The American Eagle lands in Plymouth Harbor for the first time
PLYMOUTH − The cruise line ship American Eagle made its inaugural overnight visit to Plymouth over the weekend for the first of three dockings in Plymouth Harbor this season.
Ship owner American Cruise Lines added the stop to its Cape Codder itinerary, which also visits ports in Boston, Gloucester, Martha’s Vineyard, New Bedford, Provincetown and Newport, Rhode Island.
The company said in a release that it plans to include more Plymouth dates beginning in 2024. Plymouth will also be added to the Boston-to-New York Yankee Seaports cruise.
The cruise line had been offering regularly scheduled visits to Plymouth via motor coach from Massachusetts Maritime Academy in Bourne.
The American Eagle is the first of 12 100-passenger “Coastal Cats,” which the company describes on its website as “a fleet of catamaran-inspired small ships” that “can go anywhere.”
The introduction of the cruise line to Plymouth Harbor was not met with universal excitement. Fishermen are worried what other boats would be squeezed out – and for how long – when the ship is in town.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began a major dredging of the harbor in 2018 ahead of the 400th anniversary of the landing of the Mayflower. That project allowed larger ships like the American Eagle to dock.
This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Cruise ship American Eagle makes inaugural visit to Plymouth
