TORONTO – The Crystal Serenity, the biggest cruise ship to plan a transit of the legendary Northwest passage, is so large that Canadian officials are holding special meetings this week to prepare. Residents in the communities along its route, who will be outnumbered by the ship’s passengers and crew, are already planning for a visit that won’t happen until August.

“We get a lot of cruise ships, but this one is so large it will impact us significantly such that we need months to prepare for it,” said Vicki Aitaok, who’s organizing a reception in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, about midway along the route.

Every summer, about 10 cruise ships carrying a total of about 2,600 passengers sail through all or part of the Northwest Passage. The Serenity, with more than 1,000 passengers and 700 crew, is in another league.

“It’s fair to say that when you have 1,700 people making this particular voyage, it caught the attention of both the American and the Canadian Coast Guard,” said Jeff Hutchinson, the coast guard’s deputy commissioner.

On Wednesday, officials from both services, together with ship operator Crystal Cruises and Transport Canada, are to run tabletop simulations to test the capabilities of both the company and potential first responders. In 2012, a 200-passenger ship ran aground in the passage, but safety procedures are being tightened.

The Serenity, which sold out its 2016 sailing in less than a month with berths starting at US$20,000, is already planning for next year.