Carnival Lines’ Alaska cruises to leave Vancouver for Seattle

[twoNeurons]

I don't know why you'd center an entertainment district around a seasonal and volatile industry like cruise ship industry.

But, in general, yes. It would be nice if Granville was made more... entertainmentish.

[SpongeG]

accept it vancouver is what it is

if you want what another city is you should move to that city

[Metro-One]

I don't know why you'd center an entertainment district around a seasonal and volatile industry like cruise ship industry.

But, in general, yes. It would be nice if Granville was made more... entertainmentish.

Well i was kind of talking about one thing then i spun off into another, hehe, you know how it goes when you write. I too would not want it to revolve around the volatile cruise ship industry either, instead, i was trying to kill two birds with one stone. One proving that vancouver should try and market itself as a day stop on the cruises, just because they are departing from Seattle does not mean we still can not get in on the action, and second i was trying to show that beefing up the entertainment areas can also act as a good selling point to such industries.

accept it vancouver is what it is

if you want what another city is you should move to that city

And to SpongeG, i don't know how many times i have to explain to you that 90% of van is perfect, when i am on the international forums and canadian forums i am a civic booster, 90% of what i saw about Van to them is positive, but here, on the vancouver development forum, this is the area where people discuss what they believe can improve a city. To be 100% content with what we have now is not helping your city. With that attitude i guess whenever someone complains about the train network, or buses, or road network we should simply say, "Vancouver is what it is, if you don't like it, move to Europe, they have good train systems and bike infrastructure" The spirit of a city is it can always improve, and yes i believe Vancouver's weak 10% is its nightlife and ambiance on the main entertainment drags. How is that saying Vancouver is a bad city? Again with your philosophy I guess all the people who wanted to see a denser, larger downtown with many towers 20 years ago should have simply moved to another city that had them...I am not going anywhere bud, i love this city to much And yes, i really do think trams down granville, connecting the two underground malls and properly connecting the two underground Granville stations, adding more festivals and street performers, closing Granville to traffic, extending liquor hours on the weekend, relaxing restaurant by-laws (more dancing and music!), adding more lighting effects and signage down Granville and Robson (the current upgrades are a good step in the right direction) and placing a few LED screens at the corners of Burrard and Robson and Graville and Robson to play sporting events, civic events, news updates, public reminders, etc... would improve Vancouver and add that little amount of spice which is missing. And if you dont like that atmosphere, well you would have every other street in Vancouver to go to which needs no changing! (Especially Denmen, Denmen is perfect as it is, maybe just adding a tram would be nice).

[Locked In]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

on the vancouver development forum, this is the area where people discuss what they believe can improve a city. To be 100% content with what we have now is not helping your city.

I couldn't agree with you more here Metro - the fact that Vancouver is superb already doesn't mean that it can't be improved upon.

Originally Posted by Metro-One

a hopping nightlife along Granville that does not close on the weekends until 4 (or at least 3), street performers down Granville, weekly street shows, cruise ship tourists emptying their pockets and joining in on the fun

This is a funny suggestion - I'd love to see the Alaska cruise crowd partying till 4am on Granville Street. But I see your point - diversifying the entertainment available downtown, and creating a more lively district that's interesting to a broader range locals and visitors - and I think it's a good one. You just have to find a way to convince downtown residents that it's a good thing - in the end, the interests of Vancouver's citizens come first.

[Canadian Mind]

Originally Posted by SpongeG

they use it anyway

I meant cut it off from their use. and if they use it anyways, coastguard goes out and deals with it, if the coastguard can't handle it, the nearby naval base sends out a ship or too, and the nearby airbase sends out a few chalks loaded with boarding parties.

[Hourglass]

Originally Posted by ravman

GO Gordo GO
GO Falcon GO

I fail to see the relevance of this comment. Are you saying Gordo and Falcon are responsible for the global economic meltdown? You're attributing a lot of powers to them

Originally Posted by SpongeG

they use it anyway

Actually, there is segmentation in the Alaska cruise market. Seattle typically gets the 7-day round trip cruises to Alaska which go on the west coast of Vancouver Island to save time. Most of the ships based in Vancouver do 7-day one-way cruises to Alaska via the Inside Passage.

