In The News

Two Cruise Ship Lines to Call on Port of Bath

May 13, 2006

 

By DENNIS HOEY, Portland Press Herald Writer
© 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.


BATH — Two major cruise ship lines will make the city of Bath a regular port of call this year, significantly increasing the number of visits to the small city on the Kennebec River. A total of 11 dockings are scheduled to occur between Memorial Day weekend and October.

City officials and private citizens have been working behind the scenes for months on a tourism initiative for Bath. They said Thursday that Cruise West, a Seattle-based cruise line, and American Canadian Caribbean Line of Rhode Island will dock at the Maine Maritime Museum.

The Nantucket Clipper, a 207-foot cruise ship, which features 51 staterooms and can carry up to 102 guests, will be the first ship to arrive at the museum, on May 27, said Cruise West spokeswoman Gail Manahan. The ship will return four times in 2006.

American Canadian Caribbean Line's Niagara Prince, a 175-foot ship that can carry up to 84 guests, is due July 23 for the first of six visits to Bath.

The museum will benefit from having hundreds of passengers visiting its grounds, exhibits and gift shop, and the passengers also will be able to hop on the Bath Trolley for a ride into downtown, where they will be able to patronize shops and restaurants.

"The guests on these ships are relatively affluent. They are well-educated and tend to be a bit older," said Tom Wilcox, the Maine Maritime Museum's director. "It's really nice to have them here. They will go home and tell their friends what a cute place Bath, Maine, is."

Long before the state opened the Sagadahoc Bridge on May 5, 2000, city officials expressed concerns that with only 75 feet of navigational clearance, the new bridge might discourage large ships from visiting downtown Bath, which is upriver from the museum and bridge.

But officials say smaller cruise ships such as the Nantucket Clipper should have no problem sailing under the bridge to reach Bath's waterfront park docking facility. For now, the ships will dock at the museum because the city docking facility off Commercial Street needs to be upgraded before cruise ships can moor there.

"We intend to have that discussion, but this is not the year to have it," said City Manager William Giroux, referring to the budget's lack of funds for dock improvements.

Until 2004, when one cruise ship visited Bath, there had not been a cruise ship visit to the city since 1985. Cruise ships visited Bath six times last year.

Herb Kresser, chairman of the city's Tourism Committee, said he wants to make sure that cruise ship passengers feel welcome.

He will arrange for a sign, live bands and a committee to greet passengers when they arrive at the museum's Deering Pier.

Kresser said merchants profit from the visits, but there is room for improvement. The average cruise ship passenger spends only about five hours off the ship. Kresser would like to increase the amount of time a passenger spends in Bath because extended stays mean more money in merchants' pockets.

Kresser added, "The key is getting people to come back to Bath."

Mari M. Eosco, coordinator for Main Street Bath, a private organization that promotes the downtown, said visits by cruise ships are another way of marketing the city to the world. Main Street Bath's Web site has seen an increasing number of hits from all over the country.

"Bath is really in a renaissance. It has always been called a diamond in the rough. Now it's being polished," Eosco said.

Bath is not the only coastal community that will host cruise ships this year.

Belfast, Bucksport, Boothbay Harbor, Camden, Castine and Rockland are just a few of the ports that have scheduled visits, according to Amy Powers, director of Cruise Maine.

Powers predicts Bath will become a popular port of call.

"Bath has developed a really good reputation; and with a maritime museum right on the water, it's a natural attraction," Powers said. "It's a perfect setup for a cruise ship."

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Cruise West – a second-generation, family-owned business based in Seattle – offers the opportunity to explore remote, worldwide locales by providing distinctive, one-of-a-kind, personalized itineraries not offered by the traditional larger cruise lines. Cruise West’s smaller ships – ten in all – hold between 70-138 people each, and the casual style onboard encourages relaxation and congenial interaction between guests and crew alike. The experience is personally enriching through expert Exploration Leaders providing onboard narrative and lectures, special local guests from a wide variety of backgrounds, and the library provided on each vessel. All have forward lounges and ample outdoor deck space for viewing and photographing wildlife and scenery. All vessels are also equipped with inflatable landing boats for close-up exploration of remote areas and shore landings.

Destinations served include: Alaska and the Bering Sea, British Columbia, Columbia & Snake Rivers, California Wine Country, Mexico's Sea of Cortés, Costa Rica & Panama, The U.S. eastern seaboard, the Caribbean, Japan, the South Pacific, the Kuril Islands, and the Great Lakes