Cruise ships returning to St. John's after 2 years of COVID-19 cancellations

Cruise ships will be returning to St. John's harbour this summer for the first time since 2019, with the first one set to arrive in June.

St. John's Coun. Debbie Hanlonand St. John's Port Authority harbour master Melissa Williamsmade the announcement Thursday, saying 30 vessels will enter the port between June and October good news for the area's businesses, said Hanlon.

"They're excited about it," Hanlon said. "With the pedestrian mall opening, we're expecting it to be an enhanced feature for the cruise ship passengers. So everyone I've talked to is excited about it on the business level."

Cruise ships have not been able to operate in provincialwaters since 2019, as the COVID-19pandemic shut down both the 2020 and 2021 seasons. The federal government's banon cruise ships travelling to Canadian ports, enacted in 2020 to limit the spread of COVID-19, was lifted by federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabraon Nov. 1.

Hanlon said the city expects to see around 80 per cent of the traffic it saw in 2019, whencruise ship passengers and crew spent about $10 million in the province.

Vessels and passengers will face stringent COVID-19 guidelines enforced by Transport Canadaand Public Health, requiring travellers be fully vaccinated and present a negative COVID-19 test one to two days before entering port.

Williams said ships will also have to identify any positive cases or symptomatic travellers on board four days before arrival. Boats will be assessed by a series of four threat levels, which will decide how the ship is handled when it arrives. She said boats could be diverted if the COVID-19 threat level is too high.

People have been kind of in their homes dreaming about travel, and we're extremely excited to get back on the water.- Jason Edmunds

The Ocean Endeavour will be the first cruise ship to dock in St. John's this season, landing in the city on June 12.

The adventure cruise ship is different from the typically larger cruise ships seen in the city's harbour, as the 195-passenger vessel is focused on exploring less travelled areas with an emphasis on education, according to Adventure Canada expedition leaderJason Edmunds.

"People have been kind of in their homes dreaming about travel, and we're extremely excited to get back on the water," Edmunds told CBC News in a recent interview.

The Ocean Endeavour will begin its trip in St. John's before circumnavigatingthe island.The trip also features local tour guides, which Edmunds says adds to the overall experience for travellers.

"Our team in Newfoundland has become one of our most incredible teams," he said.

"It comes from just the locality of those people, their background and their expertise. Basically, these people are there to bring out the things in the places and the people that we visit that you might miss if you were travelling by yourself."

The ship also has plans to sail the coast of Labrador as part of an expedition later this year, a route Edmunds originally from Nain is especially lookingforward to.

"It's become a great family visit as well. I just bring 200 people with me."

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