In what officials called a record-breaking year, cruise liners brought a total of 128,000 passengers to Prince Edward Island (Canada), which is an increase of 31% over 2018 when just under 98,000 travelers visited.
According to Corryn Clemence (manager of cruise development and communications for Port Charlottetown, Canada) most of the passengers didn't stay on the vessels. Clemence said the cruise port has one of Atlantic Canada's highest debarkation rates - ~93% of all tourists got off the ship. These ships also brought ~55,000 crew to the Island.
Port Charlottetown's 2019 estimated direct economic impact was USD 21,7 million. In 2019, 87 ships came to the Island. During the 6-month season, there were 62 days when at least one vessel was in the harbour, Clemence added.
Port Charlottetown PEI saw 7 ships in 2 days this season and played host to MSC Meraviglia, one of the world's largest cruise ships, which brought 4,500 cruise passengers to the Island alone. A total of 11 ship calls were canceled due to weather in 2019, something Clemence said she thought new berths could help out with in 2020.
Clemence said it looks like 2020 is going to be even busier, with the first ship scheduled to dock on April 29 and the new berth is set to open in 2020-Q2.