The Canada New England Cruise Symposium began as an initiative of the Atlantic Canada Cruise Association (hosted and organized by Saint John, New Brunswick) in 1999. The initiative received overwhelming support of the cruise lines and with short notice Carnival, Princess, Royal Caribbean, and the President of Premier Cruise Line attended and addressed the more than 100 participants in the one day conference.
The initiative was so successful that the Cruise the Saint Lawrence Association announced the 2000 Cruise Symposium to be held in Québec, more specifically in Montréal - inviting all participants to attend. The Canada New England working group determined very soon after quickly that the symposium should be a yearly event in the May / June time frame (to encourage lengthening of the season as our fall season was very successful with little business in the summer) and that the rotation would be by region.
The host cities have been:
1999: Saint John - New Brunswick
2000: Montréal - Québec
2001: Boston - Massachusetts
2002: St. John's - Newfoundland
2003: Québec City - Québec
2004: Bar Harbor - Maine
2005: Halifax - Nova Scotia
2006: Montréal - Québec
2007: Charlottetown - Prince Edward Island
2008 : Portland - Maine
2009 : Saguenay - Québec