Holland America and Princess Cruises will be diverting 62 Vancouver-based sailings to Seattle. (CBC)

Two major cruise lines — Princess Cruises and Holland America Line — announced Monday they will reduce the number of their sailings from Vancouver in 2010, just weeks after Carnival Cruise Lines announced they would be slashing their sailings.

The announcement means there will be 62 fewer sailings from Vancouver and an estimated 260,000 fewer tourists in the city in 2010.

The loss in economic spinoffs for the city will be roughly $120 million, according to the industry group Tourism Vancouver.

"It was certainly disappointing news. It was quite a shock," Stephen Pearce of Tourism Vancouver said.

"We hadn't expected it to be quite that profound. Having said that, we're working hard to bring them back again."

The cancelled Vancouver sailings are expected to be diverted to Seattle. According to Peter Xotta of the Port of Metro Vancouver, it is a cheaper and easier access point for American travellers.

"The economic conditions are forcing them to make some drastic decisions around where to deploy their vessels, where it's most profitable to deploy their vessels and how they can keep them full of passengers that are going on holiday."

Ports in Alaska have also recently increased taxes for cruise passengers, causing industry experts like Phil Reimer to argue that the Alaskan cruise market may be sinking.

"Alaska has had a great run over the last 15 years, and it could be that the market is starting to diminish as the cruise lines start to discover Europe is very hot this year," said Reimer, who writes about the cruise industry for newspapers.

Vancouver was already bracing to lose roughly $18 million after Carnival said two weeks ago it would shift most of its Alaska cruise business to Seattle.

Tourism officials are hoping the increased profile that the 2010 Olympic Games are expected to bring the city will eventually lure back the cruise lines.