Cruise ship numbers rise in 2004: more than 800,000 passengers will be visiting Alaska this summer via luxury cruiseliners.

The 2004 tourist season is well under way and with a record-breaking 27 cruise ships sailing Alaska's waterways this summer, the cruise industry is projecting a banner year for one of its premier destinations.

"We're anticipating that there will be a little more than 800,000 passengers on cruises to Alaska this summer, which will reflect a 5 percent to 7 percent growth from last season," said North West Cruiseship Association's President John Hansen.

Comprised of 10 cruise lines, the North West Cruiseship Association represents all the large cruise ship companies that call on Alaska. According to the association, large cruise liners bring 97 percent of all cruise travelers to the state, account for more than half of the total visitors to Alaska every summer, and should create 16,000 instate jobs and contribute $800 million to the state's economy by the end of this tourist season.

BIGGER, BETTER LUXURY SHIPS

This year, the industry introduced several new ships and a new luxury cruise line into the Alaska market. The fledgling ships are bigger and more luxurious than their predecessors and boast the newest nautical and technologically advanced systems in the world.

"We're up one ship from last year overall and we have three new vessels in the fleet, a few newer ships that will be replacing older ships and the Silver Seas--a new company that made its first voyage into Alaska this season," said Hansen. "We're looking forward to a good season. So far, we hear that the ships are full and that the land tours and shopping sales are strong."

The new ships include Princess Cruises' Diamond Princess and the Sapphire Princess that journeyed to Alaska earlier this summer for their first season at work. These sister ships are larger than their older siblings and include an Internet cafe, a wedding chapel and an Asian-themed lotus spa with a fitness center. While these state-of-the-art luxury liners boast all new amenities, they still offer the company's original Broadway and Las Vegas-style themed productions.

Another new vessel in Alaska is Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Sea, a ship that sailed her maiden voyage in 2003 and made her debut in America's far north this summer. The ship holds 2,500 passengers and 900 crew members and includes more than three acres of exterior glass designed to optimize the view, has the highest percentage of outside cabins in the entire Royal Caribbean fleet (813 exterior rooms), as well as a 10-story glass centrum.

Newer ships to the market include the Holland America's MS Oosterdam, the largest ship in the Holland America Vista class (the company's premier line of vessels) that holds 1,848 passengers and features exterior glass elevators, two promenade decks and a multi-tiered show lounge. Also new to Alaska is the Norwegian Cruise Line's SuperStar Leo that replaces the company's older vessel MS Sky. Constructed in 1998, the ship's design was inspired by the elegance and comfort of the cruise liners of yesteryear, but offers 980 cabins and lower berths for a total of 1,966 passengers.

Completely new to the market, the Silver Seas cruise line will offer passengers the opportunity to see The Last Frontier from its all-suite luxury liner, the Silver Shadow. This vessel is smaller than the other cruise ships and features marbled bathrooms, walk-in closets, plasma televisions, teak verandahs and suites that are as large as 1,400 square feet.

The growth in the Alaska cruise ship market is a reflection of an international trend, according to Hansen.

"The major contributing factor to Alaska's growth is that cruise vacations-worldwide-continue to grow. All factors of the cruise ship business throughout the world are experiencing substantial growth" said Hansen. "More and more people are realizing cruising is a great vacation opportunity and Alaska remains an important cruising destination."

THE ALASKA EXPERIENCE

While a cruising experience to the Last Frontier is uniquely Alaskan, for many travelers their Alaska cruise begins and ends in Vancouver, Canada. This year, 17 of the 27 large cruise ships that will call on Alaska will homeport in Vancouver and seven will pick up and drop off passengers in Seattle. Another two include Vancouver as a major port of call on Alaska voyages that start and end in San Francisco. One more ship is homeported in San Francisco, with an itinerary that includes a stop in Victoria, but no stop in Vancouver.

"Vancouver still has the lion's share of the business but Seattle is growing. Last year, Seattle home ported four ships and it's up to seven this year," Hansen said

Currently, two-thirds of all Alaska cruise travelers choose an itinerary that ply the waters of the state's famous Inside Passage, located in Southeast Alaska. The other third venture north across the gulf and many visitors then go onto land tours that explore areas in Southcentral Alaska and the Interior.

"A significant amount of guests that choose to cross the gulf on a cruise ship go on land tours as well," said Hansen. "The infrastructure is in place at northern ports to move the passengers to the Anchorage, Denali and Fairbanks areas."

Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruise Lines will have six ships in Alaska this summer and while the majority of guests will be in Southeast Alaska, the company--like the other major cruise lines offers several options for its northern-bound passengers.

"We have about 15 different land tour packages," said Don Habeger, Royal Caribbean's and Celebrity Cruises' Director of Industry Relations in Alaska. "There's a great combination of road, rail and some air choices to move the people to where they want to go for both pre and post-cruising tours."

NEW DESTINATIONS

Along with a plethora of land tour options (many of which are new for this season), Southcentral Alaska also will see the return of cruise ships to Whittier this summer after a 10-year hiatus. Located 65 miles south of Anchorage, Whittier is positioning itself as the gateway to Prince William Sound as it prepares to welcome four Princess ships and a Carnival Cruise Line vessel on a weekly basis. According to the North West Cruiseship Association, the port can expect a total of 43 visits from the five ships between May and September.

To prepare for the season, new projects in the area include The Inn at Whittier--a New England-style hotel and restaurant--a small boat marina, a campground, a large vessel dock and parking facilities. The city also will serve as a passenger transit area that will transport travelers from cruise ships to coaches headed for Anchorage and onto smaller vessels traveling to Valdez and other destinations including several Princess Lodges.

Before Whittier reopened to cruise ship traffic this summer, Seward was the only port for large cruise ships in Southcentral Alaska and welcomed a total of 96 ships last year. This year the city, which is located 126 miles south of Anchorage on the Kenai Peninsula, can expect 49 visits from almost all the major cruise lines. Along with a wide variety of land and water tours that explore the region, Seward also serves as a major hub to move cruise ship passengers by Alaska Railroad, road and air to other parts of the state. Seward also serves as a turnaround port for the cruise industry with half of its passengers ending their cruise that sailed north through the Inside Passage and the other beginning their journey south.

In Southeast Alaska, Juneau still attracts the largest number of cruise boats per season with Ketchikan in a close second. This summer, the capital can expect 468 total visits from the large cruise industry and Alaska's Gateway City (Ketchikan) anticipates 455 total large ship dockings. At the end of the Inside Passage, the troy town of Skagway will see 371 ships throughout the season, while Sitka will welcome 156 large vessels. The cruise industry also will call on Wrangell 27 times and pay 22 visits to Haines. Along with stopping in ports, most Inside Passage cruises include a visit to either Hubbard Glacier or Glacier Bay.

This year, the Southeast Alaska cruise market boasts a brand new destination--Point Sofia (also known as Icy Strait Point). A joint venture between Huna Totem Corp and Koma Sales Co., this port was specifically built to serve cruise ships and its passengers and is the state's first purpose-built cruise destination. Located 50 miles west of Juneau, 22 miles from Glacier Bay National Park and one mile from the village of Hoonah, Point Sofia will welcome two ships per week from the Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruise Lines. The new port is anticipating 31 total visits for its inaugural season and Huna Totem and Koma Sales expect to create 400 jobs in the community with an annual payroll of $3.5 million.

As for visitors, Point Sofia's land tours will include air excursions to Glacier Bay, whale watching at Point Adolphus and cultural events.

"Point Sofia will offer all the tours that other Southeast ports offer--premier whale watching, fishing, bear watching, bike riding, but it will also have a lot of cultural activities," said Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruise's Don Habeger. "The port is associated with Hoonah, a village that has the largest Tlingit population in Southeast, so this destination will provide guests with a rich cultural opportunity that includes an interpretive center and museum."

Other attractions include tours to a refurbished 1930's era fish cannery, Icy Strait Packing Co., as well as providing travelers with a family style restaurant, passenger excursion lounge, retail outlets for Native and regional crafts, a mariner's chapel, a totem-carving hut, and a cultural center that has a performance stage for Native dance and other performances.

For its inaugural year, ships that visit Point Sofia will anchor offshore and send visitors to the site via lightering boats, but Hoonah officials are planning to secure funding to build a cruise ship dock for next year's season.

"We're excited about the new destination," said Habeger, from his Juneau office. "We think it's going to be a good season for the whole industry. As for our company, we've had some record-breaking days between January and May (for reservations) and last-minute bookings--which are now an important part of our booking cycle--are strong. I think the industry's projection of experiencing a 5 percent to 7 percent growth rate this season will prove to be accurate."