Cruise ships could carry as many as 17,000 passengers to Wrangell this summer

The borough’s convention and visitor bureau has released its draft cruise ship schedule, painting an updated picture of how many passengers might fill the streets of Wrangell, take in the sights and charter local fishing and sightseeing guides this summer.

The number is down from 21,500 visitors in 2019 but, with the potential for more than 17,000 passengers berths this summer, it would be an economically significant improvement over last year’s trickle of cruise traffic and zero passengers in 2020.

The 17,000-passenger capacity would be if all the berths are filled — COVID-19 infection rates certainly could affect tourism counts this summer.

The passenger number in the borough’s latest draft schedule is about 10% higher than a September estimate from Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska, which handles shore operations for most of the larger cruise ships in Southeast Alaska.

The visitor’s bureau added two National Geographic Expeditions cruises on its calendar which are not handled by CLA. The National Geographic Sea Lion and Sea Bird, each with a capacity of 62 passengers, are scheduled to make a combined 21 stops in Wrangell May through August.

The 132-passenger Sylvia Earle has dropped off the schedule. The Australian operator of the brand new ship is planning just one Alaska cruise in its first year, a 17-day voyage out to the Aleutian Islands, according to the company’s website.

Other than that one change, CLA’s port manager in Wrangell, Fred Angerman, said the schedule so far is holding true. “It’s going to be kind of a busy year, by my standards,” Angerman said Jan. 19.

Among the larger ships scheduled to stop in Wrangell are the 593-foot, 684-passenger-capacity Oceania Cruises Regatta, for one stop; the 650-foot, 450-passenger Seabourn Odyssey, scheduled for eight stops; and a new ship to Wrangell, the 460-foot, 530-passenger electric hybrid Roald Amundsen, operated by Norway’s Hurtigruten Ships, with seven port calls on the calendar.

Angerman said CLA is starting to prepare for the season, already planning a Feb. 1 Zoom meeting with the operator of the 200-passenger Ocean Victory, the first cruise ship on Wrangell’s schedule and set to arrive May 12.

CLA will pay for load testing on the passenger gangways at the City Dock sometime in March, which it must do every three years.

“They’ll simulate as if the gangway is on the side of a ship with all this weight on them. A couple of weeks later, an outside company will come in and inspect the gangways to make sure there is no cracking,” Angerman said.

March and April are when Angerman will start getting things ready to go, such as pressure washing the gangways.

While any schedule is subject to change, Angerman anticipates vessels making unexpected stops, rather than a stop getting canceled.

“Wrangell is pretty protected,” he said. Ships seeking shelter in the calmer waters of the Inside Passage could end up in Wrangell to avoid nasty weather on their routes.

Carol Rushmore, economic development director at the borough, said Alaska is a popular destination, and cruise ship operators are looking to make sure they can keep their passengers safe, particularly with the highly transmissible Omicron variant driving up case numbers.

“The cruise ships are saying they are having bookings. I don’t know if they will be at capacity by any means, but I think they are pleased so far. Between the cruise ships and independent travelers, Wrangell should have a pretty good season,” Rushmore said Jan. 20.

Rushmore said the CVB will have a meeting Feb. 24, rescheduled from January due to a spike in COVID-19 cases, open to the public but geared toward tour operators, bed and breakfasts, and retail business owners, to discuss best tourism management practices and solidify a plan for this summer.

For example, tour bus operators should not block driveways at Petroglyph Beach Park, ports and harbors should leave enough garbage cans near City Dock, Stikine River etiquette should be observed, to name a few proposed guidelines.

A final draft of the tourism practices plan will go before the borough assembly once enough input from business owners and tour operators is collected.

 

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