Cruise Bay
St. Thomas isn’t the only port of call for cruise ships. Some also call on Cruz Bay. They anchor offshore and passengers are tendered in to town. But now, they’re coming right in to town. At least this one. That’s the Spirit of Nantucket. The newest addition to the fleet for a Seattle-based cruise line that specializes in smaller ships called Cruise West. It (I mean “she”) is small by cruise ship standards. The 207 foot ship carries 102 passengers and cruises the Caribbean from December through February. And she backed right in to the old barge dock in downtown Cruz Bay. Hmmm. Wasn’t the future use of that dock still in the planning stages? Maybe she’s just double parked for a minute. Learn more about Cruise West here.
January 8th, 2007 10:58
Well…I see it 2 ways. Let me ‘splain:
1: I think Cruise West targets a specific demographic; older folks (sorry to anyone over 40 here), I mean, school is in. So, I don’t think we can expect a lot of rowdiness going on because of it. Just some gray-hairs with some scratch. Those cruises are NOT cheap at all!
2: How is it worse than the ferries belching people out from STT when there are 47 ships docked in CA? (Busting out to abbreviations there…that’s me). It just puts the people right there on island. I don’t think they’d ever make St John a “real”destination for a larger ship. there’s just not enough to do for all those people. Imagine one of the Princess “Shopping carts” docked right off Cruz Bay? It would be a nightmare. The crowding and the annoyed-ness of the people looking for duty free shops, aquariums, tram rides, juggling bears would kill it for sure.
Wait…do I have a point? I’m not sure. Your post certainly does not even hint that this is one of the 7 signs of the apocalypse, but I could see that happening in other circles. It’s probably an OK thing. I just can’t see it growing into much more than an occasional port for a “boutique” ship like the Clipper.
I have more to say…they anchor that thing off Norman Island! Now, that may not be cool. Imagine that sight.
I have no point.
January 8th, 2007 14:14
This is nothing new. That ship docked there for years in the 90′s. It was actually quite fun to live in Cruz Bay and have it dock there. I don’t remember any trouble or noise- just good business for Cruz Bay. …well, wait a minute…I guess that was when Cruz Bay actually NEEDED more people…hmmm yes, maybe it really is the apocalypse. (they also used to anchor over in Hurricane Hole….are they doing that again, too?) Thanks for a great website!