The analysis below is based on the GVHA schedule as of 25th January 2026. The first cruise ship is scheduled to arrive on 10th April.
Summary
Key points from the report below are:
- 331 ships and 970,000 passengers are scheduled for 2026 (p1)
- Mostly late departures (p5) with 71% departing after 11pm and 66% at midnight (p7). 85% depart after 10pm.
- 55% of ships arrive at or after 7pm (p10) with passengers spending an average of just 4 hours in port – and approximately 2 hours on shore, if they choose to disembark. This, in addition to onboard accommodation and dining, likely accounts for the low level of cruise passenger spending on shore (less than 2% of the region’s tourism expenditure).
- In May and June there are 2 days without cruise ships, in July 3 days, in August 1 day and in September 4 days (p6).
- 49% of cruise ships are in port for less than 4 hours and 54% for less than 5 hours (p6).
- Short stops in Victoria allow ships to (1) avoid the PVSA penalty of $US996 per passenger ($US4 million for the largest ships) and (2) dump their garbage in Victoria.
- The hourly greenhouse gas (GHG) emission rate when 3 ships are in port is estimated to be 50% of the City of Victoria’s average hourly rate (p17).
- The average passenger time in port is 6.0 hours. The average ship time in port is 6.4 hours (p8). The difference between “Passenger time” and “Ship time” is due to the larger ships having shorter stays.
Report
Despite both the residents’ and the City of Victoria’s concerns there appears to be no limit to the annual growth of cruise ship numbers.
At a time when the environment should be our highest priority the cruise industry continues to deliver increasing amounts of green house gas, noise, speeding traffic and international garbage to our community.