Maine
Bangor stop gives cruise ship passengers a more ‘genuine’ experience of Maine life
Each Monday morning, round 200 passengers disembark in Bangor from the American Cruise Line ship that has been docking alongside the waterfront all summer time.
The vast majority of them have by no means been to Bangor earlier than — or Maine, for that matter — so once they step off the vessel, they in all probability don’t know what they’re entering into. Fortunately, a small military of tour guides, metropolis staff, enterprise house owners and residents are there to get them acquainted with the Queen Metropolis.
Crew members aboard the ship give them a rundown of some issues to count on, together with that there’s intensive development occurring in Pickering Sq. as crews construct the brand new transit middle, and that they are going to probably encounter numerous homeless folks as they stroll from the waterfront to the enterprise district — one thing nearly unparalleled in different stops on the cruise like Bar Harbor or Boothbay.
“It’s somewhat little bit of a problem planning excursions, as a result of it’s a Monday and a few companies aren’t open,” mentioned the ship’s tour director, Anna Gilbert. “It’s a extra relaxed day for them.”
Bangor isn’t Bar Harbor, or any of the opposite vacationer locations the ship will go to over the course of the week-long cruise. It’s a working city, with a singular historical past, and passengers usually tend to see locals scurrying between work appointments or having an informal catch-up over espresso than they’re throngs of fellow vacationers.
“I do know Stephen King. I do know Paul Bunyan. However that’s about it,” mentioned Joyce Wilke, from Crivitz, Wisconsin. “It’s our first time in Maine, so we’re actually having fun with seeing all of the completely different sights and attending to know every place. They’re all somewhat completely different.”
Others know Bangor and the Penobscot River from different popular culture references.
“I consider ‘The Hunt for Pink October,’ the place they pilot the submarine up the river, and I simply consider the historical past behind that and if something like that ever actually occurred round right here,” mentioned Timothy Fowlkes, who lives in Indiana. “The water on the river was so nonetheless this morning once we got here in, identical to within the film.”
A number of native tour operators have partnered with the cruise line to supply their very own excursions, together with SK Excursions of Maine, a Stephen King-themed driving tour operated by Jamie Tinker, and Madame Historical past, run by native historian Monique Bouchard, which presents a historic strolling tour of downtown led by Bouchard, who’s in character as infamous Nineteenth-century madam Fan Jones.
Bouchard regales passengers with tales of town’s colourful previous because the lumber capital of the nation, and the tough and tumble methods of Nineteenth-century Bangor.
“We get a variety of actually fascinating questions from folks, as a result of I believe the tales we’ve got to inform in Bangor are actually completely different from different locations they’ll expertise on the cruise,” mentioned Bouchard, who additionally operates excursions for locals for the Bangor Historic Society. “Persons are typically actually curious in regards to the historical past of Bangor, as soon as we get speaking.”
The climate and the way a lot or how little a given enterprise is keen to cater to guests largely dictate the cruise ships’ financial influence downtown. Betsy Lundy, the director of the Downtown Bangor Partnership, mentioned that some companies and eating places have stocked merchandise to attraction to guests or have provided particular meal offers, whereas others haven’t determined to achieve out to that new viewers.
“It’s a distinct approach of doing enterprise, as a result of we haven’t at all times seen that type of tourism viewers in downtown,” Lundy mentioned. “I believe it’s actually good for folk to try to put on that type of hat, in relation to advertising and marketing themselves to folks.”
Matt Bishop, a supervisor at Epic Sports activities, mentioned his enterprise relies upon largely on the climate, although he does discover an uptick in foot site visitors on Mondays, an in any other case comparatively sleepy day downtown.
James Gallagher, proprietor of each bakery Bangin’ Whoopie and the newly opened Salty Brick Market, mentioned that he’s seen an uptick in enterprise — particularly as a result of he took out an advert within the pamphlet the Downtown Bangor Partnership printed particularly for cruise friends, providing them a free whoopie pie in the event that they present their pamphlet.
“We’ve gotten a ton of individuals in for the free whoopies, and we’ve even seen an uptick in locals as nicely,” Gallagher mentioned. “It’s completely working the way in which it needs to be.”
The ship units off from Portland and sails in a single day to Bar Harbor, the place passengers spend a Sunday. It then cruises up the river to Bangor on Monday, earlier than then making its approach down the coast, stopping in Camden, Rockland, Boothbay and Bathtub earlier than returning to Portland. That is the primary yr in additional than a decade that American Cruise Strains has docked in Bangor, and it’ll proceed its weekly visits by means of late September.
“I believe for probably the most half they assume Bangor is a cute little city with a real authenticity,” mentioned Lundy. “Many of the remainder of the cities they go to are actually tourism-centric, in order that they aren’t interacting with the locals and with companies which might be open year-round. They get a extra real thought of what it’s prefer to stay in Maine once they come right here.”