The Carnival Corporation-owned companies Princess Cruises and HAL-Holland America Line restarted passenger shipping operations from Port Seattle Washington on July 23, 2021.
Jan Swartz (Princess' President), and Gus Antorcha (HAL's President) spoke to what the positive multidimensional impact the restart of ship cruising meant to Seattle, the State of Alaska, and the local communities.
HAL started its Alaskan season with ms Nieuw Amsterdam setting sail on Saturday, July 24. Followed Princess with Majestic Princess sailing on Sunday, July 25.
Each company will operate 10 roundtrips from Seattle WA through September. Princess and HAL combined have 125+ years of experience bringing guests to Alaska, and about half of all Alaskan cruise tourists use Princess/HAL ships.
Both companies have been homeporting in Seattle for 20+ years. Operationally, each cruise liner visit directly contributes USD 364,000+ to the local economy - in provisioning, port taxes, ashore spending.