Passengers board the shuttle raft at the City Dock summer float for their return to the Kruzof Explorer last Friday, Wrangell's first cruise ship visitors since 2019. The Explorer, and several other small ships, are scheduled for regular stops in town through mid-September.
Ending a long hiatus of cruise ship visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wrangell received its first cruise ship of the season last Friday. The Kruzof Explorer, operated by Sitka-based Alaskan Dream Cruises, delivered about a dozen tourists to town for a day-long visit - the first ship to call on Wrangell since 2019.
"We're having a great time with Alaskan Dream Cruises," said Susan Igdaloff, of Newhall, California, one of the visitors. "We're very fortunate we were able to stop in Wrangell."
Several visitors said they were happy to be traveling again. They also said they were not too concerned about COVID-19, as the ship had precautions in place to protect passengers.
"I'm glad to be back at work," said Simon Hook, naturalist expedition leader on board the ship. "Everyone has to get vaccinated, everyone has to be tested. You know, safety first. It's good to see old friends and make new ones. I've been doing this for a long time, so it's good to be back."
Jennifer Robertson, of Portland, Oregon, was traveling on the Explorer with her husband Lee. She said it is much more fun traveling with a small group than on a bigger ship, and that they enjoyed seeing the sights in Wrangell. They were supposed to sail last year, she added, but it got pushed back to this year due to COVID-19.
"We went and saw the petroglyphs, we just did Mt. Dewey, and the museum," she said.
According to a schedule of planned visits, Wrangell can expect to regularly see cruise ships from now to mid-September. However, most of these are smaller ships carrying only a few dozen passengers, though at least a couple a larger and can accommodate several hundred visitors.
The city is anticipating about 2,000 cruise ship visitors this year, compared to an original expectation for around 20,000.
Congress last month approved a temporary waiver to allow larger, foreign-registered cruise ships to bypass the U.S-required stop in Canada on their voyages between Seattle and Alaska this summer, and at least five cruise operators have announced plans to resume sailing as soon as late July. None of the cruise lines, however, include Wrangell on the itineraries for their ships, which can carry as many as 4,000 passengers.
More information on Wrangell's cruise season is online at https://www.wrangellalaska.org/visitorservices.
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