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, Canada
2000: Montréal - Québec, Canada
2001: Boston - Massachusetts, United States
2002: St. John's - Newfoundland, Canada
2003: Québec City - Québec, Canada
2004: Bar Harbor - Maine, United States
2005: Halifax - Nova Scotia, Canada
2006: Montréal - Québec, Canada
2007: Charlottetown - Prince Edward Island, Canada
2008 : Portland - Maine, United States
2009 : Saguenay - Québec, Canada
2010: Saint John - New Brunswick, Canada
2011: New York City - New York, United States
2012: Québec City - Québec, Canada