Cruise ship season slips away in Astoria
Aug. 30—The remaining oceangoing cruise ship visits on Astoria's calendar this year have been canceled.
Bruce Conner, who is in charge of the Port of Astoria's cruise ship marketing, told Port commissioners earlier this month that the final eight cruise ships planning to stop in Astoria will not do so because of the coronavirus pandemic. Twenty-nine passenger cruise ships were set to visit the port this year.
"We were 50-50 probably through mid-July and then each day it went (down)," Conner said. "So no, it was no surprise, but there was an outside chance and I did not want to say anything."
While two Norwegian Cruise Line ships docked at the Port this year — the Regatta and the Pride of America — both were crew-only vessels waiting out virus disruptions. All 38 oceangoing cruise ships on the Port's calendar for 2020 were also canceled.
Foreign-flagged cruise ships visiting multiple U.S. ports are required under federal maritime law to stop in foreign ports, such as Canada, which banned cruise ship visits in March 2020. The vessels were unable to visit ports on the Pacific coast until the Alaska Tourism Restoration Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Joe Biden in May, allowing ships transporting passengers to travel between Washington state and Alaska.
Conner and the cruise lines were attempting to get an exemption for Oregon.
"They were holding on ... we just ran out of time," Conner said.
Will Isom, the Port's executive director, said he was also not surprised the cruise ship visits were canceled given the surge in virus cases. But he acknowledged the financial blow of the cancellations.
Oceangoing cruise ships typically bring in over $1 million each year for the Port. Much of that money goes toward dredging, a significant operational cost, Isom said.
"When you have that type of fixed cost, it definitely hurts," he said.
Isom noted the Port has been able to recoup some of the financial losses with the two crew-only vessels that came this year.
While the oceangoing cruise ships will not venture into Astoria until at least 2022, a number of riverboats are visiting the city at the 17th Street Dock.
"There has never been a busier year than this year, at this point anyway, in the history of the riverboats coming," Conner said.
Looking ahead, Conner said he is encouraged by the growth in the cruise ship industry. The Port has 37 ships scheduled for 2022 and 22 ships scheduled for 2023.
"I think the demand is there, the bookings are there and people have booked," he said. "They have made these reservations to accommodate the demand."
