It may have been a slow start to the season, but cruise ships are now sailing swiftly in Saint John. After seeing just seven cruise ships from April through August - less than what Halifax welcomed for all of April - Port Saint John is set to see a ship nearly every other day over the next two months. There are 51 boats still scheduled to come to the port city, bringing the expected total to 58 ship visits in 2026. That includes the first double cruise ship day of the season on Wednesday, and the first triple ship day on Sept. 8. Port Saint John president and CEO Craig Bell Estabrooks admits the port has a lot going on during the year, but he always looks forward to when the ships are frequently settling in Saint John. “The vibrancy that it adds to Saint John when there’s thousands of guests coming in and seeing the city market for the first time and just hearing people walk up and down Water Street and talk about our city,” says Bell Estabrooks. “Sometimes we don’t realize how great we have it, and you have to hear that from a third party that’s coming in from afar.” Bell Estabrooks points out there are 12 overnight cruise ship stays planned for 2026 which is more than in years past. He says the overnight stays allow passengers to see more of the area and also spend more money, contributing to the local economy. The added foot traffic is welcomed by businesses in and around uptown Saint John, like the Loyalist House. New Brunswick Historical Society board member Greg Marquis says July and August were slow compared to years past and stresses the importance of cruise ship season for small museums like Loyalist House. “We tend to make slightly more than half of our revenue at the door during cruise ship season,” Marquis says. “As an organization that doesn’t get a lot of external funding, we really look forward to having those visitors.” It’s a similar sentiment for local businesses around the uptown, where tourists like to stop and pick up a shirt and grab a bite to eat to remember their visit to southern New Brunswick. The tourism traffic is especially important for vendors in the Area 506 Container Village, which for most passengers is the first stop after getting off the boat. Ryan Crozier works at the Water Yeti Co. booth that sells handcrafted goods and clothing. He says the money spent by tourists is critical for the vendors here to help make the season worth it. “A lot of passengers from all over the world are visiting us,” Crozier says. “And it’s exciting to hear why they’re here, why they chose Saint John, and we’re excited to greet everybody.” For more permanent storefronts like Hats on the Square located within Market Square, owner Susie Hines says as a business owner cruise ship season is her favourite time of year. She says people come off the boats ready to spend, but admits she was hoping for a long season of ships. “I’m a little disappointed to see that the cruise ships are down a little bit this year,” admits Hines. “Because it does help us retailers get through those slow months of January to March.” Bell Estabrooks acknowledges the volume of passengers isn’t as high as in years past, but he notes more ships could always be diverted to Saint John during the fall storm season. He says the extra overnight ship stays do help the economic aspect of seeing less ships overall, and is aiming to extend the Saint John ship season into the summer months similar to Halifax. “Really we have two months where it’s just a tremendous amount of vessels,” Bell Estabrooks says. “If we can spread that over a longer period in the summer, that’ll help us grow our numbers and be really good for vendors that can set up for a longer period of time.” “We definitely want to elevate our program and have more cruise ships here.” For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.
