Cruise ship season ramps up meaning busy days for Island tourism operators

The Caribbean Princess, with more than 3,000 cruise passengers and 1,200 staff, made a stop in Charlottetown on Tuesday in what is continuing to be a busy cruise season.

Despite labour shortages, Mike Cochrane, CEO of Port Charlottetown, said tourism operators have been trying to make sure they have enough staff to meet the needs of cruise ship passenger needs.

"The best thing that we can do is communicate to our partners, you know, such as the Tourism Industry Association, get it out to everybody that these are going to be the busy days. And, you know, everybody is just trying to do the best that they can and move forward with the resources that we have available."

Cruise ships are scheduled to visit Charlottetown more than 70 times this year after a two-year hiatus due to COVID-19. There have been no cancellations so far.

The Caribbean Princess has been the largest ship to visit Charlottetown since the season began on April 22. It was the first of five visits this year.

There are several days in the fall shoulder season when multiple cruise ships will be docked in the port — including four on Oct. 4 and Oct. 9 — which will put a bigger demand on tourism resources.

"Everybody has challenges, so it's not a unique situation, not unique to Charlottetown, P.E.I.," Cochrane said. "It's everywhere in the world. It's not unique to Canada. It's everywhere."