Cunard, MSC and Virgin,” said Linda Springmann, director, cruise and maritime marketing for the Port of Seattle.

“We will set new (cruise traffic) records this year and next,” she added.

For 2024, Seattle posted 275 calls and 1.75 million passengers, according to Springmann.

“This summer, we are very excited to welcome the Queen Elizabeth from Cunard which will be homeporting for a series of 10- and 11-day cruises from Pier 91. And next year we will see MSC and Virgin, sailing seven-day cruises also from Pier 91. They are both new brands in the Alaska market.”

Another angle for the three new brands coming to Seattle is that they are internationally grounded, Springmann explained. This means they can bring an international audience to Seattle as well, and international visitors tend to stay longer and spend a little more, she said, and they may also go further into the state to see more of the region.

“I think we would be very comfortable at 1.9 million passengers a year and I think we may exceed that in 2026 depending on occupancies. With about 230 calls I think we will zoom past the 2 million number,” she continued.

“Seattle is set up perfectly,” Springmann added. “We’ve got great airlift, and the city and region are tourism attractions in and by themselves. I think combining a trip to Seattle with an Alaska cruise should be on everyone’s bucket list.

“Our goal is also to be the greenest port in North America,” Springmann continued.

Last June, the port commissioners passed an order that all cruise ships have to plug into shore power when they call in Seattle by 2027, moving the original target date of 2030 up by three years.

“When we have discussions with cruise lines for long-term agreements, we want to make sure that those conversations include discussions about their pathways to zero carbon,” Springmann said. “We want to have an open conversation about their efforts and what they aim to achieve. It is a dialogue among all of us about the pathway to zero carbon.”

Seattle is also an active partner in the Green Corridor project. Explained Springmann: “This is something that is two and half years old; it is a process to get everybody to walk in the same direction. The project is moving forward with a feasibility study on what it will take to have four ships sailing to Alaska on green methanol by 2032.”

Excerpt from the Cruise Industry News Quarterly Magazine Winter 2024-25