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Another cruise line interested in city Norwegian Voyages based in New York
February 10, 2007
Another cruise company has found Gloucester. Or, to be more precise, Gloucester has found another partner as it strives to become a preeminent, small port of call.
The line is Norwegian Coastal Voyages, based in New York.
On Oct. 6, it plans to bring its MS Fram here on its maiden voyage so its well-heeled passengers, about 300, can spend the day exploring Gloucester - a way station on a 66-day, $10,000-a-person-and-up "Arctic to Antarctic" cruise.
cruiseport developer Frank Elliott said he made the connection to a company he'd never heard of after getting a call from a colleague at Moran Shipping Agencies in Boston.
"You wouldn't believe how casually this is done," said Elliott, who has put Gloucester on the industry's map of itineraries over the past three years while undertaking construction of a $6 million terminal at Rowe Square where smaller, shallow-draft vessels, such as the Fram and the equally ultra-high-end Seabourn Pride, can dock in the Inner Harbor.
cruiseport Gloucester is scheduled to open Memorial Day weekend.
"I got a phone call from a friend who told me about (Norwegian Coastal Voyages) and said, 'They'll fit,' so I called them up. That's how it's done," Elliott said.
Elliott described Norwegian Coastal Voyages as one of a handful of companies that occupy the "adventure cruise" niche, which is distinct from the small port niche to which Gloucester is focusing as the ideal match.
Joining the effort on behalf of the other small ports of Massachusetts - Fall River, New Bedford and Salem - is the lieutenant governor's office through the Seaport Advisory Council's "Historic Ports of Massachusetts" initiative.
For then Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, council director Richard Armstrong created the historic ports initiative last year and began pitching cruise companies competing for market share in the boutique cruise sector that found destinations along the Gulf of Maine appealing for seven- to 10-day trips emanating from New York.
Greg Ketchen, a longtime consultant to the city on harbor-development issues, was named director of the Historic Ports initiative last year.
"Word is getting out, and people are getting interested," Ketchen said.
Healey's successor, Tim Murray, visited the port of Gloucester last month and promised to maintain emphasis on the Historic Ports initiative.
Adding the adventure cruise sector to the companies seeking unique small ports with unique historical, artistic and cultural experiences can only work to the city's advantage.
"If you have a grand sense of adventure and a generous amount of leisure time, then this is the world cruise for you," Norwegian notes in its Web advertising. And even "if you have only a couple of weeks or a month to spare," it encourages booking for segments of the trip.
It begins in Iceland on Sept. 18 and ends in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, on Nov. 22 - early summer in the southern hemisphere but still cold. It bounces from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to Bar Harbor, Maine, to Gloucester to Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard to Newport, R.I., and New York City along the way.
Seabourn Pride will be back as well this fall, and Ketchen said he's "hoping" American cruise Lines will decide to put Gloucester on its fall itinerary.
Holland America, with much larger ships, gave more than 1,000 passengers a day in Gloucester in 2005 and 2006 and is scheduled to return in 2008. It's huge, deep-draft ships, Amsterdam and Rotterdam, must use tenders from the Outer Harbor.
Who's coming
- Name - Norwegian Coastal Voyages
- Origins - 1893, when Bergen Lines began serving isolated communities along the Norwegian coast.
- Specialty - Adventure cruises.
- Such as - The "pole to pole" cruise that brings the shallow draft MS Fram into Gloucester for a day, Oct. 6, on its maiden voyage.
- Concept - Starting in Iceland and ending 66 days later at the tip of Argentina.
- Cost - Starting at $9,999 up to $37,999, beds for 310 passengers.
- Why Gloucester - Fills out daily bumps, here after Bar Harbor, Maine, and before Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard.
- Connection - Frank Elliott got a tip from a colleague in booking and called the line based in New York.
- Quote - "That's how it's done" - Elliott.
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