Vancouver welcomes first cruise ship of 2019 season

Vancouver's cruise ship season has officially begun.

The city welcomed its first ship of the season, the Emerald Princess, as she docked at Canada Place at sunrise on Friday.

The Port of Vancouver said the ship's arrival kicks off what's expected to be a record-breaking season, with more than one million cruise ship passengers expected to arrive on 290 ship visitsbetween Friday and Nov. 1 a 21 per cent increase from 2018.

"We always look forward to the start of cruise season, but this year is especially exciting," Carmen Ortega, manager oftrade development for the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, said in a statement.

In total, 41ships from 24 cruise lines will make port calls inVancouver. The Port of Vancouver statement said each one generatesan average of nearly $3 million in direct economic activity.

Victor Dezsohas been taking photos of cruise ships in Vancouver's harbour for about 14 years as a hobby. He was at the convention centre to capture the Emerald Princess on Friday morning.

"There's been some big boys and they're getting bigger, it seems," he said, adding that he's takenpictures of "hundreds and hundreds" of ships over the years.

"I photograph whatever I'm allowed to, whatever I can," he continued. "It's a wonderful anincredible city, in fact, and I just photograph. I used to make a living out of it and now I just do it 'cause I can."