SEATTLE — Cruise ship traffic was down for the second season in a row, with 179 ships calling in Seattle this year — down 4 percent from last season, and 11 percent from 2012.
This season’s ships carried more than 823,000 passengers through the Port of Seattle and brought an estimated $372 million in business revenue to the region, the port announced Thursday.
The decline in ships and passengers since 2012 can be attributed, in part, to a shorter sailing season, and the loss of Disney Cruise Line, which called Seattle its home port for the 2012 season — before returning to Vancouver, B.C., port spokesman Peter McGraw said.
He said the sailing season used to be from April to October, but the last few years it has shrunk to May to September.