SAN DIEGO — Following years of steady declines, San Diego’s cruise ship industry appears poised for a long overdue rebound.
With cruise lines and passengers growing more comfortable with sailings in and out of Mexico, the Port of San Diego is expecting a 50 percent increase in cruise calls during the 2016-17 season. While nowhere close to the years-ago peak of San Diego’s once flourishing cruise industry when the number of yearly visits here approached 300, the more than 100 calls for the coming season marks a turning point.
“What we’re seeing right now is a significant increase from all of the cruise lines across the board,” said Kristine Zortman, cruise manager for the Port of San Diego. “The cruise lines are becoming extremely confident in the Mexican Riviera. In 2015-16, we were at about 68 calls. Since then, we’ve gotten the ’16-’17 schedule that goes from August through May of 2017, when we will have 102 calls.”
The volume of passengers this season is expected to rise from more than 200,000 to 250,000.
“While we recognize we may never be back to where we once were,” Zortman said, “we’re seeing a real turnaround barring any unforeseen incidents in Mexico.”
The surge in cruise calls, as well as passengers, is driven in part by Holland America’s decision to substantially expand its cruise offerings, going from 21 during the current season to 34 for the following season beginning this fall.
The cruise line, which is San Diego’s most consistent visitor, offers multiple itineraries, including trips to Hawaii and through the Panama Canal, but the most frequent destination is the Mexican Riviera. The line’s 2017-18 itinerary isn’t finalized, but it expects the number of calls to increase, although not as much as next year’s growth.
The Port of San Diego is especially encouraged by Disney Cruise Line’s continued interest in San Diego. Disney, which formerly cruised out of Los Angeles for a couple of years, has been consistently returning to San Diego for cruises of various durations to Mexico.
The coming season will not feature as many cruises on the 2,700-passenger Disney Wonder because it has plans to go into dry dock for repairs later this year, Zortman said. But in the fall of 2017, Disney already has committed to 12 calls in San Diego, with all but one originating from here.
San Diego is also starting to see growing interest in the coming year from luxury lines like Regent Seven Seas that will be stopping here as part of a sailing that originated elsewhere. Port officials are hoping that as lines like Holland America and Disney continue to expand their offerings, other cruise ship companies will boost their visits.
“I think some of the smaller luxury lines are seeing that the larger lines are confident being back in the Mexican Riviera, and they tend to follow those same itineraries,” Zortman explained. “What we see is them starting off small to see if their clientele, which is different than, say, Holland America, to see if they can start selling those itineraries back to the Mexican Riviera.
“We’re talking to all of the lines about increasing their home-porting here.”
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