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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 2015)
3C THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2015 Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Tourists exit the Norwegian Pearl after it docked along Pier 1 in September. Cruise ships: Passengers help grow local economy Continued from Page 1C Longshoremen fanned out forward and aft of the vessel, hauling in lines and tying the ves- sel up. A forklift idled in the middle of the pier, ready to lift the Port’s gangway into place for departing passengers. The entire operation took about 40 minutes, from the ship pulling up to the dock, to passengers walking off after an in- spection by U.S. Customs and Border Protec- tion of¿cers. Rick Yelton, the Port’s senior patrolman and facilities security of¿cer, said the 1orwegian Pearl took eight longshoremen to tie up, while adding about seven part-time security of¿cers to his staff for the day. Like 4-H’ers herding live- stock to auction, they set up a gated pathway down the dock, around the Port’s Pier of¿c- es and into a pop-up market of Astoria Sunday Market vendors. Welcoming wagon “They’re kind of part of the welcoming wag- on,” Cyndi Mudge, director of the market, said of her 20 or so vendors who set up tents at the Port, offering homemade trinkets, toiletries, clothing and other accessories to line up along the pathway cruisers take to waiting buses and the Astoria Riverwalk. For Michael Wentworth, a Clatsop Cruise Host volunteer and a former cruiser himself, the market and open feel of Astoria is a refreshing difference. At some ports, he said, cruisers are limited to sponsored merchandise peddled at the ship. After the market comes what looks like a quarantine station. A corps of cruise hosts, mostly retirees, provides tips and directs pas- sengers to a walk-through Conex hut where they can buy mass transit passes. About 50 spread out between Pier 1 and downtown last week to provide cruisers direction and tips. “A lot of the ports in the Caribbean are not this organized,” said John Craddock, who was on a cruise with his wife, Sandy, from Victoria, British Columbia. “You have to ¿nd your own way.” Conner said the individual attention is part of why Astoria gets such a high satisfaction rating with cruise lines. Sunset Empire Transit District plays a ma- jor role, Conner said, organizing shuttles to downtown and places like the Astoria Column. He said there is even a special route set up to take the ships’ crews to Costco to shop without paying a sales tax. The crew on the 1orwegian Pearl includes about 60 nationalities, many hop- ing to send items home to their families. “I would dare say there’s no other entity in Clatsop County that purchases more from Cost- co than the cruise ship crew,” Conner said, de- scribing the parade of everything from candy to Àatscreen TVs crew members carry back onto the ship before leaving. Costco, he added, even donates to the cruise hosts for helping coordi- nate the route. Joshua Bessex/The Daily Astorian Line crews aboard the Norwegian Pearl prepare to lower ropes to tie the cruise ship in as it approaches the docks along Pier 1 in Astoria in September. ‘I would dare say there’s no other entity in Clatsop County that purchases more from Costco than the cruise ship crew.’ Bruce Conner owner of Sundial Travel and Cruise Center, describing the parade of everything from candy to flatscreen TVs crew members carry back onto the ship before leaving. Costco, he added, even donates to the cruise hosts for helping coordinate the route.’ For Ruxandra Petty, a Romanian shore ex- cursion manager on the 1orwegian Pearl, the day was turning out slow. With only 1,700 pas- sengers out of a capacity of nearly 2,400, Petty said she had to cut the shore excursions down to three idling buses, ready to whisk cruisers down to Seaside, Cannon Beach, Fort Clatsop and Fort Stevens State Park. More than half the passengers were from Canada, and Conner said the weakness of the country’s currency — one Canadian dollar to 77 U.S. cents — might have cut into what is usual- ly a sold-out ship. By that evening, Port staff counted down all the passengers returning to the ship. The last people to disembark are a motley crew from Astor Street Opry Co. “Shanghaied in Astoria,” who get paid to perform their Scandinavian special on 1orwegian Cruise Line ships. As the ship leaves port and turns downriver, local audiophile James Carruthers blasts his horns, a uniquely Astorian goodbye he extends to each visiting ship. Michael Wentworth is one of about 50 Clatsop Cruise Host volunteers who helped disembarking passengers find their way around Astoria in late Septem- ber after leaving the Norwegian Pearl. Edward Stratton The Daily Astorian W hile other n ew spa pers give you less, The D a ily Astoria n GIVES YOU M ORE O u r n ew C APITAL B UREAU covers the sta te for you From left: Peter W on g, H illa ry Borru d , M a teu sz Perk ow sk i
