Ashley Ford
Sun

Graphic shows the expanded terminal and location of cruise ships

When the largest cruise liner to operate on the West Coast makes its first visit to Vancouver on May 11, her 2,600 passengers will disembark into the finest cruise ship terminal in North America.

The $79-million cruise ship terminal expansion at Canada Place will be completed and open for business a year ahead of schedule.

“We are 90-per-cent complete, on budget and will be ready for the beginning of the Alaska cruise season,” Peter Xotta, senior manager for business development at the Vancouver Port Authority, said yesterday.

“We feel it is the premier facility of its type in North America.”

Xotta said the work was completed ahead of schedule because of good weather and few problems in the pile driving and deck expansion.

“You never really know when working with water but it went much better than expected,” he said.

The expansion adds a third berth and is large enough to allow marine behemoths such as the 109,000-ton Star Princess – which is too big to transit the Panama Canal – to easily dock on the east side. Xotta says the terminal can handle the largest cruise ships afloat.

Star Princess is a magnificent beast. It is 951 feet long, has 18 deck levels and can cruise at 22 knots. It has a nine-hole putting green, four pools, nine whirlpool spas, three dining rooms, 17 bars, three show lounges and a casino.

The terminal will help cement the city’s position as the pre-eminent port serving the Alaska cruise trade.

The Star Princess alone will generate an estimated 50,440 passengers. Each cruise ship arrival pumps more than $1 million into the local economy. Star Princess and 20 other ships will be based here.

The terminal has been designed to ensure the estimated one-million-plus cruise ship passengers each year can move through as effortlessly as possible. There are expanded facilities for baggage, passengers, bus staging and all in a very secure environment.

Some 52,000 square feet of space on an entertainment-promenade level atop the terminal will eventually house restaurants, educational attractions, sports and other recreational activities.

On the cruise-ship level there is 17,000 square feet of space for other retail or – commercial use. A substantial out door ­promenade area has been created at the northern tip of the terminal for public use.

Doug LePatourel, of Colliers International, retained to lease the space known as The Pointe at Canada Place, says the goal is to attract a major entertainment enterprise to complement the existing Imax theatre.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 16th, 2002 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Other News Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.