Princess, Holland America are returning to cruising

Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises, and Gus Antorcha, president of Holland America Line, spoke about what this means for Seattle, the local economy and Alaska. Arnold Donald, president and CEO of Carnival Corp. & plc, was on hand, too.

Nieuw Amsterdam will set off Saturday, followed by Majestic Princess on Sunday.

10 cruises each, through September

Holland America and Princess will each operate 10 cruises from Seattle through September. Both lines have a long and important assocation with Alaska; historically, one in two cruisers to The Great Land sail with Princess or Holland America.

Nieuw Amsterdam's Saturday to Saturday cruises will visit Juneau, Icy Strait Point, Sitka and Ketchikan, while Majestic Princess will sail Sundays to  Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan. Both ships also visit Glacier Bay.

$364,000 impact to Seattle economy per ship visit

The two lines have been homeporting from Seattle for more than 20 years. Each ship visit directly contributes more than $364,000 to the local economy in provisions (fuel, food, flowers, piano tuning, supplies), port taxes and spending.