The first cruise ship of the summer season arrived in Kodiak today, April 29. Initially there were 30 cruise ships scheduled to visit the island this year, but one Norwegian company canceled two of its vessels’ sailings.
Hurtigruten Expeditions, which separated from its parent group Hurtigruten Group AS a couple months ago, owns a handful of hybrid powered cruise ships, including the Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen. Both are named after Norwegian explorers, have visited Kodiak in recent years, and were scheduled to stop in Kodiak again this summer, but won’t be anymore. The two cruise ships canceled their Kodiak port calls earlier this month according to Discover Kodiak.
A spokesperson for the Norwegian company did not respond to KMXT’s request for comment. The Roald Amundsen was scheduled to stop in Kodiak three times over the course of a month later this summer on June 29, July 17 and July 31. According to marine traffic, the Roald Amundsen is currently on its way up the west coast of the U.S. to Victoria, British Columbia.
That brings Kodiak’s scheduled cruise ship total to 26 visits this year; about the same as last year. The number of passengers each vessel will bring to town this summer varies from the smallest at just over 200 passengers to the biggest ship carrying roughly 10 times that amount. Holland America Line’s Nieuw Amsterdam is scheduled to arrive on May 9 with 2,106 passengers onboard. That same day the Seabourn Quest will arrive with 229 passengers.
The Viking Venus, which arrived in Kodiak this morning at 8 a.m., April 29, is coming from its last port of call in Japan before beginning its Alaska itinerary. That means the 930 passengers onboard will be required to go through a customs check once they dock in Kodiak. The Viking Venus will remain in Kodiak until 6 p.m. Tuesday and then sail on to Homer.
Brock Simmons, the director of local visitor bureau Discover Kodiak, told the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly on Thursday, April 24 that some cruise ships use Kodiak as a “repositioning port”. That means they start their journey overseas in places like Japan or Australia, before starting their Alaska itinerary, which usually involves one-way itineraries as ships sail across oceans or continents without returning to their homeport, and change seasonal homeports.
“So we get a real influx of cruise ships coming in from different areas of the globe in the spring and then we get that exodus with those same cruise ships in the fall," Simmons said.
He added that May and September tend to be Kodiak’s busiest cruise ship months because of its ideal geographical location to be used as a repositioning port.
The start of the local cruise ship season coincides with the re-opening of the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center today, April 29 as well.
