Vancouver's port readies for busy weekend as largest-ever ship set to arrive

Record-sized cruise ship coming to Canada Place Vancouver will make tourism history this weekend as the largest ship to ever dock in the city arrives at Canada Place.

VANCOUVER - The largest cruise ship ever to visit Vancouver will arrive this weekend.

The Norwegian Bliss is about the length of three football fields at 333 metres and is capable of carrying some 4,000 guests and more than 1,700 crew members.

The new ship will dock at Canada Place in Vancouver on Sunday for the first time and has several more scheduled stops in Vancouver for the 2019 cruise season.

The Vancouver Fraser Port Authority says in a news release that the Bliss will pick up 4,000 passengers for the final leg of a cruise that began and ends in Seattle and included stops in Victoria and Alaska.

Three other cruise ships will also visit Vancouver this weekend and officials warn congestion is expected around Canada Place as thousands of passengers move through the port.

By the time Vancouver's 2018 cruise season ends in October, 27 vessels will have visited, many of them numerous times, and the port authority estimates that each ship stimulates nearly $3 million in direct economic activity per visit.