Port of Seattle completes record 2023 cruise season
The Port of Seattle concluded the 2023 cruise season on Monday, October 30 with the departure of Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Sun from Bell Street Pier Cruise Terminal at Pier 66. This year’s cruise season hosted 291 cruises with a record 1,778,193 revenue passengers. Passengers are counted both embarking and disembarking, meaning over 907,572 individual passengers visited over a six-month season that began April 15 of this year, according to the company's release.
Cruise ships provide a much-needed economic stimulus for area businesses, especially those in downtown Seattle. It is estimated that each homeported cruise ship at berth brings $4 million in economic impact to the region, with a total of nearly $900 million in economic impact over the course of a cruise season. Most cruise passengers stay a couple of days in Seattle before or after their Alaska cruise. Over 20 percent of cruise passengers check their bags early to the airport so they can spend the day enjoying the Seattle area before boarding their flights home.
With the increase in cruise ship calls, the Port continues to experience an increase in the use of shore power to reduce emissions, allowing vessels to run on electricity while at berth. For Seattle, the practice started in 2004, as one of the first ports to provide shore power plug-in capability for two vessels at once and the first homeport to offer shore power. More than one-third of cruise ships utilized shore power at Smith Cove Cruise Terminal, setting a record number of plug-ins for a Seattle cruise season. The Port is currently at work to make its third cruise berth at Pier 66 capable of supplying electrical power during the 2024 cruise season.
The Port expects an even stronger return for the local economy via the cruise industry. Next year the Port anticipates hosting 277 cruise homeport calls.
