SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - Cruising season for 2022 is set sail on Monday for the Port of San Diego.
The Port says this cruising season will be its busiest season since 2010 with 140 cruise calls and 460,000 passengers. This also means big money coming into local economy.
“We were actually talking about it a couple of days; something we’d consider,” said Arman Jose, who’s visiting from Los Angeles.
That consideration is hitting the high seas for a cruise.
And the Port of San Diego is welcoming those looking to get their sea legs under them again for this upcoming cruising season on Monday.
“Over 500,000 people are going to be coming here for those cruises. They’re going to see our awesome, wonderful city. And it also means big bucks for San Diego. Each home ported cruise ship in brings in $2 million per ship,” said Dan Malcolm, chairman of the Port of San Diego. “Let me put it this way: This cruise season will generate about $300 million [in] economic generation for San Diego.”
Something locals and tourists see as a big boost coming from those big ships.
“Given the economy, I think everything, every dollar that comes in is very beneficial,” said San Diegan Wyatt Wachtel.
“I think it would be great for San Diego and I think it would be great for all of the ports of California; Los Angeles where we’re from. I think it’ll be great for everybody,” Jose said. “People enjoy cruises. I know I did back in the day and I’m looking forward doing another one soon.”
As big as this cruising season is for San Diego, the Port feels this is a big bright spot for an industry hit hard by the pandemic.
“We are working with the cruise companies to assure the public that cruising is safe again. The cruise companies have a lot of protocols in place, and so do we, in case there’s any outbreak on a ship,” Malcolm said. “I would say it’s really a bright future with cruises and I’m excited about it.”
To put things in perspective, the chair of the Port of San Diego said that during 2020 through 2021, 173 cruises were lost due to people being hesitant to get one board a cruise ship again and the cruise ships had to shut down for a period of time.
