Great Lakes & St. Lawrence Region Announces Record-Breaking 2023 Cruise Ship Season

(KINGSTON, ONTARIO) – Today aboard the Canadian Empress at Crawford Wharf in downtown Kingston, Ontario, leaders from St. Lawrence Cruise Lines, Cruise the Great Lakes and Ontario’s Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport commemorated the start of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence cruise ship season by announcing that 2023 is set to break records with 800 port visits generating US$235 million in economic impact across the international Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River waterways.

During the event, leaders from Cruise the Great Lakes, an international organization focused on attracting more cruise passengers and ships to the region, shared the 2023 forecast. Key takeaways include:

2023 Forecast
25,000 cruise passengers, an increase of more than 20% from 2022.
170,000 total cruise passenger traffic, up 13% from 150,000 in 2022.

Economic Impact
US$235 million in economic impact (onshore spending, average price per voyage per passenger), an 80% increase from 2022’s total of US$125 million.

Ships
Ships sailing the waters this cruising season: Pearl Mist, Ocean Navigator, Ocean Voyager, Canadian Empress, Viking Octantis, Viking Polaris, Le Bellot, Le Dumont-D’Urville, MS Hamburg, Hanseatic Inspiration, Ocean Explorer

The increase from 9 ships in 2022 to 11 this year represents a year-on-year increase of over 20% and we expect to see more ships in 2024.

The full press release can be found here.