Posted on March 2, 2021
Windstar Cruises announced Friday it’s pulling its headquarters out of downtown Seattle and moving it to Miami when its lease is up in June next year.
Because of the pandemic, the cruise industry is on hold for a second year in a row.
Some people said this latest announcement is a big letdown for the City of Seattle.
The cruise industry in Seattle generates about $900-million a year for the local economy and it creates about 5,500 jobs according to the Port of Seattle.
A lot of that has to do with six cruise lines that home port in Seattle for the Alaska season–Norwegian, Holland America, Carnival, Princess, Oceana, and Royal Caribbean.
Windstar Cruises is headquartered in Downtown Seattle at 4th and Blanchard.
Ships with the luxury boutique line sail throughout the world including Europe, the Caribbean, and Alaska.
Windstar used to be with Holland America for years.
“It’s a loss of another tourism company out of Seattle. Windstar was born here. They grew here. They’ve been successful here. It’s sad to see them go,” said KOMO Travel Expert Steve Danishek. “We’ve been able do reservations here. Their sales and marketing were here and now, they’re not.”
The Downtown Seattle Association released this response Friday.
“It’s difficult to lose any company, especially one that’s been headquartered in downtown for decades. As we recover in downtown it’s critical we maintain our job base. Big employers and small businesses are both key components to regaining our economic strength.”
Seattle’s cruise industry has really taken a beating during the pandemic.
Windstar Cruises has 120 employees in Seattle.
The cruise line is owned by a company based in Denver. Moving the headquarters to Miami makes sense, according to the company, because that’s the center of the cruise industry.
The move allows operations staff to be a lot closer to sailings to Europe and the Caribbean.
The President of Windstar Cruises, Christopher Prelog shared this statement Friday:
“With our successful adaptation to remote work during the pandemic, we are confident of our plans to combine employees in our Miami and Denver offices along with those who work remotely in the Seattle area.”
“We hate to lose any cruise line out here,” Danishek said. “There is absolutely no doubt that Windstar moving out of Seattle is a loss of another business to Seattle”
Meanwhile, the Emerald City’s cruise industry is dealing with another major headache during the pandemic–Canada’s ban on Seattle cruise ships until next February.
The Passenger Vessel Services Act requires that all cruise ships that leave Seattle, must stop in Canada on their way to Alaska.
Right now, some lawmakers are fighting Canada’s ban and asking for an exemption. Alaska Congressman Don Young introduced the Alaska Tourism Recovery Act which would provide a “temporary PVSA workaround.”
Young said it’s a critical move because the cruise industry supports 23,000 jobs in Alaska.
In Seattle, each cruise ship adds about $4 million to the local economy. The cruise season typically brings about 600,000 visitors.
Many cruise ship companies hope that Canadian leaders will reverse their decision.
Holland America Line’s president Gus Antorcha, released this statement this week: “Holland American Line, in alliance with our entire industry, is optimistic for the resumption of cruising around North America and worldwide. However, we must be practical in our approach by acknowledging the limitations put in place by the current Canadian order that requires us to cancel select sailings. We thank our guests for their patience and understanding and know that they, like us, are eager to see cruising begin again soon.”
