Cruise the Great Lakes is welcoming PONANT and Victory Cruise Lines. While both luxury cruise lines are newcomers to the international cruise organization, they’ve both had ships on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River for several years. They join Pearl Sea Cruises, St. Lawrence Cruise Lines, and Viking Cruises as members.
Cruise the Great Lakes was founded in 2018 as a regional cruise marketing program focused on attracting more passengers.
The organization projects to welcome over 22,000 individual passengers this year, a nearly 10% increase from 2024. It’s also projecting more than 700 port visits, up almost 30% from last year.
Victory Cruise Lines returns to the Great Lakes this year with its luxury vessels Victory I and Victory II, while PONANT has a full 2025 cruising schedule for the region with its two ships, Le Bellot and Le Champlain.
Cruise ship tourism is expected to give the region an economic boost of more than $230 million in 2025 alone, a 15% increase from last year.
