One of world's largest cruise ships to visit Charlottetown Saturday

Downtown Charlottetown will see an influx of people this weekend.The largest cruise ship to ever visit Charlottetown is expected to be in port Saturday.

The MSC Meraviglia is one of the largest cruise ships in the world, carrying 4,500 passengers and around 1,500 crew members.

"Height and width it will certainly dwarf any other vessel we've had yet, so we're really excited,"saidCorryn Clemence, cruise development, communications and brand manager for Port Charlottetown.

The MSC Meraviglia is scheduled to arriveat 9 a.m.Saturday, and will be docked until5 p.m. that evening.

Ship's first visit to North America

This is the first visit to the Island by the MSC Cruise line in a decade, and it is also theMeraviglia's first visit to North America.

"We knew that when they wanted to come back, they wanted to come back with that really 'wow'factorof bringing in the largest vessel that we've ever seen," Clemence said.

The ship is on a repositioning cruise from Europe to the Caribbean, where it will sail this fall and winter.

2019 has been a busy season for the port, and Clemence said barring any bad weather it is on track to hit a record number of cruise ship passengers this year.

"We're incredibly close to hitting that 100,000 passenger mark," Clemence said.

"When that day comes we'll certainly be making a splash down at the port."

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