After two years of waiting on the sidelines, Celebrity Eclipse will return to service today. The Solstice-class cruise ship sails to Hawaii today on an 11-night voyage that will arrive in the archipelago on April 29.
The voyage is one of the first cruises to sail from Vancouver since the industry-wide pause in operations that stopped cruises sailing from and to Canada for two years.
Celebrity Eclipse will sail on two voyages to Hawaii, after which she starts her season in Alaska, which will last through September 11, 2022.
Celebrity Eclipse Sails on First Cruise Since 2020
On March 30, 2020, the 121,878 gross ton Celebrity Eclipse disembarked guests for the final time in what turned out to be more than two years in San Diego, California. Today, April 23, the crew of the vessel welcomes guests on board for the first time in over two years.
Only two ships in the Celebrity Cruises line-up are not sailing yet. Celebrity Solstice resumes sailing in May 2022, and Celebrity Infinity resumes sailing in June 2022.
The Solstice-class Celebrity Eclipse will depart on the first of two Hawaii cruises scheduled for the cruise ship. After sailing at sea for five days, the ship will arrive in her first port of call, Hilo, Hawaii, on April 29. After that, the ship will sail to Kailua Kona, Lahaina, and conclude the voyage in Honolulu.
On May 4, guests will debark in Honolulu, and a new group of guests will embark on the second Hawaii cruise, which concludes in Vancouver on May 15. This day will also be the start of Celebrity Eclipse’s Alaska cruise season from Vancouver.
During 17 7-day cruises and one 11-day cruise, through September 11, 2022, Celebrity Eclipse will call in ports of call in Alaska such as Sitka, Juneau, Icy Strait Point, and Hubbard Glacier, Ketchikan, and more.
The ship has space for 2,850 guests at double occupancy. She was built at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, and delivered in 2010.
Western Canada Expects 600 Cruise Ship Calls
With Celebrity Eclipse, many more cruise ships will be operating in and from Western Canada this summer. Both Vancouver and Victoria, BC, are expecting more than 600 calls. Canada only allowed cruising to return recently, yet, the industry is back to relative normality again.
Royce Chwin, president and CEO of Destination Vancouver, said this: “Seeing cruise ships return to Canada Place is the surest sign that Vancouver’s visitor economy is rebounding and rebuilding. The cruise industry has such a significant impact on local businesses and supports so many jobs – what a long two years it’s been for everyone whose livelihood has been affected by the absence of ships in the harbour.”
As it does in all major cruise centers, the cruise industry considerably impacts the local economy. In 2019, each ship that called at the Canada Place Cruise Terminal generated an estimated $3.17 million in direct economic activity. The cruise industry generated $2.2 billion in total economic impact that year.
Melanie Mark, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture, and Sport: “The cruise ship industry supports thousands of people whose jobs rely on the regular arrival of ships and brings hundreds of thousands of visitors to B.C. each year. We are excited cruise bookings for 2022 include 600 scheduled calls in Vancouver and Victoria and indicate a very promising future for the sector.”
21 Cruise lines have scheduled ships to sail to or from Vancouver this summer season, including more than 50 different cruise ships.
