DETROIT—Twenty more ships will float near Mackinac Island this year compared to 2024 as the state’s Great Lakes see a rise in travelers and cruise line partnerships.
Great Lakes cruises are projected to welcome over 22,000 passengers this year, a nearly 10 percent increase from 2024, with ships making more than 700 port visits in Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Canada, up nearly 30 percent, according to Cruise the Great Lakes.
According to a release from Cruise the Great Lakes, the economic impact of ship voyages and port visits on the lakes should total over $230 million this year, a 15 percent increase from 2024.
John Schmidt, program manager for Great Lakes St. Lawrence Governors & Premiers that oversees the Cruise the Great Lakes initiative, said this is one of the biggest years for cruising, noting this week that eight ships are currently sailing Lakes Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior.
“Especially in the post-COVID world, we’ve seen a big increase,” Schmidt said. “As a region, we want to build a strong offering to attract more cruise lines (and) continue to get that economic impact,” he said.
This year marks the return to the Great Lakes of Victory Cruise Lines, which started sending vessels to Mackinac Island earlier this month, part of the increase in vessels calling there.
In 2024, 60 vessels visited Mackinac Island, down from 88 in 2023, according to the the Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau. In 2025, the island will see 79 small river boat-like vessels. Other Michigan cities with cruise visits this year include Bay City, Detroit, East Tawas, Holland, Houghton, Muskegon, and Sault Ste. Marie.
In addition to Victory, other cruise lines scheduled to operate on the Great Lakes in 2025 include Pearl Seas, Viking, St. Lawrence Cruise Lines, Ponant, and Hapag-Lloyd.
Viking’s sister ships, Octantis and Polaris, have been sailing near Mackinac Island since 2022 and 2023 and will see waters on the Great Lakes through October 2026, according to officials.
Schmidt said Great Lakes cruises offer a more intimate experience than the mammoth ships that carry passengers to ports in the Caribbean, Alaska and the Mediterranean.
“That centered adventure, small ship going up to Thunder Bay or ... places you might not ordinarily go if you were from Texas, Florida, New York, that centered adventure really drives people in,” he said.
“These passengers ... they’re generally older, generally pretty well traveled, they’ve been on European river cruises, cruises to the Caribbean, Alaska and this represents a type of trip that they just haven’t done before. It’s a capturing a yet-unserved market of people who’ve got the money, time, they’re happy to stop in Green Bay, Detroit, Toronto, Marquette, Michigan.”
Kelly Wolgamott, vice president at Pure Michigan, said in an email that sailing the Great Lakes gives travelers “unique and memorable viewpoints.”
“A cruise on the Great Lakes and the undiscovered experience of exploring Michigan’s port communities and more than 3,200 miles of coastline are a major draw for travelers,” she said.
Schmidt said trips with stops in both the United States and Canada are another attraction.
“We are very fortunate in the region. We can offer for cruise passengers a two-nation destination that doesn’t really exist elsewhere,” he said. “If you go on one of these cruises you’re stopping the U.S. and Canada, so it gives people that international flair, builds in that variety and difference ... not something you get in every cruise.”
