CLEVELAND — The Port of Cleveland welcomed the import of its newest precious commodity Wednesday morning, tourists. The first cruise ship of the Great Lakes season arrived in port as volunteers from Destination Cleveland were on hand to welcome them.
The American Queen Voyages cruise ship Ocean Navigator pulled in early Wednesday, just arriving in Port Colborne, Ontario, where it visited Niagara Falls. This is part of an 11-day, nine-port cruise of the Great Lakes that will take its passengers from Toronto to Chicago, with Cleveland as an important stop on the way.
"The cruise vessels are only here for the day, so we have to pack as much of Cleveland into that visit as we can," said Jared Magyar, Port of Cleveland vice president of Operations.
When the port first started welcoming the cruise ships back in 2017, they had nine stops here that summer; this year, it's looking at 55, with some days seeing multiple vessels at a time.
"We're really happy to welcome three new lines here this year, Viking, LeDumont and Pearl Seas; all will be in Cleveland for the first time and can't wait to see those vessels start to arrive next month," David Gutheil, the port's chief commercial officer told News 5. Destination Cleveland will be here to greet them all.
"We want to make sure they have a great time while they're in Cleveland," said Destination Cleveland's Viveca Kimble. "We've got brochures, and we got volunteers here to help answer any questions they might have about the city."
Cooper Johnson of Los Angeles had his agenda set. "I want to go see the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; that's kind of on the bucket list there," he said.
So too, do the Stevens from the Seattle area. They also found another bonus of this Wednesday stop - afternoon baseball. "I'm thinking about going to a game today," he said.
Ron from Houston's going a little further out. "We're signed up for the Amish tour," he said.
That's Sharon Grover's department. She loves seeing Northeast Ohio through the eyes of people seeing it for the first time.
"A lot of them are first-timers," said Grover of Ridgeview Tours. "Some of them want to come back after we show them a little bit, and that's what we want; we want them to come back on their own or come back with the Voyages, so yes."
And that's the goal of welcoming them all here as tourists but sending them home as ambassadors.
"We're going to get these people exposed to the best that Cleveland has to offer," said Magyar.
