SOON-TO-BE-SEEN OFF WEST SEATTLE: Cruise season starts Saturday

(WSB reader photo sent in 2018 by Huck)

If you have a view of Elliott Bay, it’s about to get busier for the spring/summer: The Port of Seattle is expecting its first cruise-ship arrival of the season on Saturday (April 23rd) – the 4-year-old, 4,000-passenger-capacity Norwegian Bliss (above), docking at Bell Street Pier Cruise Terminal at Pier 66 downtown. The port’s announcement says 296 ship calls are expected this summer, with “an expected 1.2 million revenue passengers.” According to the full-season schedule, the first multi-arrival day will be a week from Saturday, with three ships due in on April 30th. The season will last exactly six months, with the last ship call scheduled for October 23rd.

P.S. If you’ve noticed a cruise ship here recently, that was Ovation of the Seas, same one that was hanging around last fall because its Australian season was canceled. It will start Alaska cruises from here next month.

935 April 21, 2022 (4:35 pm)

YES!!!!!

Time for a walk on cruise to Alaska! How exciting!

rb April 21, 2022 (5:11 pm)

Do all the cruises go to AK? Are there any cruises from Seattle going to California?what a missed opportunity for everyone.

newnative April 22, 2022 (12:38 am)

Because of the Jones Act, it is still prohibited for ships to transport people from one US port to another. So West Coast cruises are usually repositioning cruises. There was a temporary waive of the Act last year to get around Canada’s closed borders but ships are now resuming international stops. If you really want to travel from PNW to LAX, try looking at Spring or Fall for the bookends of the Alaska season.

KT April 21, 2022 (5:16 pm)

So bad for the environment

DH April 21, 2022 (8:07 pm)

Agreed. It makes me sad to see this. Every time.
John April 21, 2022 (8:57 pm)

Better for the environment than 4,000 cars heading for Alaska.
- Rocket April 22, 2022 (8:17 am)
  
  Do you honestly believe that 1.2 million people a year would drive up to Alaska if this absurd cruise industry died? Give me a break.
  - John April 22, 2022 (12:10 pm)
    
    My response was tongue in cheek.But they move a lot more people in one trip than buses and light rail. And they make a profit.Empty seats on buses and trains is also bad for the environment.
anonyme April 22, 2022 (6:26 am)

It turns my stomach to see this, and nearly three hundred of these vessels will be spewing filth into Puget Sound this year. So much for marine protection, which has never been more than lip service anyway.

Zipda April 21, 2022 (6:05 pm)

Yes, Alaska by cruise is spectacular.

pupsarebest April 21, 2022 (10:51 pm)

Hideous to behold—a blight on the planet, in every way.

Osprey April 21, 2022 (11:27 pm)

Marine Traffic says the cruise ship Carnival Splendor arrived this morning from Honolulu.

WSB April 21, 2022 (11:54 pm)

Interesting, I checked MT before publishing this to see if Ovation was still here since we don’t have eyes on the bay and multiple meetings tonight meant we couldn’t do our usual late-afternoon drivearound. Anyway, looks like it doesn’t sail to Alaska until May 2nd, so like Ovation, it’s here but not actively cruising yet. – TR

Also John April 22, 2022 (1:08 pm)

Are you telling me you have problems with raw wastewater being discharged during a cruise? The larger ships produce nearly two Olympic size pools of waste. They have to get rid of it somehow?!

Sorry, comment time is over.