Passengers prepare to disembark the MV Seabourn Odyssey on Thursday, May 9, marking the first cruise ship arrival in Nanaimo since 2019. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

SEABOURN ODYSSEY

First passenger-filled cruise ship in five years docks in Nanaimo

May 9, 2024 | 8:16 AM

NANAIMO — For the first time since 2019, a cruise ship full of passengers is docked in the Harbour City.

The MV Seabourn Odyssey arrived in Nanaimo on Thursday, May 9 just after 7 a.m. and is on the final leg of a 40+ day cruise which left Hong Kong in late March and made stops in China, South Korea, Japan and Alaska.

On board were around 350 passengers set to disembark and explore the central Island. Many have pre-booked trips to various activities and destinations across the region, including in Nanaimo.

Visitors were greeted on the dock by a Nanaimo RCMP officer dressed in the Red Serge along with a long line of tour buses ready to shuttle people to their destinations.

The MV Seabourn Odyssey arrived in Nanaimo Thursday morning, marking the official return of cruise ships to the Harbour City. The last cruise ship with passengers docked in 2019. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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The Odyssey can carry up to 450 passengers, as well as around 330 crew members on board, and measures roughly 650 feet long and 85 feet wide.

Nanaimo Port Authority president and CEO Ian Marr told NanaimoNewsNOW they’re eyeing smaller, more niche cruises as opposed to the larger 1,000+ passenger ships.

He said as cruises returned, companies mainly eyed more major markets like Vancouver and Victoria.

“For us it’s been a hard slog, but our crews got on it and they’re attracting more, they’ve got more coming next year. We’re trying to attract this size of vessel…it’s perfect for Nanaimo and the location.”

It’s the first of two arrivals scheduled for the 2024 cruise season with the Oceania Regatta, presently in Alaska as well, docking in late August.

At least six more bookings are already in place for 2025 and 2026 as the local cruise industry gets back on its feet post-pandemic.

Six arrivals were scheduled in 2020 before the industry shut down.

Marr said if cruises are able to return on a regular basis through the spring and summer months, it will cause a few headaches, albeit welcomed ones, for the port.

“If we’re successful in doing what we want to do and bringing more ships on a weekly basis…then we’ve got other issues to deal with in how we keep our Hullo ferry moving as well. They can complement each other on the facility and it’d be a really good thing for us.”

As a result of Thursday’s arrival tying up the cruise ship dock, Hullo Ferries are not operating service for the day and will resume sailing on Friday, May 9.

The MV Seabourn Odyssey sits in dock as a BC Ferries vessel travels in behind. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

One of those looking on as the ship docked Thursday morning was the mother of the ship’s captain.

Requesting to remain anonymous, she told NanaimoNewsNOW it was her first time seeing her son, who also lives in the city, command a ship this large and she “couldn’t be more proud”.

“He worked for many years on fishing boats then became a mate, then he became a chief mate and a captain and now he’s a pilot. It took many years of hard work and lots of sea time.”

Passengers are due back on board by 5 p.m. on Thursday, with the Odyssey departing Nanaimo around 6 p.m. for Vancouver.

A Nanaimo RCMP member greeted passengers Thursday morning at the cruise ship terminal as they headed onto tours across the central Island. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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