Tourism promoters say Gloucester expects this year to at least double the number of cruise ship visits that have marked a good season in the past.
Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce chief Bob Hastings said Wednesday that 2011 bookings have reached 23 so far, "and we anticipate more."
The potential economic impact on the city and its shop owners and restaurateurs is a positive feature not lost on those tracking the dollars-and-cents aspects of being a high-end destination for vacationers.
But there are intangibles, too, Hastings noted.
"It basically tells the world you've arrived," Hastings says. "You're a place worth visiting."
First in port is expected to be the Holland America Maasdam for a day-long stop on April 28.
That visit will precede a string of smaller American Cruise Line arrivals clustered in mid-summer.
Later in the season more big ships are scheduled to come in carrying thousands of passengers drawn in large part by the promise of premier New England foliage.
One fall day may bring a simultaneous presence of two vessels, each with passenger capacities in the range of 2,000 or more.
One of those is the Eurodam, which last year became the largest cruise ship to ever visit Gloucester, with a capacity of some 2,100 passengers on its 11 decks and 936-foot length.
"If you're going to have tourism in your community, it's the way to deal with it," Hastings said, noting the reliance of non-motorist ship passengers on foot travel and public or privately arranged transportation.
Tourism studies suggest, says Hastings, that an individual passenger off a small ship might spend more than $300 a day in port, with the more numerous visitors from a bigger ship spending perhaps half that.
"It's very good business," Hastings says, even when those coming ashore take time to sample pre-set tours to span beyond the city limits.
Rockport already benefits from such day trips and, with the right promotions, Essex can also plan to, he says.
"This is a big year for us," says Hastings, marveling at the growth in visits in less than a decade, and crediting in a major way the efforts of Sheree De Lorenzo of Cruiseport Gloucester.
The Eurodam — which, because of its size and depth, has to anchor in Gloucester's outer harbor off Stage Fort Park and bring passengers ashore via shuttle boats — made four visits among 10 overall cruise ship landings in Gloucester last year.
But the city had hosted just two cruise ship visits in 2009.
Mayor Carolyn Kirk cited the anticipated cruise ship volume this season as one of "the great things going on in Gloucester" in a state of the region update for the North Shore Chamber of Commerce.
Kirk's office, echoing Hastings, pegs bookings to date in the 20s and thinks the number of cruise ship visits could hit 30 this year.
De Lorenzo said Wednesday that a number of bookings are still to be firmed up. But those confirmed to date, according to her Cruiseport site and Discover Gloucester, the Seaport Gloucester destination marketing organization, cruise ship visits to date include:
By one count, the city's modern status as a cruise ship destination goes back to September 2006 when Holland America Cruise Line's MS Amsterdam anchored off Eastern Point and sent waves of visitors on ferries to Rose's Wharf.
Others might date the arrival of a cruise ship more historically to the early 1600s, when French adventurer Samuel de Champlain and his crew of three dozen pulled into the "beautiful harbor" — of Beau Port."
Francis X. Quinn can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3455, or at fquinn@gloucestertimes.com.
Cruisin' In
Scheduled cruise ship landings in Gloucester this year. (Confirmed dates only; more to be scheduled):
Thursday April 28: Holland America Maasdam.
Tuesday July 26: American Cruise Line American Glory.
Tuesday Aug. 9: ACL American Glory.
Tuesday Aug. 16: ACL American Glory.
Tuesday Aug. 30: ACL American Glory.
Tuesday Sept. 6: ACL American Glory.
Monday Sept. 12: HAL Eurodam.
Monday Sept. 19: ACL American Glory.
Wednesday Sept. 28: HAL Eurodam.
Sunday, Oct. 2: HAL Eurodam.
Wednesday Oct. 5: Regent Seven Seas Navigator.
Tuesday Oct. 18: HAL Eurodam.
Friday Oct. 21: Regent Seven Seas Navigator.
Sources: Cruiseport Gloucester, Discover Gloucester DMO.
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
