Shaun Stevenson, the vice-president of marketing and business development for the Prince Rupert Port Authority, was the speaker at the February 16 Chamber of Commerce luncheon and focused on the cruise industry and how it can be grown and restored in Prince Rupert.
What the hell do they expect?All the things that cruise passengers enjoyed in the past are NO longer here or available!No Mount Hayes,no pulp mill tours,no operating cannery tours,no CN train trips…we are not a cruise port for large ships and as a person who has done cruises in other parts of the world I can see why we get the response we do from passengers…and do not forget…these are Jones Act ships.
I didnt realise that Mt Hays was gone, or that our natural environment is gone, or that the passengers have been wanting to tour our canerries. The things the cruise ship passengers want are here, we just have not provided them access to them. The shopping in our little town is not what cruise passengers are wanting, our NIMBY attitude has made our shopping experience look rather “hick” in comparison to other ports.
The natural scenery is second to none, and tours operate at capacity, every ship, same with sport fishing.
We have planty to offer, but we need to change our approach and cater more to the indusrty, go that extra mile to attract the ships back.
Saltybear what are/is Jones Act ships?
The Merchant Marine Act of 1920 (P.L. 66-261) is a United States Federal statute that regulates maritime commerce in U.S. waters and between U.S. ports.
Section 27, also known as the Jones Act, deals with cabotage (i.e., coastal shipping) and requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flag ships, constructed in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed by U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents. The purpose of the law is to support the U.S. Maritime industry.[1]
In addition, amendments to the Jones Act, known as the Cargo Preference Act (P.L. 83-644), provide permanent legislation for the transportation of waterborne cargoes in U.S.-flag vessels. The Merchant Marine Act of 1920 has been revised a number of times, the most recent and thorough revision was the re-codified version of 2006.[2]
the act basically states ships going into the US must pay US wages and adhere to US labour laws, but if you make one foreign port stop you are exempt from those laws, so basically Rupert , Nanimo, Campbell River and Victoria are just a mandatory anchor drop to avoid US laws, last year cruise ship companies were whining about Victoria as well, stores not opened, nothing to do etc etc, so has nothing to do with Rupert, they just go to cheapest port, drop anchor then leave
Well I can certainly see that there is NO difference in the tourist experience between Victoria and Prince Rupert.
Whine as they might, a review of the “exit” surveys from the recent cruise season would show that there was a desire of the passengers to have their cruise ship call on Victoria next year as opposed to Prince Rupert.
Like it or not in our little insular corner of the province, that is the bottom line reason as to the decline of the most recent cruise lines, the perception is that there are more items of interest to their customers with a Victoria port call, go figure.
Who caters to entertainment in Prince Rupert that is cruise ship oriented!
There’s lots of knick-knacks selling places and food but, they have those items on the ship. We have our harbour tours…do we have jet ski’s? Do we have trail guides and hiking tours? I think the kayaking company is about the only highly publicized tour out there (thank goodness). The scooters were a great idea. But it’s always raining here? Cold rain. Not fun to be in by most people’s standards.
Where are the arts and entertainment shows for the PAC on cruise ship day? Do we have performing groups on the docks or under canopy near the ships? We have a market fair with trinkets which, would be great as a backdrop to tours and entertainment but in reality is hardly anywhere near a “Main Attraction.”