The arrival of Ruby Princess, a Grand-class cruise ship owned and operated by Princess Cruises, at Canada Place on April 28th marked the official opening of Vancouver’s 2015 Alaska cruise season. The season is expected to be strong, on par with previous years, with an estimated 800,000 passengers on 227 visits by 32 vessels.
Earlier this year, the cruise season kicked off sooner than usual as Princess Cruise’s Grand Princess offered an exciting and increasingly popular cruise itinerary that ran back-to-back trips between Vancouver and Hawaii beginning in March.
Ruby Princess, which is a sister ship to Crown Princess and Emerald Princess, was built in 2008 by Fincantieri in Trieste, Italy.
She was officially named at Fort Lauderdale, Florida on November 6, 2008, by Trista Sutter and Ryan Sutter.
World Maritime News Staff; Image: Port Metro Vancouver