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ast year, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Vancouver the third most liveable city in the world, just behind Melbourne and Vienna. This bustling seaport on Canada’s west coast in British Columbia has also long been a popular cruise port and tourist destination.

With Canada Place terminal just a 15-minute walk from downtown Vancouver, it has always offered fast and easy access to one of the most highly rated cities in the world. With a vibrant variety of neighbourhoods to explore, such as Gastown, Chinatown and Granville Island, Stanley Park, Science World and the Museum of Anthropology, which many call an architectural masterpiece, there is an abundance of city attractions on the port’s doorstep.

Vancouver is also a gateway to the town of Whistler, which is home to one of North America’s largest ski resorts, Whistler Backcomb, some 120km away, and the Rocky Mountains. These are further afield, but transportation links take travellers directly from the port to the airport in just 30 minutes – a legacy from the infrastructure built during the 2010 Winter Olympics – and scenic coach and rail services cover the 800km journey, often bringing travellers to Jasper National Park (on the north of the mountain range) or to Banff National Park (to the south).

The Port of Vancouver continues to be a home port to ships from the world’s leading cruise lines, including Holland America, Princess Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Disney Cruise Line, Celebrity Cruises and Royal Caribbean International.

Almost every day during cruise season an Alaska-bound cruise ship leaves the port of Vancouver.

Royal Caribbean’s Radiance of the Seas takes passengers on seven-night Northbound Alaska & Hubbard Glacier cruises through Ketchikan, Juneau to the Seward Passenger Ship Terminal. Celebrity Eclipse takes passengers on a ten-night cruise in May through Sitka, Icy Straight Point and Tracy Arm Fjord.

As Vancouver has grown in popularity, so has its cruise port. “We're welcoming 895,000 passengers on 241 vessels, a 7% growth in passenger volume over 2017,” says Carmen Ortega, manager of trade development at Vancouver Fraser Port.

The new 303m Norwegian Bliss, which can carry 4,004 passengers, is coming to Canada Place in September. As it’s the largest ship visiting the Port of Vancouver to date, Ortega says that additional organisation will need to be put in place to ensure plain sailing.

When Norwegian Bliss arrives in the Port of Vancouver on the last day of September, it will join two other ships there: Holland America’s MS Westerdam and MS Noordam.

“That day will be a record-breaking day for us and what it means is that we need to – and we do this anyway, but in particular that day – work closely with the city of Vancouver for traffic management,” she explains.

The port also works with transportation providers on site and taxi companies, and issues advisories to let the general public know it is going to be busy in the area, as well as advising guests to plan transportation in advance.

Windstar Cruises is also returning after two decades away, offering Alaskan voyages starting at 11 days. With capacity for just 212 guests, this small luxury cruise ship takes passengers on a historic journey through frontier towns and gets close enough to nature for guests to watch brown bears, bald eagles, glaciers and fjords. It also offers experiences such as dogsledding and a chance to do the world's largest zipline at Icy Strait Point.

But if 2018 is going to put pressure on the port’s capacity, 2019 is set to be even bigger.

“We’re going to see over one million passengers, which will be our record year in the history of the business. That’s about a 20% growth,” says Ortega.

One of the drivers behind this growth in the arrival of bigger cruise ships over the course of this year and next is increased passenger demand for more Alaska cruises.

From 2019, Cunard, Azamara and Viking Ocean will also be offering Alaskan itineraries from Vancouver.

“Viking’s first call into Vancouver will be with Viking Orion on 26 May 2019,” says Matt Grimes, Viking’s executive director for itinerary planning, nautical and technical operations. He explains that there are two main departure points for cruises sailing north to Alaska: Seattle and Vancouver.

“We have chosen Vancouver as the port is further north, giving our guests more time in port, and is well placed for us to scenic cruise the famed Inside Passage,” says Grimes.

Vancouver’s reputation as one of the world’s most popular cities, and the wide variety of things to do in and around the area, are two reasons behind Viking’s decision. “This offers our guests a strong pre/post cruise package whereby they can extend their stay before or after the city to experience the destination,” he says.

Ortega explains how the passenger demographic has changed over the years. Historically, 80% of passengers were from the US, but now that figure is 60% and the segment experiencing the highest growth is international passengers.

“When they come and sail out of Vancouver, they don’t just stay an average two to three nights, they stay a whole week in Vancouver and then travel around the province and do very expensive shore excursions,” she explains. “We see a lot of growth from the UK, Australia and Asia.

With capacity requirements increasing, Ortega says that there are plans to build a new cruise terminal. As it’s in early stages there isn’t much information to share yet, but she says the port is “working with cruise lines customers and the industry to plan and accommodate for the future”.

With bigger ships using the terminal at Canada Place, Ortega says that the team is discussing the possibility of a new terminal outside of the Burrard Inlet area. “In order to accommodate larger vessels starting to come into the market, we’re looking into the feasibility of building another facility outside of this area,” she explains.

She also tells us that passengers get pre-cleared by US customs officers in Vancouver, so they have US and Canadian customs officers working out of the cruise terminals. “We’ve already installed automated passport control kiosks, which really helps add capacity in terms of processing guests, but the next step is definitely a mobile passport clearance app, which is already in existence in other US ports,” she says, adding that facial recognition will also make the experience far better and faster.

