Montreal's renovated Old Port welcomes 1st cruise ship

While thousands of tourists are in the city for Grand Prix festivities thisweekend, Montreal welcomed its first cruise ship sincethe Old Port got a $78-million update.

The Maasdam arrived from Boston with 1,700 passengers and cruise ship employees early Saturday morning at the newly renovated Alexandra Pier.

The upgrade project, announced last summer, is supposed to bring new life to the aging pier and a complete overhaul of the Iberville passenger terminal. The goal was to bring a more pleasant experience to cruise ship passengers as they disembark near Old Montreal.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre said the renovations are an important step in boosting the city's tourism industry. He expects that cruise ships alone will bring the city $30 million in tourism-related revenue duringthe 375thanniversary celebrations.

"You know that Montreal is transforming, that Montreal is beautifying," said Coderre. "We're giving back the river to the people and we're receiving visitors."

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The city expects 110,000cruise ship passengers to visit the citythis summer.

The number of cruise passengers and crew members stopping in the city has doubled since 2011, bring the number to 91,000 in 2015, according to figures fromthe port authority.

While the upgrades are still ongoing, the project is expected to becompleted by the end of this summer.