Port of Alaska sees first cruise ship in 2 years

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – It was a sight for sore eyes this morning for Anchorage residents as a cruise ship approached the Port of Alaska for the primary time in two years.

On Thursday morning round 10 a.m. the Holland America Cruise cruise line ship Nieuw Amsterdam docked a the port. That is the primary cruise ship that has stopped in Anchorage for the reason that COVID-19 pandemic and would be the solely ship seen this season in response to Go to Anchorage Group Engagement Director Jack Bonney.

“At this time is a bit bit uncommon in comparison with the remainder of the summer time season,” Bonney stated. “That is the one time that cruise ship calls listing to the port of Anchorage. Many of the cruise visitation that Anchorage sees comes via the ports of Seward or Whittier.”

Passengers anxiously waited on board for his or her alternative to depart the ship, able to hit trip mode.

“Oh, very, very excited. Are you kidding,” stated passenger Angela Bellwood. “They make our meals. They make our beds.”

“They make all the things for us,” Regisann Myton stated.

Bellwood and Myton had been excited to discover the downtown Anchorage sights.

“It’s a bit chillier than I believed,” Myton stated.

“It’s greater than I believed it could be,” Bellwood stated. “It’s a fairly bustling metropolis.”

After a two-year dry spell attributable to the coronavirus pandemic, the ship’s cease in Anchorage supplied the town with a last-minute financial tourism enhance for the town on the finish of the everyday vacationer season.

“For a port of name it is a actually lengthy one by Alaska requirements and by a lot of the world. So there is a chance to do some bit extra right here in Anchorage. Even throughout a port of name that solely lasts a single day,” Bonney stated. “So issues like eating places, present outlets, day excursions, it is a actually massive deal for them as a result of its one thing that you are able to do in a day.”

Nonetheless, Bonney stated that the vacationer exercise Anchorage noticed this summer time exhibits a bounce again from pandemic lows.

“2021 I believe turned out a bit bit higher than we anticipated and 2022 is on observe to be a very massive yr and possibly even equal a few benchmarks,” Bonney stated.

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