Ortega is hopeful that growth will continue and feels that some is going to come from the Asian market, noting that Vancouver Airport has increased direct flights to key cities in China, Japan and Korea. With Shanghai’s port expanding and welcoming around 3 million passengers a year in 2017, making it one of the world’s top five busiest cruise ports, the Asian cruise market is taking off and Ortega feels that Vancouver will experience organic growth as this trend continues.

“Capacity is not only something that we’re planning for here – as the cruises get marketed as Alaska cruises, Alaska is also working on its capacity constraints,” she says. “We’re working together to meet demand and accommodate that growth.”

Cover image credit: Royal Caribbean, SBW-Photo

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ith summer approaching, the race between cruise lines in attracting passengers on their sunny decks is in full swing.

The expectation that 2018 will bring “a rise in traveller-friendly on board technologies that enhance travel experiences” means it is easy to assume that customers now expect a reliable WiFi connection while on board, at an affordable price – or even for free.

On-board connectivity has been notoriously difficult until now. At sea, the internet is provided mainly by way of satellites, and coverage so far has been patchy, slow, expensive, and mainly a luxury associated with premium packages.

But new developments in high throughput satellites and VSAT hardware are bringing increasing broadband capabilities to vessels. SES Networks, one of the primary providers of medium-orbit satellites for clients such as Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean Cruises, recently announced the launch of four new satellites to their existing fleet of 12, ready to begin operation in May.

The launch is in response to what SES chief technology officer Martin Halliwell called a growing demand for high-performance bandwidth and networks, particularly in the cruise sector.

In March this year, Carnival Corporation beat the maritime bandwidth record with its MedallionNet connectivity service, in use on its brand Princess Cruises’ Regal Princess.

Using VSAT technology, internet speeds reached 2.15 Gbps at the end of February, breaking the previous limit of just over 500 Mbps on MSC Cruises’ newbuild MSC Seaside. The average speed for cruise ships is around 10 to 20 Mbps per ship, according to Carnival.

Now, the brand has partnered with SES Networks to introduce 1.5 Gbps on board the Princess Cays, allowing guests to stream Netflix or Hulu – luxuries once only available on land.

Across the entire fleet, guests can connect to Carnival’s MedallionNet by purchasing one of its three plans (Social, Value and Premium) either before the cruise or on board.

When it comes to free WiFi, Reza Rasoulian, vice president of global connectivity at Carnival Cruise Line, said the possibility is not yet on the cards. Customers of the Carnival brand will have to wait anywhere between five and ten years before they can hope to surf the net for free on holiday, Rasoulian said.

Royal Caribbean passengers are invited to connect to Voom, which is what the liner calls its on-board internet service. Unlike traditional internet options at sea, Voom uses a different kind of satellite technology to provide much faster connectivity. Voom comes in two packages (Surf and Surf & Stream), and the brand often offers discounts if they are bought in advance.

It offers guests the ability to stream music and movies, upload pictures, use FaceTime or Skype, check emails, surf the web and stay connected with work via VPN.

After testing its bandwidth on Harmony of the Seas, review website Cruise Critic said it is “fast and reliable, and rivals speeds on land”.

The line’s new ship Symphony of the Seas, launched in April, takes the crown as the world’s biggest cruise ship by volume and passengers and the company claims it is equipped with the “fastest internet at sea”.

Silversea Cruises recently jumped on the gravy train and started offering free unlimited WiFi to all guests throughout its fleet from April.

For the past two years, guests could enjoy only one hour of free unlimited WiFi per day. With the announcement, Silversea now joins Crystal Cruises, which first introduced free unlimited WiFi on its fleet in April last year.

"We know how important it is to catch up on emails or share photos on social media while on vacation," said Silversea's chief marketing officer Barbara Muckermann in a press release. "Now, with free unlimited WiFi in all suites, our guests can stay as connected as they like while they voyage to the most fascinating places on Earth."

However, one noteworthy aspect to take into account is these liners’ size and capacity. While Carnival and Royal Caribbean sail ships with a capacity of between 5,000 to 6,000 passengers and more, the smaller luxury cruises can only accommodate up to 600 guests at one time, meaning that offering free internet is far easier.

One of Silversea’s up and coming rivals, Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection, also announced it will include complimentary WiFi when it launches.

In March, culinary and destination-focused line Oceania Cruises announced the fleet-wide launch of its new Wavenet high-speed internet, which will allow travellers to do exactly what they do at home: stream, share, upload and communicate on a variety of platforms and apps.

Passengers will be able to upload and download large files “in a snap”, the company promised, and they can even livestream, Facetime and Skype with friends and family back home.

Free and unlimited Wavenet service are included for all stateroom and suite categories on all sailings starting from April, while a streaming upgrade called Wavenet Prime is available for $9.99 per day for those who wish to stream movies, music or videos.

Disney Cruise Line offers a variety of options to the many pay-per-minute packages ubiquitous with other lines: passengers can pay only for the data they use, so the choice of how much content they consume (from checking their email to streaming an entire movie) is in their hands.

Alternatively, Disney offers the possibility to use its Navigator App, which includes the latest cruise information directly while on the ship, as well as an in-built chat feature to keep in touch with other passengers.

Cover image credit: Royal Caribbean, SBW-Photo