Seatrade Cruise News is part of the Informa Markets Division of Informa PLC

This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

In newly fashionable Old Montréal, cruisers are in vogue, too

(Photo: Cité Mémoire)
Cité Mémoire - projections of iconic people and scenes from Montréal history pop up on buildings, trees and streets
Cruise visitors to Montréal step off their ship from the newly modernized terminal at Alexandra Pier into the city's birthplace. It is one of the world's increasingly few city-center terminals, a place front and center where people can easily stroll—or ride in a horse carriage or a Tesla taxi—through block after block of enticements.

Vieux-Montreal (Old Montréal), the historic district, charms with its pedestrian streets, public squares, churches, museums and historic sites. It's lively day and night with shops, art galleries, a market, restaurants, cafés and bars. A zip line, Canada's largest Ferris wheel and even a small sandy beach are found off a long green promenade skirting the riverfront.

'Some restaurants in Old Montréal are, frankly, unbelievable,' said Mario Lafrance, director general of Vieux-Montreal SDC, a privately funded business development corporation and a member of the Montréal Cruise Committee. There are 240 restaurants, and 60 or 70 boast signature chefs. Boutiques, he added, offer quality, original items that can't be found anywhere else.

Montréal was founded steps from the site of Alexandra Pier. Special for the 375th anniversary and Canada's 150th anniversary of confederation are colorful illuminations on the Jacques Cartier and Champlain bridges after dark, while projections of iconic people and scenes from Montréal history pop up on buildings, trees and streets, part of the Cité Mémoire project.

Today 40,000 people work in Old Montréal and more than 6,000 live in the area, which is newly trendy. Incredibly, considering everything the area has to offer, that wasn't always so.

Lafrance said Old Montréal was sleepy until a revival began about 15 years ago. Also, many cruise visitors used to bypass the chance to explore right on their ships' doorstep; with the past emphasis on fall foliage, they were whisked away on tours into the mountains. No longer.

Now more and more of the 2,000 businesses that are members of Vieux-Montreal SDC are getting excited about cruising because it's thriving on the Saint Lawrence. Increasingly, passengers spend time and money in Old Montréal, and as more ships call through the summer and stay overnight, the higher cruise traffic is getting noticed.

'It's a fantastic clientele and they come from around the world. When they go back, they tell their friends and family about Montréal,' Lafrance said over small plates at Jellyfish, one of Old Montréal's stylish new places to see and be seen, and to eat and drink very, very well.

In 2010, when 30,000 passengers visited by ship, they were a drop in the tourism bucket. In 2015, Old Montréal businesses started to notice more traffic. Last year, 86,000 travelers arrived by water, and a record 100,000 are projected in 2017.

Now Vieux-Montréal SDC members seek ship schedules so they can prepare. 'They know about the [cruise] business and they are interested to know about it,' Lafrance said. 'It's important that people on the ships know we are waiting for them and we welcome them.'

Businesses and residents are thrilled, he added, with the new cruise terminal design, which will have a green roof and a large public square on the water. In 2019, an iconic viewing tower will go up there, too.

'The cruise terminal is very important for us,' Lafrance said, 'because it gives back access to the Saint Lawrence River.'

He took part in the recent Cruise Canada/New England Symposium, held in Old Montréal and deemed a rousing success by attendees for drawing a wide range of cruise line executives and for its innovative, highly interactive format. Lafrance believes even more ships will be coming because of it.

'I was proud to see Montréal is not a backbencher. We were not really in the game before. Now we are in the game,' he said.

Lafrance credited the Cruise the Saint Lawrence Association and the symposium for creating a 'we' feeling about the cruise industry.

'More demand will follow. The growth should be more and more rapid,' he predicted.