The Port of Quebec ended a successful 2024 season with virtually the same number of cruise arrivals it welcomed in 2023, and that was a record-breaking year.
A total of 154,299 cruise guests transited the cruise terminal in 2024, matching the roughly 150,000 recorded the previous year. The most recent numbers represent a substantial jump from the 92,000 cruise guests who visited in 2022.
The port is growing, but in a measured and planned way. In 2014 it became the world’s first port to cap the number of cruise visitors at 15,000 per day in an effort to control cruise-tourism’s impact on the local population and infrastructure.
Even so, port operations are responsible for some 10,000 jobs, both direct and related, and $2 billion in economic activity.
The port in 2024 welcomed 42 ships from 23 cruise lines, including 112 port call visits and 28 embarkation and debarkation operations. Eight cruise ships made their inaugural calls to the destination.
In 2023, the port received 131 port call visits from 41 ships representing 28 cruise lines.
Cruise passengers currently represent 4% of Quebec City’s 4 million annual tourists, who visit the historic destination for its culture, history, architecture, and cuisine. The port in 2022 opened a new cruise terminal that can handle 2,500 passengers at a time.
Summer and fall season cruise itineraries typically include Quebec City on a combination of Canada/New England sailings, and the destination is frequently a port call on voyages to Greenland and Iceland from northeastern US ports.
The 2024 season opened with the arrival of MSC Cruises’ MSC Poesia on April 10 as the ship sailed her 114-night World Cruise. The 2,550-guest ship called at Quebec on her way to Greenland.
While the Eastern Canada cruise season officially ends in November, the port announced in 2023 that Ponant’s Le Commandant Charcot would call at Quebec in January 2025 as part of her winter cruise series.
The 31,300-gross ton luxury expedition ship, a hybrid icebreaker vessel powered by liquified natural gas (LNG), will visit the port on her 12-night “St. Lawrence River in the Heart of the Boreal Winter” cruise. The voyage begins on Saint Pierre Island and explores Eastern Canada before concluding in Quebec City.
The Port of Quebec’s summer season gets underway in May 2025. Early season visits are planned by Viking’s Viking Neptune and two Holland America Line ships, Zuiderdam and Volendam, both of which will be regular visitors through the season on a series of Canada/New England itineraries.
Other notable ships slated to call at Quebec include Oceania Cruises’ Marina, in July; and Azamara’s Azamara Quest; Silversea Cruises’ Silver Shadow; Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Jewel, and Seabourn’s Seabourn Sojourn in August.
Port Focuses on Expanding Green Initiatives
The Port of Quebec operates under a sustainable tourism plan that includes installing electric plug-in capabilities at its three cruise wharves and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. The $45 million shoreside power project is in progress.
Read Also: I Cruised Eastern Canada on Holland America – Here’s What I Loved Best
“The cruise season is a major contributor to the prosperity of the tourism industry in the Greater Québec City area. Not only does it make an important economic contribution, it also provides an exceptional international showcase,” said Robert Mercure, general manager of Destination Quebec.
“We’re delighted to see how the port and the industry are taking steps to make cruises increasingly eco-responsible,” added Mercure.
In its 2035 Vision Plan, the port’s goals include shore power implementation; reducing air pollution; and building local and international partnerships in environmental management, among others.