[zivan56]

I doubt that people who go on cruise ships would find Granville street entertaining. I would say they would call it threatening and hostile if nothing...
If anything, Granville should not have any more pubs/bars/clubs. Concentrating 100% of late night places on one street creates tons of problems, which you can see almost every weekend (fights, stabbing, etc). We need to have places open late along Broadway, Cambie, Hastings, and other major streets spread out quite evenly to avoid such incidents.
Likewise, places in the burbs should be open late as well, so that we don't have half of Chilliwack coming to downtown on weekends and causing trouble.

[twoNeurons]

Originally Posted by zivan56

Likewise, places in the burbs should be open late as well, so that we don't have half of Chilliwack coming to downtown on weekends and causing trouble.

That's a laugh. Half of Chilliwack would still only be 0.01% of the trouble caused. It's all too easy to blame another city for problems that are usually home-grown.

And Metro. SpongeG is just trying to rile you up. He knows that Vancouver has changed so much in the past 15 years that "accepting Vancouver for what it is" is in fact accepting change.

Change will come to Granville. It just may happen more slowly than some want it to.

[LeftCoaster]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Maybe Vancouver should boost up its night life along Granville street, add some more lights, signs and ambience down the main commercial drags helping possibly making itself a one day/night stop on all the cruises if they decide to depart from Seattle, that way we still get all the tourists. just like when you are on a mexican cruise, the stop for the day, you get out, do the tourist thing during the day, strolling, hiking, shopping, looking around, and then party your but off at night, then back to the ship for bed! Again, this is how having a true entertainment district can actually help boost the economy! In fact i am surprised no one has tried to sell this idea before, it could be a golden opportunity to bring in many more festival and cultural events downtown, many of which could be scheduled around the one day and night cruise arrivals! Wow, i am drooling thinking about it, a mini times square at Robson and Granville with big screens and fun signage, a true shopping hub with the 2 malls underground connected together, street venders along Granville with trams running up and down (no cars), Robson Square as a vibrant cultural center with street performers, art shows, theater in the park events, the restaurant and shopping scene hopping along Robson, complete with scramble sidewalks and a few more screens and lighting effects at Robson and Burrard, a hopping nightlife along Granville that does not close on the weekends until 4 (or at least 3), street performers down Granville, weekly street shows, cruise ship tourists emptying their pockets and joining in on the fun, and all of this right on top of the Granville to Granville station skytrain hub!

Sounds like fun, too bad the average age of a cruise ship passenger is in the neighbourhood of 85 years old. We'd be better putting a strip of country time buffets in.

[Metro-One]

Hahahaha! So true! But i think the average person on this thread understands what i am getting at. Also to those people who believe that having a good entertainment district brings violence and thugs, that problem is not because of the concentration of bars and clubs but from our judicial and education systems. How come European and even many Asian cities all have far superior and denser entertainment districts without the trouble? Also the media sensationalizes events as well so i doubt it is as bad as we are made to think it is (also i believe almost all of the recent gang shootings have been no where near Granville street or clubs). I go down Granville almost every weekend and i have never been in a fight or even close to a fight, and same goes for all of my friends. The people who usually end up in a fight are the ones looking for it in the first place. I hate the mentality that just because there are some trouble makers we should not have any fun venues or public events. That mentality is just as lame and unprogressive as the people who try to stop mass transit improvements because it will bring muggings, stabbings, etc... into their neighborhood.

[Stingray2004]

I'm always an optimist by nature and while the following may sound dismal for the short term, methinks same has more to do with the current American economic malaise than anything else. I believe it will eventually come back after the US economy rebounds.

That said, since we are all going to hear about same sooner or later:

Another cruise ship line cuts back its sailings, moves to Seattle

By Fiona Anderson, Vancouver Sun

March 30, 2009

Another cruise line is trimming its sailings from Vancouver for 2010 and more cruise lines are expected to follow suit, which could cost the area $120 million in economic losses.

Holland America, owner of the Volendam and its sister ships, is replacing 20 seven-day sailings between Vancouver and Seward, Alaska, with 10 14-day sailings between Seattle and Anchorage, the company announced Monday.

