Tour of Cruise Ship berth and welcome centre

                           Mike Davidson giving members an orientation.

Members gathered at the Nanaimo Cruise Ship terminal at 5 PM July 24^th for a tour of the $24 million facility completed in 2011.  Mike Davidson, the property manager for the Nanaimo Port Authority met us and led our tour. We proceeded through the impressive welcome hall in the terminal and then walked out onto the 106 metre floating concrete dock which will accommodate ships up to 320 metres long.

Five cruise ships are scheduled in Nanaimo this year, including three in September.  Mike said that the public is welcome to come to see the next ships when they visit on Sept 15^th , 26^th and 30^th.   

Cruise ship visits went down from 15 in 2009 to 6 in 2010;  nine ships are scheduled for 2013.  The Port Authority is  projecting within the next 5 years to secure 25-30 large cruise calls per season.