The Port of Seattle, which is celebrating 20 years serving cruise industry, welcomed a total of 1,114,888 revenue cruise passengers through its terminals in 2018, the 2nd year in a row the port exceeded the 1-million guest mark.
More growth is expected in 2019 with the arrival of Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas. The 4,180-passenger ship will be the largest on the west coast next year, and the addition of the 4,000-passenger Norwegian Joy, sister ship of Norwegian Bliss.
The Port of Seattle saw a 4% increase in cruise passengers over last year, which brought a total of 1,071,594 revenue cruise passengers. The cruise business in Seattle, currently leading all cruise home ports on the west coast in guest volume, is responsible for more than 4,000 jobs, US$501 million annual business revenue, and US$18.9 million per year in local and state tax revenues.
Each cruise ship is estimated to bring in US$2.7 million for the local economy, and total revenue for the region to more than US$500 million each season.