The 2024 cruise season officially kicked off last weekend at the Port of Seattle’s Bell Street Pier Cruise Terminal at Pier 66. The Port and local officials welcomed Norwegian Bliss for the first sailing of the 25th year of cruises between Seattle and Alaska. As the season gets underway, the Port is hard at work finalizing the electrification of Pier 66 and plans to connect cruise ships to shore power this summer. This milestone will make shore power available at all three Seattle cruise berths, which will achieve the Northwest Ports Air Strategy goal to electrify all cruise berths by 2030, six years early.

2024 season by the numbers

The 2024 season runs from April 6 to October 28. The season is expected to support:

• 275 sailings
• 1.7 million revenue passengers, which comes out to more than 800,000 unique passengers
• Nearly $900 million in economic impact including tourism, provisioning, and jobs supported by cruise
• 5,500 jobs

“Cruising to Alaska is an extraordinary experience, and 63% of travelers first visiting Seattle for a cruise return for a longer stay, furthering the economic impact to local businesses,” said Sally Andrews, Vice President Communications & Public Affairs, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA). “The cruise industry is committed to sustainable operations, with some of the most technologically advanced ships sailing in the region, use of shore power to reduce emissions, and investing in new solutions to protect beautiful destinations like the Pacific Northwest.”