Four ships will continue to sail out of Vancouver on 77 sailings, some of them return trips, others one-way, the company said.

Each return sailing is estimated to bring about $2 million in economic activity to the area. So Holland America’s redeployment could cost Vancouver $40 million.

Earlier this month, Carnival Cruise Lines said it would move nine of its sailings from Vancouver to Seattle, for an estimated loss of $18 million.

Steve Pearce, vice-president, leisure travel and digital marketing with Tourism Vancouver, said cruise lines have to file their berth plans by the end of March and more sailings may be cut.

“We’re at the 11th hour and I think what we’re finding is that other cruise lines are choosing to move ships to Seattle or out of the market entirely for 2010,” Pearce said.

By the time the dust settles, Pearce expects there to be 62 fewer return sailings from Vancouver in 2010 compared to 2009, a loss of 260,000 passengers and $120 million in economic impact.

Pearce believes the ailing economy is to blame.

Seventy-five to 80 per cent of Alaska cruise passengers are from the United States, and it’s cheaper for those passengers to fly to Seattle, Pearce said.

“Seattle is serviced by more carriers and more importantly more discount carriers,” Pearce said. “So all things considered it’s less expensive to fly to Seattle to take a cruise than it is to fly to Vancouver.”

And most passengers only think about where the cruise is headed, not where it’s leaving from, he said.

“Where they get on the cruise ship is almost incidental,” Pearce said.

And many ports are quite industrial-looking, he said. So passengers who have joined cruises in Vancouver are often pleasantly surprised at what Vancouver has to offer.

Tourism Vancouver hopes to make potential cruise passengers aware of the city’s charms, so they’ll want to start their cruise here.

“To the degree we can get them to consider Vancouver before they make a decision [on a cruise], then we know we can win the business here,” Pearce said.

“But if it boils down just to price then Seattle will win the business,” Pearce added.

Pearce hopes two events will help convince cruisers to embark in Vancouver: the 2010 Olympics, which will bring millions of Americans to the area, and Vancouver’s hosting of the Cruise Lines International Association’s 2010 trade show, which will bring in travel agents.

Two other cruise lines have already announced they will curtail their Vancouver sailings.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines will move its Serenade of the Seas to the Caribbean, cancelling that ship’s Alaska cruises for 2010, a loss of 19 sailings for Vancouver, Pearce said.

And Norwegian Cruise Line will change its 10 round-trip sailings by the Norwegian Sun into one-way voyages, essentially cutting the sailings in half, he said.

Source: Vancouver Sun

http://www.vancouversun.com/entertai...431/story.html

[SpongeG]

this is what they were fearing a few years ago when they changed that law which benefitted seattle

maybe the economy is helping speed it up

it was bound to happen apparently - Vancouver really couldn't do much to reverse it

[giallo]

It's high time Vancouver starts it's own cruise line. A hedonist cruise line.
If you can't beat 'em, reduce to smutting it up!

[Distill3d]

Originally Posted by giallo

It's high time Vancouver starts it's own cruise line. A hedonist cruise line.
If you can't beat 'em, reduce to smutting it up!

Fast Cat Cruiseline - The Fastest Cruiseline to never leave the docks

[jlousa]

Forget cruises, Vancouver can be a pioneer, instead of dragboats racing on a lake we can have weekly fast cat races in the inlet.Have them start at the 2nd narrows bridge and the first one to cross the Lions Gate bridge wins. You could have tens and tens of people watching from the bridges.

Heck once the crowds begin dwindling you can create a fast cat demolition derby in the inlet, I'd pay to watch that. As a bonus it would revive the ship building industry in North Van as they'd be constantly fixing them. Everyone wins.

[NetMapel]

Yeah if they can do something like annual speed boat races around small coastal islands and finish at Lions Gate, it'll be lots of fun. I'd watch it.

[lightrail]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

I thought this all started cause of the increased difficulty of trans-border travel facilitated by 9/11 related security measures?

Jones act is still in place - all of the Seattle-Alaska cruise ships stop in Victoria on the way back to Seattle - so Victoria will see well over 250 ships this year.