Arrival of cruise ships in Thunder Bay, Ont., marks start of summer on the Great Lakes

Sarah Law · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 02, 2025 12:00 PM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Sharon Price and her husband, Samuel, were among the archetypal passengers to disembark successful Thunder Bay, Ont., connected Sunday, arsenic the northwestern Ontario metropolis marked the authoritative commencement of the 2025 cruise vessel season.

"We are benignant of seasoned Viking cruisers and it's been wonderful," said Price, who hails from Delaware, arsenic she exited Viking's Octantis.

"Although we unrecorded successful a tiny authorities that borders the Atlantic Ocean, it's a full antithetic shot game, a full antithetic benignant of water."

The Octantis is bringing 378 passengers and 256 unit members connected a two-week circuit of the Great Lakes. After making a day-stop successful Thunder Bay, it departed to marque country for its sister, Viking's Polaris, Sunday evening for a turnaround call. 

"The accomplishment of the archetypal cruise vessel of the twelvemonth is ever a spot symbolic of the commencement of the engaged summertime tourism season," said Paul Pepe, manager of Tourism Thunder Bay with the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC), during a solemnisation of Octantis's arrival.

The area's modern-day cruise industry, which dates backmost to the aboriginal 1990s, has ebbed and flowed implicit the past fewer decades, said Pepe.

There was a hiatus successful activities betwixt the precocious 1990s and aboriginal 2000s earlier the metropolis saw the instrumentality of expedition vessels betwixt 2009 and 2012.

Then, things quieted down until Viking announced its enlargement successful northwestern Ontario successful 2020, helium explained. 

"In 2024, cruise shipping was worthy astir $4.3 cardinal to Thunder Bay's economy, and if you look down us, you person trucks that are delivering things to the ships, you person trucks that are taking things disconnected the ship, you person shuttle buses, you person circuit guides, you person attractions," Pepe said.

"There's a batch of businesses successful Thunder Bay that payment from cruise shipping."

'We hide what's successful our ain backyard'

Mayor Ken Boshcoff and metropolis councillor Rajni Agarwal welcomed Octantis's skipper with a attraction bundle of section goods.

"You spot specified [an] planetary flavour of radical wanting to spot our Great Lakes, wanting to beryllium successful Thunder Bay, and we arsenic citizens of Thunder Bay really admit much of what we person erstwhile we're showcasing it to others," Agarwal said. "Sometimes, we hide what's successful our ain backyard."

Between June 1 and Sept. 8 of this year, 15 cruise vessel visits are expected successful Thunder Bay from Viking, Pearl Seas and Victory Cruise Lines, bringing astir 5,100 passengers and unit members successful tow, according to the Thunder Bay CEDC.

Last year, Great Lakes cruise tourism generated $26.4 cardinal successful planetary earned media value, it said.

In Thunder Bay, Pepe said a fig of partners person been moving unneurotic for the past respective years to make a welcoming situation for the vessels, gathering itineraries and excursions to pull much visitors.

"It's ever breathtaking to spot them present successful the assemblage and they are fantastic partners to enactment with," helium said of the cruise lines.

Price and her hubby person ne'er been to Thunder Bay before. Before boarding a autobus from the Pool 6 Cruise Terminal into town, she said she looked guardant to doing immoderate buying and exploring what the assemblage has to offer.

"It's different. It's beautiful, it truly is," she said. "Great for radical that similar to hike, I think, and fish. Oh my gosh, if you similar to fish, you're successful eden here."