Shipshape in Seattle

Associated Press

Seattle, known for its jet planes, software and coffee, is starting to make a splash in the cruise industry, riding a new wave of interest in the Alaska market.

Since the first cruise line began offering service in summer 2000, revenue related either directly or indirectly to the cruising industry has grown from virtually nothing to a projected $41.4 million by the end of the 2002 cruising season, according to the Port of Seattle.

A total of 945 direct and indirect jobs have been created, which will result in personal income of about $22.2 million for the season, the port estimates. The business also will generate $2.95 million in state and local taxes this year.

While the cruise industry is still in its infancy in Seattle, it’s a welcome boost to an economy battered by a downturn at the Boeing Co. and an implosion in the region’s Internet/high-tech industry.

"People are now recognizing the need to do all sorts of things to bring people to town," said George Duff, a senior adviser to the Seattle Chamber of Commerce who worked for years as chamber president to bring cruise ships to Seattle. "It will be an industry that has an important role in the economy, and that will continue to be so even if Boeing goes back up to full strength."

Seattle’s new status as a home port for cruising is bolstered by renewed interest in domestic travel as a result of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Several cruise lines redeployed ships from the Mediterranean or the Baltics to the Pacific Northwest for the summer, including Holland America Line. Holland America is basing its MS Amsterdam in Seattle for the summer to serve that demand, said Rose Abello, vice president of public relations for Holland America, a division of Carnival Corp.

"We decided to bring her to Seattle, and she has been booking very, very well," Abello said.

At the same time, Alaska is growing in popularity as a tourist destination, said John Hansen, president of the North West CruiseShip Association, a regional cruising trade group based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Alaska makes up about 9 percent of the world’s cruise market, and last year a little more than 700,000 passengers cruised to the state. That number is expected to grow this year, Hansen said.

Seattle also is growing in popularity as a tourist destination, said Michael Sheehan, a spokesman for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. in Miami.

"That’s one of the things we look at in terms of a city we would sail from," said Sheehan, whose company began offering cruises from Seattle in 2000.

Cruising is entering its third summer in Seattle, but the industry’s arrival here was eyed by officials at the Port of Seattle as early as the mid-1980s, said M.R. Dinsmore, the port’s chief executive.

After years of trying to lure cruise ships, Port of Seattle officials decided on a "if we build it, they will come" strategy, investing about $20 million to build and then expand a cruise ship berth and facilities, Dinsmore said.

Technology also cooperated in the form of new, faster ships. The new ships can make a seven-day, round-trip cruise to Alaska from Seattle with a stop in Vancouver. This allows them to comply with a U.S. law that prohibits foreign-flagged passenger vessels from making two consecutive stops at a U.S. port.

"It took the new technology, which made the vessels faster, to do that," Dinsmore said.

Norwegian Cruise Line was the first company to make Seattle the home port for a ship, doing so in the summer of 2000 as it scheduled a full summer of seven-day cruises to Alaska.

"It was extremely well-received by both travel agents, who sell 95 percent of the product, and the consumer," said Andy Stuart, senior vice president of marketing and sales for Norwegian Cruise Line.

The company plans 19 departures this summer, and will double capacity by adding another ship to the run in 2003, Stuart said.

In 2001, Royal Caribbean entered the Seattle market, offering three- and four-night sailings, with stops in Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia.

Ship calls this season will total 79, up from 56 in 2001, port officials said. They hope for more than 100 next summer, Dinsmore said, as the port is in discussions with P&O Princess Cruises PLC.

"Next year, to take care of the growth, we have to bring in at least a temporary berth or two at a different location," Dinsmore said.

While the Seattle economy benefits when cruise ships make one-day visits, it’s the home port business that really makes an economic difference, port officials say.

Ships based in Seattle need food, flowers and other provisions, as well as cleaning and technology services. They also need specialized workers — such as the piano expert who gives a weekly tuning to the nine pianos aboard the Holland America ship, Abello said.